Different compatibility bases for one item - duplicating or cloning to make it unique

clivewil2

hello.

in among my bunches of outfits there are some items i have used multiple times throughout, e.g. hairbands, bracelets, shirts, pants, skirts and such.

previously i would save each 'theme' as its own separate wearable, e.g. 'jeans and jacket black' or 'jeans and jacket brown' as well as 'skirt and jacket grey' etc. etc. and naturally it would work that way.

recently i started making up Hierarchical Materials Presets (HMP) instead, which highlighted the problem that once an item has been assigned to one compatibility base for one outfit, i can't use it for another outfit's HMP - i thought that saving it as a different wearable under a different name would be enough, but not so - even older stuff i haven't touched recently shows up with its comp. base set to a different item that was assigned only recently

so! how can i make an item unique without having to re-import and re-rig everything again? stuff like bracelets and hairbands are simple but i don't want to have to re-do jackets and pants and complex stuff all over again just so i can use it in a different outfit

is there any easy way of cloning/duplicating/instancing an existing wearable so it can have its own unique compatibility base/node ID?

Richard Haseltine

For a prop try a single asset that is zeroed, then place it and parnt it on the target figure and save a Wearables preset. For a figure I don't think that can generally be done across generations.

clivewil2

Richard Haseltine said:

For a prop try a single asset that is zeroed, then place it and parnt it on the target figure and save a Wearables preset. For a figure I don't think that can generally be done across generations.

hmm 'save as wearable' doesn't work for me unfortunately, e.g. i have a headband that i had used in an outfit i called 'summer outfit v1' and in that wearable it was called 'summer headband' - later i used the same headband in another outfit, this time 'waitress v2' and in that wearable it was called 'waitress v2 headband' (its original standalone name was something like 'hairband low bow small v2') 

the compatibility base for the first one was 'summer outfit v1' and the second one was named 'waitress v2' - BUT the next time i loaded up the summer outfit, the headband's comp. base now says 'waitress v2' which was the last scheme that i saved.

the pic shows what i mean, after saving what i *thought* was a unique copy of the original with a new material preset, the original untouched hairband has also taken on the new preset. (ideally it would say 'None')

i am thinking i somehow need to copy it in such a way that the copy is given a new unique node ID before the two hairbands can have unique material presets/comp bases

 

i have done this successfully many times with Face Transfer figures, e.g. generate a scrap throwaway figure under the new name i want, copy the original figure and textures and rename to reflect the new name, then change all names/paths inside the .duf with Notepad++ - but it is long-winded and messy, i was hoping for wearables there was a simpler solution to duplicate them that doesn't involve leaving DS

 

clivewil2

---> just as a tester i copied the hairband and changed all references of 'v2' to 'v3' - and it does now appear to be a separately unique object, i.e. the Comp. Base now shows as 'none' instead of 'waitress v2' when i poke it into DS, which is what i wanted. i should be able to save this as a wearable with its own colour preset without it affecting the Waitress v2 hairband preset.

the thing that bothers me is the 6010 in the node name - does this number have to be unique, or does the database only take the entire string into account?

 

Richard Haseltine

I think it's the vertex count, just to potentially differenetiate between items with the same basic name.

clivewil2

Richard Haseltine said:

I think it's the vertex count, just to potentially differenetiate between items with the same basic name.

3ds max's counter shows 6010 vertices. wow Richard, you're good. thanks! so i should be free to use the Notepad++ method then,

i just wanted to make sure i wasn't letting myself in for e.g. "Warning! Double entry for 6010 detected! Now purging entire product library, please wait!"