This process will let you export your poser figure with all your cool morphs applied and import it into Zbrush to edit and smooth across body parts with out any tearing at the body part group boundaries.

Do this because..

The morphing tool in poser is unreliable and will not copy morphs across limbs in poser versions below 8. When poser does apply copy morphs across limbs it does so with errors.

For this tutorial you can use either the Daz3D V4 or M4 models. ( Any model should support this method.)

Intro.
So you've created that perfect looking morph in Poser but need to do some extra editing to the mesh in a way that only Zbrush can handel. Typical what happens when you export from Poser and import into Zbrush you quickly find that you cannot use the smooth tool, because it starts to destroy the mesh at the group boundaries. By following the steps below you should be able to edit in Zbrush with no problems at all.

The theory behind this comes from the fact that the base Daz3D models are 1 cohesive mesh. That are not broken up into groups. While the mesh is split into poly groups those groups are still part of 1 mesh. However when you export the Model from Poser it explodes that model into many meshes that are grouped into single model, but each part is it's own mesh. This is why when you import into Zbrush and try to smooth over the body part boundaries the mesh starts to tear. Using weld body part seams only causes errors on re import of the model for a morph target because it renumbers the vertices.

To fix this problem is rather tedious but only takes about 30 min.

Step 1.

Load your figure in Poser

( EXTREAMILY IMPORTANT!!!! )Turn off all IK for the feet and hands.

( EXTREAMILY IMPORTANT!!!! )Open the Joint Editor and click Zero Rotations

Export the figure with all your morphs applied using the following settings.
File-->Export-->Single Frame
Click universe to clear the object selection
Click on your figures main root AKA Victoria4 / Michael4 to select only that figure. Click ok.

Check only
Include Body Part Names In Polygon Groups
Include Figure Names In Polygon Groups
Include Existing Grouls In Polygon Groups
Click Ok and name your output file – Base_Mesh.obj

Step 2.
Locate the master OBJ file for the poser figure you are working on. Daz3D figures are located in PoserRuntimeGeometriesDAZPeople

Create a copy of this file, name it Convert.Obj and place it in the same folder as your Base_Mesh.obj file . This way the two files will be easily accessible from the same folder.

Step 3.
1.Load up Zbrush and import the Base_Mesh.obj file.
2.With the Base_Mesh.obj file open in Zbrush hold down ctrl shift and click on the neck to isolate that body part. You should now notice that only the neck mesh is visible.
3.On your tool pallet expand the Morph Target widget.
4.Click StoreMT
5.Hold down ctrl shift and click any where on the screen to make all body parts visible.

Step 4.
1.Import the Convert.OBJ file.
2.With the Convert.OBJ file open in Zbrush hold down ctrl shift and click on the neck to isolate that body part. You should now notice that only the neck mesh is visible.
3.Under your Morph Target widget slide the Morph slider to the right 100% and you will see the body part change
4.( EXTREAMILY IMPORTANT!!!! )Hold down ctrl shift and click any where on the screen to make all body parts visible and export the figure and over write the Convert.OBJ with the updated mesh.

Step 5
1.Import the Base_Mesh.obj file.
2.With the Base_Mesh.obj file open in Zbrush hold down ctrl shift and click on the chest to isolate that body part. You should now notice that only the chest mesh is visible.
3.Navigate to the Morph Target widget.
4.Click DelMT to clear the previous Morph Target
5.Click StoreMT
6.Hold down ctrl shift and click any where on the screen to make all body parts visible.

Step 4.
1.Import the Convert.OBJ file.
2.With the Convert.OBJ file open in Zbrush hold down ctrl shift and click on the chest to isolate that body part. You should now notice that only the chest mesh is visible.
3.Under your Morph Target widget slide the Morph slider to the right 100% and you will see the body part change
4.( EXTREAMILY IMPORTANT!!!! )Hold down ctrl shift and click any where on the screen to make all body parts visible and export the figure and over write the Convert.OBJ with the updated mesh.

Repeat these steps for all body parts if you are confident that the jaw, tong, and eyes have not been moved on there x,y,x axis then don't worry about applying the morphs to them in Zbrush.

Once complete you can now edit your figure with out worry that the seams will break apart when you try to use the smooth tool.

If you simply want to work on the base Daz3D model then you simply need only to import the model from your runtime folder.

Step 5.
To apply your morphs you can do 1 of may things.

1. Export each body part individually from Zbrush and apply the morphs to each body part in poser.
2. Create and save a V4 or M4 character and save it as a figure in poser. Find the corresponding poser .cr2 file, edit it with a text editor and replace the .obj file name with that of your own and copy your .obj file to PoserRuntimeGeometriesDAZPeople. <--- Can revert back to old mesh for some reason.
3. Use a 3rd party software to create an injection file.
4. Use Poser Pro 2010 and import a full body morph. <----EASY
    

cool, saving this for later use.

thank you for this!

 If I'm not mistaken this should make fitting clothes to a custom body morph easier. Import the figure then import the cloths as a sub tool in Zbrush then just re sculpt the cloths to fit the new figure body. Then export out as a base morph and go from there. I'll work on this and see how well it goes later on this week.

Keep us posted, when life settles down I want to get back to work in this area.

Oh very cool.  Thank you.  Sharen

Thank you !
Watching this space...

Thanks so much for the valuable info and taking your time to explain it so concisely.
cheerio
lululee

Thanks so much for your clear explanation. I just wonder why one can't do your last item:

1. Use Poser Pro 2010 and import a full body morph. **<----EASY

in Poser7 or 8. Every time I try this, I get "Wrong Number of Vertices".** What does Poser Pro 2010 do differently?**
**

Bookmarked, thanks.

Quote - Thanks so much for your clear explanation. I just wonder why one can't do your last item:

1. Use Poser Pro 2010 and import a full body morph. **<----EASY

in Poser7 or 8. Every time I try this, I get "Wrong Number of Vertices".** What does Poser Pro 2010 do differently?**
**

  The reason for this is that Poser Pro 2010 has introduced a new feature under the figures tab called “Load Full Body Morph”. This allows you take an fully exported figure with morphs applied in .OBJ format, and load it back on top of an unmodified blank figure. It will then load the morphs for each body part and create a master control dial on the root body selection.

Poser 8 and below cannot load an entire figure at once as a morph. Selecting the root body section will not allow you to load a “full body morph” via the Load Morph Target under the objects tab. Most times causing poser to lockup or return the wrong number of vertices error.

Hi Ratz34, question from me.

Let's say I morphed M4 in Poser with its various morphs (Hiro, Freak, etc) then I export the morphed M4 from Poser to ZBrush for further detail. Can I do that? Do morph on top of morph?

Btw I recently upgraded to PoserPro 2010.

Thanks//

 ...

Quote - Hi Ratz34, question from me.

Let's say I morphed M4 in Poser with its various morphs (Hiro, Freak, etc) then I export the morphed M4 from Poser to ZBrush for further detail. Can I do that? Do morph on top of morph?

Btw I recently upgraded to PoserPro 2010.

Thanks//

Yes you can. In fact this is exactly why I created this How To.

1. Create your base morphs in poser
2. 0 your joints and Export to Obj
3. Follow the steps in the How To
4. Refine the Obj in zbrush to your likings. Try not to reposition the arms or legs along their length axis Ie arms X Legs Y.
5. Export from zbrush to Obj
6. Import the Obj as a Full Body Morph on top of the base M4 V4.