How to Use Blender 2.6 to Make Clothing for DAZ?
tdfotw_fb5b5c81f2
Posts: 0
I come to you all on bended knee and with tear-stained cheeks...
I have utilized all powers that exist on Heaven and Earth to locate this to no avail. Before the question is analyzed further, know this:
- I use Windows 7
- I intend to use Blender 2.65a for the modelling
- I use DAZ Studio 3 as my weapon of choice for rendering
That said, my question is thus:
How the heck do you make clothing in Blender for use in DAZ? If I could be so bold, my intentions are to:
- Create conforming clothing (both loose and form-fitting)
- Create "static" prop clothing (visualize pieces of armor)
The problems I run into are that all of the tutorials I find are either years old, 404'd, or if they are newer they do not have the same question and/or goals that I do.
Basically all that I ask is that someone says, "Look, dummy...over there. There's a tutorial on how to do this, exactly. Begone with you, now."
Everything said, I infinitely appreciate any and all suggestions.
Thank you, and have a great day!
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Comments
You could look in the Hexagon forum for clothing tutorials, there should be a few there, the principal is the same.
If you are using DS3, then you wont be able to use Genesis, which is much easier to work with. If you are intending to make clothing for one of the other figures, V4, M4, K4 etc, you would need to export the bas mesh to use as a mannequin to build your clothing around.
You then need to split the mesh into groups to match the same areas on the base model, import it into DS3, and use the Figure Setup Tolls to rig the clothing item to make it conforming. The FST comes as part of DS3 Advanced, do you have that, if not, you would need to use DS4 or DS 4.5 to create the rigging?
Props would be a lot simpler to make, since they don;t generally require rigging of any kind. Have you done much modelling in Blender, and which figures were you intending to make clothing for?
Expedient reply! Thank you!
I intend to use Victoria 4, which bleeds into another pressing question.
How would a person apply morphs to said clothing? I can make the clothing fit the mannequin to my heart's desire, but once I start applying morphs everything is moot.
I do understand the concept of vertex grouping as I have a novice skill level at modeling. Basically just make sure chest areas are only affected by chest movement, thighs, forearms, and so forth, correct?
I understand the basics of how to create props, which I would think technically applies to my original issue of creating "static" armor pieces. Once I can get a better understanding of UV mapping, I think I'll have that down well enough for my own liking.
An addendum: I looked for Figure Setup Tools as you mentioned but don't see them anywhere in my DAZ plugins.
Do you have View > Tabs > Skeleton Setup in your version of DS3? What does it say when you look at Help > About DAZ Studio, mine says 3.1.2.32 Advanced Edition?
You should colour the V4 mesh, so that you can clearly see the different polygon selections for each bone. I can't find an image at the moment. The idea is to split your clothing mesh to be as close to the V4 mesh as possible.
DS3 has Morph Follower, which will put the morphs from the base figure into the clothing item for you, and then you have to save it.
Here is what a mannequin for V3 looks like with the bone areas coloured, it helps a lot when creating groups in your clothing.
Have a look at this Google search making clothes in blender for daz studio you might find something worthwhile there too. :)
Lady Little Fox has modelling tutorials over at RuntimeDNA and Fugazi also has a lot of tutorials on Renerosity.
They both use different modelling programs but you can easily follow them in blender.
@Jimmy - I found a tutorial similar to that that recommends the coloring of vertex groups as they are presented after exporting. Definitely a helpful tip!
@Szark - How do you think I ended up here? Harkening to my first post, I remarked on the tutorials being old and meant for ancient programs that no longer exist or are irrelevant, the threads being 404'd (in internet lingo, that means they don't exist anymore), or if the topic is current it has something to do with something else entirely or doesn't apply to my situation. Although taking a deeper look reveals another problem; most of the threads start with "How do I make clothes for DAZ/Poser?" and soon digress into a debate regarding business ethics and developer digs with maybe a few links that answer the original question. The problems with the links provided? Please refer to the first three issues I encountered when Googling "how to make clothes in blender for daz studio" as stated earlier in this response. After page 10 into the Google search, I decided it was a fruitless venture since I didn't want to buy a sewing machine, a kitchen blender, or buy music from the studio of the Hip Hop artist "Daz." Though all of those were probably excellent products, in the grand scheme I things I have the nagging suspicion they would not help me achieve what I set out to accomplish.
@Wilmap - A tangible and welcome lead! Thank you very much! I'll try exactly that and report back with my findings. Being an IT personally, I frown upon unresolved forum questions that further drive our minds into the gaping maw of Cthulhu.
I have both of those vendors tutorials and that is what I started with, so I hope it helps you.
Just trying to help and I never assume anything...so without you stating you did a google search how would I know.
Sorry I can help good luck.
@Szark - This is something I probably should have stated at the very beginning. My response was not intended to be rude but rather an alert on a problem with a secretive society of content creators. I do appreciate your considerations and your assistance, Szark.
@Wilmap - Littlefox's tutorials are a bit too rich for my blood at the moment, but Fugazi's tutorials seem very promising. I'll have to wait until I'm on a more stable internet connection before viewing them. Again, thank you for your reply!
My bad for reacting
Anyhoo I have had a good look myself and do see the problem but like many of these programs learning about one can help with another as mentioned already. What I do it to watch a tutorail regarding say Photoshop and then go and find info on the same tools in GIMP that to do the same job as Photoshop.
I thnk you should treat Blender and Daz Studio separately.Learn how to model in Blender and then how to Rig the model in Daz Studio. Oh yeah Daz Studio 3 is your version Advanced and do you have all the Skeleton Figure set up tools for DS3.
Oh I just found this thread http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/6728/ I do realise the OP is using DS4.5 but reading a lot of the first few parargraphs also apply to DS3 for a starting point.
One of the most useful, but rather basic tutorials I've found for rigging is this...
ConformingItemswithDaz.pdf (It's on the right about 2/3 the way down the page... http://www.schells.ca/index.php?page=skunkworks).
Now a couple of Blender specific things...you can change your default export option to XYZ as opposed to Blender's 'standard' XZY...that will make things in DS a bit easier.
I don't resize/rescale anything in Blender, I import the base figure at the scale I exported it from DS in (I use the DS export/import options, so that eliminates one more step).
I'm not doing much DS3/Gen4 stuff...I'm doing mostly Genesis stuff now. But the modelling process is the same.
Import your figure, start with a basic box/suit/whatever...there's tons of tuts on doing clothes that are specific to one modelling app or another, but for the most part the principles/basics are the same, it's the specifics that differ. The same can be said about the clothes themselves...there are tons that are for a specific model/character...it doesn't really matter, though, it's the process you need to learn. The key is to customize what the tutorial is explaining to your specific figure.
I use Blender for the whole process...UV mapping (usually as I go along, right after 'roughing in' the basic shape and make use of Blender's live unwrapping capabilities to keep the UV map in sync. Making and assigning material zones, usually right after/during the initial unwrap. And grouping. I've found it easier to do that at that point, too, but making sure to check that the groups are 'in sync' for any additional edits/fine tuning. Then it's a matter of refining the model...
When I'm satisfied, I export it and move to DS. I was recently introduced to a program called QuickConform...
It takes a lot of that initial setup out of the equation. It's not quite as fast as the autorigging/transfer utility for Genesis items....but it's a lot faster than anything else I've seen.
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/quickconform-3-0-/56097
It basically does, if you've got a properly grouped mesh, what that tutorial shows you how to do (I recommend doing a couple of items by hand...that way you get an understanding of the process).
An apology for the delay in my reply.
Thank you so much for the help, guys. I'll be hitting this hard when I get the chance!
A huge thanks to Szark and MJC!
I can definitely understand the basic principles now, but a few questions linger:
1. How do you apply a figure's morphs to an article of clothing?
2. Is there a way to copy Vicky's bone rigging over to the clothing in Daz and create a new skeleton from that for the clothing?
Also, to answer your question, Szark, it's 3 Advanced.
For #2...yes, but unless it's for your own use only, you can't...you have to use the 'developer's rig' instead or a 'blank' cr2. The basics for doing that should be in the PDF I linked to...just substitute whichever 'base' you want for the one used in the example.]
For #1, there's a couple of ways of doing it, but one of the usual ways is to dial up the morph and then export the morphed figure as an object, import it to Blender and then adjust the clothing mesh, in Blender to fit. The you export that new mesh as an obj and import it into DS, using Morph Loader, applying it to the original clothing mesh.
Thank you so much, MJC. This answers many questions!
As far as the morphs question was concerned, I figured I would have to do something exactly like that. It's unnerving to think of all the morphs I would have to do this with *shudders*, not to mention the fact that I would have to do so many morph modifications for each article of clothing I would make. *double shudder*
Are you aware of any programs that copy the morphs applied to a character and transfer those morphs to another geometry as best it can? I purchased CrossDresser 4 (rather, the license for Vicky since the program itself is free) and their universal fits work well enough in most situations, but are you aware of anything that copies the straight morphs from a figure?
I'll be reading up on that PDF you provided very soon. I already glanced and it seems like a fantastic way to start off!
The QuickConform tool seems like an excellent utility. I positively agree with you on the "do it by hand" part. The less I have to rely on something I didn't create, the better!
Thank you so much, MJC! By far some of the best answers I've seen during my extensive searching!
Yeah mjc rocks when it comes to this stuff..me never made clothing and never will so I get lost around this stuff. Glad you are getting there atwsite
There is a tool in DS4.5 called 'Transfer Active Morphs', and that is what it is designed for. It used to be called Morph Follower in DS3.
Use it, and then save your clothing item again, and the new morph should be included I believe.
atwsite is using DS3A Jimmy :)
@Szark I see what he's saying, though. I need to look into "Morph Follower" since I'm using a lower version of DAZ. I'm considering springing for 4.5...
@Jimmy Thanks for the help! If I ever get to model some clothing, I'll see what you guys think of it!
There is a tool in DS4.5 called 'Transfer Active Morphs', and that is what it is designed for. It used to be called Morph Follower in DS3.
Use it, and then save your clothing item again, and the new morph should be included I believe.
Yes, either will work for a lot of things...but it's sort of a 'one size fits all' option. Or like the Autofit in DS4.x. The best, most natural looking ones are the custom tailored/fitted and manually transferred ones. Also, while not as critical on Gen4 stuff, but still looks better, 'stiff' items/belts/buckles and so on always look better manually fitted. And there's a 'grey area' of exactly which morphs, the source and how they are put in, when it comes to making items for distribution...if you create them from scratch, then there's no argument of where they came from.
I'm trying to get a K4 hoodie made (am having some problems with it going between apps...but that's not relevant to this)...I found that pretty much Heavy needs to be done manually and Realistic and Thin are fine otherwise. So depending on the item and the morphs, not everything needs to be included or even manually done. Usually custom fitting the more extreme ones will suffice, with the less extreme being able to be included in other ways. Of course, the more detailed/complex the item the more likely custom fitting is needed.
There is a tool in DS4.5 called 'Transfer Active Morphs', and that is what it is designed for. It used to be called Morph Follower in DS3.
Use it, and then save your clothing item again, and the new morph should be included I believe.
Morphing clothes does a great job transferring morphs with regular poser figures (doesn't work with Genesis or other TriAx rigged figures). If you still use Gen4, you'll be happy you got it whether or not you'll use it for your own items. It's fast and does a a really good job, especially with form fitting items.
DS3A doesn't include (Advanced) Figure Setup tools, you have to buy them separately (they're not cheap either). DS4 Pro does though, so you could use it instead. (I haven't used them myself though, and the last I tried at least Morph loader pro didn't work correctly.)
There's couple of great tutorials by Cliff Bowman in the old forums:
Cliff Notes - Skeleton Setup
Cliff Notes - Joint Editor
The forum archive is SLLLOOOOOOOWWWWWWW, but it's there if you wait patiently. Also the images and forum links are broken, and to get them to work you have to use this userscript (instructions are in the thread). There's also a DS script by mCasual for the purpose. Either way I suggest you save the threads on your hard drive for easier access...
Yes you need this product at least to rig clothing in D/S3.
http://www.daz3d.com/figure-setup-tools It's on sale atm.
If your computer can handle D/S4.5 it would be an idea to install it as well as it's free right now and then you'll have all kinds of clothing creation tools.
If your computer can't handle it; you could still "buy it" for free and then you'll have it for later.
To make morphs, you need to get the free inj/rem scripts and morph to .cr2 scripts.
To make props there's a great script which Mattymanx is hosting here: http://www.mediafire.com/mattymanx
It's called PP2 exporter.
Some clothing items can be made as props and then you won't require any rigging for them. Just be very careful that the item is contained within the parameters of the bone mesh. [Like a ring on a finger, a bracelet on the forearm]
edit: well I found the links for the inj/rem and morphing scripts but the hosting website has gone rather strange. All it appeared to download was a downloader and like no, that's not what I want.
So, how to ... "sign up" ... it accepted a bogus email ... says it's sent a confirmation letter to it, that's nice. Stay on the page ... notice that the download counter will work now and after so many seconds you can download the file :-)
http://forumarchive.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=2832240#2832240
Spawn Morph - Combine multiple morphs on a figure into one morph
Inj / Rem Export - Export a morph on a figure as a set of Inj / Rem files
Morph To CR2 - Export a morph from a figure into a CR2 file
Down the version to match your studio version from these links:
MorphTools_3110_Win32
MorphTools_3110_Win64
MorphTools_3110_Mac32
by DeltaX15
Patience55 cool info thx for helping out...I learned something too..yep never make clothing. LOL Seriously not my bag in the modeling sense. It always amazes me the level of skill it takes ro make good clothing that looks real.
I find the challenge is in the "making it work" department lol ... but seriously yes it's a very time consuming project both for the learning curves and 'all the rest'. One skilled modeler said it takes him about a year to get a complete [staging] set together and another several months for a complete outfit. So while it's a great way to wile away some hours and make things "for fun" one cannot beat those $1.99 prices for already made, fulled morphed, clothing sets! Not to mention all the freeware that's available.
To learn how to make clothing for professional purposes ... can't see one using Hexagon [although some do, and some use Blender] ... Modo, Max or Zbrush are more commonly used AFAIK. Zbrush has that neat hair creator too ... sigh ... common Hexagon coders, "ppplease" ....
And yes there are tutorials for sale [and a few free videos] by professionals which would be "required reading" ...
The "making it work" process has come a long way though with D/S4. ... Soooo much easier esp. with Genesis. One can still create legacy .cr2 files though which is good. Not everything needs to be weight-mapped.
I thank everyone again for the incredible help they've all provided!
I went ahead and nabbed 4.5 Pro (for future use, I'm still rather settled on my DS3A) as well as Hexagon 2.5. I figured it would probably be easier to do the things I desire with a program created by the people who created the program I'm bent on using, right?
I'll toy around with it, and I want to thank MJC again for that PDF is he linked me to. It really does break down the simpler things very well!
I'm just tired of having to scour the marketplace for costumes and clothing, having to mix and match clothing items for that "look" I'm going for and most of the time having to settle for what I produce. I know the going will be tough as far as learning to model, especially figures and clothing, but I'm willing to take the time and effort, no doubt.
Once I can pull anything I learn together into something at least presentable, I'll show you guys some of what I intend to make.
Thanks, again everyone! You've all been a tremendous help!
@Patience55
these links appear to be dead now, which is odd since you posted this a few days ago with an image showing them working (I don't doubt you, it's just weird, that's all.)
does anyone know if they are hosted elsewhere, I'm looking for the DS3 64 bit morph exporter.
Ok, I dont use Blender BUT I did decide to try it and found a very useful free PDF tutorial that helped me for as far as I went with it.
BlenderCourse Basics v2 for Blender 2.60 - 2.63
http://blendercourse.com/English/blendercourse-basics-v2
I also just found a few video tutorials here: (not sure how good they are)
http://cgcookie.com/blender/get-started-with-blender/
As for converting Blender Models for use in other apps, I personally still cannot get Blender to convert to OBJ very well BUT the included FBX exporter works great and DAZ Studio 4 imports FBX just fine. The Blender FBX files come it nice and clean into DS.
If you want to create Poser or DS content, you may find this little tutorial of some use
Dealing With Zipped Poser Content
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/5436/
It deals mainly with the Poser format since its less forgiving when it comes to where your files go but it also covers editing file paths which applies to both DS and Poser files.
??? edit. Okay I just went from the archive post to the download ... didn't get the image you posted. Appears to still be there.
So that is odd. Maybe try again.
I just got it too.
I am using IE9 if that helps any.