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Published: 2013-10-25 18:44:57 +0000 UTC; Views: 267555; Favourites: 603; Downloads: 0
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The first version of this workflow came from Kattey on the DAZ forum, for which I acknowledge credit.
Here is that (lengthy) thread: www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthrea…
First of all, however: there are two ways to recreate a character. There is the easy way, which is not redistributable, and the hard way, which is. We'll discuss the easy way first. I'm sorry, but I can't do anything for those of you who absolutely can't learn from text. This is what I have time for right now.
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PART 1: CREATE A SINGLE DIAL
Load Genesis 1. Dial in your character morph. There cannot be anything in the scene except the single figure while we do this. No hair, no clothes, no props. Or if they are there, you must hide them by clicking the eye next to them in the Scene tab.
Go to Parameters-General-Mesh Resolution. You should always have a Parameters tab. If you don't, you aren't ready for this tutorial because you are still stuck in the mental mode of only using clicky presets. I still like you, because you're going to be giving me and my fellow PA's a lot of your money at some point, but you sure don't have to. You can create the tab in Windows--Panes (tabs)--Parameters.
Set Mesh Resolution to Base and Subdivision Level to 0.
Set the scale of Genesis to 100% for this first try.
File--export--wavefront obj. Export to a folder you will use for your transferred morphs. Mine is in my Blender files G2 directory and is called Transferred Morphs.
Delete Genesis and reload from the library to get an unmorphed figure.
Now start the Morph Loader Pro. Its icon looks like a flexing arm with a P on it. Click on the button that says "Choose Morph Files." Navigate to your obj and select it. It should appear as NameYouChose.obj with options under it that you can click to expand.
Next, create a NEW property group. You must do this by right-clicking on the words "Morphs/Morph Loader" and choosing "create" AFTER you load the obj file into Morph Loader Pro. I suggest Actor/Female (or Universal or, at a future point, Male)/G1/MyCharacters or the like. This will save you a lot of trouble later.
Click Accept.
Navigate to the property group you put your morph in and dial it to 100% to check that it works. This probably cannot be redistributed because it probably contains other people's commercial morphs incorporated into one, but you can definitely use it as a shortcut for your own rendering.
File--Support Assets--Morph Asset. The Vendor Name and Product Name tell DS where to save the morph under data/DAZ 3D/Genesis/Base/Morphs. For e.g., if the Vendor name is Bob and the Product is BobsMorph, it will be saved to data/DAZ 3D/Genesis/Base/Morphs/Bob/Bobsmorph. Expand the properties under Genesis below that and check just your morph. Having put it in its own properties group makes it much easier to find here.
Now delete Genesis 1 and reload from library.
PART 2: TRANSFER TO G2 AND ADJUST (WITH NOTES FOR G3 and G8)
Now it's time to load Genesis 2 as well.
Go to Genesis 1 and find your new morph, or the morphs you want to transfer, in the Parameters tab. Right-click and choose "Favorites" and "Add Selected Properties to Favorites." This will tell Transfer Utility which morphs to transfer so you don't have to wait while it processes all 500 or whatever of the G1 morphs.
Start Transfer Utility. Use G1 as the SOURCE and G2 as the TARGET.
If converting from Genesis 2 to Genesis 3, under the Target dropdown choose "Clone" and "Genesis 2" either Male or Female depending which you are converting from. Leave the left dropdown blank. If converting from Genesis 3 to Genesis 8, pose Genesis 3's arms at 45 degrees down and legs at 6 degrees out, and use "Current" rather than a clone. This helps prevent wrist distortion.
Now when you start Transfer Utility, uncheck everything but the "Morph Targets" option. You need to have the "Show Options" button checked to expand that part of TU. Make sure you also uncheck "Fit To Source Figure!"
When you click on Morph Targets to highlight it, on the Extended Options panel to the right, you have new options. Uncheck "From Projection Template" and "Override Existing" and then click on the dropdown.
2019 UPDATE:
You can remove eye and fingertip distortion on most morphs by raising the distance tolerance under Projection Options to 0.06. The bigger the eye of the morph, the bigger the distance tolerance needs to be; if you get a weird wrinkle distortion in the cheek area you have made it too big. It can be a good idea to do a separate pass with the larger head morph to fine-tune the needed tolerance. This is so effective that it basically negates the need for the "transfer eyeballs sideways" fix, so I've deleted that section of the tutorial.
Now you have these options:
None
Favorites
Favorites and Sub-Components
Shaping And Pose
All
If you choose "Favorites," then TU will only transfer those morphs that you marked as Favorites in the previous step. This gives you an easy way to transfer only one or two morphs in a figure with many. No more waiting fifteen minutes for all of Genesis' morphs to go over when you only need a few!
Accept. This will take a moment to run as morphs are transferred. When that is done you can delete G1 from the scene.
Now go to the property group you created on G2F and dial in your morph to 100%. Most morphs work pretty well, but you will have to adjust the bones to fit the morph properly with bigger or more stylized morphs. Here's how.
Start the bone tool. Its icon looks like a bone with a bandaid across it, and it causes all of the figure's bones to appear. Depending on how much your morph changes the figure's shape, the bones may not line up with the mesh, which means they won't be posed properly.
Right-click in the viewport and choose edit--adjust rigging to shape. Check all three boxes including Orientation at the bottom, and click Accept. Now the bones are adjusted to fit the new shape. We need to freeze the ERC so that the adjustment "sticks" to this morph.
Go to the Property Hierarchy. In the new version of DS this is instantaneous. In the top search box, type the name of the new morph to find it easily. Expand the "Parameters" entry to see it. Now you can right-click on just that morph and choose "ERC Freeze." When the box pops up, just click Accept. Again, very fast.
Now go back to the Parameters tab and dial your morph to 0 and back a few times to see the skeleton adjusting with it. Good. Now set it to 0.
Now file--save as--support assets--morph asset again. Check just your new morph and click Accept after you have entered a Vendor name and product name to choose where DS will save the morph under data/daz 3d/genesis 2/female/morphs/base.
Delete G2F and reload from the library. Only the one you saved to library before you deleted her is retained, and you now have a nice neat dial for your character.
You can save several characters by checking multiple morphs while saving, provided you don't mind they all get put in the same Vendor Name/Product Name folder in data/daz 3d/genesis 2/base/morphs. I don't recommend just checking everything because some morphs won't transfer as well (male ones to the female and vice versa, especially).
PART 3: THE HARD WAY (REDISTRIBUTABLE)
In order to do this, you need to:
1. Apply your dialed character to G1. Write down each and every morph you used and its dial value.
2. Delete and reload to get an unmorphed G1.
3. Load the G2 figure.
4. Use Transfer Utility to transfer all morphs again.
5. Delete G1.
6. Adjust the bones and freeze the ERC on each component dial morph separately. This is why you wrote it down.
7. Will all the morph dials zeroed, file--save as--support assets--morph assets. Now check just the component morphs of your full dial after you put in the Vendor Name and Product Name. Click Accept.
8. Delete and reload.
9. Redial your character onto G2F from component morphs.
10. Navigate to the People--Genesis 2 Female--Characters folder in your Content Library. Right-click and choose Create Subfolder. Name it after your character.
11. In this folder, click the little plus sign at the bottom of the Content Library screen. Choose Shaping Preset. Click Accept.
Now you've created a dialed preset from transferred morphs. This can be redistributed, but it will only work for people who have also transferred those same morphs, of course.
Related content
Comments: 385
Mikey186 In reply to ??? [2015-01-29 04:50:42 +0000 UTC]
i tried into the Morph loader part and apparently after I clicked on accept I get a error that said "Warning: Geometry did not match, failed to create morph". I think when you first exported the OBJ, you must've used a preset that is different (like Blender, 3DS MAX, Lightwave etc), and didn't say what to check/uncheck (like Ignore Invisible Nodes, Write Groups, Use Node Name(s), etc).
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Mikey186 [2015-01-29 08:41:30 +0000 UTC]
Generally that specific error means vertex order was not preserved. That's one box to check in Blender; I'm not sure how it's done in other modelers.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Mikey186 In reply to SickleYield [2015-01-29 17:46:42 +0000 UTC]
So I guess I have to check in blender and re-export as obj with the 'keep vertex order' checked.
PS, what's ERC mean?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Mikey186 [2015-01-29 17:54:31 +0000 UTC]
"Enhanced Remote Control." It's a way to link one property to another so that, for instance, a morph dial is controlled by by a limb bend. You use freeze erc to create joint-controlled morphs.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Nourak In reply to ??? [2014-10-31 14:54:41 +0000 UTC]
I will be going through this process soon enough...Thank you for this useful tutorial!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Mavrosh In reply to ??? [2014-10-30 23:22:44 +0000 UTC]
I came back to this..... and finally managed to get it done! It worked! Yay! I transfered a male from genesis 1 to genesis 2! No need for expensive plugins any more as this really works like a charm and the best is: I even understood why I did what!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Mavrosh [2014-10-30 23:46:27 +0000 UTC]
Awesome!!! Congratulations.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Vampyric-Saiyaness In reply to ??? [2014-07-11 05:00:23 +0000 UTC]
Hi Sickleyield! Thank you so much for this tut! I wanted to convert some personal characters, just for fun. It worked perfectly except it squished the eyes on my G2M character. Any idea how that would occur and how I can reverse the eyes? (I looked for Hidden Morphs and what not but no go...)
Thank you in advance!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Vampyric-Saiyaness [2014-07-12 20:29:58 +0000 UTC]
Oh dear. No, I don't know how to fix that other than manually in a modeler. Sorry.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Vampyric-Saiyaness In reply to SickleYield [2014-07-12 20:50:59 +0000 UTC]
That's okay! He can either stay a Genesis figure or I could just not be lazy and try to make G2M as similar to him as possible
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
espe71 In reply to Vampyric-Saiyaness [2017-06-22 16:55:52 +0000 UTC]
I have had the same problem, but i solved it by using in the Transfer Utility -> Target -> Item Shape: Clone / Genesis 2 Female or Male.
SickleYield : thank you for your great instructions.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Ashfire45 In reply to ??? [2014-05-21 16:25:30 +0000 UTC]
Hi there! I get to "Next, create a NEW property group. You must do this by right-clicking on the words "Morphs/Morph Loader" and choosing "create" AFTER you load the obj file into Morph Loader Pro. I suggest Actor/Female (or Universal or, at a future point, Male)/G1/MyCharacters or the like. This will save you a lot of trouble later.
Click Accept. "
But when I do accept, it says that the geometry doesn't match and it failed to create it. See, I have a few Zbrush morphs on the character to get rid of some unsightly lines on her face - would that have anything to do with the failure? ;-;
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Ashfire45 [2014-05-21 17:33:12 +0000 UTC]
Possibly it's a mesh resolution mismatch. Did you export the character for Zbrush morphing at base resolution and 0 subdivision?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ashfire45 In reply to SickleYield [2014-05-21 17:35:24 +0000 UTC]
Base resolution, but I don't think I decreased the subdivision! That's more than likely the problem..v.v Hmm...Should I just turn the morphs to zero and then try again, if that helps any? x3
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Ashfire45 [2014-05-21 17:41:39 +0000 UTC]
Stuff being dialed into the figure doesn't make a difference if it's already loaded.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ashfire45 In reply to SickleYield [2014-05-21 17:43:40 +0000 UTC]
...Well there goes any chance of you thinking me -not- a complete nooblette at this sort of thing. Hmm...It's not vital I get this character onto the Genesis 2 Female, so I won't hassle you more about the issue!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Ashfire45 [2014-05-21 18:16:24 +0000 UTC]
It's not a hassle, I'm just not clear on what's causing the problem. When it's claiming geometry mismatch, 99% of the time that means one has exported the morph at other than Base rez and subdivision 0.
This means you probably need to go back to the "export wavefront obj" step and make sure it is set to this before reloading the morph in Genesis 1 to create the dial. Then you'll be ready to set it as a favorite and transfer it to G2.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Groovy052 In reply to ??? [2014-04-09 04:11:17 +0000 UTC]
Thanks, you have cut a lot of time out of me fooling around and testing the results. Thanks again.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
IanTP In reply to ??? [2014-02-15 21:01:42 +0000 UTC]
Hi, Sickle, dumb question time, can I use this method for Gen4 characters to G1 or G2 even, I do have GenX but have never got to grips with it, maybe I should try again?
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
SickleYield In reply to IanTP [2014-02-15 21:50:34 +0000 UTC]
Gen 4 characters will probably continue to require Gen X because they are .cr2 figures. Transfer Utility can't recognize them. You could try changing them to TriAx and resaving as .duf, but I don't know how good the transfer would be after that.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
IanTP In reply to SickleYield [2014-02-15 22:53:41 +0000 UTC]
cheers hon, 👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Cyprine2013 In reply to ??? [2014-02-13 22:49:18 +0000 UTC]
Success !
after some fumbling & re-reading your tuorial a few times i finally managed.
Now, its practice that will make the process even easier.
Thanks !
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Cyprine2013 [2014-02-13 22:50:44 +0000 UTC]
Great! I'm glad you were able to get results.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
IanTP In reply to ??? [2014-01-19 19:49:34 +0000 UTC]
Thanks so much to you, Kattey, and Timmas for his method too!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
PaulaSanders In reply to ??? [2014-01-19 19:01:24 +0000 UTC]
Hi -
Great tutorial and thank you very much, but I am stuck at part 2. I transferred the morphs from G1 to G2. It said the transfer was successful. Now you wrote: "Now go to the property group you created on G2F and dial in your morph to 100%". When was I supposed to create the property group for G2. I tried a few things, mainly doing an obj export and loading the morphs so I could create the property group for G2. But, when I repeated the morph process for G2 as I did for G1, no property group for G2 showed up to dial the morphs. I know I made an error somewhere. What do I specifically do after the morph transfer from G1 to G2?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to PaulaSanders [2014-01-21 16:30:25 +0000 UTC]
You do this in part one, starting with the paragraph that says "Next, create a NEW property group." You do this by right-clicking the words Morphs/Morph Loader Pro when you are in Morph Loader Pro on Genesis 1 (in the "create a single dial" step).
A better way for me to phrase the sentence you quoted would be "Now, on G2, go to the property group you created for your G1 dial and dial it to 100%." If you correctly create the property group on G1 before transfer, after transfer it will be in the same place on G2.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Nathanomir In reply to ??? [2013-12-16 13:11:58 +0000 UTC]
Thank you for this tutorial! I did this back in the summer to transfer some custom characters from V4 to V6, and it's time to do the same for my custom Mikes. Problem is, I forgot a step. Okay, so I forgot about three! Faved this for future reference.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
3DVI In reply to ??? [2013-12-06 22:26:33 +0000 UTC]
Thanks for taking the time for this turorial!
I have a self dialed M5 morphs and I have created a dial for it. All goes well but when I dial in the G2M the bones are indeed distorted. Especially the mouth, ears, teeth and nose don't look right. I try to adjust the bones like you explained, but I don't see anything changing. So probably I am forgetting a step.
In your tut. you're mentioning:
"Now go back to the Parameters tab and dial your morph to 0 and back a few times to see the skeleton adjusting with it."
Not sure what you mean by that.
I only see the morph dialing in and out on the GM2 figure, but no adjustment on the bones (is that what you meant with skeleton?)
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to 3DVI [2013-12-06 22:45:24 +0000 UTC]
Did you freeze the ERC after you did the bone adjustment?
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I-Am-Madbat In reply to ??? [2013-11-30 08:10:30 +0000 UTC]
Did I need this? Oh yes I did!! Thank you-thank you, O' Spidery Mistress! May you never trip over your shoes!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
daywalker-designs In reply to ??? [2013-11-24 19:27:38 +0000 UTC]
Okay, I'm going to have to try this to transfer my newly created character to G2F. Hopefully it works for me.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Mavrosh In reply to ??? [2013-11-19 22:01:08 +0000 UTC]
OKay.... so I managed to get it done....until DAZ always crashes now after I hit the ERC freeze, I click on "Accept" and the program crashes.... 5 times in a row now.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Mavrosh [2013-11-19 22:06:33 +0000 UTC]
Yes. That's why the tutorial says you need to have the latest public beta. It fixes the crash problem.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Mavrosh In reply to SickleYield [2013-11-19 22:19:06 +0000 UTC]
Damnit...
You must think, I am totally stupid. I just get easily excited and forget things.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Mavrosh [2013-11-19 22:21:01 +0000 UTC]
Of course not, sweetie. I know I fail at putting things in the text in a way that is clear and easy to read sometimes, and big walls of text are not the easiest tutorial format for a lot of people to begin with. That's why I always try to stick around and answer questions.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Mavrosh In reply to SickleYield [2013-11-19 23:56:04 +0000 UTC]
Nah, you did not fail here. See, a non-native speaker understands it... if only I would notice the details, you now.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Cypherfox In reply to ??? [2013-11-14 02:39:23 +0000 UTC]
Greetings,
I'm not getting this part: Now start the Morph Loader Pro. Its icon looks like a flexing arm with a P on it. This part is important. Create a NEW property group using right click-create. I suggest Actor/Female (or Universal or, at a future point, Male)/G1/MyCharacters or the like. This will save you a lot of trouble later.
It took me a while to find it, but when I bring up the Morph Loader Pro it gives a dialog that has nothing that allows creating a 'new property group', or even right-clicking. Am I missing a step? I'm using DAZ Studio 4.6.2.23. I can find 'Create new Property...' in the Parameters, but not new property group. If I just select the .OBJ file, it puts it under 'Morph Loader' in Morphs under Genesis...probably not right.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
SickleYield In reply to Cypherfox [2013-11-14 03:00:42 +0000 UTC]
You do want to find the .obj first, and it will put it under Morphs/Morph Loader. At that point you need to right-click on the words "Morphs/Morph Loader" next to the phrase "Property Group." This brings up a dialogue that shows all of the property groups that already exist in an object (it'll be huge in a G1/G2 figure) and at the far upper left of that list is the word "create." Click on that to enter your new group.
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
Mavrosh In reply to SickleYield [2013-11-19 14:00:18 +0000 UTC]
I had the same pronlem and still have. Maybe I am too stupid. I am stuck at looking at the morph loader pro and not knowing what to do because I never worked with it. I have created an obj but I have no idea where to put it. I added it to the morph loader and it told me, that the morph could not be used. Property groups? Dialogues? Not for me, I have no idea where to click or to look.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
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