Visionnext

Dear Dan, Remove Invalid did the trick. You're really a master in this. At the moment my workflow is to bring a posed character from Daz to Cinema 4D and apply the shaders. As C4D is reordering the vertices on every import I have to see, if the selection thing can be applied simply by copying it from another file. Thanks a lot, you saved the day Walter

The polygon selection is the face of this Genesis 8 character. I applied a black and white map only for the eyebrow area. Nevertheless I get guides all over the face, but almost no hairs. But I expected no hairs at all in the black areas. I made the hair a bit thicker to see it better.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nbqopnwq0sracsw/G3F8F.zip?dl=0

Here is the file https://www.dropbox.com/pri/get/G3F8F.zip?_subject_uid=426831271&w=AABxLaqlgarM5oVDl-nAPoCgKbQFf4deHB7X_Evd1SG1kw Hopefully it works

Thanks I used R18 and Vray 3.6. I'll have to extract the file without the maps. I'll send it.

Hi all, I have a selection for the face and try to restrict the hair to the eyebrows with a density map in the guides and the hair. Unfortunately some hairs appear in the rest of the face although the map is black in these regions. What do I do wrong?

I want to learn Blender as well. I have a license for R21, but cannot use it, as I only have a Vray license for R20. I mostly work with R18 today, as I have some other plugins that would need a new license key for R19+. R18 is still working fine. I do not miss the new features since R18 a lot. On the other hand, there is a Vray plugin available for Blender, which means that Blender may be a competitor for all kinds of CG software in future. Functionality can be added easily in Blender, as the source code is available. I see interesting times ahead.

It seems that every software provider wants to go to subscription. This may be good for companies and probably some freelancers, but others that do not use the software often may not like the costs. They have a perpetual license and today they may skip a new version, if it does not provide the right features at a reasonable price. I have an MSA today, that will end after the delivery of R21. At the moment I work with R18, as I have some plugins for that version and there is no need for me to use a newer version at the moment. So let's see where Cinema is heading. I'm not into motion graphics, but more into characters. So there are a lot of features in C4D that I don't really need. Best things are the new nodal material system and new modeling tools. Still waiting for an improvement in the Bodypaint sector. I have a similar issue with Vray. They changed the model to subscription as well. I still have a perpetual license for all versions up to R19. If Vray Next supports the nodal C4D material system, I might subscribe to Vray to be able to use it with R21 and later. I love C4D, but there is Blender 2.8, which is constantly getting better and Chaos Group is working on a plugin for Blender as well. There is even a plugin for importing Daz characters to Blender. As I do some programming myself, I could add some functionality here as well. I wrote some scripts for C4D already, but in case of Blender, I have the source code to understand, how I can integrate the plugin in the best way.

Thanks a lot. This looks quite helpful. I really would love to work with Subdivision 2 models and put the rest to displacement, normal and bump. The Bake texture tag seems to be able to produce displacement maps as well. It was addressed here already There seems to be a way to Bake Objects in the Object Manager/Objects/Bake Objects as well. I just have to play around a bit :) Seems I'm on the right track now.

So you suggest to bake a normal map and convert it to a displacement map afterwards.

Thanks for the information, but it's more to import a lowres OBJ and a hires OBJ and then bake the difference to a displacement map for the lowres OBJ. Nevertheless I have to have a look at ShaderMap 4, as it looks interesting as well.

Some of the JCMs are quite useful as they correct deformations or can be used for bulging muscles. I'd love to bake the hires OBJ into a B&W displacement map. Just don't know, how to do that.

Seems to be an interesting approach, but... - What about HD morphs? - What about joint controlled morphs? They are controlled by ERCLinks. Thanks for the information though. I already thought about just exporting the OBJ and re-rig it. As I use Vray I have to redo the maps anyway.

I worked on a way to get Daz figures to C4D more than a year ago via FBX. You get a weighted mesh with bones, but some things are not imported by C4D (e.g. default orientation of the joints). You can get the joint controlled morphs, but the connection to the joints have to be done manually via Xpresso. Such a Daz to C4D plugin shall support all these things, so posing can be done directly in C4D. Similar things already exist for Maya and Blender.

I heard that already several times. Thanks for the info, but I will believe it, when I see it

You get a warning as well in Firefox

Improved cloth and dynamics simulation. Liquid simulation would be nice as well. Better file import/export (e.g. FBX)

Wow, what a self-challenge! You're awesome!

Yes, but it is based on FBX as well, thus - no HD morphs - no morphs that are joint movement controlled This may not be necessary for animations, but probably for stills and close-ups. Otherwise it seems to work fine...

Unfortunately some great tutorials by Vertex Pusher (aka @HSrdelic) are no longer available. I learned a lot from them. There have been improvements in between with the character templates, but he really covered the basics well.

Sorry, just didn't realize that it doesn't work on Mac although it is a Daz plugin. Seems that Mac doesn't get the love, they received in the past by independent developers. Apple has to push the Mac again...

There is a plugin for Daz Studio, Headshop Pro 11 https://www.daz3d.com/headshop-11-win I's not free and it seems to have some bugs that will be solved with updates, but some people get some good results with it.

I started a document with a detailed workflow for transferring G3 to C4D, which includes the usage of Vray 3.6. Assigning materials should be done with a script, but I need to develop a reliable and flexible approach. Another long-term approach includes the transfer based on FBX, but this involves Daz Scripts and C4D Scripts/Plugins and is a more complex topic. I would definitely need more time for that, but I don't have it now. Let's see, what 2019 will bring.

Ok, here is my workflow for Genesis 3/8. First I use the following export settings in Daz Studio Then I use the following C4D import settings I would advice to check Invert Transparency to get the material right by default. Nevertheless you will need to adjust them to get the right quality in Cinema 4D. I have to adjust them anyway, as I use Vray as render engine. I made a set of textures for this purpose and replace them every time after I import the OBJ. his can be automated by a script, if repeated often.

One route that works most of the time is to work with the Riptide Pro Plugin. Load the OBJ and the Vertex animation (*.mdd). You will need the mdd export for Daz Studio as well. FBX has a lot of issues, as you do not get the joint controlled morphs (JCM) and the default position of the joints over to Cinema 4D.