making characters for genesis

enchantedwolfe

I've figured out how to texture, but not to save my texture, plus I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to make custom chacters and how to package it all up to sell. I'm used to poser and started dabling in daz studio when 4.5 was out and now I'm hooked...LOL
Thanks for any advice :)

kathrynloch

Hey Enchanted Wolfe! Well, you and I can compare notes because creating characters and stuff for the marketplace is something I want to do as well.

First off there are tons of tutorials all over the place but your best bet is to google them. I can't find anything with the search function on the forums.

I want to get to the point where I can create characters, clothing, and props from the ground up so I've been concentrating on learning Blender and Hexagon.

carrie58

So you have created your texture and got it on your figure,and want to save it???

BlueSirius

Yes there are lots of good tutorial and posts on how to do this - maybe on ShareCG etc. Read one from Sickleyield no long ago.
There are a few products in the store to help round up assets also, though the first thing is learn to do this manually such that you know what they are doing.

People will like the product if it is user friendly - i.e as a texture, a preset and an actor with it loaded. Some people will choose an actor in Smart Content while others will search for the texture in Content Library etc.

The following is not a complete guide but a few steps that are part of the answer to organize the content to act as Smart Content.

What I tend to do when I make a character is save all the aspects as such:

File --> Save As ----> Character Preset

also

File ---> Save As ---> Material Preset

also

File ---> Save As ---> Shaping Preset

and

File --> Save As --> Scene Subset

Then I move to Content Library and find it and assign it in the database to become Smart Content, telling it that materials are material presets etc.

To package to a product you would round the various things from above into one directory, this can include the textures. If it is for DAZ only, then you can make it Smart Content and put everything in one directory - you don't need the poser structure. If it is for Poser also then file structure is more rigid and requires the relevant directories. Again there are apps in the store to make the DAZ duf into Poser content, which will make any Product more commercial.

If I like the character I move the scene subset to my character preset directory and tell the content DB that it is an actor. Call it a product and set the things to be materials or shape presets etc. The attachment is from the Content Library ---> Content DB Editor.

I use a File Reference Editor which is an app from Dimension 3D avail in the DAZ store to check that all the assets in the DUF are looking at the local directory. A good idea is of course to test it on another computer with a fresh Daz install, as in take that directory and ensure that it is only referencing what is in your directory and that which you made and can sell.

With this structure I can grab the material, the shape or the character. Loading the actor I have created will include hair as I saved it as a sub-scene first.

enchantedwolfe

carrie58 said:

So you have created your texture and got it on your figure,and want to save it???

Not yet, still working on it :)

enchantedwolfe

Rabekah_Aurette said:

Yes there are lots of good tutorial and posts on how to do this - maybe on ShareCG etc. Read one from Sickleyield no long ago.
There are a few products in the store to help round up assets also, though the first thing is learn to do this manually such that you know what they are doing.

People will like the product if it is user friendly - i.e as a texture, a preset and an actor with it loaded. Some people will choose an actor in Smart Content while others will search for the texture in Content Library etc.

The following is not a complete guide but a few steps that are part of the answer to organize the content to act as Smart Content.

What I tend to do when I make a character is save all the aspects as such:

File --> Save As ----> Character Preset

also

File ---> Save As ---> Material Preset

also

File ---> Save As ---> Shaping Preset

and

File --> Save As --> Scene Subset

Then I move to Content Library and find it and assign it in the database to become Smart Content, telling it that materials are material presets etc.

To package to a product you would round the various things from above into one directory, this can include the textures. If it is for DAZ only, then you can make it Smart Content and put everything in one directory - you don't need the poser structure. If it is for Poser also then file structure is more rigid and requires the relevant directories. Again there are apps in the store to make the DAZ duf into Poser content, which will make any Product more commercial.

If I like the character I move the scene subset to my character preset directory and tell the content DB that it is an actor. Call it a product and set the things to be materials or shape presets etc. The attachment is from the Content Library ---> Content DB Editor.

I use a File Reference Editor which is an app from Dimension 3D avail in the DAZ store to check that all the assets in the DUF are looking at the local directory. A good idea is of course to test it on another computer with a fresh Daz install, as in take that directory and ensure that it is only referencing what is in your directory and that which you made and can sell.

With this structure I can grab the material, the shape or the character. Loading the actor I have created will include hair as I saved it as a sub-scene first.

okey I understand how to save but how do you make custom characters in daz?

Richard Haseltine

What do you mean by custom? If you want to sculpt a new head or body morph you need to do that in an external application - ZBrush, 3D Coat, Sculptris, Blender etc. - then load the shape as a morph. If you want to use the standard morphs, just set them, set your materials, and save as a Character Preset.

enchantedwolfe

Richard Haseltine said:

What do you mean by custom? If you want to sculpt a new head or body morph you need to do that in an external application - ZBrush, 3D Coat, Sculptris, Blender etc. - then load the shape as a morph. If you want to use the standard morphs, just set them, set your materials, and save as a Character Preset.

*slaps forehead* that's easy enough....LOL thanks for the info :)

MilosGulan

I am not sure but it might be possible to use deformers in DS to make characters too. Never tried it but was thinking about that. Thanks for this info it will be very useful.

enchantedwolfe

Rabekah_Aurette said:

Yes there are lots of good tutorial and posts on how to do this - maybe on ShareCG etc. Read one from Sickleyield no long ago.
There are a few products in the store to help round up assets also, though the first thing is learn to do this manually such that you know what they are doing.

People will like the product if it is user friendly - i.e as a texture, a preset and an actor with it loaded. Some people will choose an actor in Smart Content while others will search for the texture in Content Library etc.

The following is not a complete guide but a few steps that are part of the answer to organize the content to act as Smart Content.

What I tend to do when I make a character is save all the aspects as such:

File --> Save As ----> Character Preset

also

File ---> Save As ---> Material Preset

also

File ---> Save As ---> Shaping Preset

and

File --> Save As --> Scene Subset

Then I move to Content Library and find it and assign it in the database to become Smart Content, telling it that materials are material presets etc.

To package to a product you would round the various things from above into one directory, this can include the textures. If it is for DAZ only, then you can make it Smart Content and put everything in one directory - you don't need the poser structure. If it is for Poser also then file structure is more rigid and requires the relevant directories. Again there are apps in the store to make the DAZ duf into Poser content, which will make any Product more commercial.

If I like the character I move the scene subset to my character preset directory and tell the content DB that it is an actor. Call it a product and set the things to be materials or shape presets etc. The attachment is from the Content Library ---> Content DB Editor.

I use a File Reference Editor which is an app from Dimension 3D avail in the DAZ store to check that all the assets in the DUF are looking at the local directory. A good idea is of course to test it on another computer with a fresh Daz install, as in take that directory and ensure that it is only referencing what is in your directory and that which you made and can sell.

With this structure I can grab the material, the shape or the character. Loading the actor I have created will include hair as I saved it as a sub-scene first.

okay, got my character with mats, how do I make separate inj/rem files, for like the head/body. I'm having a hard time with the eyes, I don't think I've got the surfaces correct. Plus how do you use the File Reference Editor, I've had it all this time and never knew how to use it.
Here's what I've got so far:

enchantedwolfe

okay, got my character with mats, how do I make separate inj/rem files, for like the head/body. I'm having a hard time with the eyes, I don't think I've got the surfaces correct. Plus how do you use the File Reference Editor, I've had it all this time and never knew how to use it.
Here's what I've got so far:

BlueSirius

Good looking character :)

File Reference Editor is easy enough - just open it and load up your DUF. Hit Resolve and you will see what it could find and where it was. I've used it to hunt up excessive morphs... and to isolate missing ones when I house-keep and kill too much mostly. There are various uses it being a file tool, and the main one I am suggesting is using it as a check that a scene saved with your character is referencing your material rather than someone else's assets within your Content. So often I found some purchased character morph with like 1% dialed hidden within my custom character duf files! Made no difference to the look of the character stripping out morphs with low contributions and of course to make commercial content you need to stick to core morphs and self made morphs.

Hexagon 2.5 is also a cheap and viable way to sculpt a character. Each thing has it strengths... on the plus Hexagon preserves textures and makes morphs that pipe into DAZ. Its probably good for learning the process before branching out. That said I am also looking to assess some of the others like ZBrush and see what their strengths are.

I'm not certain on the packing of a character to sell but suggest getting everything into one directory, with options being shape preset, scene subset, actor.

A texture on a shape has more audience, someone might like the shape, someone the texture! People shopping for Characters will in this way be exposed to the texture. People like options, add a few makeups... with eyebrows - without... some people use eyebrow prop etc.