PA's please have G8 options in new G8.1 characters

ChangelingChick

Gordig said:

 

ChangelingChick said:

Gordig said:

MelissaGTsaid:

melaniesaid:

Some of the G8 characters came with a G3 version as well, so I would think it would be basically the same thing to include a G8 with the G8.1 characters.

No, not at all. G3 and G8 have the same UV map. G8 and G8.1 do not.

G3 and G8 have different geometry, meaning that for a morph to work on both it would have to be made for both. This is not true of G8 and G8.1.

 This is true, but there are also utilities available to transfer shapes between 3 and 8 easily. It's also super simple to transfer shapes if there's a shared UV. 

Is it any easier to transfer a G3 shape to G8 than it is to Map Transfer a G8.1 texture onto the G8 UV? 

Yes, a lot imo. 

PerttiA

MelissaGT said:

PerttiA said:

Just had a look at the textures and compared them and everything can be found on both, just a matter of creating a script that moves the needed pixels to a new location/new file.
The torso/body texture is essentially the same on both, with the head and neck parts cleaned away on the G8.1 texture, but the location of the rest of the body is the same on the image than on a G8 texture. 

The head map is a completely different size and UV and doesn't just nicely fit onto the body map to create the old G8 torso map. 

Just needs a "translation table"  

PerttiA

PerttiA said:

Richard Haseltine said:

PerttiA said:

The UV map is just one file "...\Data\DAZ 3D\Genesis 8\Female 8_1\UV Sets\DAZ 3D\Base\Base 8.1 Female.dsf"

Needs just some manual editing and copying the file to the Genesis 8 UV set-folders and the G8 has the G8.1 UV's, the shader needs DS 4.15 or newer though.
One can check the existing (G8/G3) UV maps on how to edit the G8.1 UV file to get the paths and references right.

That would not help without also regrouping the mesh, since the new UV set overlaps areas that on Genesis 8 are part of a single surface group.

So, some more digging into the dsf files needed, but past midnight here already and gotta get to work in 6 hours... 

Without having access to DS, I was digging around inside the G8F Starter Essentials. It looks like some regrouping for G8.1 is done with a file "Genesis 8.1 Female Simple MAT.duf" that has the correct material groups for G8 UV's.
In theory, it should be possible to edit this file to use G8.1 material groups on G8, but that might again require DS 4.15 or newer.

Btw... What are "Character Addon Inject.dse" and "Character Addon Loader.dse" found in "...\data\DAZ 3D\Genesis 8\Female\Tools\Utilities\"?

Wonderland

Why is DS 4.15 or newer necessary for using G8.1? The last usable version of DS for me is DS 4.14 beta and I can use all 8.1 capabilities, dforce, everything except the new volumetric effects. Unless 4.14 beta basically is 4.15 but 4.15 and later crashes for me with a 1080ti

SBibb

Wonderland said:

Why is DS 4.15 or newer necessary for using G8.1? The last usable version of DS for me is DS 4.14 beta and I can use all 8.1 capabilities, dforce, everything except the new volumetric effects. Unless 4.14 beta basically is 4.15 but 4.15 and later crashes for me with a 1080ti

If I remember right, I think it has to do with the PBR shader, which I don't think works in the earlier programs. I tried testing Ebenezer 8.1 in iray on the 4.12 public build, and his textures rendered gray. He works fine for me in the later programs.

PerttiA

Wonderland said:

Why is DS 4.15 or newer necessary for using G8.1? The last usable version of DS for me is DS 4.14 beta and I can use all 8.1 capabilities, dforce, everything except the new volumetric effects. Unless 4.14 beta basically is 4.15 but 4.15 and later crashes for me with a 1080ti

Older versions cannot read the G8 characters/morphs when loading a G8.1 and I'm not sure if the new shader that was first released in DefaultResourcesForDAZStudio415 works in older versions either. 

RL_Media

I *think* it's only necessary to use the "new pbr shaders", not the figure itself. I don't have anything earlier than 4.15 to test the theory myself though

PerttiA

RL_Media said:

I *think* it's only necessary to use the "new pbr shaders", not the figure itself. I don't have anything earlier than 4.15 to test the theory myself though

You can use G8.1 also with older versions (with the older shader), but then it will not read the G8 characters/morphs that you have installed, that functionality was added to DS 4.15 

kyoto kid

..so based what I read here, apparently Skinbuilder 8 will not work on 8.1 because of the map change. 

FSMCDesigns

kyoto kid said:

..so based what I read here, apparently Skinbuilder 8 will not work on 8.1 because of the map change. 

True,but you can always create a G8 skin, save it and then apply it to G8.1 since it also uses the G8 UVmaps.

gitika1

MelissaGT said:

ChangelingChick said:

melanie said:

Some of the G8 characters came with a G3 version as well, so I would think it would be basically the same thing to include a G8 with the G8.1 characters.

I wasn't going to chime in, but, as someone mentioned, G3 and G8 have the same UV map, so it's possible to make a material preset for G3 and that will simply work on G8. It doesn't increase the workload for materials, only the morph itself.

The  reasons for building a character on 8.1 instead of 8 are (largely) the UV map improvements. They're small but significant (in my opinion). Aside from the improved texel density differential imrpovement between the face and torso via the head/neck region addition, the eyes also have a *much* better UV mapping that allows for a smoother transition of the limbal ring than the base G8 mapping allowed for. The eyelashes are also a new mesh that doesn't share a UV for the G8 eyelashes, but the way it's made gives the opportunity for a much more realistic lash look. Finally, the tear is its own mesh in 8.1, and it is *far* superior to the 8 tear in my opinion. I know not everyone will agree, and that's fine. But as a creator, I want to make the best product I can. For me, that means using the G8.1 UV's, Eyelash and Tear meshes. It also means using PBRSkin for the skin materials which isn't available in earlier versions of DS. I'm sorry y'all don't want to update to 4.20. I think you're missing out, but that's your choice, and I do respect your decision. I only recently updated from Windows 8, so I'm certainly not in a place to chide anyone about updating software :D But if it's any consolation, any of the wearables I inlcude in my stuff (horns for example) are saved out on 8 so at least those can be used on 8 without issues. 

Personally, I prefer the Uber shader for skin. If I could get 8.1 characters using the new UV with the Uber shader, I'd be happy!  

This!  100% Thumbs up!