Skyrim, Civ, other Games character creation

Shadowhawk70Shadowhawk70 Posts: 0
edited December 1969 in The Commons

Has anyone create characters for other games using DAZ? I found a few using precreated characters and reducing the poly count. What I was wondering is if anyone has started from an existing game model and modified them in Carrara or Hexagon.... or started with Hexagon or 3DCoat or zBrush or something similar, then rigged in DAZ or Carrara and exported to an existing game.

Perfect would be a tutorial for that. To be honest, I don't understand Hexagon and don't think I ever will so using 3DCoat or zBrush would be preferred.

Comments

  • PendraiaPendraia Posts: 3,598
    edited December 1969

    Has anyone create characters for other games using DAZ? I found a few using precreated characters and reducing the poly count. What I was wondering is if anyone has started from an existing game model and modified them in Carrara or Hexagon.... or started with Hexagon or 3DCoat or zBrush or something similar, then rigged in DAZ or Carrara and exported to an existing game.

    Perfect would be a tutorial for that. To be honest, I don't understand Hexagon and don't think I ever will so using 3DCoat or zBrush would be preferred.

    Not sure if I've understood you correctly but...if you mean to take the nif file from skyrim and improve it I'm not sure that here is the best place to ask.

    If you mean taking genesis into the game you wouldn't be able to distribute it would have to be something you did just for yourself.

    I would imagine that to take an original game model and modify in Hex or some other modelling program is feasible the problem would be copying the rigging back into the original file. I'm not sure how easy that is to do for Skyrim. I haven't played it much since it was first released as I hate steam! >:-(
    I would imagine that you can do it in NIF tools though...you need Sickleyield. Hopefully she will pop in and see this thread.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    Seeing as I haven't done any of that in ages, I'm not sure how easy it is to do one from Skyrim...but I did Morrowind characters with the nif scripts for Blender (which still need updating). The rigging wasn't too hard to adjust, if you don't go overboard.

    But as to rigging something new...yeah, it can be frustrating, to say the least. And Genesis won't be very easy to rig for Bethesda's games...mainly because there's way too much adjusting that needs to be done to do it quickly.

    And as was mentioned, thinking about doing it for distribution is way beyond the scope of the standard license agreement, and probably not quite covered by the Game Developer's license because it isn't for a game of your own creation.

    Pen...there is a 'self contained', no Steam required version of Skyrim...

    And Steam has earned my ire this weekend...after trying for 48 hrs to buy some games, my son finally gets logged in...five minutes AFTER the sale ended...

  • MattymanxMattymanx Posts: 6,902
    edited December 1969

    For the Elderscrolls series of games, all models are made in 3D Studio Max and rigged there as well. Though you could build a model in another app, you still need to rig it in 3DSM before exporting it and the rigging. The rigging for the excisting characters would not be the same as the rigging required for DAZ models.

    Also as Pendria already mentioned, if you do manage to get Genesis into Skyrim, or any other content from the store, you CANNOT distribute it legally at all. The only exception to the rule is the Game Developer Licence and that only applies to certain content, not all of it.

  • Shadowhawk70Shadowhawk70 Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    I was watching some bid on YouTube showing the rigging in 3DMax and using the NIF files but it didn't make sense that you could do that with 3DMax but not with Carrara or Hexagon. I remember that there were tutorials for creating weapons and clothes or importing obj files and rigging them to use in Daz or Poser. So... I was thinking there should be a way to do the same with the NIF files.

    Here is the thing. There is a Daz video showing Vic running in Unity... So why not other game systems.

    Yes, I understand the copyright issues but moving a step at a time... How about being able to import the Skyrim or Civ models into DazStudio or Carrara... Modify them and export them back as new people or items in the game. With the content creation kit, making mods for Skyrim is easy but spending $3k to get 3dmax to modify the graphics is crazy.

  • Shadowhawk70Shadowhawk70 Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    What I hope to do is use 3dcoat or zBrush to create the object. Rig it in Daz then use it for mods. Since importing obj files is not hard... It is exporting the rigged object that becomes a problem.

  • FSMCDesignsFSMCDesigns Posts: 12,752
    edited December 1969

    I was watching some bid on YouTube showing the rigging in 3DMax and using the NIF files but it didn't make sense that you could do that with 3DMax but not with Carrara or Hexagon. I remember that there were tutorials for creating weapons and clothes or importing obj files and rigging them to use in Daz or Poser. So... I was thinking there should be a way to do the same with the NIF files.

    Here is the thing. There is a Daz video showing Vic running in Unity... So why not other game systems.

    Yes, I understand the copyright issues but moving a step at a time... How about being able to import the Skyrim or Civ models into DazStudio or Carrara... Modify them and export them back as new people or items in the game.
    With the content creation kit, making mods for Skyrim is easy but spending $3k to get 3dmax to modify the graphics is crazy.

    Using vickie for personal use in unity is doable, anything other than personal use and you need one of the game developer licenses sold here at DAZ. I have had V4 in a couple of games for my own enjoyment. I had to re-rig her for each game as the rigging was different in each and not the same as what DS or poser have. One was done in Blender the other in 3DSMax was what the SDKs used for creation in the first place..
    All the hacking of proprietary meshes from games and places like DAZ you are talking about is all great for learning purposes, but if you want to redistribute anything, you will have to learn to model your own mesh or pay for it, much like the cost of 3DSMax. If you really want to extract skyrim mesh and re-import it after editing, DAZ rendering software is not the software you should be using.

  • JaderailJaderail Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    As an ex mod maker the thing most important to understand from all these replys so far is this. Even when/if you can/do get the mesh modified and imported into a mod it would HAVE to stay for personal use only. You would not be able to share your work to the other gamers to enjoy. Posting the Mod with the modified mesh would break the EULA, only you would know you did it and not be able to share the File/Files needed so others could enjoy your hard work on the Game mod you made. I'm not 100% sure even a Developers lisence would fully cover you in this way.

    Building a character for FAN ART only is also a bit iffy in my book due to the Copyright issuse IMHO.

  • PendraiaPendraia Posts: 3,598
    edited December 1969

    mjc1016 said:
    Pen...there is a 'self contained', no Steam required version of Skyrim...

    And Steam has earned my ire this weekend...after trying for 48 hrs to buy some games, my son finally gets logged in...five minutes AFTER the sale ended...

    Where? Please provide me with links...I currently haven't installed since I got the new ssd drive as it was really annoying me. I loved Morrowind and Oblivion and I've hardly touched Skyrim. : (

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    It appears that it was limited to certain areas/countries...

    I know that they were available here, for a while (middle of West Virginia) at WalMart. This area has some of the worst internet connections in the USA. My son almost returned his copy he bought the week it came out (took nearly two weeks to get it running...but that was more to do with waiting for WINE updates than poor internet). They had a sticker on the front saying 'Steam not required'.

    Sorry if I got your hopes up...I didn't realize they weren't universal.

    And yes, Steam sucks...

  • PendraiaPendraia Posts: 3,598
    edited December 1969

    mjc1016 said:
    It appears that it was limited to certain areas/countries...

    I know that they were available here, for a while (middle of West Virginia) at WalMart. This area has some of the worst internet connections in the USA. My son almost returned his copy he bought the week it came out (took nearly two weeks to get it running...but that was more to do with waiting for WINE updates than poor internet). They had a sticker on the front saying 'Steam not required'.

    Sorry if I got your hopes up...I didn't realize they weren't universal.

    And yes, Steam sucks...


    Pity to hear that I actually emailed Bethesda about the whole issue of steam and told them it was the last elder scrolls game I will be buying I f they continue with steam...sorry to take this off topic.

    Someone did ask why max was the program needed to rig...most likely because that is what was used in the game. Each program rigs differently. Hexagon to my knowledge doesn't have the capability to rig...figures used in poser and ds were originally rigged in Poser and then in ds when they released their figure set up tools and more recently using weight mapping in ds4.

    From memory Bethesda use max to create their figures in all of the elder scroll games I have.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    Pendraia said:
    Someone did ask why max was the program needed to rig...most likely because that is what was used in the game. Each program rigs differently. Hexagon to my knowledge doesn't have the capability to rig...figures used in poser and ds were originally rigged in Poser and then in ds when they released their figure set up tools and more recently using weight mapping in ds4.

    From memory Bethesda use max to create their figures in all of the elder scroll games I have.

    Yep...although sometimes you can rig a 'universal' rig in Blender that works in other things...and some other rigs can be imported/understood by Blender. Not everything and not even all rigs from the same program. Rigging is one of the most variable areas of 3d there is...every program and every game has a different idea of how it should be done and there's no real 'standard'...other than 'it moves' to shoot for.

  • edited December 1969

    I was able to export Genesis (FBX with animation) into UDK ..... did a small thread about it there ... there were hang-ups though ... I had to build my own UV's ... get her down to 5 materials on one map ..... but then the problem ... I had added some Morphs (face animation) to my bone-animation .... the morphs export fine .... but when imported, the animations frames doubled!! it played the Face animation first, then the bone-animation .... rather than togethere ...... I think this can be changed in UDK ... but I don't know it well enough to do it !!

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 100,728
    edited December 1969

    I do need to add that the Game Developer License covers use of DAZ content in a complete game, not as an add-on for an existing game (or as items that can be purchased in-game, rather than being part of the basic package).

  • Shadowhawk70Shadowhawk70 Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    First.... on copyrights. The developer licence covers a single game but also requires that the models be encrypted which makes distribution as a mod not viable.

    That said, it sounds like using Daz Studio or Carrara are not useful for game mods since the rigging of models from the game are likely to get corrupted during import/export and definitely do not support the nif format.

    So... for both learning modeling and creating sharable mods based on game models, Daz is not the right place to look.

    Does that summarize it correctly?

  • Shadowhawk70Shadowhawk70 Posts: 0
    edited December 2012

    Sorry post was posted twice so i deleted this one.

    Post edited by Shadowhawk70 on
  • PendraiaPendraia Posts: 3,598
    edited December 1969

    First.... on copyrights. The developer licence covers a single game but also requires that the models be encrypted which makes distribution as a mod not viable.

    That said, it sounds like using Daz Studio or Carrara are not useful for game mods since the rigging of models from the game are likely to get corrupted during import/export and definitely do not support the nif format.

    So... for both learning modeling and creating sharable mods based on game models, Daz is not the right place to look.

    Does that summarize it correctly?

    If you are looking to model for a particular game you would find more information looking on a forum where people mod for the game.
    In regard to elder scroll games there is a wealth of information at bethesdas forums. It tends to be too full of fanboys for my taste, my personal favourite was Canadian ice's but I haven't visited for a while so I'm not sure how active it is for skyrim.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    Pendraia said:
    First.... on copyrights. The developer licence covers a single game but also requires that the models be encrypted which makes distribution as a mod not viable.

    That said, it sounds like using Daz Studio or Carrara are not useful for game mods since the rigging of models from the game are likely to get corrupted during import/export and definitely do not support the nif format.

    So... for both learning modeling and creating sharable mods based on game models, Daz is not the right place to look.

    Does that summarize it correctly?

    If you are looking to model for a particular game you would find more information looking on a forum where people mod for the game.
    In regard to elder scroll games there is a wealth of information at bethesdas forums. It tends to be too full of fanboys for my taste, my personal favourite was Canadian ice's but I haven't visited for a while so I'm not sure how active it is for skyrim.

    Neither have I...and I was surprised they moved...but here it is.

    http://grotto.moddersrealm.com/index.php

    And yeah they seem to have some Skyrim stuff.

    And a general, but more or less, game specific 3d modeling section. You'll probably be able to get a ton of more specific info over there.

  • PendraiaPendraia Posts: 3,598
    edited December 1969

    mjc1016 said:
    Pendraia said:
    First.... on copyrights. The developer licence covers a single game but also requires that the models be encrypted which makes distribution as a mod not viable.

    That said, it sounds like using Daz Studio or Carrara are not useful for game mods since the rigging of models from the game are likely to get corrupted during import/export and definitely do not support the nif format.

    So... for both learning modeling and creating sharable mods based on game models, Daz is not the right place to look.

    Does that summarize it correctly?

    If you are looking to model for a particular game you would find more information looking on a forum where people mod for the game.
    In regard to elder scroll games there is a wealth of information at bethesdas forums. It tends to be too full of fanboys for my taste, my personal favourite was Canadian ice's but I haven't visited for a while so I'm not sure how active it is for skyrim.

    Neither have I...and I was surprised they moved...but here it is.

    http://grotto.moddersrealm.com/index.php

    And yeah they seem to have some Skyrim stuff.

    And a general, but more or less, game specific 3d modeling section. You'll probably be able to get a ton of more specific info over there.

    They moved some time ago...iirc. I've always found it very useful in the info it provides and very friendly but I don't know how active it is at the moment. Thanks for providing the link...I'm still hunting up stuff after having a hard drive fail.

  • FSMCDesignsFSMCDesigns Posts: 12,752
    edited December 1969

    So... for both learning modeling and creating sharable mods based on game models, Daz is not the right place to look.

    Does that summarize it correctly?

    Yes. This community can be useful in learning about CGI, mesh and modeling, but for your specific needs, best, as pointed out to check out forums where they actually mod for the game.

  • mjc1016mjc1016 Posts: 15,001
    edited December 1969

    So... for both learning modeling and creating sharable mods based on game models, Daz is not the right place to look.

    Does that summarize it correctly?

    Yes. This community can be useful in learning about CGI, mesh and modeling, but for your specific needs, best, as pointed out to check out forums where they actually mod for the game.

    Right...I wouldn't say this is a bad place to ask general questions, it just isn't going to get specific enough.

    It's kind of like asking a proctologist a question about wisdom teeth...

  • MattymanxMattymanx Posts: 6,902
    edited December 1969

    For Skyrim, I tend to go to the Skyrim Nexsus for all my modding needs and info.

    http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/

    I dont really go to CI&HDs; place anymore either.

  • cridgitcridgit Posts: 1,757
    edited May 2022

    Redacted

    Post edited by cridgit on
  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,583
    edited December 1969

    cridgit said:
    Let's say I want to have a 2D sprite pop up at certain times on my website or in a simple little iPhone app.

    Do I need a game license for that? The way I see it is I'm not distributing a 3D mesh and the game is not rendering from a 3D figure. I'm merely using a series of pre-rendered 2D images, which is no different to me selling art I make with DAZ Studio and Genesis.

    Does anyone know I need the game developer license for to 2D sprites (without 3D rendering and mesh modding/distribution)?

    Thanks

    No, you don't need a game license -- sprites are just renders.

  • cridgitcridgit Posts: 1,757
    edited May 2022

    Redacted

    Post edited by cridgit on
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