Character creation (for selling) technical/licensing questions

Coterie

I'm obsessed with DAZ and have created a character I would love to share. I've been a portrait artist for over thirty years and retouching for a decade, my 2D drawings have been mistaken for photos, but I'm just learning the 3D ropes. Forgive me if my questions seem a bit foolish. I've read so many conflicting scenarios regarding the preparation for sale of a character.

1. The character head I have created uses hundreds of varying percentages of Rarestone's Facial Morphs (MR) and very few alterations of parameters using a Genesis 8 female base figure.

• Is it okay if I bake the character?
• Should the character be saved using an alternate method?
• Am I allowed to use both of these resources separately or together?
• Assuming the character is for sale, does the buyer need to purchase Rarestone's morphs?

2. The character body I have created uses parameters and Zevo's Glute and Breast Control (MR) bundle.

• Is this permissable?
• Does the buyer need to own Zevo's morphs?
• Is it permissable to sculpt a body for selling using parameters only? (I read somewhere that one cannot use parameters/shaping for this (or head shaping) when selling) 

Because I am proficient in Photoshop, the skins I am creating distinguish the character, adding realism. Several of my photographer friends thought she was a model (human) when they saw my (unretouched) renders. I know it is not common for morph dial-only characters to reach the Daz store, but she is quite lovely.  That said, I am exploring Blender to further enhance her and future creations.

Any information regarding the questions above would be greatly appreciated!

(By the way has anyone ever collapsed from Daz addiction? I feel like those kids who play video games for days on end when I'm doing this! )

Thanks!!

 

Richard Haseltine

On the raestone morphs you would need to open a Sales Support ticket https://www.daz3d.com/help/help-contact-us - as you probably noticed there are no details on what is meant by Merchant resource in this case, and it is not always the same.

The base Genesis 8 female morphs certainly cannot be baked, but you can use a Shaping preset to store their values - along with those for any other morph sets or custom morphs (if you are allowed to bake them).

The Glute and Breast Control set does allow you to bake the morphs down to a single OBJ, though you may well find you then need to adjust the rigging to work. If you do that you need to provide a credit with the product, as mentioned in the user guides:
http://docs.daz3d.com/lib/exe/fetch.php/public/read_me/index/46009/46009_breast-control-genesis-8-female-mr-agreement-and-usage-guide.pdf
http://docs.daz3d.com/lib/exe/fetch.php/public/read_me/index/46011/46011_glute-control-genesis-8-female-mr-agreement-and-usage-guide.pdf

Coterie

Thank you so much, Richard! Just to clarify--(assuming Rarestone's MR morphs allow baking down to an OBJ):

 It is not alright for me to include the shaping preset (created from parameters) with RS' morphs  when I create the OBJ? (I changed only a few values in parameters, so Blender may present an alternative to achieve the same appearance if necessary. My understanding is Blender sculpts can be mixed with licensed morphs then baked. Is this correct?)

Is this Shaping preset something separate that accompanies the character?  Again forgive me any confusion, I am just trying to learn. 

I have read and seen tutorials that suggest you can combine changes (i.e. morph+Blender) to create the (OBJ) head morph while others contradict this (at least in my interpretation).

Thank you for your assistance!

nonesuch00

Coterie said:

I'm obsessed with DAZ and have created a character I would love to share. I've been a portrait artist for over thirty years and retouching for a decade, my 2D drawings have been mistaken for photos, but I'm just learning the 3D ropes. Forgive me if my questions seem a bit foolish. I've read so many conflicting scenarios regarding the preparation for sale of a character.

1. The character head I have created uses hundreds of varying percentages of Rarestone's Facial Morphs (MR) and very few alterations of parameters using a Genesis 8 female base figure.

• Is it okay if I bake the character?
• Should the character be saved using an alternate method?
• Am I allowed to use both of these resources separately or together?
• Assuming the character is for sale, does the buyer need to purchase Rarestone's morphs?

2. The character body I have created uses parameters and Zevo's Glute and Breast Control (MR) bundle.

• Is this permissable?
• Does the buyer need to own Zevo's morphs?
• Is it permissable to sculpt a body for selling using parameters only? (I read somewhere that one cannot use parameters/shaping for this (or head shaping) when selling) 

Because I am proficient in Photoshop, the skins I am creating distinguish the character, adding realism. Several of my photographer friends thought she was a model (human) when they saw my (unretouched) renders. I know it is not common for morph dial-only characters to reach the Daz store, but she is quite lovely.  That said, I am exploring Blender to further enhance her and future creations.

Any information regarding the questions above would be greatly appreciated!

(By the way has anyone ever collapsed from Daz addiction? I feel like those kids who play video games for days on end when I'm doing this! )

Thanks!!

 

If you created a tutorial on how to use GIMP/Photoshop to create textures as good as the ones you said fooled your friend I think that would be a big seller in the DAZ Store.

Coterie

Hi Nonesuch,

That sounds like a great idea! I've seen some brief tutorials on Youtube that offer similar techniques but something a bit more in depth might be great, if you think people would like it. I would probably want to gain more experience with how my Ps skills could adapt to Daz (i.e. creating bump maps, normal maps etc.) before attempting to teach all of you Daz experts anything! I'm relying heavily on my 2D knowledge. 

It would seem there isn't any taboo about using Photoshop pre-render, which is understandable because it means the character is one of consistent visual integrity. Though it does seem to be considered undesirable for post (also understandable for the previously mentioned reason and for any ethical product promotion). That said, do you think Daz users would be into an advanced "post" tutorial? Because the blending of both mediums creates some incredible, exciting results. Also, does the Daz store feature tutorials not directly employing Daz itself?

Thanks for the suggestion!

Sevrin

You see a lot of PAs stating in their promos that they don't use post, so that we have a better idea of what we're buying out of the box.  Some vendors do post-process their promos, though, and many of the rest of us certainly do a lot of the time, to denoise, colour balance, whatever. 

With that said, post-processing renders is a little different, what with the layers and EXR canvasses DS can produce.   If you're new to rendering, you should look into learning about those before making tutorials.  Also, please make sure you're good at teaching as well as, you know, doing.  There are a lot of good doers who are bad teachers.

Richard Haseltine

Coterie said:

Thank you so much, Richard! Just to clarify--(assuming Rarestone's MR morphs allow baking down to an OBJ):

 It is not alright for me to include the shaping preset (created from parameters) with RS' morphs  when I create the OBJ? (I changed only a few values in parameters, so Blender may present an alternative to achieve the same appearance if necessary. My understanding is Blender sculpts can be mixed with licensed morphs then baked. Is this correct?)

A shaping preset is a list of morphs used and their values, it doesn't include the actual morphs themselves. You need a shaping (and/or character) preset regardless. If you an bake the Rarestone morphs down to a single OBJ and load as a new morph then you'd include the actual asset files for that morph and a shaping preset to apply that and any of the base morphs used.

Coterie said:

Is this Shaping preset something separate that accompanies the character?  Again forgive me any confusion, I am just trying to learn. 

I have read and seen tutorials that suggest you can combine changes (i.e. morph+Blender) to create the (OBJ) head morph while others contradict this (at least in my interpretation).

An external tool like Blender is needed only if you are directly sculpting the model to create a new custom shape.

Coterie said:

Thank you for your assistance!

 

Coterie

Sevrin said:

You see a lot of PAs stating in their promos that they don't use post, so that we have a better idea of what we're buying out of the box.  Some vendors do post-process their promos, though, and many of the rest of us certainly do a lot of the time, to denoise, colour balance, whatever. 

With that said, post-processing renders is a little different, what with the layers and EXR canvasses DS can produce.   If you're new to rendering, you should look into learning about those before making tutorials.  Also, please make sure you're good at teaching as well as, you know, doing.  There are a lot of good doers who are bad teachers.

Certainly "no post" can refer to no significant alteration of the character. I think basic post is as important to maximizing the drama of a render as Ps is to enhancing photographs. I do agree, post for renders appears different at first, but with adequate command of Ps, is quite satisfying. 

With regard to teaching or offering tutorials, I was merely responding to the suggestion from Nonesuch. I have taught realist drawing with success but also agree teaching is not for everyone. With enough empathy and a "scientific" approach, it can be done. That said, I don't know that I consider myself an artist or scientist in the digital arena. However, I'm a total novice in 3D from a technical standpoint. "Teaching" that would be laughable for me. But 2D knowledge I have a 30+ year bit of, so perhaps Nonesuch thought I may have something worthwhile to share (thanks Nonesuch!). Maybe, maybe not. Who knows. I just want to enjoy creating, learn from, and support other creators.

 

Coterie

Richard Haseltine said:

Coterie said:

Thank you so much, Richard! Just to clarify--(assuming Rarestone's MR morphs allow baking down to an OBJ):

 It is not alright for me to include the shaping preset (created from parameters) with RS' morphs  when I create the OBJ? (I changed only a few values in parameters, so Blender may present an alternative to achieve the same appearance if necessary. My understanding is Blender sculpts can be mixed with licensed morphs then baked. Is this correct?)

A shaping preset is a list of morphs used and their values, it doesn't include the actual morphs themselves. You need a shaping (and/or character) preset regardless. If you an bake the Rarestone morphs down to a single OBJ and load as a new morph then you'd include the actual asset files for that morph and a shaping preset to apply that and any of the base morphs used.

Coterie said:

Is this Shaping preset something separate that accompanies the character?  Again forgive me any confusion, I am just trying to learn. 

I have read and seen tutorials that suggest you can combine changes (i.e. morph+Blender) to create the (OBJ) head morph while others contradict this (at least in my interpretation).

An external tool like Blender is needed only if you are directly sculpting the model to create a new custom shape.

Coterie said:

Thank you for your assistance!

Thanks for all of the help, Richard!

Richard Haseltine said: