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Wow. For weeks I've been telling folks to do the same thing, but instead:
We end up with a static prop object
In doing this, I can now use any clothes made for any other model for any figure I want - using VWD!
The example I use in this, J-Suit (zip up body suit) was already converted as described, then I step us through the whole process with Michael 4's Steam Cowboy Jacket. But it doesn't stop there. If we can get it to load into Carrara, we can turn it into cloth for anyone!
Here's the Article
Because of this, and the fact that it no longer relies on a rigging hierachy, we can completely redesign or even just tweak the model to our liking - add or delete buttons, pockets, belts buckles, whatever, add or delete vertices, even meld more than one article together into one single clothing object:
I thought their used to be an easier method: Edit > Merge, but maybe that's only for an Object we've extracted the individual polymesh from? Not sure as I don't even see the function anymore.
Great idea about using this method to make modeling design mannequins, by the way! I love it!!!
Agreed. The great thing about using VWD to convert from one figure to another is that the loss of JCMs doesn't matter as much.
Right! And poke-through is a non-issue!
Michael 2 and Vicki 2, along with Poser Mastadon and Smiladon. Release dates around 2002 or so?
I have the ambient light turned way up on a white background to emphasize the toon effect.
also, you can use the manequin to create new faces then create a morph in that plugin called DS
just make sure it's lorez and not smoothed
when exporting as obj
That's an Awesome Render, Diomede!!! I love it!
As I try and convey on many pages of my site, the older generations are still really quite formidable for getting our stories told. They were the Best then, they're still really quite cool now. Less bells and whistles... perhaps. But with tools like VWD and Carrara, we can get great things to happen!
SciFi Uniform Mesh to Practice
I used the G8F primitive I created as a dummy to model a simple mesh for content practice. Thank you again Misty.
The steps to convert G8F to a primitive without using the skeleton plugin are here. https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/6270136/#Comment_6270136
Unfortunately, I don't think I will be using Carrara to model similar projects going forward. Carrara's modeler does not like a 'non-manifold' edge. That refers to an edge that connects more than two planes. For example, the fabric of this dress hangs down to the thighs and then there is a hem. The hem has thickness. The dress fabric does not. I welded the vertexes that join the dress fabric to the hem. The edges along the weld are called a non-manifold edge. If you look closely, you can see that although Carrara allowed me to do it, Carrara converted the edges to creased. While the non-manifold edge is possible in Carrara, the result makes it more difficult to use selection loops, UVMapping, and some other tasks.
Dartanbeck said:
"Wow. For weeks I've been telling folks to do the same thing, but instead:
We end up with a static prop object"
Unless I am missing something, that seems a bit of a faff. Can't you just export the figure as .obj from DS, but untick "Write Groups", then import it to Carrara? If you want a mannequin you can convert it to a primitive as Diomede describes.
Hey Diomede, I did a search and I think that you have this product: https://www.daz3d.com/brocade-iray-shaders--roundabout
Do these shaders work in Carrara?
Thanks!
UB - Happy New Year!
I don't think I own that one.
However, I have purchased similar products by other PAs. In my experience, I have to adjust such shaders if I want to use in Carrara. That is standard carrara operating procedure. They do work in the sense that once you put the maps in the correct shader tree channel, the maps work as expected.
Textures Include:
I write 'think' I don't own because the store function that usually shows 'purchased' and hides and unhides things with a checkbox has not been working properly for me.
yeah manually adding maps by file works, I have those and others
Thanks Wendy! Sometimes the IRAY shaders are in a format which doesn't load in Carrara. In other words, they are not in runtime/textures.
Diomede, that is so weird. I did a search a few weeks ago, and it turned up a post you did, listing it as a product you did in a Challenge. Maybe I got the product wrong. :)
No big deal. I need to make a really ornate render for a friend.
Happy New Year to you both as well.
I painfully made all of Those things food shaders into Carrara versions
a couple I couldn't figure out how to do as they used iray features honeycomb being one
but most I could just slot the maps into their appropriate equivalent and work out how much displacement I needed if any
this can be done with anything with maps and most shaders will list the types and sizes of maps
Carrara native doesn't mind them big 8K either
found this link in a Diomede post, forgot where, but i enjoyed it immensely
Flooby Nooby: The Cinematography of "The Incredibles" Part 1
How I Use VYusur's Figures in Carrara
The next couple of posts will show how I use VYusur's Teena figure in Carrara and the same steps apply to her other figures. https://www.daz3d.com/teena
I have a project in mind for A Li'l Side Challenge 2022: Dystopia that will require children. I plan to use VYusur's Teena and Leon figures, but their default rigging needs to be converted to blended wweight (simple) to be used in Carrara. Veronika offers base figures through the Daz store and at Renderosity. These include adult male and female,, and child male and female. Details like eyelashes and eybrows have fibernesh hair options. The figures will work in Carrara if the rigging is converted to blended weight. Same for add-ons like hair and clothing. Convert to blended.
Step 1: Preparation: I want the Option to Share Even if I Don't
(if referred here, start 1 post above: How I Use VYusur's Figures in Carrara)
- Make sure you own the figure in the Daz store. I install to the default location using DIM. You can install anywhere as long as you remember where. https://www.daz3d.com/teena
- Make folder structure for easy sharing. I follow a similar approach as suggested by Mythic 3D. I have a separate folder for my custom projects outside my Daz3D installation. Each new project gets its own subfolder.
- The new project subfolder has two subfolders, one for Content, and one for Working Files. The Content folder can be copied and then packaged in a ZIP file, so it includes all necessary subfolders. Working files will include reference images, modeling and texturing WIPs, the final OBJ file of the model, and any other items that don't have to be included with sharing.
- For character support, the Content folder generally has three subfolders, (1) data, (2) People, and (3) Runtime. Note that data has a small 'd' not a large 'D'.
- The People folder should contain the same structure as character being designed for. In this case, I need the folder structure - People : Vyusur : Teena : Teena Clothing - in order to match Vyusur's default structure.
- The data folder remains empty for now, but folders unique to me (or you) will be created in the process of making the custom content. After created, copy these folders to 'data' if they aren't placed there by default.
- The Runtime folder needs a subfolder Textures and then a subfolder for you as a creator and the product. In this case, - Runtime : Textures : Diomede : Teena Clothes
- Keep the Working Files folder outside of content. Not sharing them, but convenient to keep with the project. Arrange to taste.
- I usually make Working Files subfolders for OBJ, Textures, Reference, and Other.
- The OBJ folder has subfolders for modeling file WIPs and for the final exported OBJ.
- The Textures folder has subfolders for the model UVMap, texturing WIPs, and final texture maps. Note that final textire maps will be copied to the Runtime subfolders. Load final texture maps from the Runtime folder.
Step 2 - Convert Teena to Blended Weight in Daz Studio then Load in Carrara
- Open a new blank Daz Studio scene
- Find the base figure Teena in People : Vyusur : Teena
- For now, only load the base figure, but later you may want to repeat the process for hair and clothing items so it is good to know where they are.
- Important add-ons like eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair are found in People : Vyusur : Teena : Teena Hair
- Clothing for Teena is found in People : Vyusur : Teena : Teena Clothing
- With the figure selected, go to the top menu and choose Edit : Figure : Rigging and then choose the option to convert from triax to blended weight.
- Save the blended weight figure. I save as a scene subset in the Daz Studio presets folder, but that is personal preference.
- (You can repeat conversion to blended weight for individual add ons like hair, eyebrows, clothing, etc)
- Start a new empty Carrara scene.
- Navigate to your saved Blended weight figure. In my case, it is in Presets : Scene Subsets : Vyusur : Teena : Teena Figure to Blended
- Load the blended weight figure.
- If you have converted hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc, to blended weight, you can load them and use "fit to" for them as well.
- some clothing items may have some poke through, which can be addressed through standard 'fix the poke through' methods, which I may discuss later.
- as usual when importing Poser or Daz Studio models, you will want to adjust shaders to taste
- I have loaded Teena blended in Carrara with wireframe mode for the TOS
Step 3 - Model Clothes and Export OBJ in Daz Studio Full Scene preset
- Great, so I have Teena loaded in Carrara
- I modeled a little girl's dress with a collar, puffy shoulders, front and back torso panel, waistband, and skirt. (this isn't a modeling tutorial so sorry no details)
- My WIPs of the dress can be saved to the working files area of my project folders.
- I UVMapped the dress, and exported the UVMap to the working files area of my project folders using the 'display mode' of the vertex modeler UVMapper. I think it is also good to include the UVMap as a template in the Content : Runtime : Textures area if will be shared.
- I created shader domains. In addition to texturing, some shader domains are included to make draping better. The Carrara plugin for VWD can use shader domains to 'nail to figure'. Similarly, Daz Studio can apply different DForce weights by shader domain (surface material zone).
- I exported the final dress model OBJ to my working files OBJ folder. The OBJ export menu has preset options near the top. I choose Daz Studio Full Scene, which is convenient for scaling purposes.
Step 3B - Can Drape in Carrara Using VWD with Philemo's Plugin Bridge
- The model is complete so if convenient, can skip rigging and just use the VWD dynamic cloth draping plugin.
- Once installed, the plugin is initiated using File : Go VWD Cloth and Hair
- This isn't a VWD tutorial, but remember to set Teena as the collision object and the dress as cloth.
- I still have trouble with long file names using VWD so keep that in mind when naming and saving your models if you intend to use VWD.
Step 4 - Rig My Custom Teena Dress in Daz Studio
- Recall that the dress was exported to the working files folder as an OBJ from Carrara using the Daz Studio Full Scene preset.
- Start a new Daz Studio scene and load the original Teena figure.
- Import the dress OBJ. In the import dialogue, there is a Carrara preset. If you exported the OBJ using the Daz Studio Full Scene, then use the Carrara preset for import. Scales will match.
- If you have any texture maps applied to surfaces, load them from your project files Content : Runtime : Textures : Diomede (You) : Teena Clothes subfolder created in Step 1.
- Select the dress object and use the transfer utility (Edit : Object : Tranfer utility) to convert the dress to a figure
- On the left side of the transfer menu select Teena and on the right side menu select the Dress object
- Optional - you can click the lower left icon to expand the transfer utility menu. I sometimes check the box to include a smoothing modifier.
- The transfer utility will do the default conversion of the dress to be a cnforming figure for Teena.
- Select the dress figure. Make independent by using menu to Edit : Figure : 'Fit to' : None. This will take the figure out of the Teena hierarchy.
- Save the dress as a support asset : figure/prop. A dialogue will come up with you as the creator so that varies from person to person. Remember your location.
- In this case, I saved my support asset figure to my project file from step 1, which was Content : People : Vyusur : Teena Clothing : Diomede :
- IMPORTANT FOR SHARING - the support asset save function will create a data folder of your creator name and place important files there if you plan to share. If this is not created in your project folder, you will need to copy your data creator folder and its contents to the data subfolder in your project 'Content' folder. This is really just for sharing, but the data subfolder hierarchies must match if other people are to use your creation.
- OK, you should now have a dress that can conform to Teena.
- You could add Joint Corrective Morphs, Styling Morphs, Movement Morphs, etc. I am skipping that for now.
Step 5 - Convert the Rigged Dress to Blended Weight for Use in Carrara
- I now have a saved conforming dress figure compatible with Teena in my project folder. If I have made sure the data folder is correct (see staep 4 IMPORTANT), then I could ZIP a copy of the Content folder of my project file for others.
- Again, I have not created any JCMs, etc, so if you plan to add those, do so before converting to blended, or you will have to repeat.
- Follow the same steps as Step 2 above to convert the dress to Blended weight. Load the dress in an empty studio scene. Edit : Figure : Rigging : Convert Triax to Blended.
- I then save as a scene subset in the presets folder, but that is just personal preference.
- I can start a new Carrara scene, load the blended weight Teena and the blended weight dress, and the dress will conform. Reminder, that without JCMs, movement morphs, etc, there will be the standard poke through and rough patches around shoulders and skirt thighs.
I also made a hair cap for teena so that I could grow Carrara dynamic hair.
Watching with interest !!
Thanks
not sure where i saw it, i think i saw screenshots on creating morphs assets inside carrara?
i think there was a way to import an object to create a morph, but i can't remember.
and carrara can make the morph channel and save the morph to the figure.
i bringing all my leading gents and ladies in as carrara files, no wanna go back to ds or ps to add new morphs.
and then i has to start the projects to bring in the HD morphs. And save the phong tesselation and pbr shaders.
banner?
Nile River Boat
Came across a fun reference and thought I would give it a go.
here is a fun image found on the web
And here is my progress so far.
See screenshots attached to above post for steps.
And here is the current mesh and uvmap for the hull and mast