- This topic has 14 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Hi forum I have a question about facial morphs and facial expressions in Daz3d. In more traditional character and 3d software facial morphs and expressions are based on the number of vertices that make up the model. However in Daz3d and several Daz3d product pages for expressions it says that they work for genesis 3 or 8 for example. As if the broad expressions work for all characters using that particular body despite being from different artists? Also if the characters did share the same amount of vertices wouldn't it change the way the character looks to look like the original character the morphs were made from?
My take is they are just using the same mesh more effectively.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/3181581/
My question is the need for a new variant each month that is basically just a G8 character released as special version.
Ive considered messing with Zbrush but figured Id leave most of that for people with more talent than me. I can get better results IMHO using morph packages than using the "special" versions of G8. My hopes for quality Asian base were crushed as Ive created better character on a dial than Mei Lin 8 and the texture isnt much to talk about.
for most tasks with Daz you only need basic knowhow in Zbrush, I 90% work with the move brush, sometimes use the great retopolgy feature or have some custom brushes for skin and cloth folds. Thats mostly it. Pretty quick to learn. Fixing a cloth eg. takes not more than a minute or two in Zbrush.
Sara can you share your custom brushes? I struggle with folds - particularly on low poly models. Are you working at default poly count or doing something like sculpting on a subdivided mesh and then exporting normal maps?
Also - I agree with many above - learning a basic bit of zbrush is the solution to a very large number of common Daz problems. The interface is a psychedelic mess and almost everything about ZB is stiflingly eccentric but once you get at least slightly comfortable it can be HUGE time saver.
"The interface is a psychedelic mess and almost everything about ZB is stiflingly eccentric ..."
So try Blender, which is free. Don't rule it out just becuase the interface is a mess (not psychedelic, just a mess) and almost everything about Blender is stiflingly eccentric.
But I should say I agree with the underlying point. Whichver modeler you choose, it is oftn much easier to drop into Blender (or I guess ZB) to make a small change. I find that I often cannot find one morph dial to make exactly the change I want, I end up with some very unintuitive combination of morphs found by a lot more luck than skill.
Yes I suppose the moral of the story is that although ZB, blender and even hexagon can be discouraging because of their weirdness if you can get over the hump (just requires some persistence) making simple changes to geometry becomes MUCH easier than struggling with no-quite-right pre-made morphs. I started with Hexagon - and although it was unpleasant to begin with (and also unstable) once I figured out how to move polys around with soft selection & symmetry lots of "standard" daz problems (autofit, dforce mesh torture, various forms of weird clipping, poking, crinkling etc.) became much easier to resolve.
But just in case anyone gets the wrong impression, ZB, Blender or Hexagon shouldn't replace morphs entirely. Morphs are by far the quickest and easiest way to get started with large changes. It is easy for example to dial in a face long/short morph to make a face longer overall, or change eye or mouth height with the respective morphs. These tasks take a lot of work in any modeler. So,get the rough shape right inside Daz with morphs, then invoke your modeler to get the details right.
@thundertoe I am using extrem high poly and export the normal and/or displacement map afterwards with folds and skin.
http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?186146-TomatoVFX-Cloth-folds-brushes is my favorit.
Absolutely - using a height changing morph is a much better way to change a character's height than try to do the same in a modeller. Also geometry with internal features (e.g. the head) can be treacherous so its usually to use a mix of pre-made morphs to move, scale or reshape the eyes or mouth for instance.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
