Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Speaking as one of the bulk, yes, I agree. DS could be so much more attractive with just a few improvements. Animation timeline and physics (cloth, soft body, etc.) being top of my list. I can put up with the rather limited timeline which, in my case, is somewhat improved by KeyMate and GraphMate which I still use in preference to the later DAZ versions of those tools. NLA would be a bonus though and, please - if any DAZ person stumbles across this thread - please, please fix the foot sliding issues.
As for Blender - I spent good money buying the "Alive" animation tutorial and have not ventured past the first couple of video lessons because I realised that it will take a whole new workflow for me. I am not ready for that and I fear that I never will be. The issue for me is that getting my DAZ characters into Blender is a one-way journey and, despite the heroic efforts of the developers of the available bridges, it is not a simple task. Again I watched the excellent Krys Kringle tutorials on how to get a character over using the Diffeo add-on but those three tutorials are an hour each with no redundant information which tells me that it is just too much work when I have stories running at 130 - 150 scenes with maybe 20% of those scenes having animated versions.
That's the nature of my hobby. I like to create stories and enjoy seeing them develop but I don't want to spend four days on a scene - that's for the professionals and I am just a hobbyist.
Kia ora
Is there a tutorial for the 3D xChange path, I was trying that and got my Daz character to iClone BUT there's not export to CC3 opion I can see
Thank you Richard I'm getting ole I think, couldn't work out the correct way to quote
I think to be more generous, there are things DAZ wants to do and there are things it doesn't want to do. This is fine, I like a focused application that has a clear sense of direction. That's why I'm hesitant to make a broad comparison to a program like Blender because DAZ doesn't want to do things like modeling, UV-ing, etc. And again, thats totally fine.
The problem is that it's becoming more and more lackluster and inefficient at the things it's actually trying to do. if it's aimed at beginners, why is the UI so bad? Why is the viewport so slow and the hotkeys so unintuitive? If it's a character posing program, then why are the rigging tools so clumsy? Why is the workflow for posing a character so scattered? If it's a 3d program, then why is manipulating actual geometry like pulling teeth? If it uses MDL, then why can't it export MDL files and be used in other programs?
My hope though is that these issues are obvious and being worked on in the big Studio 5 release. DAZ doesn't really need to expand it's actual functionality, it just needs to make sure it's current functionality is actually... Well, functional.
Hi there. I am currently working with iClone 8 and Character-Creator 4. I use all DAZ models within iClone by exporting them in DAZ Studio as FBX files... I can also use Genesis 1 to 8 in iClone, and yes, iClone is expensive.
I bought the software when I inherited some money...
@cynthia1968
Yes, but saying you "use all DAZ models within iClone" comes with a huge qualification: Other than the huge library of shaping morphs available in Daz Studio, you lose all of the incredible functionality that comes along with the Genesis 8 framework like the JCMs and MCMs that make the model so beautiful as it deforms. They look great in an A pose, but as soon as I started to actually pose/animate it, one look at the elbows or knees bending unrealistically was enough to conclude that DAZ to iClone was not going to work for me, personally. Someone can correct me on this, but I do not believe that iClone even has an SDK, and its scripting is too primitive to be able to facilitate importing the JCMs, similar to how Diffeomorphic does for exporting to Blender.
as an iClone 6 user I never use my DAZ people without clothes
as ...well yeah
but it great for quick animations
Haha Wendy... you don't have to be without clothes in order for your elbows or knees to be showing :)
From the many locations where JCMs apply to, the character would have to be wearing a Burqa not to be noticeable. But I'm not sure how much of this is just me with some sort of low-grade OCD going on.. the first time I succesfully exported my main protagonist to iClone 7 years ago, which I had bought because I had heard it actually licenses HIK from Autodesk, and saw it animated, I was like "Nope" and I don't think I've ever opened it again. And all the stuff the make you buy was not cheap. Xchange this, pipeline that...
@TheMysteryIsThePoint
They have a python API ,but from what I have witnessed seems limited
to simpel scripting for automating existing tasks
The render engine & VFX options in iclone
(even version 8) make it a non starter as delivery output platform,before we even get into a discussion about the joint deformations.
With my direct to Genesis retargeting options in Blender along with Maya level Manual animation
(with the animation layers addon),
I find myself rarely opening Iclone these days.
certainly not enough to hand over $600 to upgrade to version 8.
But on the matter of joint deformations there is just a different “culture “in the Reallusion community in that most just do not care about it.
Most use the Daz content import functions for access to less expensive clothing content
from the Daz store
And from what I can see they are a likely older demographic than the Daz community (for the most part.)
Iclone has an excellent Blender pipeline tool that imports Avatars, converts to rigify
and retargets Iclone /actor core motion in blender including facial and lipsync.
(See my youtube channel for a full review of it ,thumbnail below for indentification not a direct link)
And their new FREE Accurig software is a standalone local app that seems to be challenging Mixamo directly with its Auto rigging and direct connection to the actor core commercial libraries.
Like Mixamo, it does not do facial rigging but they hinted that it may be in a future version.
Coincidently I found that the reallusion Accurig exports FBX figures that import into poser 11 as posable figures
with static faces of course.
I'm considering just trying to create native Blender JCMs as needed in Blender with the Radial Basis Functions addon. I'm not an artist, so that is probably outside of my skillset, but I just might try my hand at sculpting. But everything would be so much easier if I didn't have to export back to DS just to be sure everything is going to work 100% of the time.
On the left, you see my altered Female Genesis 2 character. (I call her Sybil Crewes), in DAZ Studio, and on the right, you see her in iClone 8. She can talk, move and do all the things you expect from a 3D character in an animation. Also, she inherited the fangs :-)
This is a short, 1 minute animation, using DAZ/Poser content into IClone along with Sybil Crewes driving in her Ford Mustang (no sound added).
https://youtu.be/14N0GqOvHXA
Time to render was about 15 minutes.....
That's true, all sliders to adjust your Genesis model within iClone are gone... but if you've altered your Daz Genesis figure in DAZ and export it as an FBX then you'll keep the altered version of your character....
I completed my first feature length animation (90 minutes) in seven months, using DAZ characters (Genesis 1 to 8) in iClone 8.12
For those who would like to see the animation, you can PM me for the password :-).
https://filmfreeway.com/PandemicChaosIsBleeding
I am thinking very hard on going the CC4 +iClone 8 system.
do you HAVE to have the iray plugin? Also is there a way once in CC4 and character is created modified etc is there a way to import back into Daz Studio as FBX or something?
I really only do toon/stylized /anime renders and Daz3d just doesn't have the 3d assets to purchase for what I do and renders I work on. I'd like to get into animation and do simple memes or short animations, Daz Studio is just not suited to animations and I have lots of issues with the Daz Studio animation timelines etc (some is down to learning), most is Daz Studio limitations.
Yes but it will cost you extra $99 USD on top of the $900 USD buy in for IC8/CC4
IC/CC4 have FBX export with presets for the major 3DCC's&game engines
However I am not certain DS has reliable FBX import.
Honestly I think DS can handle this type of animation no problem.
Thanks wolf359. I already know it's an expensive workflow for all the addon products etc for IC8 & CC4. I also am aware that IC8/CC4 is no panacea, it has it's own quirks and issues.
I'm just tired of Daz Studio environment and it's work around s and specific ways of doing things. Plus the 3d assets I want or am interested in are becoming less and less relevant in the Daz Studdio world. Stylized, Disney, pixar, anime etc.
tryin to up my game, its long over due.
understood
Still a cheaper alternative to consider is Blender
with the $40 Auto rig pro addon
and the $30 Animation layer addon.
you can rig your toon /Disney style Characters in minutes and retarget mixamo, and other external sources, to them with Auto rig pro
Hi, you don't need the IRay plugin, it's slow... Importing back from iClone to DAZ, I tried it but then I sometimes need to buy an additional license (which I don't have or willing to buy).
The winning combo to me is DAZ Studio and export it the model as an FBX file.
I use iClone 8.12 and Character Creator 4.12...
I see the price for "iClone 8 + Character Creator 4 Power Bundle" has come down to $699. Is this now worth it or do the problems make it a non-starter when it comes to using this software with G8 (I don't have any G9 characters)?
I have been a Daz patron since 2004 and Daz studio user since it's inception. I've recently started back using iClone and CC3+. As I read these comments, I think about similar comments when it came to using Poser, Carrara and other software back in the day, almost 20 years! The more things change, the more things stay the same...lol. It's only worth it if you have a clear vision on what you are trying to do with it. Everyone has their opinions (especially the "non-starter" crowd), but unless iClone completely "breaks" a Daz mesh to the point where it is completely usable in iClone, I'm sure it is able to handle whatever you want to put your G8 characters through if you understand and are willing to work around the limitations. As someone who've in the past has taken what has been said in these forums when it comes to doubting these softwares to the point of not even starting a project, I suggest that you trust yourself and don't look for validation (in the form of someone's opinion) about this software. If you understand the limitations and have a clear vision on what you are trying to accomplish with it, there is a way to do it using Daz within iClone. I still use iClone 7 and love it. From the things I've seen with iClone 8 in concert with other software, to me, it's a great upgrade. I just don't have it in my budget this year.
What's the point of a user forum if not to ask someone's opinion - especially if they have experience that I don't? I shouldn't need to buy a product to be able to understand what it can do when I can just ask others. Likewise, I can't have a clear vision of what I want to do if I don't really know what the software can and cannot do. If, for example, I am told that geografts are a big problem for iClone then it is out of the picture.
DaZ Studio is great for most of my needs right now but it has some serious shortcomings when it comes to animation, cloth simulation and physics so I am constantly looking out for something that would fill those gaps without having to start from scratch in Blender or similar.
Don't miss understand my comment. User communities are great for seeing what someone else is doing or if they have been able to use the software with good results. But when it comes to buying any thing, I mostly go with product reviews than random opinions. But that's just me. The problem with user forums is that you will always get those whom either never used the software, is looking for something very specific for the software to do, or used it for a little while but when it was not capable of doing what they needed, abandoned it. Maybe this is different for you, but in my experience, whenever someone asks if they should get said software, it's more for validation to either get it or not. There are tons of examples of what the software can do on it's site as well as on YouTube. Artists are always talking about their pipelines with it. On the flip side, there are several who feel that it is nothing more than a glorified pre-viz tool and will tell you to look at Blender or something else if you want more robustness with your Daz characters. All I'm saying is take all of these opinions with a grain of salt if you are truly trying to get opinions. :)
Sure, I understand that view. My own take is that if I have experience then I'm happy to share it but maybe, as you suggest, my experience might not be relevant. I contributed some opnions about GPUs in the past because, so far, I've had a 970, 1070, 3090, 4070 and 4080 so I have some experience to share. Often, a personal experience touches on something that YouTube tutorials don't and many of us are just hobbyists whereas those who compile tutorials are often pro-level artists who sometimes take for granted that those watching have the kind of technical knowledge that I, for one, do not.
DAZ geografts are not supported in any usable state in the latest Iclone version so save your money.
Thank you