How do I save a character from a scene, and load them into another?

derekmccaughey2010_a63ad0a6ab

I have created a few characters and saved them within scenes, but is there a way to save the individual characters just by themselves? so I can place them into other scenes, without having to recreate the entire scene from scratch?

I tried selecting a character, then saving as a character preset, but all that seems to do when I open another scene, and select a character from that scene is apply the pose of the of the character, not create or insert the character themselves.

fixmypcmike

Save as a Scene Subset -- you can select which parts of the scene (e.g. just the character, or the character and clothing) to include.

Character presets save the Shape and Materials to be applied to a figure -- depending on your preferences, .duf character presets will ask if you wish to load a figure if one isn't selected when you load the preset.

Sisca

I'm not 100% positive what you're trying to do but I'll give you my steps for creating characters.

1. Start with a new, blank scene and add a figure to use as your base (Genesis 1/2, V4/5/6 whatever)
2. Morph the figure to get the look you want.
3. Dress the figure if you want - I usually do this for the icon that gets autocreated.
4. Pose the figure if you want - again I usually do this for the icon but it's not needed.
5. Position the viewport to show the character as you'd like it to appear on the icon.
6. Click on File->Save As->Character Preset and give it a name in the dialog that appears
7. In the next pop-up make sure Shape Settings and Material Settings are checked, leave compress file checked to save space

You should now have a new character so load up the scene where you want to use this new character then...

1. Find the new character in your content library. If you're using Smart Content it will be under Unassigned.
2. If you just want to add the character as a new figure in the scene make sure you don't have another figure selected in the Scene tab and just double click the icon.
3. If you want to replace an existing figure make sure you have that selected and then double click the new character. You should get a dialog asking if you want to add this as a new figure or replace the currently selected. Replacing the currently selected should load in the material and shape (morphs) of the saved character but leave the pose and positioning of the existing figure.

I just went through all of these steps myself to verify they work so if something doesn't work for you let me know and I'll see if I can figure it out for you.

alexhcowley

fixmypcmike said:

Save as a Scene Subset -- you can select which parts of the scene (e.g. just the character, or the character and clothing) to include.

Character presets save the Shape and Materials to be applied to a figure -- depending on your preferences, .duf character presets will ask if you wish to load a figure if one isn't selected when you load the preset.

I've found the save as a scene subset works best for me. Incidentally, you reload the scene subset into your new scene using file/merge.

This technique is very handy if you want to save something like a village well or a fountain, for example, and then incorporate it into another scene.

Jaderail

A character is just the Skin Morphs and Figure used. So the Save as Character Preset only saves that as it should. We need a Save as Actor which is the figure fully clothed textured and morphed. The save as Scene-subset is the closest thing we have to a save as Actor. I learned to save Actors way back in DS3, but the Subset in DS4.5+ works much better and I now use it.

Brotherlobo

OMG!!! I cannot believe I didn't know this trick. I have been creating and saving separate scenes for each individual character/set I want. I knew there had to be a better way. Gonna try this out today....thanks for the tip.

myregistration

This may be a silly question, but after you save as a scene subset, do you have to always save as a subset or can you then just do a Save and use same file name? Do you only need to save as a scene subset once in order to choose the elements you want in your subset and then you can do a save as usual? Unless of course you want to create a new subset from the subset (heh) :) But there is a separate folder called Scene Subsets so it is a little confusing because when you select Save it opens the Scenes directory instead of the Scene Subset directory where the file resides. Are scene subsets any different than scene files since they both have .duf extensions but are stored in different directories? Is that just a way to organize them? Thanks!

fixmypcmike

AFAIK the only difference is that when you double-click a Scene it replaces the current scene, while when you double-click a Subset it merges it with the current scene.

deeahr2169

i tried following the steps Sisca outlined previously in this thread, never got beyond Save as character preset because i get this error message

You must select a weight mapped figure in the scene to save a character preset...

Lost me there, any ideas?

Novica

That means you have to have a figure selected. A character is a figure, aka, did you have the person in your scene selected in the Scene tab?