Making models with moving parts
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It works best to model in blender and rig in Daz Studio. In blender, simply create vertex groups that have the same name as the bones you would like rig to have. Then it is fairly easy to use the figure setup in DS.
Ok thanks for this. I should add, that I have never done any rigging in DAZ and am a total noob! All I have really made in blender so far is cups and stuff.
Is there a good video tutorial you'd recommend?
This new tutorial by DAZ PA SickleYield might help get you started. It's nominally about rigging a door to open, but actually covers quite a bit more as all the parts in the simple room example are given bones.
Yes, I would second any recommendation for a Sickleyield tutorial, she really knows what she's doing.
Also simply check out the documentation here at the daz site under Help/Wiki/Daz Studio/User Guide/Creating Content. Some of it is way out of date, but still close enough to give you an idea of where to start.
Here is a direct link: http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/creating_content/start
thanks very much everyone! Those links are great. May need to watch 'em a cpl times, but I should be able to do this.
@wwes - I am please to see tha the DAZ documentation does at least work in some areas. Whenever i have used it in the past I have come across so many broken links that i have given up
I have done a fair bit of searching and watched a bunch of videos, but I still can't get the hang of rigging in DAZ. Can anyone point me to some good (basic) explanations of how it works?
I am only interested in props with solid parts, not rigging clothing or human figures. So maybe there is an easier way of doing this that using bones and weight maps and so on. I only need to make solid objects move, machines, tools etc. I am using blender as my modelling app and have worked out how to assign vertices to polygroups. My problems start when I import the OBJ into DAZ.
I think one of my problems is that blender and DAZ use different coordinates. In DAZ, the up-down direction is called Y, but in blender, it is Z. So I never know how to get the bones pointing in the right direction in my model. I also find that when I import models into DAZ, they are often lying on their side (instead of being upright), or they are way up high, instead of being on the ground.
Thanks
On the import dialog, make sure all the options are expanded and then, swap the Y/Z coordinates on the Blender import...save as a new preset. That should stop the 'laying on their side' bit.
And no, there isn't really any easier way...
hi. when you say save as a new preset, what do you mean? A pose preset?
Ok, so I followed Richard Haseltine's method, and I think I am nearly there, but I am getting some deformation of my model. Here's what I did
1. make object in blender keeping base, post and arm as separate objects (capture1.jpg)
2. in blender assign base, post and arm to separate vertex groups
3. export as OBJ (with the polygroups box checked)
4. in DAZ add gemetry to the figure setup (use DAZ setting)
5. select rigging type "parametric (legacy)"
6. setup the bone parenting hierachy (base > post > arm)
7. adjust rotation order (post yxz, arm xyz)
8. hit green "Create" button (capture2.jpg)
Now all the bones are right, but when I adjust the "twist" parameter on the post, I am getting deformaton of the cylinder and the base cube (see capture3.jpg). What have I done wrong?
Did you fill the weights by bone selection? I can't see that mentioned in your list.
DAZ PA SickleYield has done a great video tutorial which should help with this sort of work (it's called Rigging A Door, but it covers a whole lot more).
Thanks. After a bit of experimentation, I now have it cracked! My mistake was using Legacy rigging type. It should be Tri-ax
Here is my method (in case anyone is interested)
BLENDER
Create the prop, keeping moving parts as separate objects
In Edit mode, select the verts and assign to groups (Ctrl G)
Export the model to OBJ making sure to check "Polygroups" box
DAZ STUDIO
In "Figure setup"right click in "geometry list" and load the OBJ file
Drag the OBJ file across to "Geometry" in the "Relationships" column (to the right)
Parent the bones how you want them
Right click the "Order" and select rotation order (the dimensions X,Y,Z refers to DAZ convention, not blender)
Click the green "create" button
Go to "Tools > Joint editor" and position the bones where you want them (if they're not right, delete the model, change the rotation order and re "create")
Go to "Tools > node weight map brush"
Right click in the viewport "Weight editing > Weight conversion > convert triax weight to general weight"
Go to "Tools > node weight map brush" right click in the viewport "Weight editing > fill bone by selection groups" (make sure you have the weight map selected in "Tool settings"
DONE
You could also stick with the legacy rig and turn off the Bend button for all bones in Parameters (the button, not the transform that may be labelled Bend). That tells DS/Poser not to apply deformation to the bone (but remember that legacy rigging allows a bone to deform itself and its parent, so bend has to be off in both if you are using a mixture of settings).
On the Import or Export dialog box, the drop down to select the various import/export presets...to the right of that, if you make a change to one of the existing presets, it will activate the Save Preset button...
These are the import/export settings I use for Blender...saved as 'ModernBlender' presets.
I can position the bones ok in the joint edtor, but how do I manipulate the green manipulator lines (with the arrows on the ends)? I need to be able to align this with the object, but it doesn't seem to rotate when I rotate the noes in "Tool settings"
See this screen cap and notice how the green manipulator is not aligned with the bone. When I rotated the bone to align with the object, the green manipulator didn't align with it!
Does right-click with the Joint editor Tool,. Align>Align Node help? I'm not quite sure what you are meaning.
No. Align node just lines up the bone with the object. What I am trying to do is line up the translation gizmo with the object. You can see from my screenshot that the gizmo is not aligned with the object. What I want to be able to do is move the translation slider and have the object move along the axis of the object (it is the gizmo that determines the translation direction)
I don't think the start/end point widgets can be adjusted that way.
Really? That seems very odd. I am not sure how else to align translation to the object then. Is it about the placement of the bones somehow? It must be possible as I have rigged other models where an object doesn't lie exactly along one of the global axes. In those cases, the translation gizmo just ended up aligned with the object, but how?
Item translation via the Universal ot Translate tool should align if you set the Tool Settings option to Use Object Coordinates. Your screenshot shows the Joint Editor though.
Sertorial, I merged your three threads as they are all basically about rigging and in the same forum. Merging them keeps the information all in the same thread for you and anyone else who may be trying to follow the conversation. This can be important when someone remembers they saw some info, but it was in one of the earlier threads...then they have to go and search, and that's if they are aware there was more than one thread, if you see what I mean. :)
No. that doesn't work either. I tried selecting both "Object coordinates" and "Local coordinates" but neither produced a translation along the axis of the object. This is very annoying as it means I can't make a rogged model with an "extend" dial whihc would make the object extend telescopically from the adjacent object. Instead, the translation dial makes it move in global coordinate space (i.e. oblique to the object axis).
This is quite hard to explain in words, but imagine you had a telescope. I want to be able to extend the telescope in the normal way (i.e. along the line of the telescope how ever the telescope is oriented in space).
Please post screenshots of the item with the bone selected for both the Universal tool and the Joint Editor tool.
Although in the Universal tool view, the translation axis appears to be along the object, when you actually dial the z-translate slider, the object doesn't actually move along that axis! Instead it seems to move along an axis about 30 degrees from it (which is why I think it is following the axis shown in the joint editor view)
How about if you use the viewport widget?
But I am trying to set up the dials for a morphable prop. And the translation dials don't follow the viewport gizmo (if they did, problem solved!). The dials follow the gizmo shown in the left hand screencap
I'm not sure why it isn't respecting the bone alignment, I thought my attempts had had no issues but it's been a while since I rigged anything. One option, if possible, might be to model it along one off the orthogonal axes and then rotate it to its correct orientation.
Yes, I did wonder about trying that. So rig it, then rotate it to one of the 90 degree axes, export and re-rig