Genesis Gunbelt for Porisimo's Barracuda holsters.

Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
edited December 1969 in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

I'm working on a Genesis gunbelt designed for use with Prisomo's SF Weapons pack Barracuda holsters, and am running into a problem.

First, some technical info on the design. The belt is designed as a conforming figure onto which the existing holsters can be parented with straps and "clips" running through the D-rings on the holster to "mount" it to the belt "frogs" and secure it to the thighs. Through the use of separate material zones, it can be converted to a left-handed, right-handed, or dual holster configurations. The thigh straps are a part of the gunbelt assembly and pass through the holster's lower D-rings.

Now, for the problem. Whenever I apply a shape morph to the Genesis figure, such as the M4 or V4 shapes (forget using Troll or Gorilla), the straps and mounting clips no longer line up with the D-rings on the holster, and readjusting the position of the holster doesn't help because the parts of the belt involved are growing or shrinking/stretch and warping to fit the new shape, totally changing their relative proportions. I need this belt to be able to conform to different shape Genesis figures, including those with custom dial-spun characters made through a combination of several shapes, while still keeping proper alignment to the mounting points on the holsters. How do I do this? Pics attached:

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Comments

  • ErdehelErdehel Posts: 386
    edited December 1969

    UP.

    I can't give an answer to your problem but I think it comes from the fact that your geometry is not part of the holster so when the auto-fitting occurs only your geometry gets fitted and the holster stays as is (or maybe gets fitted separately). I have no solution but would like to know if there is one ;)

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    Erdehel said:
    UP.

    I can't give an answer to your problem but I think it comes from the fact that your geometry is not part of the holster so when the auto-fitting occurs only your geometry gets fitted and the holster stays as is (or maybe gets fitted separately). I have no solution but would like to know if there is one ;)

    You're right on the money there. The holsters (created by Porisimo) are props, and have to be in order to fit the guns they were designed for. The gun belt is a conforming figure.
  • SickleYieldSickleYield Posts: 7,634
    edited December 1969

    I need this belt to be able to conform to different shape Genesis figures, including those with custom dial-spun characters made through a combination of several shapes, while still keeping proper alignment to the mounting points on the holsters. How do I do this? Pics attached:

    You can't. You can try adding a rigidity map wherein only that part of it is rigid, but I don't think that's going to help much when it's a smartprop you're talking about. If it's someone else's smartprop I wouldn't worry much anyway, though. People are used to adjusting a smartprop to different characters, and it's very easy to do.

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited May 2013

    I need this belt to be able to conform to different shape Genesis figures, including those with custom dial-spun characters made through a combination of several shapes, while still keeping proper alignment to the mounting points on the holsters. How do I do this? Pics attached:

    You can't. You can try adding a rigidity map wherein only that part of it is rigid, but I don't think that's going to help much when it's a smartprop you're talking about. If it's someone else's smartprop I wouldn't worry much anyway, though. People are used to adjusting a smartprop to different characters, and it's very easy to do.In most cases, you'd be correct; you just adjust the scale to fit. With a holster, not so much because the holster has to remain a consistent fixed size to fit the gun it's designed for. That's why the holster isn't a permanent part of the belt. The belt (which is a conforming figure) was built to accommodate this particular holster (the prop). The primary problem is mainly the thigh strap moving off the lower D-rings when a shape morph is applied to the Genesis figure, though I'm also getting clipping in the two plates on either side of the belt buckle. Porisimo has given me permission to permanently incorporate the holsters into the belt, but, as I said, I'm not sure how well that would work given that they have to fit a specific gun, and therefore can't change size or shape.

    Post edited by Tramp Graphics on
  • SickleYieldSickleYield Posts: 7,634
    edited December 1969

    Functionally speaking, you can have constant size and shape, or you can have things that fit a figure. Not both. In real life when a big man and a small woman need to use the same kind of gun, there are compromises that don't really work in 3d - i.e., the belt may be a little thin/short for the man and thick/long for the woman, but they'll adjust it with the buckle, not the way that things are adjusted with morphs. The only way you can really imitate that is by having everything be a prop and morphing it to change only the belt diameter.


    In Poser/DAZ, you're usually going to have to live with scaling the gun.

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    Or making the thigh strap (the part that's "disconnecting" from the holsters D-rings) a prop separate from the rest of the belt?

  • SickleYieldSickleYield Posts: 7,634
    edited December 1969

    Or making the thigh strap (the part that's "disconnecting" from the holsters D-rings) a prop separate from the rest of the belt?

    That's going to cause its own issues with non-cylindrical leg morphs (viz., most of them) but I guess it's worth a try?

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited May 2013

    Or making the thigh strap (the part that's "disconnecting" from the holsters D-rings) a prop separate from the rest of the belt?

    That's going to cause its own issues with non-cylindrical leg morphs (viz., most of them) but I guess it's worth a try?That's why I had gone the conforming route in the first place. I have been using a belt prop as a thigh strap for my Night Warrior character, and it really doesn't work. If I can simply keep a consistent Y scale, I'd be good to go. The X and Z scales going up or down is fine, and what I want. It's the Y scale/translation on the thigh strap that's the main problem.

    Post edited by Tramp Graphics on
  • drcharbonneaudrcharbonneau Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Why don't you try adding morphs in all the right places? I'm not familiar with pre-sized/adjustable props, but if I were in your situation, succeed or fail, that would be my first attempt at making things work. I'm not experienced enough with weight mapping and rigging to help out there.

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    Why don't you try adding morphs in all the right places? I'm not familiar with pre-sized/adjustable props, but if I were in your situation, succeed or fail, that would be my first attempt at making things work. I'm not experienced enough with weight mapping and rigging to help out there.
    Simple, given all of the ways the various Genesis shapes can be combined, making a correction morph for all of them would be impossible, especially given that I really don't know how to actually build morphs without butchering the mesh. My Night Warrior character, for instance (who will be using this belt), is made up of varying percentages of the M4 shape, Basic Male, Body Builder, Fitness, and various RamWolf, Evolution, and Die Trying morphs, among others.
  • SickleYieldSickleYield Posts: 7,634
    edited December 1969

    Why don't you try adding morphs in all the right places? I'm not familiar with pre-sized/adjustable props, but if I were in your situation, succeed or fail, that would be my first attempt at making things work. I'm not experienced enough with weight mapping and rigging to help out there.
    Simple, given all of the ways the various Genesis shapes can be combined, making a correction morph for all of them would be impossible, especially given that I really don't know how to actually build morphs without butchering the mesh. My Night Warrior character, for instance (who will be using this belt), is made up of varying percentages of the M4 shape, Basic Male, Body Builder, Fitness, and various RamWolf, Evolution, and Die Trying morphs, among others.

    Yeah. That's too many correctors even for me.


    I'm afraid you're probably going to have to settle for just manually repositioning the holsters and/or guns to match the position of the pieces on the belts.

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    Why don't you try adding morphs in all the right places? I'm not familiar with pre-sized/adjustable props, but if I were in your situation, succeed or fail, that would be my first attempt at making things work. I'm not experienced enough with weight mapping and rigging to help out there.
    Simple, given all of the ways the various Genesis shapes can be combined, making a correction morph for all of them would be impossible, especially given that I really don't know how to actually build morphs without butchering the mesh. My Night Warrior character, for instance (who will be using this belt), is made up of varying percentages of the M4 shape, Basic Male, Body Builder, Fitness, and various RamWolf, Evolution, and Die Trying morphs, among others.

    Yeah. That's too many correctors even for me.


    I'm afraid you're probably going to have to settle for just manually repositioning the holsters and/or guns to match the position of the pieces on the belts.Which really isn't an option either, because "correcting the alignment of the holster to the thigh strap would put it out of alignment with the straps holding it to the main belt. What needs adjustment is the thigh strap, not the holster. Usually, it's only the thigh straps which move out of alignment with the holster's D rings when a shape morph is applied to Genesis. If I could figure out how to use Rigidity maps (possibly combined with making the holsters a part of the belt), that may fix the problem. But I've yet to get rigidity to work.

  • drcharbonneaudrcharbonneau Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    I do respect SickleYield's input, but it would seem that he is under rating the capabilities of morphing. If, green in DAZ and Blender as I am, I can add just the right number of d-forrmers, then turn them into morphs that control genitalia and render Dolly Parton size breast enlargements, keeping in mind there are tuts out there showing how to use morphs to control the lay of hair on a shoulder, as opposed to intersecting, then this should be easy money.

    I made my suggestion after imagining just how the belt, slings and straps would work together with abs, hips and the motion of each individual thigh. In fact the DAZ user guide has a tut on weight mapping and rigging that might be just what you are wanting, still,if I recall correctly, it makes use of morphs to control motion like this.

    Yes, I'd imagine 4 d-formers on the belt, 4 on each sling and 4 on each strap, but that's looking at near perfect control of areas surrounding the anterior adductors and femoral biceps to have the straps conform to a toned, muscular structure, while the slings would need to twist and conform with the vastus externus as the figure walks. So 20 d-formers, probably best also as 20 morphs, labeled left and right.

    All that assumes the holsters themselves are rigid.

    You might consider looking up those medical terms in wiki...

  • SickleYieldSickleYield Posts: 7,634
    edited December 1969

    There is no way in which you can use either a deformer or a weight map to compensate for scaling of geometry downward/outward on a large FBM or upward/inward on a small one that will work on more than one at a time.


    What's required would in fact be 20 deformers for each FBM. This is why I call this an untenable solution (and why Tramp Graphics very correctly said that in the first place).

  • drcharbonneaudrcharbonneau Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    If that's true, then why do all the morphs I've added to the figure scale right along with Genesis? (I just checked that to make certain.)

  • SickleYieldSickleYield Posts: 7,634
    edited December 1969

    If that's true, then why do all the morphs I've added to the figure scale right along with Genesis? (I just checked that to make certain.)

    Of course they do, because they're adjusting to the scale in Parameters. But each FBM also deforms the mesh in ways unrelated to that value. An example would be Freak 4 and 5's thighs. Even if you set the parameter scaling to 100%, they're still around 400% the volume of the thighs of base Genesis, and an object smartpropped to Genesis' thigh will vanish inside the body when this morph is dialed in.


    You can fix it with a deformer or a corrector morph, but that deformer or corrector morph won't apply to literally anything else in the same way. If you try to use the same corrector with V5 on, it will cause the gun/holster to hover a subjective foot from her body. That's why I say it would require a corrector for every FBM and it's impracticable.

  • patience55patience55 Posts: 7,006
    edited December 1969

    Didn't the Daz3d.com 2 part video tut about a man with a sword [making clothing using rigidity maps] cover what would be required to do this?

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    Didn't the Daz3d.com 2 part video tut about a man with a sword [making clothing using rigidity maps] cover what would be required to do this?

    What tutorial?
  • drcharbonneaudrcharbonneau Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Didn't the Daz3d.com 2 part video tut about a man with a sword [making clothing using rigidity maps] cover what would be required to do this?


    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/creating_content/assembling/start


    This has a lot about morphs.

    I'm having difficulty finding the one you're talking about Patience. If DAZ removed it, then it can be found on YouTube.

  • patience55patience55 Posts: 7,006
    edited December 1969

    It's always been over on Youtube.

    main account: http://www.youtube.com/user/WWWDAZ3DCOM

    [I don't have the link handy, but it's somewhere in there]

  • drcharbonneaudrcharbonneau Posts: 0
    edited May 2013

    http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=DAZ+Studio+rigging+modification+intro+pt1&oq=DAZ+Studio+rigging+modification+intro+pt1&gs_l=youtube.12...31114.55343.0.58092.41.39.0.0.0.0.1449.6070.2j3j2j0j1j1j3j1.13.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.ajCLvZ_TRK0


    See if this works. It's the search using the particular title pt1.


    http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=DAZ+Studio+weight+map+brush&oq=DAZ+Studio+weight+map+brush&gs_l=youtube.12..33i21.239355.242963.0.245920.16.16.0.0.0.0.348.3194.4j1j9j2.16.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.5Y_UfUqmXLA


    This one has a larger list and I think it's the one to which Patience and I have been referring.


    I was playing around with some DAZ primitives to see if I could create a strand of hair with a thin cylinder and a few morphs. It could be done, in fact quite effectively, but I think in the end, the machine would choke. Yes. In the case of your slings, some scaling would be needed. I don't have any of the brawny men from the store to try to recreate your dilemma, so I'm just using my imagination.

    It seems that if each piece is an independent object, it could be scaled independently as well. Hope some of these suggestions work for you. I've found that DAZ and Blender both lend themselves to many methods to reach the same result. One renderist's method may or may not work for another renderist.

    Post edited by drcharbonneau on
  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    I've seen the three videos regarding the Joint Editor, Polygon Group Editor, and Weigh maps, but the last two are definitely new. There are two problems with them though. First, he uses a program I don't have and don't know, and has features I don't think Hexagon has. Secondly, we still run into the issue of having to create correction morphs for each and every shape, and there are simply too many, and too many combinations for this to be practical. I think Rigidity Maps might be the solution I need, but the only "tutorial" I've read didn't work for me, and even the writer said he (she?) had problems getting rigidity to work.

  • Tramp GraphicsTramp Graphics Posts: 2,411
    edited December 1969

    I thought I'd raise this thread from the dead to show off the essentially completed belt in action on the guy it was originally designed for. Surprisingly, the only thing that it took to get the belt to fit right was removing the Michael 4 shape from the Genesis figure I use to make the character. I also noticed that the M4 shape was causing problems with my battle glove too; specifically, it was causing the claw blades to come out of alignment with their sheaths. It was those issues that have really kept me from using this character, even though he's the main character for my comic.

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