Problems importing an .OBJ file
Ok, so I have bought a really nice racing bike prop which is provided in a variety of formats.
http://www.evermotion.org/modelshop/show_product/sport-25-am81/4245/0/0/
The only two that DAZ can cope with are .FBX and .OBJ
I tried importing the .FBX version and it looked like a pile of disonnected bike junk on the floor!
I tried importing the .OBJ and it looks fine except that it has only one material zone and the parts don't move (ie no bones)
I am wondering if anyone can help me use this in DAZ as a poseable and "textureable" prop?
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If the FBX loads as a heap of parts it sounds likely that the model is made up of distinct mesh segments, which should simplify using the Geometry Editor to group it for rigging. Try switching the to the geometry editor, click on any part, and hit ctrl-* (cmd-* on a Mac) - with luck you will get a selection that is part or all of a single moving part, possibly even a single material on a single part. You can create a new group or material from the selection, or assign the selection to an existing group or selection, from the right-click menu in the view port - under Polygon Assignment.
Edit>Object>Rigging>Convert Prop to Figure... will let you turn the model into a figure, uncheck the Inherit skeleton option and name the root node to match the group you assigned to the cycle's frame.
Switch to the Joint Editor tool, right-click, Create>Child bone... to create the bones (and then select the bones and right click to create their children etc.). Use the tool to position the centre and end-points correctly.
Now switch to the Node Weight Paint brush, select each bone in turn from the hierarchy, in the Tool settings pane assign the needed maps (you don't need a map for a rotation that will be locked - most parts will spin only one way) and use the right-click menu in the viewport Geometry Selection>Select By>Face Groups to select the polygons for each part (and the children that should turn with it and won't have their own maps), then right-click again, Weight Editing>Fill selected and enter 1 as the value.
Assuming that gets you there, File>Save as>Support Asset>Figure Prop Asset, then set up your materials (do check that the mesh is UV mapped).
Sorry, I am not entirely sure I understand you. Am I reassembling the bike by hand? Or will DAZ Studio somehow know what fits together with what?
Here is what it looks like after I import in and press Ctrl *
What do you mean by "create a new group"?
Is that the OBJ or the FBX? I was meaning to use the OBJ, the FBX was just diagnostic - indicating that the pieces were somewhat separate, which makes them easier to select.
As I said above, the OBJ imports fine, but it only has one material zone and does not articulate - ie it's just a rigid prop. So I wanted to use the FBX (which is the screenshot above). I thought it was the FBX you were explaining how to assemble?
Welcome to the (not so) wonderful world of using models designed for other programs in the programs from the Poserverse, developing a large dent in your forehead and hair loss is to be expected :P
The FBX are useless as they are not compatible with the importer in DS, you will find that half the mesh hasn't loaded.
The OBJ was exporter out of MAX using an old OBJ exporter (2007), and will require some messing about with import settings to not only get it to the right scale, but also to correctly swap the axis on it and also to flip the normals. On top of that the OBJ only has 1 material zone name across several separate mesh, which DS combines into one mesh.
All in all to get these to work in DS will require a fair bit of work.
Thanks. That's helpful.
So first off, bin the FBX file (which just generated a pile of separate pieces)
I can import the OBJ and resize it fine. So now I have a single model with only one material zone. I think Richard was saying I could create new, separate materials zones using the polygon editor tool (but I could be wrong)
What do you mean by "flip the normals"? (please bear in mind this is the "new users help forum" (people seem to forget that when they answer my questions!). If I was clever, I'd be in the other forums!
I think he was also saying I could create bones so the handlebars could move, for example. Does that sound right? Can you create moving parts in a model that is just one solid blob?
Yes adding new Mat Zones using the Polygon Editor http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/42088/
I explained normal in my Area Light tutorial. ;) The mesh needs someway to tell the render engine which side of the mesh is the outside this is done my a Normal. When normal come into DS flipped they generally render black no matter what the surfaces settings are. This can now be done inside DS again using the Polygon Group Editor Tool. Or what I do is take the Mesh into Blender and flip all the Normals, then into DS. ;)
In the Polygon Tool menu as shown in the tutorial linked above flipping normals is under Geometry Editing
As for Rigging well I always thought that to rig something the moving parts needed to be separate parts....yeah still learning this side as I said in my PM so I really don't to add to your confusion. LOL
But if that is the case it needs to be separate parts then there is no way around,t but to take the mesh in to say Blender and manually separate the parts that need bones to move and reimport the parts in to DS and rig them. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I can give you a step by step guide in doing this.
Polygonal models have a component called "normals" that govern how a model is lit and shaded by pointing off from each vertex. Flipping them is how it sounds, changing them from pointing inward to pointing outward. (the polygons are still facing you, but would only appear lit when the light is behind so they appear black when lit from the front)
I'm very new to Daz3d, but from what Bejaymac says, it sounds like you'd have a much easier time passing the bike model through Blender for a better export to Daz.
Bones for handlebars certainly works, it's not much different than character animation. I haven't touched on how to do mechanical rigging in Daz yet; instead of skin weighting, we'd take a much simpler route of setting separate models as children to bones. But that does require that each part be a separate model.
oh and as pointed out before and me missing it the polygon editor tool is now called the "Geometry Editor Tool" DOH!
Flipped normals isn't the correct term, but as I don't know what the right term is that's as close as any, what it means is that the model loads in jet black instead of a gray lump or with visible textures. You may also find the mesh is "facing" the wrong way as a result of this, it means the mesh has been mirrored and parts that were on the left side in one program end up on the right side in other programs.
Been playing with some of the free samples from that site, and as far as I can tell they are all static props, as a result they have no rigging, thanks to the mesh groups being exactly the same as the material zones means they are not ideally set up for rigging, at least not Poser rigging, TriAx has no need for groups so you could use our WM rigging on it.
As for import settings, I'm using the Cinema 4D preset, but I'm changing the scale to 150%, it's close to the right scale but as these models are all different scales to begin with a little adjustment will be needed.
EDIT
The attached pic shows what I mean, the whiteish one is correct, while the black isn't.
That's a minor pet peeve of mine with 3d software. Normals and face orientation are not the same thing, yet tend to tell the user that they are.
But what makes you think the normals need flipping? When I light the model and render it, it appears white. Doesn't that mean its normals are facing outward?
But what makes you think the normals need flipping? When I light the model and render it, it appears white. Doesn't that mean its normals are facing outward?
Not necessarily (there's a tech explanation that involves shader talk, faceforward() an'stuff - which you probably don't need =)). I think SickleYield suggested testing models with UberEnvironment2 only for lighting, apparently it does not autoflip normals. See if it renders shaded or black wit UE2 only?
Technically, you may do without rigging per se because the model is rigid - if you split the OBJ into parts like wheels, pedals, etc, then you could simply set the rotation centers for each (described here: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/15552/ ) and parent them to each other. But I have never done anything like that in DS. The "geometry editor" tool has been much improved, but it's still likely a job better suited to a modeler program.
A modeler program might also be able to import the OBJ with the submeshes unwelded ( = less work). Then you could just export piece by piece.
Ok. Maybe I was using the wrong term, sorry. Does "rigging" not mean creating separate moving parts from a "solid" model?
Anyway, all I really want to do is to make the pedals and the handlebars moveable so I can pose it with my cyclist :)
But I am not sure I am clever enough to figure out how to do that :( I know Richard tried to explain it above, but I couldn't understand
Well, I understand "rigging" as "creating a single figure with bones". Maybe you could call the "parenting method" this, too, hard to say.
And it should not be difficult, more like, tedious. The trick is to split the model into separate OBJ files (according to the surfaces or groups, supposing there are some). Do you have Blender installed? I'm not much help when it comes to using it (I only do painting in it...), but hopefully others will be able to chime in. Or maybe you have Hexagon?
another way is to use the polygon group editor to right click select by surface, hide parts then delete hidden and save the remaining mesh by the name ie wheel, pedal, handlebar etc as a support asset- prop or scene subset
they will all load in position still then to pose it.
what an ingenious idea! Thank you!