Can G3 Expressions be used with G8?

nabob21

Hello,

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to use the G3 expression packages with G8? For example I am talking about some of the expression packages that are made by Emma and Jordi,

Thanks in advance for any replies.

nabob21

Havos

In my experience they often don't work that well. For a start a lot of expression dials come with dials, as well as files to apply the full preset, however these dials will not be seen on G8F, only G3F. I find some expression look too extreme dialled in at 100%, so having the dials is handy to knock them back to 50-75%, or less. Even the full preset does not always translate well, as preset morphs might not be available in G8F, or the relevant bone looks odd posed on G8F compared to G3F.

I think Zev0's G3 to G8 Pose converter is supposed to handle expressions as well, although I have not used it for that reason, and I am fairly sure it will not convert the dials, (although you can create them yourself of course).

nabob21

Thanks Havos. Is there any tutorial that explains how to make the dials myself?

Havos

Sorry for the slow reply. Here is a thread that explains what you need to do to create an expression dial:

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/4228711/

There are a number of steps, and it has to be repeated for each expression, which is not ideal if you have a lot of expressions to convert.

nabob21

Thanks again Havos!

Cybersox

Actually, you can use G3 expressions on G8 with a fairly high sucess rate if you're just using the point and click presets.  The key is to always keep the Use Limits turned on while applying them. And yes, that does mean that often they can be a bit too extreme when first applied, but there's an easy way to adjust the intensity of an expression that doesn't come with a dial - you use Puppeteer to do it instead.

All you have to do is zero the existing expression and save that as one point in Puppeteer, then apply the expression you want and save that as a second point.  Not only does this let you roll back the intensity of an expression that looks too extreme just by mousing on the grid to a position between the zero and full save points, but it also allows you to make the expression more extreme by mousing to a position past the second point.  You can also use this technique to mix two or more expressions by zeroing the expression again, adding additional expression presets as additional puppeteer points and then moving the mouse pointer to various positions in between the points. 

Of course, nothing is perfect and it's been my experience that expressions that include the extreme movements of the tongue, eye or lower jaw may not work well, especially if the figure that you're applying them to veers far from the base shape they were created for, like 3DUniverse's younger character moprhs.  However, you can fix even that a lot of the time if you have a utility or set of presets that include partial zeros for the upper and lower part of the face, like Emma&Jordi's mixable expression packs, and apply the parts of the expression at different levels.