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How To Backup Your Custom Characters?

LenioTGLenioTG Posts: 2,118
edited June 2020 in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

Hi everyone! :D

I use Daz Studio to make comics.
That means that I often use characters after years. Probably on different hardware, with a formatted Operative System.
Needless to say, I often lose a lot of data, and I have to recreate my custom characters, at least in part.

With the years, I've learned to use mostly content from Daz Studio, so that it will tell me what's lacking, and install it.
But other times I need to create something myself, or to use other sources.
Plus, I've recently cleaned up my library, to make G8 figures load faster, and I don't want to slowly re-install everything as I check older characters where I've used that sclera or that morph.

So, what's the proper way to backup custom characters?

Is it enough to save the

  • Character as a scene
  • Shaping preset
  • Material preset?

But I have the impression that those save files only work if you already have the related assets installed.
Does the scene file contain all those three data already?

What if I use Skin Builder 8 to backup the skin? What do I need to save exactly? Is the Full Body option enough?
(Of course it's for personal use only, and with assets I've bought).

Thank you in advance!

Post edited by LenioTG on

Comments

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,781

    Custom morphs that you have not saved as an asset will be embedded in a Scene or Scene Subset, and also in a Character Preset though they will then be loaded only if the preset is used to load a new figure rather than modifying the selected fiigure.

    However, there have - at least in the past - been issues with morph projection using embedded morphs so I would suggest saving as an asset. When saving a morph asset (or any other kind) you can specify which content directory to use - I would suggest using a separate directory for custom content, then you can easily back it up without having to back up the installed content.

  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 10,024

    If you export the figure as OBJ and import back as a full body morph, it doesn't need any other assets but the base character..

    Before exporting, you may want to set the scale of the figure to 100%.

  • LenioTGLenioTG Posts: 2,118
    Richard Haseltine said:

    Custom morphs that you have not saved as an asset will be embedded in a Scene or Scene Subset, and also in a Character Preset though they will then be loaded only if the preset is used to load a new figure rather than modifying the selected fiigure.

    However, there have - at least in the past - been issues with morph projection using embedded morphs so I would suggest saving as an asset. When saving a morph asset (or any other kind) you can specify which content directory to use - I would suggest using a separate directory for custom content, then you can easily back it up without having to back up the installed content.

    Thank you for the answer!

    So I can take a character, save it as a shaping preset, delete the morphs I don't need for other characters to keep the library fast and clean, and merge that shape on a basic G8 figure to get the same shape?

    PerttiA said:

    If you export the figure as OBJ and import back as a full body morph, it doesn't need any other assets but the base character..

    Before exporting, you may want to set the scale of the figure to 100%.

    Thanks, but I don't know how to do that!

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,781

    No, only a Character Preset saves the morph - Shaping just saves the values.

  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 10,024
    LenioTG said:
    Richard Haseltine said:

    Custom morphs that you have not saved as an asset will be embedded in a Scene or Scene Subset, and also in a Character Preset though they will then be loaded only if the preset is used to load a new figure rather than modifying the selected fiigure.

    However, there have - at least in the past - been issues with morph projection using embedded morphs so I would suggest saving as an asset. When saving a morph asset (or any other kind) you can specify which content directory to use - I would suggest using a separate directory for custom content, then you can easily back it up without having to back up the installed content.

    Thank you for the answer!

    So I can take a character, save it as a shaping preset, delete the morphs I don't need for other characters to keep the library fast and clean, and merge that shape on a basic G8 figure to get the same shape?

    PerttiA said:

    If you export the figure as OBJ and import back as a full body morph, it doesn't need any other assets but the base character..

    Before exporting, you may want to set the scale of the figure to 100%.

    Thanks, but I don't know how to do that!

    Load your figure into an empty scene
    Remove all the accessories (clothes, hair, jewelry, lashes, brows, gens...)
    Zero the figure pose
    Zero the morphs you don't want to save permanently to the figure
    Set the scale to 100%
    Set the "Resolution Level" to "Base" (in Parameters\Figure\General)

    File->Export
    Choose a name for the OBJ-file and check the file type (Save as type:) = Wavefront Object (*.obj)
    Select the OBJ export options, I'm mostly exporting to Blender for DS morph creation, so mine are:
    Scale = 100%
    x - Ignore Invisible Nodes
    x - Write Faces
    x - Write Polylines
    x - Write Object Statements
    x - Write Groups
    x - Use Node Name(s)
    "Accept" and the OBJ-file will be created

    Load the developer version (or base figure) to an empty scene
    Zero the developer version (or base figure)

    Edit -> Figure -> Morph Loader Advanced
    Choose a file = Find the saved *.obj file
    "Morph Path/Morph Name", the arrow will open a list of locations where you can place your morph, by default it uses the name of the *.obj as the name of the morph, but you can ghange it here.
    Check that the scale is the same (100%) as was used in exporting
    "Accept"

    Navigate to the path where you saved the morph (Parameters\Figure\Actor\Full Body\People\Mine\...) and you find the morph there ready to use.

    You may need to use "Edit->Figure->Rigging->Adjust Rigging to shape" especially if the final scale of your figure is something else than 100%

    At this stage the morph (figure) works only with the base figure you loaded it into, but  if you save the morph as an asset, the morph can later be found in "Parameters" just like any other figure/morph you have installed for that base figure.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,781
    PerttiA said:
    LenioTG said:
    Richard Haseltine said:

    Custom morphs that you have not saved as an asset will be embedded in a Scene or Scene Subset, and also in a Character Preset though they will then be loaded only if the preset is used to load a new figure rather than modifying the selected fiigure.

    However, there have - at least in the past - been issues with morph projection using embedded morphs so I would suggest saving as an asset. When saving a morph asset (or any other kind) you can specify which content directory to use - I would suggest using a separate directory for custom content, then you can easily back it up without having to back up the installed content.

    Thank you for the answer!

    So I can take a character, save it as a shaping preset, delete the morphs I don't need for other characters to keep the library fast and clean, and merge that shape on a basic G8 figure to get the same shape?

    PerttiA said:

    If you export the figure as OBJ and import back as a full body morph, it doesn't need any other assets but the base character..

    Before exporting, you may want to set the scale of the figure to 100%.

    Thanks, but I don't know how to do that!

    Load your figure into an empty scene
    Remove all the accessories (clothes, hair, jewelry, lashes, brows, gens...)
    Zero the figure pose
    Zero the morphs you don't want to save permanently to the figure
    Set the scale to 100%
    Set the "Resolution Level" to "Base" (in Parameters\Figure\General)

    File->Export
    Choose a name for the OBJ-file and check the file type (Save as type:) = Wavefront Object (*.obj)
    Select the OBJ export options, I'm mostly exporting to Blender for DS morph creation, so mine are:
    Scale = 100%
    x - Ignore Invisible Nodes
    x - Write Faces
    x - Write Polylines
    x - Write Object Statements
    x - Write Groups
    x - Use Node Name(s)
    "Accept" and the OBJ-file will be created

    Load the developer version (or base figure) to an empty scene
    Zero the developer version (or base figure)

    Edit -> Figure -> Morph Loader Advanced
    Choose a file = Find the saved *.obj file
    "Morph Path/Morph Name", the arrow will open a list of locations where you can place your morph, by default it uses the name of the *.obj as the name of the morph, but you can ghange it here.
    Check that the scale is the same (100%) as was used in exporting
    "Accept"

    Navigate to the path where you saved the morph (Parameters\Figure\Actor\Full Body\People\Mine\...) and you find the morph there ready to use.

    You may need to use "Edit->Figure->Rigging->Adjust Rigging to shape" especially if the final scale of your figure is something else than 100%

    At this stage the morph (figure) works only with the base figure you loaded it into, but  if you save the morph as an asset, the morph can later be found in "Parameters" just like any other figure/morph you have installed for that base figure.

    This is a bad idea - aside from the licensiing issue if you ever want to share you will lose any and all corrective morphs (to make the shape work with poses and expressions) so it will almost certainly be inferior to the original version made with multiple morphs.

  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 10,024
    Richard Haseltine said:
    PerttiA said:
    LenioTG said:
    Richard Haseltine said:

    Custom morphs that you have not saved as an asset will be embedded in a Scene or Scene Subset, and also in a Character Preset though they will then be loaded only if the preset is used to load a new figure rather than modifying the selected fiigure.

    However, there have - at least in the past - been issues with morph projection using embedded morphs so I would suggest saving as an asset. When saving a morph asset (or any other kind) you can specify which content directory to use - I would suggest using a separate directory for custom content, then you can easily back it up without having to back up the installed content.

    Thank you for the answer!

    So I can take a character, save it as a shaping preset, delete the morphs I don't need for other characters to keep the library fast and clean, and merge that shape on a basic G8 figure to get the same shape?

    PerttiA said:

    If you export the figure as OBJ and import back as a full body morph, it doesn't need any other assets but the base character..

    Before exporting, you may want to set the scale of the figure to 100%.

    Thanks, but I don't know how to do that!

    Load your figure into an empty scene
    Remove all the accessories (clothes, hair, jewelry, lashes, brows, gens...)
    Zero the figure pose
    Zero the morphs you don't want to save permanently to the figure
    Set the scale to 100%
    Set the "Resolution Level" to "Base" (in Parameters\Figure\General)

    File->Export
    Choose a name for the OBJ-file and check the file type (Save as type:) = Wavefront Object (*.obj)
    Select the OBJ export options, I'm mostly exporting to Blender for DS morph creation, so mine are:
    Scale = 100%
    x - Ignore Invisible Nodes
    x - Write Faces
    x - Write Polylines
    x - Write Object Statements
    x - Write Groups
    x - Use Node Name(s)
    "Accept" and the OBJ-file will be created

    Load the developer version (or base figure) to an empty scene
    Zero the developer version (or base figure)

    Edit -> Figure -> Morph Loader Advanced
    Choose a file = Find the saved *.obj file
    "Morph Path/Morph Name", the arrow will open a list of locations where you can place your morph, by default it uses the name of the *.obj as the name of the morph, but you can ghange it here.
    Check that the scale is the same (100%) as was used in exporting
    "Accept"

    Navigate to the path where you saved the morph (Parameters\Figure\Actor\Full Body\People\Mine\...) and you find the morph there ready to use.

    You may need to use "Edit->Figure->Rigging->Adjust Rigging to shape" especially if the final scale of your figure is something else than 100%

    At this stage the morph (figure) works only with the base figure you loaded it into, but  if you save the morph as an asset, the morph can later be found in "Parameters" just like any other figure/morph you have installed for that base figure.

    This is a bad idea - aside from the licensiing issue if you ever want to share you will lose any and all corrective morphs (to make the shape work with poses and expressions) so it will almost certainly be inferior to the original version made with multiple morphs.

    I was going with: "Of course it's for personal use only, and with assets I've bought"

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,781
    PerttiA said:
    Richard Haseltine said:
    PerttiA said:
    LenioTG said:
    Richard Haseltine said:

    Custom morphs that you have not saved as an asset will be embedded in a Scene or Scene Subset, and also in a Character Preset though they will then be loaded only if the preset is used to load a new figure rather than modifying the selected fiigure.

    However, there have - at least in the past - been issues with morph projection using embedded morphs so I would suggest saving as an asset. When saving a morph asset (or any other kind) you can specify which content directory to use - I would suggest using a separate directory for custom content, then you can easily back it up without having to back up the installed content.

    Thank you for the answer!

    So I can take a character, save it as a shaping preset, delete the morphs I don't need for other characters to keep the library fast and clean, and merge that shape on a basic G8 figure to get the same shape?

    PerttiA said:

    If you export the figure as OBJ and import back as a full body morph, it doesn't need any other assets but the base character..

    Before exporting, you may want to set the scale of the figure to 100%.

    Thanks, but I don't know how to do that!

    Load your figure into an empty scene
    Remove all the accessories (clothes, hair, jewelry, lashes, brows, gens...)
    Zero the figure pose
    Zero the morphs you don't want to save permanently to the figure
    Set the scale to 100%
    Set the "Resolution Level" to "Base" (in Parameters\Figure\General)

    File->Export
    Choose a name for the OBJ-file and check the file type (Save as type:) = Wavefront Object (*.obj)
    Select the OBJ export options, I'm mostly exporting to Blender for DS morph creation, so mine are:
    Scale = 100%
    x - Ignore Invisible Nodes
    x - Write Faces
    x - Write Polylines
    x - Write Object Statements
    x - Write Groups
    x - Use Node Name(s)
    "Accept" and the OBJ-file will be created

    Load the developer version (or base figure) to an empty scene
    Zero the developer version (or base figure)

    Edit -> Figure -> Morph Loader Advanced
    Choose a file = Find the saved *.obj file
    "Morph Path/Morph Name", the arrow will open a list of locations where you can place your morph, by default it uses the name of the *.obj as the name of the morph, but you can ghange it here.
    Check that the scale is the same (100%) as was used in exporting
    "Accept"

    Navigate to the path where you saved the morph (Parameters\Figure\Actor\Full Body\People\Mine\...) and you find the morph there ready to use.

    You may need to use "Edit->Figure->Rigging->Adjust Rigging to shape" especially if the final scale of your figure is something else than 100%

    At this stage the morph (figure) works only with the base figure you loaded it into, but  if you save the morph as an asset, the morph can later be found in "Parameters" just like any other figure/morph you have installed for that base figure.

    This is a bad idea - aside from the licensiing issue if you ever want to share you will lose any and all corrective morphs (to make the shape work with poses and expressions) so it will almost certainly be inferior to the original version made with multiple morphs.

    I was going with: "Of course it's for personal use only, and with assets I've bought"

    Yes, but the loss of JCMs/MCMs is the big issue for the end user.

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