MetaMixer
marble
Posts: 7,449
in The Commons
The email promo for this new toolkit just appeared so I took a quick look. First impression questions:
1. Doesn't "MetaHuman" infringe the already existing MetaHuman from Unreal?
2. Is this only for the head or is there a full body version coming "soon"?
3. What exactly is a compatible figure? Is this only for 8.1 and later?
Comments
I was looking at some of the example videos on the main page (https://www.daz3d.com/introducing-metamixer-toolkit). Kjaer 8 was one figure that I noticed, so it looks like it supports Gen8. Haven't tested it on the previous ones, however.
Watch out for bugs. I haven't loaded 4.16 or tried MetaMixer, but the first video seems to show an interface bug. There is a Topsy face labeled Holt 8HD.
I've already submitted a bug report.
Sounds for me, that they want us to charge again for Chars which we already own.
I've been glancing at the 4.16 thread and I think I will hold off for a while. I'm still on 4.15.02 which is getting old now but I'm cautious about the reports of later versions being slow, etc.
Not a bug. That's Topsy 8 face combined with Holt 8 HD details. Everything is explained in the tutorial file.
I don't have any of those characters so it looks like I can forget this. Looks quite nifty for those who have the required content but not enough to tempt me to buy characters I wouldn't have bought otherwise.
Are all these additional MetaMixer morphs, which are added to the data folder, going to slow down the loading of all G8F and G8M characters, as we've discovered happens everytime we install a new character or morph pack?
Yes but I managed to find a workaround. On my machine Genesis 8/8.1 loads in 10 seconds so MetaMixer only accounts for a few seconds of that.
Did neither of you actually read that post? You can use a character in MetaMixer if you own that character, but you can use those four listed characters WHETHER OR NOT you own them.
What is this workaround? My Genesis 8 loads much slower than that. The only workaround I've heard of is to move morphs out of the data folder or rename them so they aren't seen. But of course then you can't use them either. Any better performance workaround you can share that makes the morphs still available, would be very valuable!
Yep, you're right - I missed that bit.
It's not the morphs that slow down the loading process that much. As far as I can tell the morphs are loaded in as a list and only when you apply them do they get actually loaded inside Studio. This is why there's a lag sometimes between moving a morph dial and seeing its effect.
What slows down the loading process mostly is the morph dependencies meaning all the other parameters which are controlled or control the morph. The version of MetaMixer I worked on had 3000+ morphs (comprising 36 characters) none of which have any dependencies with the Genesis figure therefore they're all loaded in as a simple list (which takes some time because there are 3000+ of them). Assuming you own 100 characters, most likely MetaMixer would probably add half a minute to the load time.
Yeah, but what did you exactly do that G8/8.1 load in 10 seconds on your machine? How many morphs/characters still active?
The workaround is applied to MetaMixer itself so it doesn't add to the load time like a regular Daz character does.
On my machine I try to keep as little assets installed as I can. I use several base directories so I can disable them as needed to keep everything simple. The workaround I described could be used on future characters but not older ones.
This is a really a nice tool. How can other shapes then the default shapes be used with Metamixer?
...kind of moot here as I primarily use G3.
What do you mean by other shapes? Other faces?
4 Character presets (the faces) come with the tool. More presets can be added if you own a character (Gen 8/8.1). However even without any character presets MetaMixer can still be used but only with the universal controls as in you'll still be able to move parts of the face around, rotate them, scale them, etc.
Yeah, other faces. How can I put one of my characters into one of the slots? Just use a shaping preset and apply it somehow?
Exactly how I do it. I have DAZ installed regular main library but all G, G2, G3, G8 males and female /morph folder are in a seperate "Creation Forge" library. Then I have a shared library with morphs shared between multiple ones I use all the time named "Base Character Data." FInally each seperate, dialspun that I put together, character has his own morph library named by the character with only morphs for that character not in BCD. I only load those I am using at the time, and Creation Forge only when making something brand new. Took time to set up but I also save a lot of time loading so ... worth it :)
You could always build it in G8 and then use Riversoft's converter to translate it to G3.
Where is Metamixer?
Something happened when I was installing 4.16 through DIM. It massively borked my installation of Daz Studio (it was loading in white). So I've had to manually download and install 4.16.
Store Link: https://www.daz3d.com/metamixer-toolkit
(free to Daz+/PC+ members)
In program located under People/Genesis 8 Male/Female/Shape
Thank you ^^
I just wish other characters outside of Daz could be used with Metamixer (at least, I assume they can't). I've got a few characters that I'd love to blend together.
Any documentation or video guide on how to use metamixer, wheres the start button? sorry im a bit of noob here
Ok I'm feeling very dumb here.I can't even find it inside the DS program. - nevermind just found it:) now to learn it.
I'm gonna need a full refund.
1: It doesn't work
well that's about it really. Just doesn't work. Running 4.16 update, and followed the PDF tutorial, and nothing happens.
How do you add characters? Also I noticed that in the tutorial the characters show up as wearable presets? Mine show up as shapes?
Just another toy. If we could load any of our owned characters, I'd use this, but in its current form it's of no interest. Uninstalled.
I don't really understand how this is any better than using the pre-existing parameter sliders? Can some official daz person explain that?