How do I create more material zones? new: how to increase polygons ... Possible?
WillowRaven
Posts: 3,787
I imported a bryce obj (a rose) into daz and planned on using shaders to color it as I please, but the entire obj is one mat zone. Is there a way to create more zones and resave for Daz 4.6?
Post edited by WillowRaven on
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You can add mat zones in Daz Studio.
Use the Polygon Group editor tool/ I believe it may have been renamed to the Geometry Editor tool to select the Polygons for each group and use the tools tab to add a new surface from selection.
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/creating_content/surfacing/tutorials/create_surface_groups/start
Thanks :D I'll see if I can decipher that. :D
Let me know if you get stuck I should be around for the next few hours or so :)
It pretty straight forward once you get your head around the terminology.
To select individual polygons and create a new surface: Tools > "Geometry Editor".
In the viewport, click on one poly to select it then hold Ctrl down and select any other polygons you want (or optionally you can select with a rectangle). To remove a polygon from a group of selected polygons, ALT key and Left Mouse.
Right click and choose Geometry Assignment > Create Surface from Selected. (you can also TEMPORARILY hide polygons here with "Polygon Visibility" > "Hide selected", but this isn't saved with the scene.) Give the new surface a name. You will then see a new material zone in the "Surfaces (color)" pane.
EDITED to correct changed menu option names:
"Polygon Group Editor" changed to "Geometry Editor"
Polygon Assignment changed to "Geometry Assignment"
Awesome :D That made much more sense than the 'instructions', do, lol
Thanks, guys :D
BTW, why CAN'T hidden polygons be saved?
I wouldn`t know, but since you are already in the business of creating new material zones you could permanently "hide" polys by giving them a fully transparent material (opacity to 0 in DS).
Making a material transparent in the surface tab is not the same as hiding them. The editor tool will still be able to select transparent polygons whereas making them hidden will get them out of the way to make it easy to select polygon that where being blocked by the now hidden ones. Not having the hidden polygons be saved with the scene is annoying as it makes it harder to work on something over several sessions.
If you right click and 'Remove Hidden Facets' it will permanently delete any hidden areas. This means they won't have a surface area to be selected, nor will they be calculated at render time (even a surface with zero opacity is still calculated). Just bear in mind that you'll be saving an entirely different object to the original.
Why I'd want to do this, save a file with hidden area, is for poke-through issues. I hate having to redo it all when I revisit the file. Does removing them also change the actual shape? In other words, will removing part of the breast make the dynamic top drape differently?
I'm not sure, you'd have to experiment (try selecting something crazy like the entire top half of the figure and see if it has an effect; if it goes horribly wrong immediately, you have your answer, although you still won't know if you don't see anything change if it could just be something more subtle.)
In any case, you can just use Flipmode's suggestion to set the opacity to zero to hide it permanently.
Yes, FIpmode's way seems best in most instances, unless I want the shape to change. Say I WANT the rose's leaves gone, no longer part of the model, so I can drape something on the stem and not have it mold around invisible leaves?
forgive me for not being familiar with bryce.. but I am familiar with other softwares (autodesk products mainly) including Daz pro 4.5 and 6. My question is... why can't you export the rose with its material statements? I know exporting/importing in and out of daz it gives those options...
Or another thought.. export it out in pieces (stem, flower petals, leaves,etc)?
I may be talking out of church here.. but are these options?
I didn't open the rose in bryce, I imported the obj from the folder, and daz told me it was a bryce object. Material setting didn't follow, not did it matter since I want going to shade the entire thin silver. However, I wanted to hide the leaves, and they're no a separate mat zone. So I needed to know how to create a mat zone so I could hide them.
PMing you Aidana
Have you seen this thread: Tutorial: Adding Surfaces in DS with the Geometry Editor tool
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/42088/
Old thread, related question, though ...
This shirt collar is one mat zone. I need to make it to have two mat zones so the top band can be one color and the bottom band be another color. y'alls help and youtube show me how to do this, but there is a problem ... the individual polygons don't divide where I want them to. I can find all sorts of info on how to decrease polygons, but none on how to increase polygons or make them denser in a certain spot. Can this be done?
It would probably be easier to use a map. You could divide the emsh in a modeller, then use the Transfer utility to rig that to match the original and transfer the morphs.
Would mesh grabber reshape the polygons then allow me to make two equally thick stripes?
I suppose so, if you are using plain colours, but it would be extremely fiddly - really, if you are considerign that you'd be better off using a dedicated modeller.
@WillowRaven: From this:
to this:
...try the following (it is not difficult, i still am an absolute beginner with Hexagon!)
Before you start, please test if this method will work with your shirt:
A) Choose "wire shaded" as Draw Mode in the viewport. Then try to loopselect the collar to which you would like to add the second "line" as described in steps 12 to 15. If it works as described, your prop is suitable for this guide and you can continue. (Thanks to Richard Haseltine for spotting this weakness!)
1. Load your shirt and send it to Hexagon
2. Choose Display Mode "Flat Solid and Edges"
3. Leftclick on the shirt to select it which looks like so:
4. Press the "Select Edges" Button:
5. Select one edge in the collar zone where you want to add a second "line"
6. Press the RING Button:
7. Now it looks like this:
8. Now select Tools --> Lines --> Insert Points:
9. ... which creates the extra geometry. Now send it back to DAZ:
10. In DAZ STudio: Choose import as a prop:
11. If you haven't yet, delete the original shirt in the Scene Tab and select the "new" shirt. Choose "Wire Shaded" as Draw Mode in the Viewport
12. Now activate the Geometry Editor:
13. Select 2 adjacent faces in one of the lines:
14. Rightclick and choose loop selection:
15. Your first line is selected:
16. Rightclick to choose create surface from selection and choose a name:
17. Repeat steps 13-16 for the second line, then you can already put shaders on the lines and rest of shirt.
18. Now convert the new shirt prop to subd:
19. Load the Genesis Figure the shirt was created for, select the new shirt prop and start the Transfer Utility:
20. Source is the genesis figure and target the new shirt prop:
21. Adapt SubD level and surface settings to your liking.Just to show the UV mapping wasn't destroyed:
That isa good guide, thank you. The potential issue, and I suspect it applies here, is that some mesh is much less tidy - for example items exported from Marvellous Designer and not retopologised - in which case the ring selection won't work (or may select a crazy path snaking over the outfit).
You are right, this seems to have been beginners luck, lol. Maybe somebody knows a clean suitable Shirt prop?
@WillowRaven Added a test to the guide, so you can see if it will work with your shirt (Thanks Richard for the headsup!)