Alright, finally managed to write a decent news post at Carrara Cafe for the new HD morph plugin, with the new Wordpress tool.
I think that I managed to compress all relevant info into one page, though I had to cheat with a PDF of Philemos tutorial.
But feel free to correct me.
@Philemo_carrara can this plugin be used in Carrara to import an obj character that you have dial spun in Carrara?
I did try.. dial spun a weird character and exported the obj with morphs then loaded a new Genesis and imported the obj and applied using the plugin.. all good till I went to pose him then he exploded .. lol
looked cool... but can this be done?
did I miss a step?
this would be good rather than saving the whole genesis dial spun character to the tabs.
One question, was the subdivision equals on both systems?
The purpose of that plugin was to get small variations transfered. The problem is that it uses both UV coordinates and geometrical proximity to choose the reference for the HD morph. If the dialed morph is too far, it will choose the wrong reference and it will distort when posed.
I'll make some tests to see if I can implement an UV only reference system.
just a guess, pose called a jcm?
did you use pose control? or pose manually with rotation dials
not totally sure manual posing doesn't trigger jcm
cant help wondering if the daz morph makers can't save HD morphs to dsf files?
dsf morph files is completely useless to someone who doesn't have the original geometry.
Beta version of the HD Morph plugin is now available for testing in the CTS projet file repository. At this stage, it's only for Windows. I plan to work on the OSX version next week.
Here is a short tutorial on how to import Hd details from Studio into Carrara:
Load your figure in Studio
In the parameter tab, set the subdivision level to a value compatible with the hd setting (AFAIK 2 is the most common).
Export figure in obj format with Carrara preset.
In Carrara, import the obj. Make sure to untick "AutoPosition" and tick "Disable auto scaling" and set "obj unit equal to" 1
load the figure in Carrara. If it's a conforming cloth, DO NOT conform it yet.
On the actor level of the figure, make sure BOTH modeling and rendering levels are set to the same value set in step 2
Still on the actor object, go to the "modifier" tab and choose "HD Morph"
Click on "choose target"
in the window that appears, choose your imported object
You're done, HD morphs are added
You can now delete the imported obj mesh, as it's not needed anymore.
Tomorrow, I'll try to setup another tutorial on how to create your very own hd morph straight in Carrara.
Recently, I decided to focus on Genesis 2. I have a bunch of G2 product, but the main reason was that G2 has several normal maps.
In reading this thread (again), I noticed that Wendy apparently had some luck getting the Rawart Vein morphs into G2. I basically spent the day seeing if I could do it as well, using M6 for the experiment.
There were lots of issues to wade through. To shorten the story, I ended up using both of Philemo's newer additions - the DS script and the "do you want to weld seams?" check box. And a few more hoops as well. But I gotta admit, this was a super clever way to get those morphs into Carrara. Hats off to you, Philemo!
there has been some great deals on G1&2 stuff lately too, I have almost given up on G3&8 now even with Misty's presets because the earlier figures are just so easy to animate and import BVH to using the Carrara plugin called DAZ studio too.
there has been some great deals on G1&2 stuff lately too, I have almost given up on G3&8 now even with Misty's presets because the earlier figures are just so easy to animate and import BVH to using the Carrara plugin called DAZ studio too.
When I first started Carrara, I was not really focused on anything. Everything was new. Then I noticed that Generation 1-3 stuff was disappearing fast, so I focused on that for years. Now that I understand the HD plugin, and know how to use normal maps better, G2 is like a new door opening. A while back Diomede said that G2 was his main character set. I am coming around to that point of view. :)
there has been some great deals on G1&2 stuff lately too, I have almost given up on G3&8 now even with Misty's presets because the earlier figures are just so easy to animate and import BVH to using the Carrara plugin called DAZ studio too.
When I first started Carrara, I was not really focused on anything. Everything was new. Then I noticed that Generation 1-3 stuff was disappearing fast, so I focused on that for years. Now that I understand the HD plugin, and know how to use normal maps better, G2 is like a new door opening. A while back Diomede said that G2 was his main character set. I am coming around to that point of view. :)
Intersting, and nice work on that G2M character!
If you're intersted in trying more cool stuff, Genesis 1 has impressive capabilities - always has. For the Genesis line, it's definitely the most dated, when looking at characters available for sale. Genesis 3 and newer also gained Iray materials, which makes their promo shots that much more stunning.
But Genesis 1's magic will not be dying anytime soon. From the incredible Monstrosity series by Daz 3d to the wonderful Lycan by Midnight Stories, Abominable, Gorilla, all the men, women and children made for this fascinating any-gender figure - they all share the magic of, for the most part, being able to wear any of the clothing made for the entire line, but also your Generation 1 through 4 figures.
To the point:
Materialize is an amazing piece of software that allows us to quickly and easily create Normal maps from the bump maps.
I did some experimenting with it for Rosie 5. That was a while ago, but the results were really quite awesome.I noticed something particular to keep in mind, however:
When making Normal maps from Bump maps for a figure (or anything else with multiple map seams) it can help to begin by editing the edge of each map's island to extend out a bit further as to not create a Normal Map Ridge at the seams. Took me a while to figure out how I suddenly turned Rosie into a marionette!
This is a simple task if you want to 'get it done', but the more patient you are at enlarging the edge, the better the result will be.
Can't remember if you use Photoshop, Affinity Photo or what, but both of those two have what's called a cloning brush that works beautifully for doing this. Basically what I'm talking about is where the image portions of the skin maps meet white or other blank color. This isn't something we need to do for any of the other maps, just the bump (or whichever one you use to create the Normal map.
Comments
thanks, is very nice to find the how to in one spot.
the daz studio users might be interested in the unscale script.
sure i not the only one who bemonaed the characters not having separate scaling from morph sliders
just a guess, pose called a jcm?
did you use pose control? or pose manually with rotation dials
not totally sure manual posing doesn't trigger jcm
Has anyone done the HD to Victoria 8?
wondering if it does anything for her toe issues.
has anyone saved their hd figure versions to carrara tray?
i'm still at the stage of picking which morphs i would want on every figure. as a base morph set
like breathing
a static version of every kitbashed character seems like a good idea.
Was reading in commons, how installing a new morph can whack out saved characters. i would cry if that happened.
when making a character preset for carrara, is there a way to test if the hd plugin is installed,
mebbe a open an info message, to let them know theyneed the plug in and where to find it?
Hi Philermo,
I sent you a PM. a lil thank you for the HD plugin.
cant help wondering if the daz morph makers can't save HD morphs to dsf files?
dsf morph files is completely useless to someone who doesn't have the original geometry.
so whats the point of encrypting it?
it is far more complicated than that
its not the using of the HD morph in question that the problem
other programs including Poser can actually do that as well as Carrara thanks to Philemo
and we could sculpt subdivided mesh ourselves in most programs
its the ability to do so in DAZ studio thats being encrypted against
This is So Cool, Wendy!!!
did the virus do that to him?
seems a tad fit for that
does it feel anything like pollen allergies?
respiratory more than sinus I gather
lungs fill up and clog hence need respirators to breathe if serious like pneumonia
sounds awful.
i like breathing.
I was using this plugin today and thought of Philemo
not heard from him a while, hope all OK with Covid19 going around and all
I had a few goes with the bulldog today before I got it right..
with the whiskers they also have to be converted to blended weight and then add the transparency in Carrara
I found also that the pose has to be in the default position otherwise the bones go off somewhere else
after experimenting a few times I managed to get it..
added some Carrara hair
the Buppy!!!
forgot how to set these up.
theres a thread in t'other forum about softbody.
was just thinkin this plugin could be used for clothing skin pressure.
mebbe in conjunction with something like the plugin for the footprints.
is so exciting. dunno why i'm nervous of failing.
thank you so much for the screen shots!!
if marvin had some obiwan robes, lol, be so kewl.
I am very late to the game.
Recently, I decided to focus on Genesis 2. I have a bunch of G2 product, but the main reason was that G2 has several normal maps.
In reading this thread (again), I noticed that Wendy apparently had some luck getting the Rawart Vein morphs into G2. I basically spent the day seeing if I could do it as well, using M6 for the experiment.
There were lots of issues to wade through. To shorten the story, I ended up using both of Philemo's newer additions - the DS script and the "do you want to weld seams?" check box. And a few more hoops as well. But I gotta admit, this was a super clever way to get those morphs into Carrara. Hats off to you, Philemo!
Works great on the Zev0 vascularity morphs as well.
there has been some great deals on G1&2 stuff lately too, I have almost given up on G3&8 now even with Misty's presets because the earlier figures are just so easy to animate and import BVH to using the Carrara plugin called DAZ studio too.
When I first started Carrara, I was not really focused on anything. Everything was new. Then I noticed that Generation 1-3 stuff was disappearing fast, so I focused on that for years. Now that I understand the HD plugin, and know how to use normal maps better, G2 is like a new door opening. A while back Diomede said that G2 was his main character set. I am coming around to that point of view. :)
Has anyone tried the HD plugin on Genesis 9?
https://sourceforge.net/projects/carrara-time-savers/
not many HD G9 characters to try and I own none
Intersting, and nice work on that G2M character!
If you're intersted in trying more cool stuff, Genesis 1 has impressive capabilities - always has. For the Genesis line, it's definitely the most dated, when looking at characters available for sale. Genesis 3 and newer also gained Iray materials, which makes their promo shots that much more stunning.
But Genesis 1's magic will not be dying anytime soon. From the incredible Monstrosity series by Daz 3d to the wonderful Lycan by Midnight Stories, Abominable, Gorilla, all the men, women and children made for this fascinating any-gender figure - they all share the magic of, for the most part, being able to wear any of the clothing made for the entire line, but also your Generation 1 through 4 figures.
To the point:
Materialize is an amazing piece of software that allows us to quickly and easily create Normal maps from the bump maps.
I did some experimenting with it for Rosie 5. That was a while ago, but the results were really quite awesome.I noticed something particular to keep in mind, however:
When making Normal maps from Bump maps for a figure (or anything else with multiple map seams) it can help to begin by editing the edge of each map's island to extend out a bit further as to not create a Normal Map Ridge at the seams. Took me a while to figure out how I suddenly turned Rosie into a marionette!
This is a simple task if you want to 'get it done', but the more patient you are at enlarging the edge, the better the result will be.
Can't remember if you use Photoshop, Affinity Photo or what, but both of those two have what's called a cloning brush that works beautifully for doing this. Basically what I'm talking about is where the image portions of the skin maps meet white or other blank color. This isn't something we need to do for any of the other maps, just the bump (or whichever one you use to create the Normal map.
Here's Materialize