How can I get DAZ to export all maps like normals, roughness etc with my .OBJ?
dream3
Posts: 20
I'm exporting a daz character with clothing pieces like armor in .obj to use in a separate software. However the only maps it exports are the colors for some reason. Is there something I am missing here? Should I check more boxes to get it to export all the maps?
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OBJ doesn't supposrt the advanced material options.
Use FBX to export. Then, you will have to manually setup the new materials in your other program, placing the appropriate files where they are needed. (FBX should export all the required files into the base folder, where you export it to, or into individual folders that the FBX formated programs would expect to find them.)
There is an option to "Embed textures", and below that is "Collect textures to folders". (Select the drop-down option for FBX format 2014, unselect EMBED TEXTURES, and also make sure the "Figure" and/or "Props" is selected. You want the folders option for exporting, so you can use those in your other program, to setup the textures manually, if it can not read FBX with the imbedded textures.)
If that doesn't work, there may be a more appropriate format that you should try to locate. Remember, materials are not actually part of the object. They are handled by the material-loader, of which, as Richard stated, OBJ has no ability to use, as it is just the "Object". FBX is "FilmBox", made by Kaydara and owned by Autodesk. It has the ability to export with more options that you can use in most programs.
As has been mentioned, FBX is what you want to use. Even so, you generally WON'T end up with more than the basic color & maybe a bump once you've imported the FBX into your end program. What you want to do then is search your system for where the rest of the images are, most likely your Daz Content folder, but depends. I use a free search utility called oddly enoguh Search My Files from http://www.nirsoft.net.
Anyway, once you've located that folder, the rest of the normal, spec., etc files will be there. Just copy over to the new folder.
Also, FBX will create two image folders (at least with Lightwave), but they're identical content wise so choose one & deleted the other.
FBX also has some quirks when it comes to how things are parented in DS & definitely with Instanced items, so you might want to make some tests.
Morphs are another story.
Thanks guys. I'll do some testing with FBX.
However, from what I got, no matter if it's OBJ or FBX, I will always have to look for the normal, spec etc inside my computer after the export, correct? DAZ itself won't collect those for me?
It won't, no. The easiest way to find them is to go to the surface browser in daz and click on the map in question then "browse" to the folder, copy and paste the folder location and Windows+E to bring up an explorer window for it. Someone should make a "collect maps" script!
For OBJ files, ticking the 'Collect Maps' option works up to a point. DS creates a sub directory below the directory where you save the obj file, and it's called 'maps'. The maps collected together tend to be diffuse and transparency maps only. Other maps, like bump map, displacement map & normal maps can be missed. In the OBJ file it is possible to save vertex normals, another option to select in DS. Depending on the degree of implementation of the recipent software, editing the .mtl file that goes with the obj file can be productive, see Paul Bourke's site here: http://paulbourke.net/dataformats/mtl/ .
Im getting that exact behavior with OBJ and Collect Maps option. Only diffuse is coming in and i cannot seem to find the other maps in my folders! Do they have a special naming or a special folder they are always located? I really don't get it why it has to be this cumbersome :(
Hello
I already asked for the same question :
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/386421/help-solution-for-collecting-all-maps-from-a-ds4-scene/p1
and Andya made a script for that: it collect ALL the textures from your scene to a dedicated folder up to you to use the textures you want
I use it all the time !!
Thanks again to him
Note: I found some time a product which have different textures with the same name. Only the last copied remain. That's not a problem with the script.
Maybe someone can upgrade it to add a suffix number when it try to copy an already existing map ?
I wrote an Alembic exporter that has an option to write out all the maps. It names them recognizably and orders the duplicates. You can configure it to not export any Alembic at all, and just do the maps. I think I called it "Write Textures".
If you're interested in trying it Alembic Exporter
I couldnt find the thread about your Alembic Exporter, so i am just going to post my question here: Does your exporter export wardrobe items?
For some reason i couldnt get it to export any Daz clothing when exporting alembic for Marvelous Designer. I obviously checked the relevant boxes to the best of my ability. Mainly concerned with exporting shoes.
Ive been using your exporter a lot because its better than the other one. Weirdly, it works fine with wearables that i've made myself, it just doesnt seem to export wearables from Daz store.
That's probably a bug. I'm not a Windows programmer and I don't know what a good Unit Test framework is: I probably fixed one thing and inadvertently broke something else. Let's not divert this thread, but please send me a screenshot of the settings and I'll fix it. Offhand, I can't think of why there would be a difference between your stuff and store bought assets. If you could send the simplest .duf file that exhibits the bad behaviour, that'd be optimal.
Also, are you sure there aren't any "ignore" checkboxes checked, but they're rolled up?
Or maybe "dynamic" checkboxes are checked, but not the "Export Dynamic" checkbox at the top?
Oh wow that sounds great. How do I install it?
paste dll file in your plugin directory. Default for me is : C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\plugins
I donwloaded this dll file and found that it works better than the alembic exporter I paid $100 to own. I haven't tried clothes on figure yet but will post back when I do. Well done and thanks.
@TheMysteryIsThePoint Many thanks for all the work you've put into this!
EDIT
Ive put the file in '''C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DazCentral\plugins''' but it doesnt seem to work from there. Ill check if i can find other folder. I basically dropped it in the default folder
This is why i kinda hate Windows, why 2 folders? Probably due to the other folder being the Central app for downloading.
just found this folder '''C:\Daz 3D\Applications\64-bit\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4'''
It still doesnt show up in studio 4.15 on Windows?
EDIT2
Okay got it, its under the edit menu, i was looking under export > options dropdwon
You are very welcome. We do what we can.
Sorry about the Edit menu... for some reason there's a DzEditAction class, but no DzFileAction class, and I'm just lazy. I think you can still put it wherever you want by clicking on Windows|Workspace|Customize.
Let me know how it works out for you.
I'm not very tech savvy, but i still can't find it under either the Edit tab or the Export tab. I put the dll file in both the directories mentioned. Exactly where can the plugin be find within Daz?
Edit: Ah, found it!
This might be a dumb question but is there a way to import the maps into C4D ?
When i import the alembic, the tag are there but none of the materials.
That's because Alembic does not represent materials, at all. Sagan was designed to work well with the Blender materials created by the excellent Diffeomorphic plugin, but I am unaware of the existence of such an analog for C4D.
But you could use the "export textures" option and reconstruct the materials in C4D, as PBR is PBR is PBR. I know, that's bound to be a lot of work but if you want it badly enough, it would probably give decent results.
If you're interested in trying it Alembic Exporter
I tested it and it exported 3 maps a "normal" "diffuse" and im trying to figure out the 3rd map is that a "roughness" "gloss" map? are these the 3 maps typically that come out of DAZ or does it depend on the artist?
I'd guess roughness or opacity. Does the filename give no indication at all?
Trying to use this exporter to create texture UVs compatible with Genesis 2 figures, where the limbs are a single image versus split as with Gen8 and Gen3. Can this be done with this exporter?