Forum: DAZ|Studio


Subject: character swapping

jacknimble opened this issue on Nov 17, 2015 ยท 16 posts


jacknimble posted Tue, 17 November 2015 at 8:15 AM

Well, it sure is hard to find information on this program, I could probably ask about 50 questions here a day. But for now, I'd really like to know, if I have some characters posed and decide I want to change characters but keep everything else, hair clothes, poses, etc., is there an easy way to do that? Can I somehow save everything that is applied to the current character, then paste it onto a new character? I see there are a lot of different save options under the edit menu, but it's hard to figure out what they are and how to use them.


bhoins posted Tue, 17 November 2015 at 9:23 AM

If it is the same generation character, for example Victoria 7 to Karen 7, then it is simply a matter of applying the Karen Character preset to V7.

If you want to switch between generations, or genders, then it is a little more complex as most of the things on your list are only built for one generation. If you have appropriate clones then you can make that transition. Though it isn't as simple.

You can also save the clothing+Hair as a wearable preset and apply it to another character of the same generation and gender simply, or with clones to a different gender/generation figure with a little more work.


markht posted Tue, 17 November 2015 at 9:27 AM

If you want to change between say different Genesis 3 Female characters, like replacing a V7 withe Eve 7 character. You can just go to the shaping menu, zero out the current shape and apply the shape you want. Many characters also have shaping only presets that you can apply. You then need to change the skin by using the material presets for the skin and whatever makeup you have.

You may need to adjust the pose after changing the character shape, since the pose may not look correct with the new shape. For example, if the character has hands on hips, the hands maybe slightly inside the hip or above the hip depending on the shapes.

If you want to replace a V4 character with a G3F, that is more complicated. Your only choice would be saving the pose (File -> Save as ... -> Pose preset), dressing G3F in the same clothes and trying to apply the saved pose. There are some pose translator scripts, but my experience is even with those you need some adjustments.


malwat posted Tue, 17 November 2015 at 5:54 PM

I have generally found that simply selecting the character in the scene, and then loading a same generation figure (of the same gender if not Genesis) brings the new character in in place of the old, but as said, some adjustment may be needed by hand if the figures are different physical shapes or sizes. For Replacing backwards I have not found a way, but forwards, as suggested, you can save a V4/M4 character pose and apply it to the newer generation figure. More often than not it won't do so perfectly, so using add-ons like pose translators is a necessity - but even these are far from ideal, especially when ending at G3. Of course, changing a V4 to a G3F character's figure and pose is one thing, but if you are looking at clothing or hair then it is a real hassle - you just have too bite the bullet and try adjustments. Even then they may not work. I still don't seem to be able to use V4/M4 hair on G3 figures, but to be fair G2 to G3 usually works very well. If anyone knows a foolproof way to resolve these issues I shall be as pleased as Jacknimble.

Malwat

Getting younger by the day; getting older by the minute....


jacknimble posted Sun, 06 December 2015 at 8:44 AM

No I have a genesis 2 female, already posed and with hair and clothing that I want, also some size morphs applied and so on. I want to switch the body for another genesis 2 female, but not have to go to all the trouble of finding all the hair clothes props and reposing etc.


malwat posted Sun, 06 December 2015 at 1:27 PM

Then you can probably just select the figure in the scene (say 'Genesis 2 Female') and then select the new figure (say Josie 6) and the option should then be to either create a new figure or replace the existing one. It usually works but you may need to do some tidying up.

Malwat

Getting younger by the day; getting older by the minute....


jacknimble posted Thu, 10 December 2015 at 9:36 PM

I think this is related enough I don't need to post a new topic.

I'm working with a character I like, I created and posed a scene, saved it, then continued working, reposing, etc. and saved a few more scenes with different poses. Along the way, I've altered the figure quite a bit (body shaping mostly). Now I want to render all the scenes, but obviously I don't want the character to have different shapes in all of them. How do I take my final edition, and make all the shape changes to all the previous editions, so I can have a consistent character in all the renders?


Male_M3dia posted Fri, 11 December 2015 at 10:01 AM

jacknimble posted at 10:59AM Fri, 11 December 2015 - #4243680

I think this is related enough I don't need to post a new topic.

I'm working with a character I like, I created and posed a scene, saved it, then continued working, reposing, etc. and saved a few more scenes with different poses. Along the way, I've altered the figure quite a bit (body shaping mostly). Now I want to render all the scenes, but obviously I don't want the character to have different shapes in all of them. How do I take my final edition, and make all the shape changes to all the previous editions, so I can have a consistent character in all the renders?

You would save the shape you want to use as a shape preset, then for each scene select the character then use the "Zero figure shape" command:

zeroshape.jpg

Then apply the shape preset you saved back to the figure.


jacknimble posted Sat, 12 December 2015 at 12:38 AM

Great! Thanks so much! And...what if I want to carry over multiple changes, not only shape, such as shaders and materials? Do I need to individually save each of these and then apply them or can I choose a group? Also, I see there isn't a "zero shaders" or "materials".


RHaseltine posted Sat, 12 December 2015 at 4:43 PM

A Character Preset will save shaping and materials, a Properties preset can save any combination - go through the tabs setting the ones you want on.

To zero materials you can apply the base shader, or you can set up a custom shader the way you want it for "default" and apply that to all surfaces.


jacknimble posted Sun, 13 December 2015 at 12:17 AM

damn that's too bad...I applied the beautiful skin iray mouth shader to a character, then way down the line did the render and it makes the mouth look like it's got herpes or something : P It would be great if I could just "unapply" that shader, instead of having to completely start over the whole figure from the base again : /


RHaseltine posted Sun, 13 December 2015 at 3:45 PM

If you mean you used a character and want to rest the mouth materials to the base character without affecting modifications elsewhere select the mouth surface(s) you want reset, then hold down ctrl(Win)/cmd(Mac) when you double-click the original material preset and in the dialogue tell it to affect Selected Surfaces only.


jacknimble posted Tue, 15 December 2015 at 8:30 AM

wow that's an awesome tip, thanks!


jacknimble posted Tue, 15 December 2015 at 8:32 AM

I had trouble with swapping my characters however. I saved her as a character preset. I loaded the scene, clicked the figure I wanted to replace, double-clicked the preset...it gives two options, load a new character, and apply character presets to currently selected. Doing so, however, does not load the character I saved, exactly. It seems to kind of mush the two of them together instead, which frankly just ain't very pretty....to be clear I don't mean it fails to replace her, in the end there is only one character, but the remaining character is not my saved character, and not the old character. She has aspects of both. Like the nose, for example is just bizarre looking.


jestmart posted Tue, 15 December 2015 at 10:13 AM

You need to zero the figure shape before applying the preset. See Male-M3dia's post above.


jacknimble posted Wed, 16 December 2015 at 7:55 AM

oh right! sorry thanks