Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
No scripts.
We learn how to make simple tools quickly and easily that give us this on any rigged figure, no matter the Generation - even Vicky 1 if you wish:
Pose Control Dials - These give us fine detail of any pose at any time. They take the idea of what used to be called MorphForms, but go far beyond those.
MorphForms was a name given to Pose Control dial in Generation 4 expansion morphs ++ sets. They essientially hold pose data within a dial, but can do much more than that.
In Part 2, where we get into the How-Tos, the first video gives a complete demonstration of the collection I use on Rosie 7. Since Rosie 7 is a Genesis 3 Female, and that is who I made the controls for, the tools are available for any G3F character, even if I saved them long before I made the tools. I could have done the same for Genesis 3 Male. Instead, I used GenX2 to transfer the tools over from Genesis 3 Female - works like a charm!
Since I started trying this idea with Rosie 5, by the time I got to Rosie 7 I really had a better understanding of what tools I need, so I have a really nice, easy to use, well organized set of Pose Control Dials, making her the best figure to use for the course.
I hope this answers your question. If not, I hope it gets us closer. I am always happy to help.
I accidentally moved the thread here when I changed the first post. I'm sure someone will put it back in the Commercial sub topic where it belongs. Sorry about that!
I go way beyond that - even though that is Huge in making animation really fun and easy in Daz Studio.
No more having to export to something else. Stay right in Studio where Everything we're using is compatible and really works!
Making Partial aniBlocks has also been essential to my animation workflow. I might get a bit wordy here because I really love how this works. Just hang in there with me, okay?
Since I started with Daz 3d my first purchases went toward aniMate 2+ and the content I needed to get started animating. Sure, I was getting deep into Carrara, but that all led me here - and I still love Carrara!
Since then I've been really happy with the professional job that these motion capture artists did with their aniBlock packs. I'm suprised to discover that I still don't own all of them, but I will soon enough. GoFigure's are really great and have a different 'feel' than Posermocap, now Reisormocap, whose motions have really wonderful cause and effect motions in the arms. BoneTech 3D hit the scene and I really like those too.
So when it finally came to the point where we could make our own animated pose data using software and a couple of X-Box cameras, I really wanted to get into that. But then I thought about it some more while looking at my already large collection of aniBlocks, and determined that I can pretty much make anything I need with what I had.
While I was animating in Carrara, I used Daz Studio and aniMate to create custom 'partial' aniBlocks that only controlled certain parts of the body. Carrara has a built-in NLE (non-linear animation) Clip system that I used for this sort of thing a Lot. Then I decided to make actual aniBlocks with these changes already worked in. You see, the real-time feedback in Studio when working with aniMate 2 is Fantastic - much easier to see what was going on than in Carrara.
So to combine various motions with each other, I started creating these partial aniBlocks for just the arms and head, just the hip and legs, etc., and combine them using Sub Tracks in aniMate 2, bake to the timeline, work through the transitions much the way I do in this course, but back then I didn't have these awesome Pose Control dials beyond the default MorphForms, and then create a new aniBlock that I would import into Carrara.
I lost all of that stuff several years ago during a complete PC melt-down. But not the knowledge I gained. So it was actually a blessing. Building new from scratch after the testing process has been really well worked is very satisfying. But it turned into a whole new Learning curve when Linday had to go and make the Perfect Hair for Rosie!
So that put me on a determined drive to learn how to animate in Daz Studio, which was right around the time you and I started our first chats. I was met then with all of that "You can't. Use Diffeomorphic to send to Blender." So I actually did that, which I think you saw. A lot of other comments, like use Maya and/or Houdini... What? I'm just Me! I'm not spending that! Nor do I relish the time it will take me to learn to use it... I have to work too!
Although I did get pretty far in Blender, which really is a fun way to do it, if you like that, I realized that I was feeling like a school kid learning to spell again when I tried making hair that I like - which I never successfully did. Not Rosie hair!
Oh... wait. I have Carrara and I love animating in that... why am I torturing myself?
Right... that hair! That isn't for Blender either. Come on, Dartanbeck, you know Daz Studio's tools pretty well. You can figure out how to make this work!
Staying in aniMate 2 longer, using it's amazing tools was where I started. But I was encountering the same issues that always drives me into the graph editor, which feels unfriendly in Studio. So little we can do - so few animation-helping tools in that workflow.
Still, I was using aniBlocks with partial aniBlocks to make entirely different actions - all using that professional motion capture that I like so much!
Like combining the arms and head movements from Angry Hands over a walk cycle... pretty cool.
Adding my Custom Pose Dials took that to an entirely higher plane!!!
I had forgotten for the moment that Posermocap motions weren't even aniBlocks when I started buying them. They were animated poses (Pz2) and I made them all into aniBlocks.
Just thought I'd clear that up! ;)
Even though the graph editor in Studio made me feel fairly limited, it does work. It doesn't have the really cool tools that Carrara has, but it's still a workable editor. But it kept me from really getting my final animation results how I truly wanted them to be - having to work on one axis of one joint at a time... I could do it, but it would take a lot longer and, since the process is so cumbersome, I couldn't even 'see' potential changes. I just wanted to finish.
Since I started adding these custom tools, that all went away entirely!
Now when I want to change things up, I do it. I can do it throughout the animation however I like, and it doesn't require me deleting key frames to transition these custom dial changes. So the entire process of animation in Daz Studio just became simple and fun! Now I'm an animation Monster! I can churn these things out as soon as I think them up! Then I set the hair to simulate and try to get some sleep. If sleep isn't working, I go back to it in an hour and save, then set up for the render and try the sleep thing again!
So, if I understand you correctly (and I'm not sure I do - even now) - your "tools" are parameter dials? As in Pose controls? As in Morph dials?
If so, I use them all the time and I use them for the tiny animations that I occasionally attempt but I rarely use aniblocks even though I also bought the paid version of AniMate.
You say you "started adding these custom tools" and that's what I don't understand - those dials are there for all to use. Or am I still confused?
Those dials you use all the time, we're making custom dials that do different things that don't come included on the base figure.
This one that I made in our dForce discussion is just Pacing Calm, but tweaked to make it "Rosie" using these new custom dials.
Nice and smooth!
This one was made Only using dials and a sit pose.
Most of the dials used are the Custom Tools I'm talking about here. They simply don't exist yet - nor really should they for general Pose n' Shoot use. So it's not that the figures are lacking in any way.
The point of all of this is that:
We can export to Blender and do a full figure animation setup in there - after learning how if we're not already Blender animation savvy.
Or we can take a very little bit of time to make a setup in Daz Studio that works exactly how we're already used to working in Daz Studio - spinning dials!
Each of these Custom Tool tweaks we make makes it's own, separate key frame on the timeline. In my Part 1 workflow (three videos) I show how I use this for my advantage as I work. It's so organic. That whole mass of key frames on every frame can just stay as they are.
As there are exceptions to every rule, I create an animation using Partial aniBlocks to demonstrate working in and out of the transistions, since I'm using a Sub Track (aniMate 2) only for a small portion of the entire animation. So we isolate only what was changed by the Partial, and work in and out transitions - and it's these custom tools (dials) that make it possible to truly make the blend how we like it - a nice, natural transition with purpose.
This whacky promo video (no, I don't use my Radio Announcer Voice in the course!) there are many character animations that play over the video as I babble on about the course. That babble contains information about what we get into in the course.
All of those mini-animations playing over the screen would have needed extensive use of the graph editor if I didn't have these custom control tools.
At about a minute into the video, we see Rosie walk into the studio and put her hair back, turn, and walk again. That's the animation I build from scratch using aniBlocks, then Baking to the Daz Studio Timeline, work the transitions, and then get into these magical control dials to match things up, like her hand against her face, for example. Easier said than done in a graph editor, because I tweak a lot of joint rotations to make it work. With the dials, it's just a simple process of paying attention to what we're doing - nothing more, really. They make this whole process fun and efficient instead of a joint-locating, time-consuming frustration grabbing keys for each axis of each joint rotaion, editing, then deleting keys for transitions... trust me when I say that this makes an animators life a joy!
At about one minute, 13 seconds we see the first control dial we make. For the promo, the video is being played back at an itangible speed. The colorful dial is our custom tool.
That segment of the promo leads into the comparison between Rosie 7's dials and a standard figure. The colorful dials on Rosie are my custom creation.
We can make them for all manner of things that might not seem obvious. So I begin with an exploration of Rosie's dials and what they do, next to a standard figure. This is to give the viewer complete understanding of my collection and why I have them, before diving into making the tools themselves.
When we get into making the tools, which is really easy and fun all in its own right, we don't just make a tool and be done with it. We explore other possibilities on what we can make, and how easily we can add magic to our animations using a few simple dials.
All of the overlaid animation sequences were made just this year since I've added these tools to Genesis 3 Female. Without those tools, I wouldn't have done many of them - especially the one when she sits cross-legged on the ground. The clipping on the guns was a silly oversight for the promo, as I changed her costume and rendered it again, not realizing the mistake. But it still serves as an excellent example of how fluid that change is from the original Yoga Stretch aniBlock, which does do what this animation does at all.
I look for aniBlocks that do what I need to happen from the waist down. If the upper body works too... gratis! If not, I either bring in a partial or work the original data into entirely new poses from scratch using these really cool custom dials!
When I type in this forum, it's usually when I'm either waiting for a simulation or render. I'll watch a cool movie and get inspired, so I forget about the rest of the movie for now and run in to make my new animation - often already having a solid idea of which aniBlocks I could try.
The more I do this - tweaking to the final result I mean, the easier it becomes to know which aniBlocks to start with. Do I need more partials? I'll spend a few minutes before hand making partial aniBlocks. To me that's all part of the fun too.
I just grabbed "Kids AT Play Moves" by Reisormocap, which is a collection of animated PZ2 pose files for Kids 4.
I'll run them on V4, then convert them to Genesis 3, then save the aniBlock. I already know that I'll be making some new partials from these motions as well.
What's funny is that I didn't buy these for animating kids - but to have the motion capture for making up new motions. It's amazing how often I use motions one would not expect to be using on our Hero. I just make th outcome a lot different than the original data - while I still like to keep all of that within the animation for the natural fluidity of the movements.
When hands and sometimes forearms penetrate the thighs when using a sitting animation. Fixing that with standard pose dials isn't nearly as effective as it is with just a coule additional dials we can make ourselves. After a couple of times making them, it just becomes as simple as making the few clicks and saving it - non-destructively.
Another cool thing about inspiration. Fresh off the epiphany!
I was hanging out with my Sister at my Dad's birthday party. While I was talking, and she wasn't, her face - mouth area especially - make some really wonderful movements. Lots of them! No talking... just relaxing into facial muscles following their own rhythm... is was beautiful.
Having this new Face Controls for Genesis 3 & 8 is So cool for that!
I made these tools for that thing too, so instead of using the gizmo, I made dials - and a Lot of them... in One Sitting! It really goes quickly when we're working on single topics. like facial movements, for example.
I have dials that change expression of different parts of the figure, like posture, throat movements, expressives and facial gestures (like I was just mentioning seeing my Sister doing), finger movements...
You'll see. They're Awesome!
OK, so to be clear about why I'm asking questions: I am tempted to abandon DAZ Studio in favour of Blender for my animations BUT:
1) I prefer to work in a single application where I am very familiar with all the tools available.
2) I know and appreciate how Diffeomorphic is an excellent bridge product and I am not here to criticise it but, IMHO, it is still a lot of work to get scenes into Blender and be able to manipulate the figures as easily and completely as I can in DAZ Studio.
Your posts are, if you'll forgive me, very wordy so I may be missing some vital information. I'm just trying to determine whether I can find ways to use the DAZ timeline better. This is especially relevant because my animations are so short and simple and I very much doubt whether the trouble of exporting them to Blender (and learning the complexity of the Blender animation workflow) is worth the effort.
So one more question - are your tools convenient combinations of dial settings or are they something that users would not be able to create themselves?
I'm really interested in ths product, but this thread is starting to put me off to be honest.
I'm seeing the same animation clips in different videos, and a lot of the discussion seems to be about what the product is not, rather than what it is. Ok, so it's not Cararra, and it's not Blender, that's fine but do I really need to know why it isn't those things? I get that you love that particular hair, and the character you created, but again they are not really relevant to the product. Oh and adding breast physics and a skimpy top isn't going to convince me to buy. Sorry if i sound negative, but I would really like to know what your product can do for me, and not a showcase of your work. I'm sure you're a great guy and I hope the product will be great too.
Could I ask three questions about the videos:-
How long are the three parts combined?
How many times do we see the same video clips in the complete product?
How much time is spent explaining why this is not Cararra/Blender/Maya etc etc.
2 - The video course doesn't repeat the same videos clips at all. An exception being the short Intro
3 - None. At most, there's a mention of "instead of using something else", but not like this thread (* see comment below)
1: Here's the layout:
Introduction - 8 minutes, 38 seconds
Part 1 (in three videos)
Part 2 ( 8 videos)
Bonus Video - Rosie 7 Animation Demo - 2 minutes, 35 seconds
* It's hard to talk about animation in Daz Studio without folks wanting to send us to other software. Makes it hard. I want to change that.
Thanks for the detailed reply and answering my questions, I'm now feeling much more positive about your product. I look forward to it being available in the store.
I understand about people saying Daz studio is no good for animations, I've heard that from a variety of Youtube creators. Hopefully your product will prove that it is possible and good results are within reach.
Everything I do can be done easily. That's why I want to share it with the world.
Awesome. I'm glad I answered your questions.
Not just Possible, but easy and fun!
That's why I was always referring to Carrara. Animating is easy in Carrara - and now I like this method in Daz Studio much better for my characters. I can do more, so I do - and enjoy the entire process.
Part 1 was one long continuous video. Digital Art Live and I both agreed that it would be better digested if it came in sections.
Where I divide them is a nice logical ending spot for one and starting point for the next.
I should also mention that, during the Part 1 workflow, I teach easier ways to deal with the timeline in Daz Studio.
One example being Selecting and Working With key frames. With just a few simple techniques, the timeline became a lot easier to manage for me, even for longer animations.
So I pass those on, because I feel it is an important part of this method of animating.
I like many here agree with just using the software I can animate easily with, which for me is anything but DAZ studio
but
That is why Dartanbeck is releasing this product
we are not his intended customers
it's that plethora of DAZ studio users who will never leave the fold
and use LUA driven iClone car animation where your characters can open doors, hop in and it will follow the terrain or the awesome Unreal Engine Blueprints with banking and physics
or even Carrara where 3Dage back in the dark ages did physics assisted car animation with M4
the poor DAZ studio users have been missing out for more than a decade
be happy Dart is tossing them a bone
Thanks Wendy
To add to that, I would like to say that I have tried Diffeomorphic and the Daz Studio/Blender Bridges and really like them and how well they work.
Kudos to the developers and user feedback to make them as nice as they are, and keep growing stronger. That goes for Blender as well.
For what I want to do, however, I really like staying in Daz Studio. I still have strong ties to Carrara too. But for Character animation, this is my way now.
It's Easier. It's faster. It's a Lot of Fun!
Looking forward to this. Do you have a proposed ETA?
I agree... always happy to look into new ways of doing things. But when can we expect it?
This tutorial looks very interesting. When can we purchase it?
Any approximate release date for this course? Very interested!
It's Out Now!!!
as it is said to be used in the promo images, which are screen shots of the course.
In truth, however, my Rosie 7 is based on Sol
Hats off to Raiya, though. Rosie HD for Victoria 6 looks Fantastic!!! Maybe I'll buy her and make her into Rosie 6!
I'm really enjoying this and learning a lot! I got through Part 2-2 and wanted to stop and practice making some Pose Controls while the info was fresh in my mind (these are so awesome, even beyond their use in animating), so I loaded in a Base Genesis 9 as that's what I've mainly been using. I created a few Controls, boy were you right, especially after the way you went through it, slowly, repeating the important things, it really is fast and easy.
One detail I'm missing, and I went back through a couple of the vids to try to find it, but what I'm not sure about is if there is a step necessary to "Save" the Pose Controls you create so that it's available for any character of the same generation... I found a mention when you were looking for a rogue improperly pathed dial, you mentioned saving the ones that you could find... but not what that process is, if there is any. All I've done is left Edit Mode and saved the Scene with the G9 that has the Controls I made (which work great!), that's obviously not enough to have the Controls be there on another character I loaded into another new Scene. I apologize if I'm missing where you mentioned it or if it's something obvious... my brain is stuck, apparently.
EDIT: I think I found my answer in the Daz3D Documentation of all places... It looks like it's Select the Figure, Save As->DSF Morph File, Name it, tick the boxxes of the Controls you made, hit Go... Sorry again if I missed you explaining this. Maybe let me know if this is either wrong or not entirely right.
Thanks for this Tutorial. It is fun and it is exciting to me to learn these kinds of things that open tons of doors in DS!!
As you know I'm not a true animator with DS... but congrats on the release of this tutorial product!
Congrats on the release!
DAZ is a great tool that works for certain animation situations. It is a quick and dirty way to get something animated without having to build a control rig and working in a dope sheet. With all of the morphs/poses available in the default base, marketplace and free in the wild, getting a sequence together is relatively simple and quick. There are severe limitations but it is an excellent way to get your feet wet in 3D animation.