How to Use Blender 2.6 to Make Clothing for DAZ?

tdfotw_fb5b5c81f2

It's great to see so much activity in this thread!

Okay, so here's my new crisis...

I've been following the tutorial that MJC was kind enough to link me to (http://www.schells.ca/index.php?page=skunkworks), and I am stuck on a certain step.

I'm at the point where you're ready to join your modeled object to the skeleton of the base figure. The directions included from his PDF are simply:

"Click and drag your geometry from the "geometries" list, to the "relationships" list... this automatically places and sets the geometry in the correct bone locations of the parent skeleton!

When you drop the geometry make sure you drop it over the main figure name at the top of the "relationships" list as in this pic..."

But when I click and drag the object over to the parent tree, DAZ crashes. I will include some screenshots in the hopes that somebody is able to assist somehow!

Thanks, guys!

NOTE: There are two things that bear mentioning.

1 - I imported a default V4 model and created a new model using the base as a mannequin.
===== I point this out in the hopes that I'm choosing an incorrect import/export option or I'm forgetting to do something.

2 - I didn't export/import using "Poser" as the default, but rather "Hexagon."

Wilmap

Have you grouped your object before trying to rig it?

I tried this once without having grouped it and DAZ crashed on me.

tdfotw_fb5b5c81f2

@wilmap - By grouping, do you mean naming the group itself? The object in particular only affects the abdomen, so I exported it into Hexagon from Blender and made sure it was named abdomen. Am I still missing a step?

ADDITION:

I don't know if this means anything, but I just attempted something as a test of sorts.

I added the geometry of V4, itself to itself (after following all of the other steps to the letter; "Copy from figure," "Remove geometry," etc...) and DAZ still crashes.

I'm beginning to think there is something wrong with DAZ itself, since technically speaking the V4 OBJ is grouped and mapped properly, right? Someone tell me if I could be dead wrong.

I went ahead and nabbed DS4.5 while it was free, and I'm thinking of installing it. If I do so, would any of the steps change from DSA3 as far as V4 is concerned? I'd like to stick with V4 for the time being before jumping to Genesis.

Wilmap

That works fine for me in DS4 if the item is grouped correctly.

Personally I rig my items to Genesis now as this is so much easier. Only time I use that kind of rigging is for shoes with high heels.

tdfotw_fb5b5c81f2

Okay, went ahead and installed DS4.5 and after figuring out name changes for tools, I applied the same steps as before.

It worked FLAWLESSLY! Now the only problem is to figure out how to export it so that I can then use the newly-rigged clothing in DS3A! Any pointers?

Tempest!

atwsite said:

I added the geometry of V4, itself to itself (after following all of the other steps to the letter; "Copy from figure," "Remove geometry," etc...) and DAZ still crashes.

I'm beginning to think there is something wrong with DAZ itself, since technically speaking the V4 OBJ is grouped and mapped properly, right? Someone tell me if I could be dead wrong.

It looks like you still have morphs in your donor figure which is probably what's causing the crashing in DS3. Skeleton setup doesn't like morphs at all.

You can remove the morph data like this: Select ALL of the bones in your donor figure and open the Property editor tab (it's in DS4.5 if you don't have it in DS3). You will be able to see all the properties, morphs and rigging data in the left hand side ("Groupings/Settings) of the Property editor tab. You'll have to remove everything under "Morphs | Shapes" and "Morphforms".
"INJection Channels" you can and probably will want to keep if you want to add the empty "community channels" to your clothing.

You can export a CR2 figure from file > export. Just choose the correct format.

tdfotw_fb5b5c81f2

@Tempest - Alright, I did just as you said and removed the morphs in DS4.5 (didn't try with DS3A yet). Adding the geometry works in DS4.5, and I tested posing my item. It worked perfectly in DS4.5!

For reference, I created a "sash" that covers only the abdomen. Theoretically, the bottom that lays on the hips doesn't move while the abdomen can bend, twist, and go side-to-side. In DS4.5, this works perfectly. The hip portion sits still the entire time while the abdomen can go crazy.

I exported to .cr2 using the default settings in DS4.5 (reference attachment), and upon opening in DS3A the following problems occur:

1. The sash is HUGE. It fit V4 just fine in DS4.5, but now it's suddenly too large.
2. The "Fit To..." option makes the sash fit at her neck rather than at her abdomen (possibly linked to the scaling issue).
3. (Most importantly) The sash does not twist at the abdomen while the hips remain stationary. Instead, the whole thing rotates on the XYZ axes.

Tempest!

At least the figure type should be set to Conforming Figure on the export.

I remember having some kind of scaling issue (can't remember what but it might have been similar to what you reported) when I modeled and imported geometry that wasn't in Poser scale. I think I used DAZ scaling (and imported using it too, so it should've worked in theory) but something went wrong. Sorry, this is very vague and may have nothing to do with your problem but it's been a while and I haven't had similar problems since I started doing stuff in Poser scale.

I think that if you have a part of a clothing you want to stick with the hip you probably need to assign a separate group for it.

tdfotw_fb5b5c81f2

Okay, here's a question that's a little off-topic, but I can't justify starting a new thread (yet). It regards UberSurface2.

I've decided to stick with 4.5 due to its capabilities and built-in content. I was using UberSurface2 for DAZ 3 and got the following message:

"3Delight message #45 (Severity 1): S2072: the shader 'C:/Program Files/DAZ 3D/DAZStudio4/shaders/omnifreaker/displacement/omDispStandard2.sdl' uses a different interface version. Automatic conversion was successful. It should be recompiled for better performance."

I decided to go ahead and purchase the new UberSurface2 that (supposedly) works with 4.5. Unfortunately, I get exactly the same message.

This is a big problem since I created a Layer2 texture that doesn't display at all. I've checked all of my settings to no effect.

Any ideas? Thanks, guys.

tdfotw_fb5b5c81f2

I managed to fix my previous problem by downgrading to 4.0. That's three versions of DAZ that I've used, now...

Frustrations aside, I'm on the final leg of my little journey.

I modeled the clothing.
I exported it.
Rigged it using the V4 bones.
Exported it as a .cr2 file format.
Tested it out by reloading it onto a character from the cr2.
Fit To even works properly.
Everything works flawlessly...

...on a default V4 model.

Now I'm trying to overcome this final hurdle.

I use Morphing Clothes, which has become an absolute beam of sweet, sweet golden sunlight with a lot of my other clothing that I've purchased elsewhere.

I loaded everything like I've done so many times now into Morphing Clothes, and I get ready to load my brand new, custom cr2 format clothing into Morphing Clothes...

"File contains no figure or prop."

Everything works perfectly from the cr2 in DAZ (Both D|S3A and D4P). Everything. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

Please...I've gotten this far...I'm so very close...

Thank you, anyone...everyone.