Export to C4D - no visible difference standard vs HD morphs?

j_grean

Hi
I've been trying to get a detailed human into C4D and have one from Daz I like, based on a G2F Victoria HD morph.
I've tried exporting FBX for both standard Victoria and Victoria HD, and bringing these into the same C4D file. There does not appear to be any difference in the mesh, to my eyes, nor when overlaying the 2 meshes. They look identical.

From reading in the forums and googling, I thought HD was based on SubD and had more detail in terms of musculature or other body detail. Am I wrong?
Or is the detail of the HD addon, just "enabling" a SubD inside Daz only?
What am I missing here?
I basically want to get the most detailed human I can out of Daz to render with a non-Daz render engine. G3 is causing issues for me in terms of motion because of the additional bones, so I am sticking with G2 for now.

Am I misunderstanding the HD add on? Perhaps I am exporting the FBX with the wrong morph settings?

*EDIT*
Found the answer after I posted this, turns out as a new user I am as confused as other were before me. No HD export, limited to PAs only.

So I would be interested in what tips people could give for more realism? 4k maps and displacement? Anything else?

 

Richard Haseltine

Does Cinema 4D support multi-rsolution morphs? I don't think FBX does, but if C4D does you may be able to export the HD-morphed but otherwisae zeroed mesh as OBJ and load as a multi-resolution morph in C4D.

WendyLuvsCatz

Alembic plugin may be the only other way but no reposing you need to animate it in D|S.

I often wish there was a convert to HD mesh option for FBX and even to save as a duf support asset so I could use it in Carrara, I resorted to an obj series as morph targets!!!! which is sort of what Alembic is except Carrara does not have an alembic importer either >< I suspect C4D does!

wolf359

Hi 
I currently use maxon C4D for all of my rendering 
of Genesis figures at whatever resolution I choose
I am using the MDD export function of the full version of aniMate 2 to transfer  point level animation Data to my genesis meshes in C4D
it is My assesment that this method of getting animated 
Genesis 1,2,3 figures into C4D, is superior to both FBX and most certainly Alembic.

As the OP has Discovered FBX will not transfer a Hi resolution  HD mesh to C4D.

Alembic is more expensive than upgrading to aniMate2
and incredibly, does not support multiple UV's resulting in one huge grey animated .obj file in your receiving application.

The animation clip below is an example of genesis meshes 
animated with IclonePro & Daz  Studio
But rendered in C4D via MDD obj export from Daz studio
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2TYEp536iB8Z1FsM01GYXA1MWs/view?usp=sharing

WendyLuvsCatz

yes I have used animate 2 mdd to Blender too and Alembic to Octane standalone, it does have separate UV surfaces you just need to reload all the texture maps  at least in Octane, but you can copy them from an obj import.

As a C4D user I expect Wolf359 is right about the best choice, the point being vertex animation not bone/rigging export the only way.

j_grean

*Edit - Double Post, sorry! *

j_grean

Wolf, your method sounds interesting.
(hoping this is not a double post, something went wrong the first time I tried replying)

I am currently applying a BVH in Daz to a character then exporting to FBX and opening in C4D.
Ideally I want to find a way to then pose-morph or retarget a "master chartacter", that has been retextured in C4D for Octane, to whatever FBX animation I use for that shot. Otherwise I have to retexture every shot!

That said, I am getting weird bend issues that maybe PLA via aniMate would fix? See attached... good elbow in Daz, wonky elbow with the FBX in C4D.

The other complicating factor is that due to the quirk of the BHVs, I am getting a weird hover effect after the motion is applied. In C4D, I can go in to the skeleton roon and take the keys off this to put the character back where it should be instead of bouncing up and down. If I exported via PLA I'd need to find those keys in Daz and delete first in there, correct?
 

wolf359

"I am currently applying a BVH in Daz to a character then exporting to FBX and opening in C4D.
Ideally I want to find a way to then pose-morph or retarget a "master chartacter", that has been retextured in C4D for Octane, to whatever FBX animation I use for that shot. Otherwise I have to retexture every shot!"

This is exactly what I am doing for my current animated film project 
using Daz  genesis figures.

Animate figures uising Iclone, Daz animate,KeyMat,e graphMate mimic live

Export the .obj file from Daz with the collect maps option chosen

In C4D am using the" Riptide" plugin that has feature& options for obj import including a path requestor box to point to the  folder  with the texture maps  I just exported from Daz studio.

The .obj comes in fully textured with only minor tweaks needed such as moving the transmaps from the tranparency to the Alpha channel in C4D material editor.

From there any MDD/PLA animation Data from DAz studio can be applied to the .obj file so long as no vertex count changes are made to the Daz Figure back in studio such as switching to different clothing,hair etc.

Ths way I can  have a specific Character sitting in C4D waiting for his/her new MDD animation Data to come over from Daz Studio as it is created for each scene.

Now obviously if  indeed I decide I want the character to have different clothing,hair etc  then  a new iteration will have to be exported from Daz studio and any New MDD animation Data done with the new outfit ,hair etc. 

j_grean

Thanks Wolf, I am going to see if I can get this workflow happening for me this morning!

If you don't mind me asking, what method do you use to apply the PLA data to the OBJ? As from my research, there are several ways to go about it.
The method I was going to attempt was pose morph, as full retargeting of a skeleton rig is quite complicated. But if there is another way, by all means please point me in the direction and I will go research it.

Do you find that there is better mesh fidelity with your method, ie you don't get weird elbows or bends as I was having in the screenshots from previous message?

j_grean

Finally, do you prefer Alembic or MDD? I'm not familiar with MDD but have used Alembic before in various 2D and 3D programs.
Just asking as they appear to be separate plugins and Alembic, while much more expensive, is also more native to the other applications I use. I assume you have explored both options, but reading your post it sounds like you lean towards MDD?

 

*update*
Got this working and into C4D without actually needing Alembic. Exactly what I needed!

DVoid

j_grean said:

Finally, do you prefer Alembic or MDD? I'm not familiar with MDD but have used Alembic before in various 2D and 3D programs.
Just asking as they appear to be separate plugins and Alembic, while much more expensive, is also more native to the other applications I use. I assume you have explored both options, but reading your post it sounds like you lean towards MDD?

 

*update*
Got this working and into C4D without actually needing Alembic. Exactly what I needed!

Would it be too much to ask how you finally managed it? Maybe I can translate your workflow into 3ds Max.