Can you save characters to Metamixer addons?

RexRed

Can you save characters to metamixer addons?

I have noticed a lot of my favorite Genesis 8.0 characters do not have Metamixer addons.

Is there a way I can make them or save them from the characters to use in the metamixer toolkit?

Sorry about this question, I am just learning to use the Metamixer toolkit.

nemesis10

RexRed said:

Can you save characters to metamixer addons?

I have noticed a lot of my favorite Genesis 8.0 characters do not have Metamixer addons.

Is there a way I can make them or save them from the characters to use in the metamixer toolkit?

Sorry about this question, I am just learning to use the Metamixer toolkit.

As far as I know, there is no way to save metamixer presets (you can save a mix you make as a morph) probably for the same reason that you can't create the compressed version of HD morphs that Daz3d considers propriatary.  You may have noticed that the metamixer addons are all characters owened by Daz3d and I think all have hd settings.

RexRed

What is the point of learning to use Metamixer when only a few male characters have been made that work with it?

There are all kinds of convoluted steps to use Metamixer right, and when you finally get your figure prepped there are so few addons for blending features.

We need a utility to convert our other characters to Metamixer addons...

I would have put this post in the suggestions/requests thread had I known there is no way to make Metamixer addons.

Please give us a script to generate Metamixer addons or please Daz gain permissions to make 3rd party addons from other characters that we know and use a lot.

I have all of my figure’s features memorized, I know which figures have a chiseled jawline and which ones have a broken nose etc... I would really like to put that learned ability to use. 

nemesis10

RexRed said:

What is the point of learning to use Metamixer when only a few male characters have been made that work with it?

There are all kinds of convoluted steps to use Metamixer right, and when you finally get your figure prepped there are so few addons for blending features.

We need a utility to convert our other characters to Metamixer addons...

I would have put this post in the suggestions/requests thread had I known there is no way to make Metamixer addons.

Please give us a script to generate Metamixer addons or please Daz gain permissions to make 3rd party addons from other characters that we know and use a lot.

I have all of my figure’s features memorized, I know which figures have a chiseled jawline and which ones have a broken nose etc... I would really like to put that learned ability to use. 

I think I don't understand....   To your points:

What is the point of MetaMixer.... think of it as an extension of the face rig; it allows you to mix in percentages of the characters in a visual way.  It isn't required but more like deciding to use a kitchen knife over the food processor.... I use both but may choose one over the other. The face rig is complex but worth learning for a lot of reasons including why 8.1 was made from 8.0 and why it messed up expressions.

I'm not sure that there is a third party figure where I would say I want 15% of a Mousso figure, 25% OziChick, and 60% ChangelingChick; it would be impossible to share since someone else would have to have all of the characters. You already have the ability to save your figures as morphs so you could use your memory to dial in your favorite characters.

So I would say to think up it as the choice between a knife and food processor or Coke versus Pepsi.
 

 

RexRed

Hello Nemesis10, thank you for your reply, 

I truly do not understand this, and I have not yet figured out why expressions got broken from 8 to 8.1.

I usually make my own expressions anyway so expressions being broken is not a big problem for me. 

I probably will not understand until I get a firm grasp of FaceRig and Metamixer.

It seems what you are suggesting is exactly what I do.

I take like 25% of Bruce's head and 25% of Roy's head and 25% of Pablo's head and apply them to a Genesis 8.1 head.

I blend the features of various heads until I get the head I want then I may adjust various features with specific morphs like brows, lips, nose, chin etc.

It is like power pose for fingers, I usually just use the parameter sliders rather than use power pose. I usually only use power pose when I want to open or close all fingers at once.

I do think it is very nice that there is more than one way to do similar things. It gives people a choice to use the way that best fits their style of editing.

The way I blend figures I purchased Metamixer and Metamixer plus though, I cannot see me using them now because my figures I use to blend with are not there...

Yes, I can make morphs but what is the point, I already have the morphs in the heads of my figures.

Daz needs to give artists a way to make Metamixer addons before it will be useful in the way I use Daz and my figures.

I really need to spend a day trying to use Metamixer (and FaceRig) again.

I am just boggled by the ability to add heads to Metamixer but not having many heads to add.

The deep level of adjustment in Metamixer otherwise is probably the feature that I am not really appreciating yet.

It seems Metamixer tries to negate all the morphs I bought.

Only a couple of the heads that I use regularly for blending are available in Metamixer. 

Every figure I make in a scene is usually a blend of different heads.

I love the idea of Metamixer, but it is limited for blending figures heads without addons.

I am disappointed that I cannot use it in the way I would like.

nemesis10

Basically, in the move from 8.0 to 8.1, expressions moved from an older system that was getting complicated by the changes in numbers of facial bones to a more flexible FACS based system based on expressions.  The belief is that they blocked the use of the older expressions (in a soft way using dummy null files) because they didn't want confusion between the two systems.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to deprecate a system; people like doing things the way they have always done it and resist change.  The Metamixer uses the Daz3d core characters which is tightly tied to HD morphs and other proprietary stuff; Daz3d is loathe to give away their protected IP especially when there are alternate ways for users to perform the task without giving away the "secret sauce".  Hd morphs are an example; people have always been able sculpt ultra Hd details as ArtStation can atest but making something that compresses them so that you have a compact shipable product is a proprietary secret that one would not hand to one's business competitors.  

Sevrin

I was pretty excited when I first caught sight of Metamixer, but calmed down when I realized it was only for DO Core characters and would require additional purchases for each one.  Anyway, it's not that hard to create a mash-up of multiple characters with sliders the old-fashioned way.

Richard Haseltine

RexRed said:

Hello Nemesis10, thank you for your reply, 

I truly do not understand this, and I have not yet figured out why expressions got broken from 8 to 8.1.

I usually make my own expressions anyway so expressions being broken is not a big problem for me. 

I probably will not understand until I get a firm grasp of FaceRig and Metamixer.

It seems what you are suggesting is exactly what I do.

I take like 25% of Bruce's head and 25% of Roy's head and 25% of Pablo's head and apply them to a Genesis 8.1 head.

I blend the features of various heads until I get the head I want then I may adjust various features with specific morphs like brows, lips, nose, chin etc.

Metamixer adds sub-morphs, so you can take bits out of the character shape rather than having to add an equal percentage of the whole shape.

It is like power pose for fingers, I usually just use the parameter sliders rather than use power pose. I usually only use power pose when I want to open or close all fingers at once.

I do think it is very nice that there is more than one way to do similar things. It gives people a choice to use the way that best fits their style of editing.

The way I blend figures I purchased Metamixer and Metamixer plus though, I cannot see me using them now because my figures I use to blend with are not there...

Yes, I can make morphs but what is the point, I already have the morphs in the heads of my figures.

Daz needs to give artists a way to make Metamixer addons before it will be useful in the way I use Daz and my figures.

I really need to spend a day trying to use Metamixer (and FaceRig) again.

I am just boggled by the ability to add heads to Metamixer but not having many heads to add.

The deep level of adjustment in Metamixer otherwise is probably the feature that I am not really appreciating yet.

It seems Metamixer tries to negate all the morphs I bought.

Only a couple of the heads that I use regularly for blending are available in Metamixer. 

Every figure I make in a scene is usually a blend of different heads.

I love the idea of Metamixer, but it is limited for blending figures heads without addons.

I am disappointed that I cannot use it in the way I would like.

RexRed

Richard Haseltine said:

Metamixer adds sub-morphs, so you can take bits out of the character shape rather than having to add an equal percentage of the whole shape.

This is very exciting to be able to do this, in time Metamixer will be the way to go when more addons are made available.

Currently the lack of addons are a huge limitation from my perspective.

Adding a converter within Daz might still keep the inner working of that converter hidden.

I would purchase a large number of Metamixer addons if non Daz 8.0 and 8.1 figures were somehow added to the current store options. 

Figures I would like Metamixer addons for...

 

8.1 figures

Bruce

Pablo

Alex Capital

Zak

Rocco

Matt

Matteo

Taurus

Novak

...and so on.

 

8.0 figures

Kasper

Alexander

Roy

Fergal

Buster

Ryker (for Vladimir)

Jett

Dragomir

Callan

Rodrigo

Bentley

Gaius

Gunnar

Denton

...and so on.