Hey folks

anybody know of a tutorial on converting DS props and scenes to be used in Poser? I know I've seen people using the stuff but I don't know how to do it cause DS scares me. lol

Ken has a script for that, makes it easy and painless. :)

https://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/?ViewProduct=153019

I usually just export the scene as a colloda file and import into poser,  which has worked well for most of the things I've transferred.  I tried FBX, but it seems to have a tendency to recenter all the scene props, while collada leaves them where they are.   Of course you have to edit the materials afterward.

I've been using D3D's DSONLoader which does a decent job importing DS stuff into Poser.  Unfortunately, it doesn't work in P12 but if you still have P11 installed, the content can be saved back into the Poser Library or export a new object file.

If you are interested in trying the DSONLoader script in P11, the link is here.  I found it at the Wayback Machine.

I just found that Ken has a DUF converter for sale. He has been converting all his stuff to work in P12

ghostship2 posted at 10:21 PM Mon, 28 March 2022 - #4436514

I just found that Ken has a DUF converter for sale. He has been converting all his stuff to work in P12

Yes, he certainly has! I use it a lot but it will not convert full scenes, you have to do it one piece at a time. Also, if there are morphs included, you will need to use DFS tools instead as the morphs are not being converted. 
But what I love about Ken's tool is that it is fast and easy ( and it will work for clothes too) and you can even convert the textures too.
Well worth buying :)

I use ($$) DSF Tools to rip individual props to OBJ (NO MTL) but, YMMV, find it slows dramatically above ~1 MB file-size.

Exporting scene from DS as OBJ+MTL usually works well, and is much faster on bigger files, but I find the procrustean DS UI gives me a prompt migraine.

https://www.deviantart.com/nik-2213/art/Porting-DAZ-Studio-props-to-Poser-friendly-OBJ-MTL-899045469

I've exported tons of stuff from DS to use in Poser, and OBJ works pretty well, although it's a pain if the prop set has a lot of parts. I recently bough a multi-part fantasy room set on sale to see what would be involved in getting it into Poser, and this time I tried FBX and DAE (Collada) formats. As bwldrd noted, FBX format made every item centered, which wouldn't be a big deal for a small number of items, but this set has nearly 100 items already positioned around the room, and I did not relish the idea of manually moving each one. So I tried Collada format, and for whatever reason, I cannot get the import/export scales right with that format. I can open it in my 3D modeler (Cheetah for Mac) and it looks fine with an imported V4 obj -- heck, even the point lights work! -- but in Poser it comes in anywhere from microscopic to extremely tiny. I'll keep trying, though, because all the items were properly positioned. 

As others have mentioned, the manual way gets you just the diffuse texture maps. You still have to manually set up specular, bump, and anything else you want. I love the idea that Ken's script takes care of the materials, but alas, it doesn't work on a Mac, so I can't use it.

As for clothing and hair, you can export that in CR2 format right to your Poser Character library.

I use the obj export method, although some giant scenes (Harpsburg comes to mind) don't transfer all the material zones. In that case, I exported the individual buildings, too, so I can fit them on top of the untextured parts of the mesh. Also, DAZ changed something in the obj export utility, and you now have to find each individual texture as the obj loads in Poser. This can take a while. The materials used to transfer automatically with the mtl file. I assume they did this to make life harder for people converting material to Poser. Thanks for the tip on Colada format! I'm also on a Mac. so I can't run the DSF tool. Also, when you import an obj, select the option for a standard figure. This makes huge and tiny objects visible.

Oddly enough, I just tried converting another prop set I got on deep discount, and this time the Collada version wouldn't import into Poser. I went through all the dialog boxes, but nothing happened. And when I imported the FBX version, at 100% standard figure scale, everything was the right size AND in the right position. Although, now that I think about it, that may be b/c the objects were zeroed in position rather than at world zero. I also may have done something different when I exported the FBX out of DS, but stupidly I didn't keep notes on the settings I used!

The set (Willow Creek by Stonemason) also came with an OBJ+MTL version, so you could import it w/o going through DS. But when I tried that, each piece came in at a different size relative to the terrain the pieces were supposed to fit, so that just was not going to work (in addition to being rather tedious, with 60+ objs). They also came in with only the diffuse texture maps attached, whereas the FBX version had diffuse, normal, and trans maps attached. All they need now is specular. Plus some duplication of plants, since the set was designed to use instances.

So the short answer is: if you're working with a small number of items, OBJ exports from DS are usually pretty easy. But for larger sets, FBX or DAE might be easier, though you might as well export in both formats and see how it goes!

I think that is what the modern converter from Ken1171 avoids. from what I've read on it it will convert an entire play set with proper size and mat zones. It's bad enough when I buy an actual Poser prop that is super old and all zones need to be re-mat/shaded for P12. I'm still on the fence about it all cause I'd have to buy a lot of D3D stuff to justify buying the converter script.

Ken's script is great, but it doesn't pull in all the available texture maps, just diffuse and transparent, IIFC. That, at least, let's you know what tex map sets go with what materials. You manually have to set up the normal maps, etc.

I don't think Ken's converter script works on a Mac, so I'm stuck doing it the "old fashioned" way, regardless. But interesting to note: the FBX import I mentioned above included all the maps attached where they should be, not just the diffuse color maps. It was really surprisingly painless.

As for justifying your use of the script, ghostship2, that probably depends on whether you have a membership at the DAZ store. If you do, and if you check your wishlist and the Fast Grab and freebies pages regularly, you can get some DS-only stuff for seriously low prices (or free). I probably wouldn't pay more than $5 for something I'm going to have to go through the trouble of converting to Poser, and every once in a while a $25+ set will briefly drop to a few dollars, so I grab it. That's the only reason I still shop there, as I prefer to do most of my Poser shopping here. 

CassandraNorth posted at 7:29 AM Tue, 29 March 2022 - #4436534

ghostship2 posted at 10:21 PM Mon, 28 March 2022 - #4436514

I just found that Ken has a DUF converter for sale. He has been converting all his stuff to work in P12

Yes, he certainly has! I use it a lot but it will not convert full scenes, you have to do it one piece at a time. Also, if there are morphs included, you will need to use DFS tools instead as the morphs are not being converted. 
But what I love about Ken's tool is that it is fast and easy ( and it will work for clothes too) and you can even convert the textures too.
Well worth buying :)

There is a script coming to move morphs.  He recently posted it on his Youtube channel.

DUF Morph Converter for P12

This tool is a Python script for Poser 12 that allows converting, transferring, and injecting morph dials, preserving dial groups, and dial min/max values from DAZ Studio 4 DUF props/figures to existing converted PP2 files. It is the perfect companion to the "DUF Prop Converter P12" script (sold separately), so one converts the items to Poser PP2, and the other transfers existing DUF morphs and respective dial groups to it.

perpetualrevision posted at 2:16 AM Sat, 16 April 2022 - #4437249

I don't think Ken's converter script works on a Mac, so I'm stuck doing it the "old fashioned" way, regardless. But interesting to note: the FBX import I mentioned above included all the maps attached where they should be, not just the diffuse color maps. It was really surprisingly painless.

Ken's scripts are written in Python 3, which is cross platform.

ssgbryan posted at 2:02 PM Sun, 17 April 2022 - #4437300

perpetualrevision posted at 2:16 AM Sat, 16 April 2022 - #4437249

I don't think Ken's converter script works on a Mac, so I'm stuck doing it the "old fashioned" way, regardless. But interesting to note: the FBX import I mentioned above included all the maps attached where they should be, not just the diffuse color maps. It was really surprisingly painless.

Ken's scripts are written in Python 3, which is cross platform.

You are right in theory, but even with this kind of langage you may use some functionalities that don't exist in each OS. Maybe the protection he put in his tools?

Nice FUD.

It is now available, btw.

ssgbryan posted at 2:02 PM Sun, 17 April 2022 - #4437300

perpetualrevision posted at 2:16 AM Sat, 16 April 2022 - #4437249

I don't think Ken's converter script works on a Mac, so I'm stuck doing it the "old fashioned" way, regardless. But interesting to note: the FBX import I mentioned above included all the maps attached where they should be, not just the diffuse color maps. It was really surprisingly painless.

Ken's scripts are written in Python 3, which is cross platform.

According to a private exchange with Ken, the "issue is not Python itself, but the WX interface that Poser uses." Apparently that interface works with some version of macOS and not others, for reasons he's not able to ascertain b/c he doesn't have access to a Mac. I've heard from several other Mac users that his DUF converter doesn't work for them, but I didn't track down data like which version of the OS they're using and other possibly relevant details. I haven't tried it myself b/c so far it's been fairly easy to just export out of DAZ Studio in FBX or DAE format, and I don't do it that often.

But I do plan to try Ken's MAT Edit for Poser 12 script, now that I have a new MacBook Pro that can run Poser 12. I rely heavily on Netherworks' MatWriter panel in Poser 11, so I'm looking forward to having similar functionality in Poser 12!

As for the topic of getting DS stuff into Poser, I've noticed that some props purchased at the DAZ store come with versions whose file name starts with FBX, which might mean you could just import that directly into Poser without first going through DS. Haven't yet tried that, however.

PS: I mean that the ZIP file name starts with FBX, not the file name of the item itself. Presumably when you UNZIP it, the file name ends in .fbx :-)