HERE AT LAST--- Advanced Rigging in DS4 Pro (COMMERCIAL)

blondie9999

http://www.daz3d.com/new-releases/advanced-rigging-in-daz-studio-4-pro

It's finally done and in the store!

4blueyes

Grabbed in a heartbeat :D

patience55

Sorry 'but the shopping process isn't going smoothly so ...

Price check ... Advanced Rigging 30% off => $17.47

From the Deep Aquatic Genesis Full Price $24.95 which is then discounted 50% at checkout.

Is this correct?

blondie9999

Yes-- if you buy the rigging manual, you should get 50% off Aquatic Genesis.

patience55

Okay, thanks :-)

not my day ... "foreign exchange, pennies short, sigh" BUT I did get the manual and have browsed through it.

TOP MARKS! Thank you so much :-)

BlackFeather1973

blondie9999 said:

http://www.daz3d.com/new-releases/advanced-rigging-in-daz-studio-4-pro

It's finally done and in the store!

Sold !

frank0314

OH yeah. Its got my attention.

namffuak

Glommed, downloaded, and being read. :-)

RAMWolff

I've been waiting for this. Thanks so much Oh Blondie Won Obie! :P

Bluebird 3D

Scooped my copy right up. :) Thanks, B!

~Bluebird

blondie9999

I should also mention that the Aquatic Genesis has been extensively updated.

The original version did not have scalable hands, feet, ears, and crest. This one has scale maps, as well as ERC controls--- for instance, the length of the spines in the crest can be adjusted with an ERC sliders, as can the length of the spines in the ears and the length of the fingers and toes.

This version also has improved rigging for most of the Genesis figure shapes (such as Freak4, V4, V5, etc.) that is automatically applied when the relevant figure shape is applied to Genesis. For more information, see the features list:

http://www.daz3d.com/from-the-deep-aquatic-genesis

Wilmap

Just read through this and I have learnt so much all ready. Now perhaps my buttons will stay where I put them!!!

Thank you Blondie.:-)

creativemodelsbe

blondie9999 said:

http://www.daz3d.com/new-releases/advanced-rigging-in-daz-studio-4-pro

It's finally done and in the store!

will this also have a section about dazstudio vs zbrush content creation?
does it contain videos that explain the pdf better.
i prefer learning more from vids and pdf as a little reference.

or can you do a tutorial about studio vs zbruh vs character creation?

Richard Haseltine

If it included a video that would be listed. Given that it's a tutorial on rigging the exact source of the mesh isn't going to matter, though ZBrush may not be the ideal tool for precise control of the mesh structure.

patience55

wilmap said:

Just read through this and I have learnt so much all ready. Now perhaps my buttons will stay where I put them!!!

Thank you Blondie.:-)

I was thinking the same thing for mine! Awesome concept.

Jaderail

Hmm... If I keep buying these things I just might be forced to do something one day.

Thank you for all the Rigging info and I also wish to thank all users that post info on the subject.

DaremoK3

Well, just got done digesting the entire book. Good job, blondie, I knew you would come through for us, and create the second one. Thank you.

It didn't answer all my questions, but it is very thorough, and will help when I want to move on to Geo-Grafting (great section).

However, I was a little disappointed that Rigidity Groups/Mapping was not covered, but I understand from your closing, and I look forward to your next one.

I never cared about becoming a DAZ PA, but now I think is the time to go for it, so I can get into the super secretive PA Forums, and truly learn all the little details needed to get everything working as intended instead of a bunch of trial-n-error, and "jury-rigging" everything together.

Think I will start by trying to create a Geo-Grafted product, since that is the one thing I think was covered entirely to completion.

Thanks again, blondie.

blondie9999

DaremoK3 said:

However, I was a little disappointed that Rigidity Groups/Mapping was not covered, but I understand from your closing, and I look forward to your next one.
Yeah-- I was disappointed too-- I really wanted to include a section on rigidity mapping. Starting months ago-- way back in August, I think-- I tried to find out more information about rigidity mapping and grouping, but couldn't get much aside from the very skimpy instructions some where on the DAZ site-- and what I was able to obtain wasn't much help. I spent weeks, off and on, trying to get it work, but could not get acceptable or consistent results-- if I got something to work with one figure shape (such as Basic Child), it didn't work well on another... it was VERY frustrating.

Recently, I did have some success, but by then, the manual was done and I didn't want to delay release of it any longer. I'll need to do a lot more work with rigidity mapping and grouping before I feel that I know enough about it to write about it.

DaremoK3 said:

I never cared about becoming a DAZ PA, but now I think is the time to go for it, so I can get into the super secretive PA Forums, and truly learn all the little details needed to get everything working as intended instead of a bunch of trial-n-error, and "jury-rigging" everything together.

Well, I hate to disappoint you, but there is no "super-secretive PA forum." There's a forum for vendors, but in terms of getting answers to specific questions, you're just as likely to get them in here or in one of the forums devoted to specific software (Carara, DAZ Studio, etc.).

Thanks again, blondie.
You're welcome. Glad you like it!

blondie9999

creativemodelsbe said:

will this also have a section about dazstudio vs zbrush content creation?
You can't really "create" content in DAZ Studio; it's not a modeling program. To create content, you need a modeling program-- Silo, Hexagon, Maya-- anything capable of exporting a model in .obj format.

creativemodelsbe said:

does it contain videos that explain the pdf better.
No. I don't do video tutorials. For one thing, I don't like them-- I'm one of those people who learn better from a written manual. For another thing, I don't have the necessary software/equipment or environment. You need a quiet, preferably soundproofed room with proper echo dampening to get good sound quality-- and my work area overlooks a busy street with cars, buses, and trucks going by all the time-- and lots of fire trucks, too. NOT a good place to do narrated videos!

i prefer learning more from vids and pdf as a little reference.

Yeah, some people do-- different methods work for different people.

or can you do a tutorial about studio vs zbruh vs character creation?
That depends on what you mean by "character creation." Generally, here, a "character" means a set of morphs and/or skin textures for an existing figure such as V4, M4, Genesis-- for example, this:

http://www.daz3d.com/ryuu-for-m5

To create a character with morphs and skin texture, you need a program in which to do the morphs (ZBrush is excellent for morphing) and a paint program of some sort in which to do the skin textures (ZBrush can also be used for that). You cannot create "characters" in DAZ studio except by applying existing morphs and/or using the deformers. For the skin textures, you'd still need a paint program because you can't do that in DS.

If you mean creating an original figure, you can't do that in DS either-- you'd need a modeling program to model the figure's mesh; then you'd need a mapping program to create UV maps for it (if your modeling program could not create them); then you'd need a paint program to create the textures. The only part of the process you could do in DS is import the mesh and rig it, then apply the textures created in your paint program and save it out as a figure.

Hope that clears things up a bit.

I haven't done any modeling tutorials and don't intend to because they are very program-specific and every modeling program I know of already has plenty of tutorials available, so I'd just be "reinventing the wheel."

7th Stone Productions

Thank you! Just downloaded.

Pendraia

thank you...thank you so much! I love your first one and this one will also be a great addition. It went straight into the cart...: )

DaremoK3

What!?!

No super-secret PA forums!?!

You're trying to kill my illusions, aren't ya', blondie?

Yeah, I know... I was just thinking how nice it would be to be a fly on the wall in the PA (vendors) forums, as I was reminded recently by Dogz of a tutorial he created, but was only available there.

I don't doubt my requests would go unanswered, but I learn a lot from just reading others conversations. Would love to read some of those conversations.

Anyways...

I wanted to come back, and tell you that a specific tidbit you included in the new tut helped me immensely tonight. It was something about rigging I didn't know I should have even been looking out for.

I went ahead and did a partial re-rig based on your instructions, and it brought that part of the rigging up to standards.

Also, I thought I had a breakthrough with Rigidity Groups, but without being able to verify my findings with a Professional PA such as yourself, it is just wishful thinking on my end. I look forward to when you have it all worked out, and make the information public. Then, I can start working the correct way with them, and push my work towards a better (and, hopefully faster) completion.

Thanks again, blondie. Keep up the great work.

Fixme12

DaremoK3 said:

What!?!

No super-secret PA forums!?!

You're trying to kill my illusions, aren't ya', blondie?

Yeah, I know... I was just thinking how nice it would be to be a fly on the wall in the PA (vendors) forums, as I was reminded recently by Dogz of a tutorial he created, but was only available there.

I don't doubt my requests would go unanswered, but I learn a lot from just reading others conversations. Would love to read some of those conversations.

Would be a shame that this PA vendor info is not available to all daz users!
as I previously thought a restricted PA Vendor club. :blank:
and my personal reason to stop buying content.

blondie9999

fixme12 said:

DaremoK3 said:

Yeah, I know... I was just thinking how nice it would be to be a fly on the wall in the PA (vendors) forums, as I was reminded recently by Dogz of a tutorial he created, but was only available there.

Would be a shame that this PA vendor info is not available to all daz users!
as I previously thought a restricted PA Vendor club. :blank:
and my personal reason to stop buying content.
Um... you could ask Dogz nicely if he'd be willing to post his tutorial publicly. That's likely to work better than making threats.

"A spoonful of honey will catch more flies than a gallon of vinegar." -- Benjamin Franklin

blondie9999

DaremoK3 said:

I wanted to come back, and tell you that a specific tidbit you included in the new tut helped me immensely tonight. It was something about rigging I didn't know I should have even been looking out for.

I went ahead and did a partial re-rig based on your instructions, and it brought that part of the rigging up to standards.
Good! Glad to hear it was helpful.

Also, I thought I had a breakthrough with Rigidity Groups, but without being able to verify my findings with a Professional PA such as yourself, it is just wishful thinking on my end. I look forward to when you have it all worked out, and make the information public. Then, I can start working the correct way with them, and push my work towards a better (and, hopefully faster) completion.

Ha-- there have been several times that I thought I'd had a "breakthrough" with rigidity groups/mapping, but when I tried my "breakthrough" method on something else, everything went ker-flooey. It's been very frustrating. But I think I am finally starting to get a handle on it. Even so, I'll have to do a lot more experimenting, working with different types of things, before I'll be able to say "Eureka!"

marble

I bought this without realising that it is the second of a series. I don't have the first and can't afford it (buying this one was a stretch). I guess I should have realised that the "Advanced" in the title suggests a more basic guide probably preceded this one. I was attracted by these words in the description:

... it contains information useful to anyone who uses DAZ Studio and wants to gain a better understanding of 'how things work'

For example, I thought it might help me understand why I have trouble saving morphs created with ZBrush and GoZ. While I have not had the time to read it yet, I fear that it may be way over my head to start with. So I'd like to know if I can access some basic tutorials in preparation for this one - perhaps some videos? I'd appreciate a link or two if someone has the time.

By the way, I find myself in agreement with those who say that DAZ themselves should pay more attention to helping their customers and users work with their product.

EDIT: I have just notice this disclaimer within the manual:

Note: This manual is written with the assumption that you are already familiar with the basics of using the DAZ TriAx rigging system covered in Rigging Original Figures in DS 4 Pro —grouping, setting up “bones,” weight-mapping, etc.

I have to say that it is very unfair to make that clear only after the product has been purchased.

Dogz

DaremoK3 said:

What!?!
Yeah, I know... I was just thinking how nice it would be to be a fly on the wall in the PA (vendors) forums, as I was reminded recently by Dogz of a tutorial he created, but was only available there.
.

You sure it was me? I have no recollection ....what tutorial was that? I wrote a rough on DSON Conversion if it was that one, and its no problem to repost it somewhere if you like, it was hardly top secret, just an abvieviated version of the one on Daz Docs :P

blondie9999

marble said:

I bought this without realising that it is the second of a series. I don't have the first and can't afford it (buying this one was a stretch). I guess I should have realised that the "Advanced" in the title suggests a more basic guide probably preceded this one. I was attracted by these words in the description:

... it contains information useful to anyone who uses DAZ Studio and wants to gain a better understanding of 'how things work'

For example, I thought it might help me understand why I have trouble saving morphs created with ZBrush and GoZ. While I have not had the time to read it yet, I fear that it may be way over my head to start with. So I'd like to know if I can access some basic tutorials in preparation for this one - perhaps some videos? I'd appreciate a link or two if someone has the time.
To clear things up-- the first manual is about rigging original figures, not working with existing figures such as Genesis. It wouldn't answer your question because there's nothing in it about morphing. All it covers is rigging and weight-mapping.

EDIT: I have just notice this disclaimer within the manual:

Note: This manual is written with the assumption that you are already familiar with the basics of using the DAZ TriAx rigging system covered in Rigging Original Figures in DS 4 Pro —grouping, setting up “bones,” weight-mapping, etc.

I have to say that it is very unfair to make that clear only after the product has been purchased.
This was a mistake on my part, and there was no intention to be "unfair." I had intended to put a notice to that effect in the product description for this manual, but simply forgot it. I will see if I can have it added into the product description. (We do not have the ability to edit the product description ourselves once the product goes "live"; we have to have DAZ do it for us.)

marble

blondie9999 said:

This was a mistake on my part, and there was no intention to be "unfair." I had intended to put a notice to that effect in the product description for this manual, but simply forgot it. I will see if I can have it added into the product description. (We do not have the ability to edit the product description ourselves once the product goes "live"; we have to have DAZ do it for us.)

I misunderstood the process because I never imagined you were deliberately being unfair ... I thought that the DAZ marketing people were responsible for how the product is presented for sale, so the unfair suggestion was directed their way. Nevertheless, my quandry remains - either I buy your original manual for another $20 or I try to muddle through with the decidedly inadequate DAZ tutorials (unless someone can show me where to find some useful documents). My suggestion to DAZ would be to change the special offer on this one to a bundle of the two manuals for a good price.

blondie9999

Well, the first manual is 50% off for those who buy the new one. I think you have to buy both at the same time, though.

On brokered products, vendors themselves write the product descriptions and features lists, and hey also create the promo pictures. They also set the prices. DAZ doesn't have anything to do with all that except to copy the material into the product page.

marble

blondie9999 said:

Well, the first manual is 50% off for those who buy the new one. I think you have to buy both at the same time, though.

On brokered products, vendors themselves write the product descriptions and features lists, and hey also create the promo pictures. They also set the prices. DAZ doesn't have anything to do with all that except to copy the material into the product page.

That is news to me -- I didn't see that offer when I bought it.

Ok - Just looked at it again and I think I know what happened - I saw an offer of 50-% off and saw reference to the Aquatic thing and my eyes were drawn to the fishy promo picture.

I wonder whether I could return the purchase and re-purachse the two manuals together?