Transfer characters created using the morph sliders between G3 and G8

amysparkles

This again may seem like a really stupid question. I thought I would experiment and see if I could load some of my custom G8 characters to G3 and likewise, my saved G3 character shapes to G8.

 

The characters in question have all been 'dialed' using the morph shaping sliders. I have the same morph shaping parameters in both G8 and G3 (such as the standard body morphs and the Growing Up youth morphs), so in theory there's no reason why a character shaping preset created in G3 cannot be loaded into G8. Similarly for a shape created in G8 to load in G3.

My process is to create a character using the morph sliders, and then save as a shape preset.

Then I load up a figure of a different generation and apply that saved preset to the figure.

I got mixed results. Sometimes the characters loaded correctly and looked practically identical - especially after applying the same materials presets. However, others do not. Instead, when the morphs are loaded they are completely random.

To give you an example: I created a G8 character which has a Youth Morph setting of 53. When I save that shape preset and apply it to G3, the Youth Morph setting is something like -39. Completely random.

Other character shapes though are not an issue and load between G3 and G8 correctly. Now, like I said, all these characters are using the same set of morphs, so I cannot figure out why some would load correctly and others not. All the shaping presets are saved in exactly the same way so it cannot be to do with that. Neither can it be to do with a particular morph package, because otherwise all saved presets would either work or they would not.

 

I also attempted the morph transfer utility (edit -> figure -> transfer utility) to see if I could transfer the morph settings of a G8 shape to a G3 figure. I used the instructions provided in this thread as a guide: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/177246/basic-tutorial-for-transferring-genesis3-female-morphs-to-genesis8-female Obviously in this case my source was G8 and my target was G3, with a G8 clone.

However, again, the slider settings did not transfer. I did however discover I could transfer the actual shaping morphs from G8 to G3 and from G3 to G8, which will be useful in the future. (Though in this case, I would like to transfer two or three custom morphs created for G3 to G8 and not the whole lot)

 

So, does anyone know why some saved shape presets load correctly on a different generation figure and others do not? Also, is there a simple way of doing this that I have overlooked? Surely if the morph sliders are present in both G3 and G8, the shape should transfer between these generations easily. But it seems some work while others do not. Those that do not often put random values in the morph sliders.

Leana

G3 and G8 equivalent morphs may not all have the same technical name which is used by the preset. At a guess, transferred morphs have a special prefix so they don't risk overriding existing morphs with the same technical name, for example, which would explain why a preset made for the G3 version would not apply to G8 version. I think at least some character converters can convert presets too.

No idea why a preset would apply a different value to some morphs though... Unless maybe there's a morph controlling that one which was set by another value in your preset?

 

Also, the fact that both figures have morphs called the same in their base morphs packs doesn't mean that the result of using those morphs on both figures is exactly the same. The base shape is different, for one thing, even if G3 and G8 base shapes are close. So even if you apply the same value to the morphs on both figures you're likely to end up with a character which is different, unlike with a character transfer.

amysparkles

Leana said:

G3 and G8 equivalent morphs may not all have the same technical name which is used by the preset. At a guess, transferred morphs have a special prefix so they don't risk overriding existing morphs with the same technical name, for example, which would explain why a preset made for the G3 version would not apply to G8 version. I think at least some character converters can convert presets too.

No idea why a preset would apply a different value to some morphs though... Unless maybe there's a morph controlling that one which was set by another value in your preset?

 

Also, the fact that both figures have morphs called the same in their base morphs packs doesn't mean that the result of using those morphs on both figures is exactly the same. The base shape is different, for one thing, even if G3 and G8 base shapes are close. So even if you apply the same value to the morphs on both figures you're likely to end up with a character which is different, unlike with a character transfer.

 

I thought the characters would look different too, but when I put a G3 and G8 character side by side with exactly the same morph slider settings and the same materials, they look quite similar. The only slight difference is in the head shaping parameters if the G8 character uses the 'Youth Head Width' morph from the Growing Up bundle. The bundle for G3 does not have that particular morph. So the G3 version of the character has a slightly rounder head.

The issue for me is why some of my saved shaping presets can work equally well on both G3 and G8, while others do not. If there was a prefixing issue, then surely the attempt would be consistent with all characters. It would either work for all characters or it would not. 

 

Ironically, if I save the head shaping and body shaping parameters seperately, I can then apply a G8 created shape to G3 (or a G3 created shape to G8). But saving the shaping preset 'full body' is hit and miss. I think there must be something in the body slider morphs which is causing the issue, so I will just have to work through them when I can.

For now though, it was just a fun experiment to see what would happen.

 

amysparkles

Leana, thanks to you I just figured it out! There was indeed a morph controller setting the values of other morphs.

One of my G8 characters uses a custom made age preset which adjusts all the Youth Morphs at once. When I set that preset to zero and then re-set the Youth Morph values to how they were, I was able to load the character in both G3 and G8 'full body.'

Now I know what to look for, I can see if there's anything similar is interfering with loading G3 to G8.