a using DAZ content in UE4 thread
WendyLuvsCatz
Posts: 38,206
I post a lot in the freebie thread but nobody else goes there and surely there are other people using Unreal Engine 4 besides me
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/53357/unreal-engine-4-now-free-updated#latest
I don't mean the complex scripty one with the Dual Quart weightpainting either just simple users not doing C++ magic just rendering stuff in it.
I want other brains to pick as mine is bare.
my hair being rapidly pulled out too.
but not gFur, that won't even grow ........
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IS UE4 going to still be free in 2020? If so, 2020 I will use Daz Content in UE4 if I can figure it out after I get my computer back.
UE4 will always be free.
someone else please try the gFur and tell me I am not the only dumb user
lol i'm a little confuse about what your question? you are asking about use the gfur from daz in unreal or you are talking about gfur(as part of the unreal) to use in a daz character?
the gFur in Unreal how to use it in Unreal
I have already asked on their forum of threads that die alone and watched video tutes that omit vital steps like this one
no hint of how they got to that interface mode for example
This might be a dumb question, but did you download and install the plugin? https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/slug/gfur
and then follow the instructions given on the download page?
''To access the content (gFur shader and sample map), go into the "Content Browser", click on "View Options" and turn on "Show Engine Content" and "Show Plugin Content". Now you should see a new folder called "GFur Content"."
sorry if this is old news, just wanted to make sure that there is no obvious step missing...
there is also the user guide at http://gim.studio/gfur-user-manual/#1511114622293-6f0a3b4f-9d00
ciao
TD
I played around with it when it first appeared in the marketplace but that was some time ago. I will reinstall it next week and give it another try to see if I run into the same issues you have. But first I have to get my final exams graded and the grades submitted...
ciao
TD
4.24 is supposed to include it and you just enable it in plugins
I might try that for 4.23
Ah, sorry I missed that. Have some catching up to do next week...
ciao
TD
well i looked into the unreal 4.24 features and i don't find anything related to that, they have a update for fur rendering but they don't say anything about it being related to gfur, otherwise you don't have gfur 2.0 in market to sell.
well that's even sadder documentation wise if I cannot even find the fur
...... or the vertex sculpting
I'm so interested in this but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I just bought a course on Udemy that will supposedly teach me how to import characters to UE.
that part is not hard the only annoying problem will be the "pose, the ideal before exporting a character to unreal, is you put him in a Unreal pose, which is a little close to the A pose from Genesis 8, then a good way to do that is exporting the unreal mannekin to daz then pose your character in the same way of the mannekin, the "alternative way would be use the Generic T- pose in genesis 3 but if you are planning in use any unreal animation then you gonna need to place the mannekin in that pose this is why i prefer to put the daz character in unreal pose because it's make me be able to use any unreal animation at same time being able to use any daz animation for genesis 8 since the g8 pose is very close to unreal pose then you can import it with almost 0 issues.
Ah! Good tip, thanks. I'll remember to put my characters in an A-pose.
Too bad we don't have an exact match for the Unreal pose!
no problem if you want i can post a "mini tutorial for a really easy way to export a daz genesis 8 character to unreal, will be a "basic one" , any detail maybe i can answer or no and you gonna need to look around, another thing is which this is cover only exporting the character with the "basic daz texture/material" after that you must for yourself "fix" the daz character textures if you want to achieve more details and realism" this is doing by working on the materials and shaders inside unreal which even i'm still very "noob" and learning, but i can provid the basic info for this and good tips.
but be aware as you and anyone must be already noticed my english is not that good since it's not my native language, then maybe it can become confuse at some points.
I would love a basic tutorial! That would be a awesome.
Also, once you've posed G8/3 once to match unreal pose, you can save that as a pose-preset and use it for all future exports.
Somebody could save this pose as a preset and share it.
ok here a basic tutorial, remember this is "my way" which means not the "only way" you can find different ways to do that, but this one was the most fast and easy way for me which means i don't know if this also can be for you too.
Step 1 - the most important - Learning about Daz exporting characters strength
While DAZ by no means is the best and perfect tool to export characters outside daz, it is without any doubt a very good one it have a lot of flaws but it allow you do one awesome thing which so far no other character export tool could provide (at last so far i can't find any other tool to do that), you can export morphs which is really awesome if you are planning to make character customization be for game or animation or anything else and daz due to some DAZ artistsand it's L.I.E system allow you to export " texture details in "separated textures giving a strong "customization for details, another geat strengt it's "gemoetric editor which will be your "best friend" inside daz.
Step 2A - Preparing the character to export - posing the character - unreal engine is a very "sensitivy case when comes to "retarget animation" which means using others characters animations be from unreal or any others sources than daz, both daz character and the "source character you want to retarget must have the "same pose" which means you must or pose your daz character to the other character pose or you must pose the other character in the same pose and again unreal is very sensitivy case which means the pose must be "close as possible to a match otherwise when using the animations you can find some "weirds" stuffs happening in the animation.
Ste2B - for me the best result was put the daz character in the "unreal pose" then go open unreal engine then go to the mannequin folder then character folder then mesh then right click on the SK_mannequin(with a pink line under the character) then go to asset actions>> export, then choose the folder and type of fbx and export it.
import to daz then open a G8 character and pose it until match the unreal character pose (also hand and hands fingers count)
here a little help
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CaGKymzYKZgMwPYlbPpzAShRr1caW1QV
this is my "unreal pose" you can try to use it(say if the link don't work"
this is the "ver2.0 of the previous pose, in case you already have used my previous one version you would need to export again the character to unreal to use this new one.
Step 3 - export the character to fbx - some tips -
a) to proper avoid pocking issues be for animation or game or even for poses" if possible export the character in pieces
here my exemple:
i cut the character in 5 pieces, head, torso&arms, hands, hip&legs and feets, for that you must use the geometry editor and you must have a "well knowledge on that tool, for that
b) first export the "regular body" it can be the Base g8 character without any texture it can also make the export process more fast, put it on the pose in daz then export it naked and blak without any texture(you can add it later) or if you really need you can export with the textures based on the texture(4k and more heavy materials) it can make it take a little time(like 1 to 3 minutes) it will generate the mesh the materials the physic and the skeleton.
after that if you want to export in pieces then go to daz and start to cut the character, use the geometry editor and mark everything except the part you want to be exported like for exemple the head, then make torso, arms, hands, hip, legs and feets be selected/marked then turn that parts "invisible (here it's come how much you know about that tool to make this process fast and easy as you can) then go to export then whe appear the box where you choose what you want to add to the fbx mark the "no hidden" box" it will make the fbx only export the visible mesh all the invisible will be deleted.
then export it to unreal but when the menu to make your import choices come in unreal in the part where have "skeleton" choose the skeleton from the previous body you have imported before from the full body, if both skeletons are really the same then it can already come selected then just click import all if not come you must choose it(the skeleton use the same name of the fbx you imported for the full body) then the head will use the "body skeleton instead of genereate a "new skeleton" then any animation you use for that skeleton will also gonna work for that head too.
here a picture:
then repeat the same process for the others parts, the "pieces technique is used to "reduce the poly count and for a better character customization", then when you want to export a piece of cloth or a outfit, just go to daz add the piece of cloth/armor you want the character to use then using the "geometry editor hidden then turn invisible any part of that piece which not gonna appear like in the torso, if him is wearing a armor, then for that turn invisible everything which not gonna be visible in the character torso and also if is just really the torso turn invisible things like hands head whatever piece which is not part of that "torso" if you make the character in pieces, this remove any "pocket throught skin from the character.
it also can be done for the full body if you don't want to export a character in piece and just a full body, the process of "cleanup hidden polygons is really important for the unreal because it don't have the same "corrective" things daz have to try to fix any of that issue, then is important to make sure when exporting a clothed character which it can't happening outside daz and the best way is removing that "hidden polygons".
A important tip when cleanning a mesh, in a case where the "armor or piece of cloth" can "full cover the full body or the piece of the body it being used, aways leave at last a "single polygon from the character body in that mesh then choose from a place where you are almost 100% sure never gonna appear, because if you remove the full body without leave any skin it can break the export process for unreal making the unreal crash, i really don't know why this happening but its happening with me, then whenever i'm cleaning i'm aways make sure to leave at last 1 quad from the skin in a perfect place, in some special case like exporting both hands or both feets in a single fbx you also need to leave 1 polygon/quad on each hand and feet not just 1 polygon for both it also can crash unreal.
Step 4 - setting the character for animation retarget - almost done, now come another really annoying chore, first you must open the character skeleton double clicking on it
i've marked the 3 important things, first in the first one marked skeleton tree you got options then mark show retarget options then it will make at the side of all the bones appear they current retarget options which if i'm not wrong it will be all bones market to animation, then you go to the genesis8root bone(the first) and right click on it, it will bring many options then click on recursivile set translation retargeting skeleton, it will set all the bones to skeleton, then go to that bones: pelvis and spine 1 and manually set then to animation or animation relative.
then go to the retarget manager
here is where come the most annoying job, go to the option of "select rig" then select humanoid, it will make appear all the bones appear in the box bellow, then on there you must manually setup each of the bones of the character to match the humanoid rig here a tutorial for that it's is russian i think but just watch what he is doing and follow and at some point he will pop up a image showing how to proper setup all the bonus then pause the video and follow it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dtg0IIUFYiw&
tip if you want to avoid this whole chore and make things even more fast use this:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=11ZxLmLYkbZ09pvrQTRWS1KDNecNQ0-TP
with this program all you need to do before importing the character to unreal it's use this program in the fbx, for that place the fbx inside the folder debug then edit the "rig.bat it can be made with the simple text editor, then will appear something like that:
FBXTest.exe HighHeels.fbx - the highheels is the name of the fbx then change it for the name you used like let's say character.fbx then save and close then execute the rig, then it will automatically rename all the bones of the g8 character to match all the bones names used on the unreal manequin then inside unreal when you click in the select rig and choose humanoid it will automatically set all the bones for you without you need do anything.
after you click on it, it create a new fbx called "output" you can deleted your old fbx and rename this new fbx to the old one or you can keep the old one and create a new name for this new fbx like character00.fbx.
A important details any character you use this program if you gonna add new "parts to the same skeleton, all the parts must be used the fbx program on then too, otherwise if you try to export to unreal a new piece and use the "already exist" skeleton it can bug in unreal, then any new thing you want do add to that "skeleton" must be made using that tool too before goes to unreal even if the skeleton in general is the same just with different names it can bug things then they must really have the same skeleton(even bones names).
then after set all the bones go to the place where is saying preview mesh probably for you it will appear saying to click on that to set this pose as the base pose.
now you can go the character you want to export the animations, for exemple you want to export the mannequin animations, go to the mannequin folder go to his skeleton and also go to the retarget skeleton folder then select the humanoid rig it also automatically set all bonus then just save, then go to his animations folder then in his case right click on the thirdperson animationblueprint(the first one with a small book as icon) then choose retarget anim blueprint (the name can come different if you choose animations rater than the bluprint but the result is the same) then click in duplicate
then in the new menu on the select skeleon will appear all the skeletons which are compatible with the mannequin(in this case your character) then in the other side will apear the mannequin and the character based on the skeleton you are using then before click in retarget go to where is the change... option to choose where you want that new animations to be saved otherwise they will be saved in the mannequin animations folder.
then after choose click in retarget then since you choose the blue print it automatically duplicate all the animations related to this blueprint, in case where you must retarget just the animtions then you must choose and retarget each animation if it don't have a blueprint.
then be happy.
hope it help you.
edit1: this tutorial is to export the character without work on the "material or skin" if you want you can export the character with all the materials without any issue, but due to how different daz does and export "textures" you gonna nee some extra work to proper setup the materals because they will come to unreal in a very "basic way" almost without any "effect" almost like just the basic color texture all the others map you need to setup manually which will be another chore to do which already was talked in others topics, but in general this is the most basic and fast way to export characters from daz to unreal based on my own experience.
Update1:
Unreal pose fix: here a little "update" for the unreal A - pose, this is a new and a little more precise version than the previous one and a attempt to fixe "basically some possible shoulders issues which the previous pose was having due to the unreal mannequin have his own shoulders a little curved to "behind" which i failed to notice and not doing it make the character have his own shoulders wrong curved to "front" in some type of animations, i also tried to be much more precise in others areas, this is not perfect but still much better than previous one.
WOW! Thank you so, so much Ellessarr. That is pretty darn comprehensive for a "little" tutorial. You obviously put in a great deal of effort and I really appreciate it!
I've also been looking at iClone, which has the ability to import DAZ characters and export Unreal.
They've also released a new update which automates / assists the material set-up for Unreal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGL_Z1jbh7U
I'm thinking about combining these two functions to export to iClone, then apply the new Digital Human Shader, and export to Unreal.
for what i could notice in iclone, you don't really "export" the character, what iclone does is "morphs it's own character to match daz character, it's still a iclone character just using the "materials and appearance of daz character.
i'm saying that because daz character have a big difference from iclone which is it's "character polygons count", which means a iclone character have less polygons than a daz character, you can easy notice it when you are customizing a character inside iclone, while a daz character without the eyelash and just the body mesh have around 16100 to 16300 polygons a iclone character have around 10 to 12k polygons, at first visually they can look very like but when you start to customize a iclone character you can easy "spot" that difference for exemple in the "breast zone" iclone have much less polygons and is less rounded which means if you "increase too much the breast of the iclone character it start to become "sharp" and easy noticiable the "lack of polygons", that is one of the things which stopped me to use daz characters, because they are only good aslong you don't modifie them too much otherwise they "lack of polygons start to appear in your face pretty easy, another problem is the lack of export morphs and the fact which you can't export the "details" of the texture in a separeted map as you can do in in daz, like makeups, bruishs, wounds, scars, eyebrows tattos any of that details are direct applied to the base material without giving you a proper way to control that inside unreal, no morphs targets a little low poly count in base character and bad texture customizations and "horrible prices in they markets(things are a lot expensive compared with daz) ended making me switch from iclone to daz, which also have his flaws too like "many basic or important tools being sold apart like the decimator or even a basic measure tool and also how "poor work the autofit" are things which really true annoying me a lot in daz but compared with what annoying me in iclone are things which i can live without.
one good thing is which indeed when comes to export materials iclone is really supperion than daz it's really amazing, the only flaw in it's "export function" is the lack of export morphs and the lack of exporting "details in separated layers", if that 2 options were added to iclone then i could start to see iclone becoming a superior tool than daz.
Another good update to iclone which i noticed is which you already have a option to export a character in unreal format which means all the bones already come proper named and grouped as unreal with even the "extra bones for the IK hands and feets, which unreal have.
if one day iclone improve the base character poly count, allow export morphs and details in layers then i would happy switch totally to iclone and leave daz.
Another detail in iclone which make him a little better than daz is which all they "outfits" and stuffs are for "gaming" desing which means all outifits are in general optimized for game(low poly) also animations, and props most of it's stuffs are for gaming" and it's have a much superior decimtaor tool and even a influence painter for cloths making easy fix influence issues inside Character creator, which ofcourse is not perfect and some cases can't fix everything but you can improve.
That is why one of my wishes would be or daz getting they hands in the iclone character creator 3 and look at all they features and add to daz, or iclone get daz and look at his good features and add to character creator a mixing of both tools would make the "perfect dream" character creator tool ever.
i've added some extra details which i forget about using the fbx tool inside the previous post.
That is an impressive write up there. But of course Genesis models have more polygons in the breasts! They make good bank off those things, LOL!
What about using Texture Atlas to convert all the maps to a single UV? Would that help any?
@Ellessarr ... Thank you for taking the time to write these helpful posts. I might not yet be looking at Unreal yet but I'll bookmark this thread in case I do.
Thanks for the add'l info, Ellessarr!
I wonder if you could import a Daz character into iClone just for the material conversion and then apply those materials to the Daz character imported to Unreal from Daz?
well that would be a good experience, i myself never tried this, because i don't know if daz character uv is the same of daz uv, i know which iclone do have way to convert daz material to work on iclone mesh but i really don't know if they use the same uv to use the converted textures back to daz.
i made a little mistake in previous posts, i wanted to means which iclone don't allow you to export details separated from the texture, whenever you edit your character texture to add any detail it will be added direct in the final texture making impossible export let's say a eyebrow texture in a separated texture from the base texture, all will be mixed in the main base texture, which is a issue it don't have the LIE system daz have which make you be able to export just the "eye brow" and things like that, well you can still make it in photoshop if you know how to do but it's another thing.
Well aslong is inside my current level of knowledge i don't have any issue in give some help
, as i told currently i'm try to develop my first indie game but i'm also still learning a lot from it specially because i'm a bit of "perfeccionist when i'm doing something which i'm really want to do making me go crazy looking for many tutorials, i'm the typical "good at everything master of nothing, type, i like to learn many things but normally never really ending mastering anything because i'm ending getting a bit bored before that. 
thanks from me too, I learned some things I was unaware of too, my workflow is much simpler but severely limiting, the importing in sections looks very useful.
The main thing I learned just a week ago was changing those bones to skeleton then select ones to animation, the tute I saw actually had two others as well as spine and pelvis, before my players had wide stances and were hard to get to walk nicely when they finally retargeted. It usually took me a few tries moving the hip in the pose.
I only have iClone 6 pipeline so definitely not possible for me
but
I can and do apply DAZ skin textures and shapes to iClone figures using a combination of Ultimate Unwrap 3D repaint and Zbrush!
Yes they are lowpoly but often very useful as extras in big scenes where I need to follow over with a character, not tried them or really iClone iAvatars in general in UE4 yet, I probably should.
Ah. Well, then hopefully iClone eventually lets us port over the higher-poly Daz characters.
Maybe the higher poly's aren't necessary for the most part for real-time rendering.