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Seriously, the shit is so fucking convoluted it's not even funny. I'm trying to figure it out. WIP
Major Cache for G8M
Yeah, you would think with all the updates over the years, that rigging/animation would be their primary focus. Daz models are scoffed at by professionals, even though a lot of hollywood projects use them and they're extremely well made, as of Genesis 8, mainly due to how crappy the Studio app is.
LMAO! People use Daz Studio for animation? I've seen some daz studio animations.....
As for poly count, the G8 figures are comparable to the models I've worked with in the game industry. Most don't go over 20-30k in polys for characters, due to engine limitations. That's going to change soon, with the next-gen consoles coming out, though.
I haven't had a problem with their UVs, either. Most of the game character models I've made, work on the same principle. You have separate maps for arms, legs torsos and head. It's like Voltron.
Now, some of the older content, well it's just down right terrible.
I don't use Daz for anything, other than a character creator and scene builder. Once I've created a character, I export it to maya, then rig it. I'll convert clothing to nCloth, if need be, as well as hair.
Scenes are exported, once made and set up in maya.
All my lighting, particles, etc are done in maya.
The only reason I'm even attempting rigging and paint weighting in Daz, is for others. If it were just a project for me, I've realized that it's far more efficient to do all that in Maya.
You're not far off that Daz Studio is merely a "toy." Then again, Daz doesn't put any sort of effort into ANY of their applications. Carrara sucks, Daz Studio sucks, Hexagon sucks. They just milk their vendors. It's sad, 'cos they're turning out to be a lot like Steam.
My biggest complaint, though, has to be some of their assets. I get a lot of commissions for Fantasy work and I'll find a nice clothing set I want to use, that fits the description the commissioner wants, only to find out that the moron vendor decided a fantasy set needed "high heels." *rolls eyes* That's the most irritating thing I've found.
"Here, this is a Female Warrior clothing set I made that's based off Viking lore, but let's give it HIGH HEELS!"
So fucking ignorant.
I've talked to a lot of people on the Daz Forums. Most of them don't even bother being a vendor, 'cos of Daz's draconian view of their copyright.
Honestly, if I had a modicum of programing skill, I'd be trying to work on a daz-a-like front end for Blender.
And here's the sick thing to keep in mind about G3/G8... they have 1/2 the polygons of V4.
I'm of the opinion daz simply stopped trying somewhere around Genesis 2. Genesis 1 was a good idea with good features and a natural progression on the Generation 4 figures that added geografts, clothing that morphed with the figure, and a unified core geometry.
everything since has been a step back at best... G2 is basically G1.5 with the unified figure thrown out the window because their PAs were cranky that working with Genesis 1 had a learning curve. And genesis 8 is basically genesis 3 with an A-pose.
Blender 2.81 has improved tremendously over the previous versions. It's worth a look now, even moreso. Hell, if you've seen the Netflix movie, Next Gen, you can see what it's capable of, as it was done entirely in Blender. I've used Maya for almost 20 years now, so it's pointless for me to use another animation suite.
Genesis 1 was the BEST thing Daz ever did. The whole "Male/Female" changes done with Genesis 2 an up were a cash grab by Daz3D. When I sculpt humanoid models, I use the same generic low poly model for both and they turn out fine. I like using Daz models, especially 3/8 as they have decent skeletons, a low poly count, tight paint weights and good bone structure for faces.
The problem with Daz Studio is that it's archaic and they have no intentions of updating it, to modern standards. Using "dials" to animate is so 1980s. The fact you can't import a figure with it's own skeleton, using industry standards, is also bad. As Pixels pointed out, iRay is it's only saving grace (that and dForce), but both are brute force methods, using a hammer when you need a scalpel.
Daz Studio COULD be a decent hobbyist animation tool, if Daz3D would stop acting like Valve/Steam and invest in their applications, instead of bilking their vendors for half their profits and threatening litigation against anyone that "borrows" their "ip." I laugh they feel using their skeletons without permission is in some way, violating their copyrights.
I know, I'm currently learning Blender. Thank god for Udemy. Two pro-grade instructional packages for about 25 bucks. I've gone from "What is this mysterious 3d sorcery" to semi-competent poly modeling already. 🙂
I'll actually disagree with Iray and Dforce. Largely because I use an AMD GPU and find that anything cuda dependent like that is two steps back. Double so considering they went so far as to pay-wall hair physics... and if I'm not mistaken, Poser's had soft-body for over a decade.
What is really twisted is that they've been sitting on Carrara for over a decade. Carrara while while not perfect had a number of features they're only just starting to incorporate into DS.
And I think their skeletons are a little bit over complicated. Why have two bones for the upper arms and legs?
https://www.pluralsight.com/search?q=Blender
Go there. If you see any tutorials there you might want to try, let me know and I'll see if I have access to them or not. 😉
Believe it or not, their skeletons are now considered industry standard. Twists have been in video games/film for about a decade now. It's the best representation of human anatomy until rigs actually have muscles built in. Most bones are socketed, so they're not linked like in a 3D rig. The muscles attached to the bones cause bends and twists. Adding the twist bone makes models move more realistic.
Thanks! I'll do that! Right now I'm kinda commuted to the one I'm doing. Gotta crawl before you can walk, but I will VERY much be taking you up on this offer!
As for the skeletons... So basically they have no good defense of their skeletons because literally everyone uses them or at least skeletons that are virtually identical?
And thank you for explaining.
Pretty much. The only major difference is most proper skeletons use a Root_Joint that's at the 0,0,0 World Axis. Most engines require this for ground level movement. Daz3D, in their infinite wisdom use the Hip_Joint as the Root_Joint and the Pelvis_Joint as the hip. This causes problems as you have to do bends and twists with the Pelvis_Joint, but sways (side to side) with the Hip_Joint and if not rigged correctly, will break the skeleton.
They really have no reason to claim "copyright infringement" for using their skeletons. They're not bad, but not great.
I found this because I randomly typed in "DAZ Sucks" into a search engine. LOL.
I'm a DAZ user. I do have Blender. It... uh... doesn't like my computer and was problematic back when it did. And it's too much for me. It's just flat out too much. I'd gone to DAz way way back when I thought 3D programs were strictly for art reference material (such innocent days), and I found the interface a lot more intuitive than Poser 5 (which I had). So I just kind of used DAZ more and more over the years until I use it almost exclusively. Which is good because Poser Pro doesn't like to work anymore either.
I use DAZ for animation. No I'm not a professional animator, but for the Mohegan Language Project it's fine.
I've spent years working with their animation shaders to get a particular look that has been imitated in places like the Dragon Prince for the past year or two, but I'd been working on the look for years for my webcomic, Akashik. (And yes I've been told often the art is beautiful.)
But....
....
You know that phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"?
I used to be able to use their old lip sync engine in 32 bit, do what I need, save, and go to 64 bit.
Can't do that anymore, I notice as of today.
So I've my latest animation ready to go, but 32 bit crashes when I tell it to render. And I can't get it into 64 bit.
I have been increasingly upset with DAZ over the past few years since ownership changed hands. It's apparently I will have to make a switch for some things. But I can tell you Blender won't be the option for me.
Sigh!
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