Using Carrara to Edit Daz Object's UV Map steps?

I'm trying to use Caraara to edit a DAZ item's UV Maps...

I've gotten my thing into Cararra...I've (with much help from Tango Alpha) learned how to get the UV Maps I need..I can export them to go to photoshop....

I don't know, however, how I get the info that I assume I've created get back to the Daz models....I assume eventyally I'd have a new UV file in the UV sets folder of the product.

Possibly, rather than if there's steps from where I'm at, but even a basic how to do the whole process, that'd be usefull..

Comments

  • StezzaStezza Posts: 8,050
    edited June 2017

    select your model then venture into the texture room and apply your new textures to the object.. your new textures will be wherever you saved them to from PhotoShop... 

    You need to get familiar with the shader tree... see if this screen capture helps out wink

     

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  • ScavengerScavenger Posts: 2,664
    edited June 2017

    Hmm.. applying the texture and it looks like things did not work quite as well as I thought..

     

    This would seem some kind of tiling problem (you can see the map in the small inset)....but tiling changes doesn't do :/

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    Post edited by Scavenger on
  • StezzaStezza Posts: 8,050

    did you save the model that you uv'd as a carrara model or did you just reload the daz model and tried to apply the new textures to it?

    hard to say without seeing screen captures of your work wink

  • ScavengerScavenger Posts: 2,664
    edited June 2017

    WEll in that, I just opened the daz scene (only has the model in it) in Carraa...directly...

    (Like i said, maybe finding a full step by step guide to this wouldn't be a bad thing :)

    -----

    I did start over, though.. went into Daz, changed the tiling of the surface in Daz to 1x1....redid my steps in Carrara... now getting screenschot 1. (which if I clicked attach instead of save would be easier to see).

    So,....that seems more prmising...

    I'm not seeing the right image in the viewport, which should look, in theory, like the pic 2...

     

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  • StezzaStezza Posts: 8,050

    maybe a screenshot of what you are trying to retexture may help..

    if its just a basic model like a box or something then load into Carrara adjust the UVs ( you said you can do this ) save the new UV map from Carrara and open it in Photoshop...don't close Carrara, do whatever it is you need to do in PS and save it somewhere so you can get it into Carrara..

    with Carrara still open go into the texture room and load the new texture you created onto the model.. save the model as a filename.car  file, render it and show the world and that's the basics.

    we haven't touched on material zones as we don't know if your model has them.

    see how that goes.... enjoy smiley

     

  • ScavengerScavenger Posts: 2,664
    edited June 2017

    I'm trying to remap a uv map a surface of a big object.  It's not visible in the carrara view...it's under other geometry

     

    I mean, this is a screen shot of the 2 polys of the the surface domain, that the map is for and so forth

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  • StezzaStezza Posts: 8,050

    ok... convert it to a vertex model and see how you go...

    select the model you loaded then on the menu up top go to

    Edit--->Convert to other model

    select Vertex model then try and retexture it after UVing it in the modelling room.

    the worst thing that can happen is to stuff it all up.... but hey... just start over again 

    have you a link to the model so we can see it?

     

  • StezzaStezza Posts: 8,050

    here's a youtube video that may help.... just skip the intro to get to the info part...

  • ScavengerScavenger Posts: 2,664

    Thanks I'll check out the video.

     

    I think I need more basic steps...taking model from daz, brining it into Carrara, making the change in carrara, going back to Daz. I'm assuming the stuff inside of Carrara is working..it's the getting back to the real world in daz.

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311

    HI,.

    Can I ask what you're trying to achieve,. or rather,. what you want to to this for.

    Normally in 3D ,. there' no such thing as a UV "file",. UV's are set in the model. (when you save out the model,. the UV mapping coordinates are included )

    You can export a Wireframe of your mesh,. also called a UV template,. which can be used as a guide for creating texture maps.

    but those files are simply Graphics. (not 3D data).

    UV coordinated are normally saved inside the model structure,. they''re specific to the model,. and not changable.

    If you want to alter the textures on a model,. that's a matter of changing or creating different textures,. which fit your UV Template.

     

    Daz Studio has implemented switching UV "sets" ,.

    I have no idea of "how" (other than changing the model) , perhaps the DAZ Studio users would offer more information

    As far as I'm aware,. Daz Studio,. is the only 3D application which allows UV switching.

  • ScavengerScavenger Posts: 2,664

    I want for this surface of this model to have this UV map in Daz.

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311

    from the images above,..

    it looks like you're trying to re-texture an existing model,.

    If so,. you don't need to alter the models existing UV's ,. just open the texture map in an image editor,. create a new layer to work on,. while using the original texture as a guide,.

    most Daz3D products used to come with a set of UV "Texturing templates",. which are probabbly better than the texture maps as a texturing guide

    also,.

    In Carrara,. shader room / in the image a few posts above,. you're looking at a default Sphere with your texture applied,.

    In the top left cormer of that Preview window,. you can click where it says "Sphere preview" and select Model,. which will give you a better idea of what you're working with.

     

    Is is possible to mention the name,.. or link to the product your using,. and explain what you want to change.

    If you want to change just part of that models texture,. then you shouldn't need to change the UV mapping,. you only need to create a new "alternative" texture map.

    then create a "surface" which uses that texture map,. and apply it to the model.

     

    The more we know about the item you're working on,. and what you want to do,.  helps us to help you,.

    I get that you want to change the UV 's on a daz model,. but it would be helpful to understand which model, and what parts of that you want to change.

    for ,.. Creating a "UV set" in Daz Studio,. You'd need to ask in the Studio forums if anyone knows how to do that.

    My guess is that you want a "different texture" applied to an existing area of a model,. and that's normally done by making a new texture map,. and applying it to a suface shader.

    If we have no idea of what model you're working on,. or what you're trying to change,. than we're working blind in the dark,. and guessing.

     

  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584
    edited June 2017

    Once you've fixed your broken UV in Carrara . . .

    1. Export the model as .obj (File->Export)

    2. Open DS and load the original model.

    3. Go into the surfaces tab, select all and copy (what we're doing might to delete the shaders, so we need to make sure they're on our clipboard.)

    4. Let's try the easy option first. Select the model and on the menu, Edit -> Object -> Geometry -> Update Base Geometry.  Select Update Full Geometry from the dropdown, and then pick the obj you exported. Select Carrara in the From dropdown (makes sure the scaling is correct)

    If that works, Yay Job Done! Go to step 12.

    If not . . .

    5. Really really make sure you've got those surfaces copied.

    6. File->Import. Pick the obj file and it'll load at the end of your nodes list.

    7. Edit->Object->Transfer Utility

    8. In the source dropdown, select your original model. (it'll be the first one in the list). In the Target dropdown, select your imported model (it'll be at the bottom of the list)

    9. Click Show Options to expand the dialog.

    10. At the bottom of "General Options", tick Replace Source With Target. Accept.

    11. You should now just have the one model. You will also have lost all your shaders, so go back into the surfaces tab, select all and Paste them back in (you'll need to reapply any base types - ubershader or Iray uber etc, separately)

    12, with any luck, job done. Don't forget to Save As -> Support Asset -> Save Modified Assets, as this is what will write out the modified UV to the \data folder.

    Post edited by TangoAlpha on
  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496
    edited June 2017

    Yet more options!

    @Scavenger -  if all you want to do is take something out of DS, change the UV in Carrara and send it back to DS, that’s pretty simple.  I’ve done this with freebies where the original prop had been unwrapped in a way that was good for 3D painting but didn’t work at all for a tiling texture, when I wanted to apply a tiling texture to it.

    If you just want to create a new copy of the item with new UVs and it is not rigged, then do this:

    1. Export the item from DS as an OBJ (I would use the Poser scale preset)
    2. Import the exported OBJ into Carrara (use the Poser scale preset again)
    3. Change the UV map as desired in Carrara’s Vertex Modeler then return to the Assembly Room
    4.  Export the OBJ (Poser scale preset again)
    5.  Import the OBJ to DS (take a wild guess what scale preset to use!)
    6. Set up your materials on the surfaces tab as usual
    7. Save the new item as a support asset with a different name in DS

    In case you are trying to add your new UVs as an option (like the Genesis figures have), or the item is rigged in DS and you don’t want to lose that rigging, then skip steps 5, 6 and 7 above and do this instead:

    1.  In DS load the original item
    2. On the surfaces tab select the root level of the figure’s materials
    3.  From the Options menu, choose Load UV set
    4. An Import Geometry dialog will come up for you to find the OBJ you exported from Carrara after changing the UVs
    5. Choose the Poser import preset, enter a name for the new UV set and click OK
    6. In the Surfaces settings there should now be a dropdown for picking the UV set with the default UV and new UV option showings – select the new UV set
    7. Set up your materials and then save as a support asset with a new name (if you are keeping your surface settings then you don't have to do anything extra here)

    NOTE that AFAIK the second part (loading additional UV options) only works if both UVs have the same material zones and the geometry is unchanged – that is, the ONLY changes you made in Carrara were to the UV layout, you didn’t add, subtract or rename any material zones or change what polys were in different material zones. If you want to change both the number/names/arrangement of the material zones and the UV layout, you need to change the material zones in DS before you export your item to Carrara and then you would just follow the steps above.  I kind of know how to do that, but for that particular step you might get a more detailed and useful explanation in the DAZ Studio or Technical Help forums.

     

    3DAGE said:

    Daz Studio has implemented switching UV "sets" ,.

    I have no idea of "how" (other than changing the model) , perhaps the DAZ Studio users would offer more information

    As far as I'm aware,. Daz Studio,. is the only 3D application which allows UV switching.

     

    @3DAGE – On UV switching, I think this is actually not uncommon, the uses of it are just so specific that we don’t run into it very often. Blender allows an object to have multiple UVs for a single mesh too, and when I Googled it a couple of Maya examples came up also. In DS it's all-or-nothing, but in other programs you can switch between them or use them for different things (like have the Normal map use one UV and the color use another). Here’s an article on doing it, and one scenario for why you might want to, in Maya: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/maya/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2016/ENU/Maya/files/GUID-65E2D379-0706-4291-9D30-C3B5CB800A3B-htm.html

    Post edited by MarkIsSleepy on
  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311

    Thank you Mark :)

    interesting stuff there,.

    I'm still thinking it's a confusing and complex shortcut to something that's always been possible,. either via model switching,. or creating multilayer (mixers)

    Carrara has Layered shaders,. multichannel mixers and the new multilayer shaders in 8.5 which should all be capable of essentially the same thing.

    or an animated shader,. which would extend that to a change in any textures, per frame.

    I guess I'll be struggling to find out why I would need this for some time. :)

     

  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496
    3DAGE said:

    Thank you Mark :)

    interesting stuff there,.

    I'm still thinking it's a confusing and complex shortcut to something that's always been possible,. either via model switching,. or creating multilayer (mixers)

    Carrara has Layered shaders,. multichannel mixers and the new multilayer shaders in 8.5 which should all be capable of essentially the same thing.

    or an animated shader,. which would extend that to a change in any textures, per frame.

    I guess I'll be struggling to find out why I would need this for some time. :)

     

    Yeah - I don't completely get it either, but someone must have a need for it or it wouldn't exist. laugh

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