ProPose001 opened this issue on Jan 26, 2022 ยท 38 posts
ProPose001 posted Wed, 26 January 2022 at 5:13 AM
A while back I bought this Character "Lily HD for Genesis 8.1 Female" by Mousso. A beautiful character with all the right stuff. By that I mean, fiber brows and pubes, and a texture set that supports the female anatomy. My goal is to use this figure in Carrara using all the features that are made available, plus a few more.
Not a problem if you use DazStudio, but a real PITA if you want to use this character in Carrara. As we all know Genesis 3, and 8, and 8.1 are not supported in Carrara, at least not officially. With the fantastic work done by Misty, we have useable presets for Genesis 3 M&F. Genesis 8 M&F, and also Genesis 8.1 M&F, available here in the free stuff area, except for Genesis 3 Janette and Jonathon, which sadly are no longer available her in the store.
These are all the products that I will use to create the base character, using Daz Studio 4.16 (Newest Beta), DazStudio 4.10, and of course Carrara 8.5 also the latest beta version.
Everything listed here is contained in a single runtime or content folder, the top level being Lily HD, and everything else is under that such as the Data folder, people folder etc. I'm sure you all know how to install content. In Das Studio I tend to use only one content folder at a time to make sure that the content is not polluted by content from another content folder that may contain the same product or other character products which I don't want to have in my current project. All that being said, let's build the base character......tomorrow.
ProPose001 posted Wed, 26 January 2022 at 5:22 AM
Here's a sneak preview of Lily rendered in Octane for Carrara
headwax. posted Wed, 26 January 2022 at 2:53 PM
Great stuff, thank you i have no idea on how to do any of this so watching with interest.
ProPose001 posted Thu, 27 January 2022 at 10:06 AM
Pulled an all-nighter again, it's just about 8:00 AM in my area and I need to go to work my real job. Anyways, I've had good success in creating Lily HD (without the HD sadly).
Here's a few screen grabs.
Lily in DS4.10. Took a while to get there, but if she works in DS4.10 the I know she'll work well in Carrara.
Lily in Carrara with the Root selected, that's where the pose controls live, not all of them work, but I have a work-around for that too.
This last on is Lily with the Actor node selected
The list scrolls off the screen but they are all there and there's a lot of them. I spun a few of them and they all seem to work.
Step by Step is in the works....tomorrow
ProPose001 posted Fri, 28 January 2022 at 7:18 AM
Step 1 Prepare the content.
This is done in DS4.16 or whatever version of Studio that allows the use of Genesis 8.1. This is my first and only G8.1 character, so this is a learning curve for me as much as it is for anyone that chooses to attempt to use G8.1 in Carrara.
DS4.16 is what I have installed currently, so that's what I'll use. Lily HD and all the other content related to her is installed in its own library.
I'll also be using DS4.10 for reasons I'll get into in Step 2 or 3.
Start by Loading Gemini (Genesis 8.1 Female preset by Misty)
Before I go any further, I close Studio, without saving, cause I want to get rid of all the Full Body Morphs. they are not needed for this figure.
I zip these files cause I don't need them, I keep the rest of the body morph pack cause the Pose Controls live here.
OK, back to Load Gemini
That's better. You can keep them if you need them, your choice.
Now you can Dial in the character or you can click the full character preset to get to Lily
This is the settings I use for the Character Loading Options. Accept.
I go this route cause it applies the head shape, body shape, Lashes and Tear fitted and parented to Gemini, and Materials.
Next, unparent the lashes and tear but keeping them fitted. Set Resolution Level to Base. on both. then...
Do this for both the lashes and the tear. I rename the three items in the scene tab so I don't get confused, and I save them one at a time as a Scene Subset, except Lily Base, I save that one as a Character preset
Do this two times selecting a different one each time
I do this for any other attachments like the Gens and pubes and Brows if those are available to you. All get converted to Blended Weight and saved as subsets. I'll spare you the screen shots for the remaining items. Also keep in mind that Fiber hair converted to Blended weight will drastically add to the file size once in Carrara. And just to keep things moderately organized I save the subsets in the same folder with Gemini.
We're almost done with Step 1.
Close DazStudio, without saving, cause we already saved everything. I actually reboot the computer, cause Daz Studio has a way of hanging around at times, even though it's been closed.
headwax. posted Fri, 28 January 2022 at 2:17 PM
Awesome ! Thanks for the blow by blow details!
WendyLuvsCatz posted Fri, 28 January 2022 at 4:23 PM
I might study this closer later too, G3&8 even with Misty's presets give me some strange behaviours in Carrara so I have been playing with Aiko3 and Michael 3 lately ๐นso much easier.
less an error has occurred or nil pointer errors ๐
ProPose001 posted Fri, 28 January 2022 at 4:50 PM
Thanks for the support guys, after rebooting my computer I got sidetracked, and fell asleep without finishing Step 1. So I'll do that sometime today. Later
ProPose001 posted Fri, 28 January 2022 at 11:48 PM
I applied the No brows preset which is supplied by Mousso (handy) because I plan to use the Fiber brows on my character. I save that one as a separate character preset with a different name of course
Now for a little housekeeping. I close Studio. I create a similar folder structure under Genesis 8.1 Carrara Beta. an anatomy folder and a clothing folder. Then I drag the saved subsets into their proper folder
Open Studio. I navigate to the anatomy folder and load ONE subset, then saving it as a Character preset overwriting the subset.
clear the Scene and repeat for all the subsets in your folder
That's the end of Step 1. Now the moment of truth, testing all that's been done so far, In DazStudio and in Carrara. Always an anxious moment for me.
Re-Boot the machine, Force of habit, it's what I do.
Time for testing, and prep for step 2.
ProPose001 posted Sat, 29 January 2022 at 1:26 AM
Initial tests in Carrara
Root node selected
Same as usual, No Body Pose Controls
next with Actor node selected
Just the character morphs were added to the selection.
All the Dials seem to work the Lashes work with the eyes and the brows conform with the head morphs dials as well. So I'm happy about that. What I'm not happy with is that all my Zev0 morph dials are missing. I didn't bother loading the gens cause we all know what happens when loading a geograft attachment. The uv's are messed up.
to pubes conform to the figure properly. Tear I didn't bother with.
Fiber Brows and pubes look like crap in the native renderer. In Octane they are OK
Probably better off using textures that include eyebrows. And better lighting
Next step is in the works, and hopefully I can overcome some of the shortcomings. Pose Controls for the body, Morph dial for the figure and gens without messed up uv's.
But as is, I do have a poseable and animatable dialed in character.
ProPose001 posted Sun, 30 January 2022 at 7:57 AM
Step 2
Create content folder. I use ProPose8.1
Under that create subfolder I use Real People
Under that create subfolder I use Genesis 8.1 Female
Launch DS4.16 or whatever you are using, must support G8.1. Add ProPose8.1 content library to your DAZ Studio Formats
Load Lily Base
Navigate to Genesis 8.1 Female in your ProPose8.1 and With Lily Base selected in the scene tab go to
File---Save As---Support Asset---Figure/Prop Asset
Give a file name I called mine "Lily Test" and click Save
This comes up
If your save options don't match what you see, make it match and Click Accept
Bunch of stuff happens, and a data folder is created with a bunch of stuff in it
clear the scene and load the saved figure
Important step Do This Adjust rigging to shape accept the next popup
then do this Memorize Figure
then finally save as character preset I call mine Lily Base as it's called in the scene tab
I close DazStudio4.16
I launch DS4.10, and load up Lily Base. Play with the dials and pose controls, Lily Base should respond properly, al least she does for me. I save another Character preset and just name her Lily. Clear the scene and load up Lily, re-check the Dials and controls. This is the Lily that I'll use going forward.
And now I'll explain why I use DS4.10
I tried every version of Studio from the most recent 4.16 version down to version 4.10.
DazStudio 4.10 is the only version that merges properly the anatomical elements. this is true for all the Genesis figures G1 to G8.1 male or female. Why is that important? Because in Carrara, when you add the genital figure onto your character the UV's of the gens are lost making that part of the figure useless. In daz Studio it all blends in perfectly, but not everyone wants to render or animate in Daz Studio. Other people have come up with creative solutions to overcome this problem, and this is my kick at the can. but even if you don't do nudes, the figure that you have right now is alot better in that you have all or most of the pose controls available depending on what you've added in morph packs. If anyone out there has a better way, I'm all ears.
Another thing I also create a Runtime ---Textures folder in my ProPose8.1 content Library and copy all the relevent testures
Step 3 will be the merging of the Anatomical Elements to Lily Base
ProPose001 posted Mon, 31 January 2022 at 5:14 AM
Step 3
Launch DS4.10 and Load Lily. She come in as Lily Base, as the "Base" indicates to me the figure contains the minimum set of morphs that I would want in any character. That's just my preference and not a rule. And since I'm working with Mousso's Lily, she is Lily Base. Also deleted the icons for the other presets so I don't get confused about which one to load.
diomede posted Sat, 05 February 2022 at 1:59 PM
ProPose001 posted Sat, 05 February 2022 at 3:34 PM
Looks kind of daunting, at first, but it's really pretty simple, and if you go through it a couple of times you can put together a character in about 20 minutes. Save the character to your Carrara browser, for future use. This method, achieves two things, it allows me to use Genesis 8.1 with all the body dials and most of the pose controls, and if you choose to use the anatomical elements, the merge process welds the two figures into one figure, overcoming the UV issue.
headwax. posted Sat, 05 February 2022 at 3:57 PM
Thank you for the detailed explanation. I will have to go through it all again so it sinks in.Yes thank you from me too for the step by step!
ProPose001 posted Sat, 05 February 2022 at 6:52 PM
You're welcome! This is my Genesis 8.1, Male or female, workflow. This also works for all the Genesis generations but G8.1 was the most challenging. Happy to answer any questions you might have.
ProPose001 posted Mon, 07 February 2022 at 5:56 AM
So here's an unexpected twist. I was working on yet another variation of Gemini, and I neglected to clear out one of my content folders before creating the figure, that folder or library contained the MetaMixer Toolkit. Long story short, all those dials carried over to my Real Gemini, I also applied one of the dark skinned material presets, dialed in all the Neda dials and voila. I'm sure they're not meant to be used that way, but what the heck, it works for me.
ProPose001 posted Thu, 10 March 2022 at 5:04 PM
A note about Fiber Hair, brows and lashes in specific. I've mentioned that fiber hair looks like crap in the Carrara native renderer, but I'm changing my tune on that. They ca look a bit more presentable in you change some of the render settings in the render room. In this example I used the G8F preset (Veronica for G8F by Misty) with the Lashes and brows merged into the figure, using Colm Jacksons Lashes and Brows. The important setting is the AntiAliasing set at its highest. Native render compared to Octane.
ProPose001 posted Thu, 10 March 2022 at 5:07 PM
Another example. Terriable lighting, I know
ProPose001 posted Sat, 12 March 2022 at 8:00 PM
With every new update of DazStudio, I test to see how this method of mine works in the latest version. Well, it don't. In fact, the results are worse than in the previous versions. I'm not going to try and explain it, because I can't. 4.10 is still the only version that works for me.
diomede posted Tue, 15 March 2022 at 10:42 AM
Great looking lashes. Thanks for the tip.
ProPose001 posted Sun, 15 May 2022 at 2:46 AM
There is a simpler way to get Genesis 8.1 to work in Carrara. And by "work" I mean to get a figure, male or female, to load into Carrara with all the dials, Head and Body, available as you would expect. This will not include using the Anatomical elements, rather just the Basic figure along with any of the morph and or character packages you wish to include. My work flow is:
1. Assemble the content you want to use, such as the base figure like Genesis 8.1 Female, or Male. Add all the morphs you want to include, like Head and Body morphs, etc. Add a Character package, totally optional. Make sure you use a clean Content Library, just the stuff you want to use should be in your content library, just to avoid any surprises. You'll also need Gemini and or Harper for Genesis 8.1 which I believe are still available here in the Free stuff by Misty. Also add any hair or clothing, all of which need to be converted to Blended Weight and saved as a subset. For whatever reason, when you first install studio, it creates a default content directory, in Users/Public/Public Documents/My DAZ 3D Library, which should be empty unless you've saved stuff in there. But this content library will come in handy. If you have stuff in there, zip it up and put it somewhere else if you need it. Under "My DAZ 3D Library" folder add a sub directory "People" and under that "Genesis 8 Female. Add "My DAZ 3D Library" in you Daz Studio Content Tab. That's where you'll save your Character.
2. Fire up your latest version of DazStudio. I used 4.20 for my tests.
3. Load your base, Gemini or Harper. They come in without the Eyelashes or Tears, which is ok.
4. With your base selected, load the corresponding Genesis 8.1 figure, you should get a prompt asking if you want to load a new figure or apply to the currently selected figure. Choose to apply to the currently selected figure. Your base should now be textured, and also have the Eyelashes and Tears fitted and parented to your base. Make sure you base figure, Eyelashes and Tears are at base resolution, and 0 subdivision. One at a time convert the Lashes and Tears to Blended Weight. You can save these converted items as subsets to use again. Scroll through the Parameters Tab to make sure that everything is there that should be there. If you've added a Character package, the those dials should also be there under People or Full Body, Head, or all of the above. No need to set any dials.
5. Save your Character. With your Base character selected, navigate to "My DAZ 3D Library/People/Genesis 8 Female". Ensure the the Genesis 8 Female folder is highlighted. Click on File--Save As--Support Asset--Figure/Prop Assets--Give it a file name.
That should be it. Test in Carrara.
WendyLuvsCatz posted Sun, 15 May 2022 at 9:44 AM
yes, I fear poor Misty is no longer with us ๐ฟ
she is missed badly ๐
ProPose001 posted Sun, 15 May 2022 at 1:15 PM
I share your fears
diomede posted Sun, 15 May 2022 at 1:23 PM
Tragic. Miss Misty.
ProPose001. Thanks for this updated workflow. Will come in handy the next time I want to use G8.1 in Carrara.
ProPose001 posted Tue, 24 May 2022 at 6:14 PM
My latest WIP. Sybelle for G8.1F by Vyusur. Rendered in OR4C
WendyLuvsCatz posted Wed, 25 May 2022 at 10:43 AM
ProPose001 posted Wed, 25 May 2022 at 2:41 PM
thanks Wendy
ProPose001 posted Wed, 05 October 2022 at 6:54 PM
My latest WIP
Eunji, by Mousso (again)
Default Gemini with Eunji dialed in.
Default lashes, no tear (I forgot)
Fiber Brows and Fiber peach fuzz. I could use some recommendations on a decent light setup to show the facial hair.
I didn't dare load up the fiber pubes cause the Brows and Peach fuzz took forever to load. All the attachments are converted to blended weight at base resolution but instead of saving them as a Subset, I saved them as Figure/Prop assets and loaded those into Carrara. I'm happy so far. No merging done on this figure - yet. I find it's best not to merge fiber stuff to the main figure, cause if you apply any smoothing to the figure the smoothing also applies to the attachments. And that would seriously impact performance.
ProPose001 posted Wed, 05 October 2022 at 7:07 PM
Saved as a Scene file (uncompressed)
WendyLuvsCatz posted Wed, 05 October 2022 at 10:52 PM
that is risking truncation at that size
ProPose001 posted Wed, 05 October 2022 at 11:06 PM
Didn't realize there is a file size limit. I'll have to check and see if I can open this file.
ProPose001 posted Wed, 05 October 2022 at 11:45 PM
You're right, the file won't open.
But, why do I get such a bloated file size?
The sum of all the elements in the scene don't come anywhere near 4GB
head scratcher!
WendyLuvsCatz posted Thu, 06 October 2022 at 6:49 PM
you need Alberto's morph eraser
https://carraracafe.com/new-plug-in-by-ab-genesis-morphs-eraser/
Carrara has a 4GB scene size limit after which it will not save additional data so the scene cannot open
ProPose001 posted Fri, 07 October 2022 at 3:43 AM
I have that plugin by Alberto, but...I've never used it. I find it easier to just dive into the data folder and zip up or delete the morphs I don't want to use. When I load the Fiber brows and Peach fuzz Carrara spends an awful long time 'Projecting Morphs'. Since the attachments are to the head, I take it that the 'Projecting Morphs' reads all the head morphs in the character file, so when I dial in an expression, Carrara knows how to adjust the shape of the attachment. Am I correct in that assumption? If that's the case, then that would explain the file bloat.
WendyLuvsCatz posted Sat, 08 October 2022 at 12:57 AM
you might be better off breaking the scene up into smaller parts then, to be getting 4GB on a single clothed figure you must have lots of data still embedded, I use Alberto's plugin on all the clothing too, I apply any mimic and expressions first, an NLA clip OK if you want an easy way to keep certain morphs but use different order in poses and animation later.
ProPose001 posted Fri, 21 October 2022 at 2:52 AM
Taking a break from G8.1 and on to G9
ProPose001 posted Tue, 26 March 2024 at 12:17 PM
This is Lyra by Bluejaunte. She's actually a G8F figure but I ended up using G8.1F because of the toe issue.