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I noticed in your Transfer Utility dialog you had a Template called "Dressers Knee Length" I don't see that in my options for clothing for G8M... is there a product that covers that in the DAZ Store or did you make that template? I've never been able to figure out how to make a template from my own rigging so I go with what ever is available or just don't use templates.
@diomede You're certainly welcome. If people have questions, it would be nice if they were all in one thread, so that's why I started it. I haven't done any weightmap/rigging since then, but others may be able to assist. You know how it is, you forget things when you don't use it all the time, which is another reason I put it in writing LOL.
My templates for G8M are probably from this product by SickleYield
https://www.daz3d.com/sy-ultra-templates-genesis-8-male-s
Sorry, I had forgotten about that. However, I think the weightmapping principles remain the same in this case with or without the template - but the template is a great start and time saver.
In theory, I know how to save a weightmap as a template for later use. I'll have to do some tests though before sharing because it is just theory to me.
Your thread is very helpful. I hope the recent bump renews some interests and posts in the community. Thanks.
It is hard to keep stuff in one place. There will be a thread on "all about landscapes" or "all about smart props" or "all about custom character creation." Then someone has a thread to show how to do a fantasy scene from beginning to end, with a custom hero/heroine holding a smart-propped magic wand in an epic landscape.
I have one of my silly custom dudes with the same mesh rigged differently for Studio and Carrara. Can't even have one thread for one character! LOL.
Aaaargh, flaws.
Actually, the above pic shows how important weightmapping is because that render is from before those figures were weightmapped. I can't look at that WIP without seeing the bad bends at the thighs and the wrinkles at the shoulders.
But, can improve with practce.
But he does have a cool vehicle, if you remember Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Cute render
Here is a really cool video by Vyusur showing the steps of modelng a human mesh from reference photos. Pay attention to the edge flow. Uses Blender but can be adapted to any modeling software. Plus, I like the music.
Check out her channel for more videos showing the steps for modeling stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqjYcqDrlreKfgRHQ2JHpJA
And I used similar methods to model my Brash Lonergan character
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Just watched the first few minutes (will watch properly later). That’s amazing!
I am currently making a “golf” shirt for G8M. This is a short sleeve pullover shirt with a collar and three buttons. Using the Hexagon bridge. Is it worth it to post the screenshots of modeling the shirt, shader domains, UV mapping, weightmaps, joint control morphs, style morphs, and full body morphs? The thread has links to that info, and the last batch of screenshots may have been more distracting than helpful.
what kind of posts would still be helpful?
I would find it helpful, especially since one of the things I want to make is a golf/polo shirt for G3M. Having all the steps together would make it easier to understand, although I will also be going through the thread as well.
I would find it helpful too, @Diomede, if it isn't too much trouble. Seeing the process from start to finish would be fantastic and really appreciated. I haven't a clue what all those things mean at the moment ... or where they come in a sequence of production.
Good to see this thread with some new life. I've mostly been an observer because the new recession of male content is depressing, but I do appriciate seeing this, I swear. :)
OK - I will try to post an example of a golf shirt in a series of posts broken into stages. The first two stages are making a G8M reference mannequin that is easy to use in Hexagon and then modeling a very simple short sleeve shirt object that can be the base for future short sleeve shirts, including this one. In a later stage, we can add details like collars, buttons, and giving the edges a sense of thickness.
Establishing a G8M Reference "Mannequin" for the Hexagon Bridge
It is going to be less stress on your memory and Hexagon will be more stable if G8M (or whichever figure you choose) is prepared before using the Hexagon bridge. It is easy to do.
- Load G8M or whichever figure you are creating clothes for in Studio. You may find it easier to model for G3M because it is in the T-Pose, then use Studio's utilities to fit to G8M later. I am going to use G8M in this example.
- In scene tab, select and delete any unneeded geometry from the base figure. In the case of a shirt for G8M, there is no need for the eyelashes.
- Select G8M in the scene tab.
- In parameters tab, under mesh resolution, set mesh resolution to Base and set subdivision level to 0.
- Go to the surfaces pane and select the top level Genesis 8 Male. All shading domains should be selected now
- In diffuse channel, set any maps to none, and choose a diffuse color that will be easy to see. I chose red.
- Save this prepped figure as a scene subset for future use.
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I am going to show the Hexagon interface here so you can see why the figure was prepped in this way.
- In Studio, use FILE : SEND TO HEXAGON to initiate the bridge. You may have to toggle your apps to go to Hexagon, but it should start and G8M should load.
- I like to use the 3-camera view, but use what you like. Notice that G8M is the red color I chose, which should be easy to see.
- Because we prepped it, the G8M figure should load with smoothing set to 0. If you forget, you can always set to 0 in Hexagon.
- Your Hexagon might not start with the panes for the shader domains. Not an issue at this stage.
Worth repeating - use any modeling software that you are comfortable with. You do not have to use Hexagon.
OK, I will now show the basic steps to create a very simple low resolution short sleeve starter object for my G8M golf shirt. This is intended to be loose fitting. At this stage, there is no detail, no drape or wrinkles, no shader domains. This starter object can be the basis for other loose fitting short sleeve or vest garments in the future.
Box Modeling a Low Resolution Starter Shirt
- I've used the bridge to send G8M from Studio to Hexagon. The G8M has smoothing at 0 and is a solid color for contrast with my modeling.
- I am going to use box modeling in which I start with a cube and then add and shape geometry to fit my mannequin.
- Select the cube from the 3D Primitives tab at the top of the Hexagon menu. Click once on the floor to start and pull your mouse to size the cube and click/valdate to finish.
- There is a new object in the scene tab called form3 or form#. However, notice that the new form may not be at position x=0. Will want to fix this before continuing.
- Going forward, make sure your edits are with the new form selected, not G8M.
- In the upper right properties menu, you can turn symmetry for x axis on and off. Will generally want it on for the early stages.
at this stage, I just intend to move my cube up and extrude shapes for the neck and shoulders
- in the upper left are the manipulation and selection tools. The arrow is the translate/move tool. The next menu selects by object, face/polygon, edge/line, or point/vertex.
- to move my cube up, I chose the arrow translate tool and the object selection icon. Three arrows apear for X, Y, and Z axis. I clicked on the top arrow and dragged up to chest of G8M
- in your properties tray (upper right), confirm that your cube has symmetry turned on in X axis and that the x position is 0 (from prior stage above).
- Extrude the shoulder. Do this by using face/polygon selection icon and select the left side of the cube.
- In the vertex modeling menu (top), the first icon is Quick Extrude. Click the quick extrude icon and pull the selected left face in x direction to cover the shoulder. Symmetry should cover the other side.
- You can use the camera controls (arrows at btom of screen) to see around your object in perspective view. Select the object and move back in Z direction to align with neck and shoulders.
- for the collar, select the top middle polygon/face, and quick extrude in Y direction.
- Use the selection and translation menu to move vertexes and edges so object is outside of G8M.
Next will be extending the shirt down the torso. This involves selecting all of the bottom faces and using quick extrude, then using select/translate to shape the shirt.
- before I forget, rename the "form3" or whatever to something useful like Shirt G8M. Enter the name in upper right properties tray and the name will change in scene menu.
- use faces/polygons in selection mode (upper left), hold down shift key, and select all of the bottom faces
- Use quick extrude in vertex modeling menu and pull the new row down in the y direction
- use selection and translation menus in upper left to shape the shirt. Do you want it to fall straight? Taper? Be close-fitting?
- Repeat extrusion and shaping to taste
This next part is harder, especially for figures like G8M an G8F that are in the "A" pose instead of the "T" pose. The thread has a discussion of edge flow, which I will link to eventually. Ideally, the mesh should be modeled so that the shoulders have good edge flow, meaning that loops of polygons align with the joints instead of at angles that trail off in other directions. However, for this base starter object, I'm not going to worry about that yet. It will be difficult enough just to get the shoulder and armpit bends. My strategy for here will be to do small extrusions in the X direction, extend the top part outwards then downwards, while trying to keep the armpit from crossing itself.
- in face/polygon seelction mode, with symmetry on, select the outer top shoulder face.
- use the vertex modeling menu Quick Extrude to pull a new box outward just a little (should be mirrored by symmetry).
- use the line and point selection modes with translate to pull the top outward and minimize the distance of the armpit move.
- repeat the face selection and quick extrude and then pull the top edge out and down, and adjust the armpit slightly.
- repeat one more time, this one should extend slightly down the arm to get then end of the sleeve, from which we can make a cuff later.
- use the selection and translate tools to fit the sleeve to the arm and to and make sure the armpit does not have any tangles.
Next, create holes for the neck, arms, and torso.
- In polygon selection mode, select the top polygon of the collar. Delete. This creates the hole for the neck.
- Repeat foe the arms (symmetry should be on).
- Repeat for the bottom torso.
The next step is to use smoothing to refine the shape and create more density (more vertex points). In Hexagon, enable smoothing in the upper right menu. Each level of smoothing divides the existing polygons from the middle of each lne to the center. For a shirt made of all quads (4-sided polygons) like this model, the smoothing reslts in 4 times as many vertexes as start out with. If smoothing is increased to level 2,or repreated, then mesh density goes up by 4x4 = 16. So, be careful about smoothing too much or your computer can slow down and Hexagon can become unstable. This shirt is very low density right now so smoothing is no problem right now.
- In the upper right, click smoothing and level 1. Notice that the mesh does become more smooth, and an object appearsin the lower right panel, dynamic geometry. The dynamic geometry has a litte lightning bolt icon to the left which will be used later.
- Once smoothing is enabled, use the selection and translation tools in the upper left to adjust the fit of the smoothed shirt to G8M. Pay close attention to the armpit. Got rid of any tangles?
- One edit I made, completely optional, is that I lowered the front of the collar and raised the back.
- Once satisfied witht he sahe, click the lghtning bolt.
- The mesh will be converted. More vertex points appear. Note that symmetry and smoothing are now turned off (upper right).
- Even though I am not going to make more changes immediately, I turn symmetry back on as a habit.
- I save the low res shirt as a base for future projects.
Which reminds me, I should have said at the beginning - SAVE OFTEN, and use alternating names.
Low res Base Mesh is Complete - Can send back to Studio to confirm that it fits G8M, even save as prop if desired.
In Hexagon, make sure the shirt is seelcted, and use the bridge FILE : SEND TO DAZ STUDIO
Short Sleeve Golf Shirt - Derived from Simple Base Shirt Above
The next stage is to adapt the simple base mesh to a specific project. In this case, the plan is what I am calling a golf shirt, but I may not know the correct terms. Here are the extra details in the plan.
1) opening at top front with three buttons on right side of shrt and three button holes on left side. The buttons and button holes are in rectangular panels extending down from the collar. The sides ofthe rectangles have seams.
2) a collar with a seam at the base of the neck. The front corners of the collar do not have buttons.
3) no front pocket
4) bottom of shirt has a seam about a quarter inch above the edge.
5) sleeves have seams about a quarter inch from edge.
6) shirt has vertical seams on both sides. A vertical gash occurs at the bottom of the seam.
7) sleeves are attached with round seam at shoulder/armpit. sleeves also have horizontal seam under arm.
Notes on Modeling, Smoothing, and Bracing
Before going on too far, it might be wise to review a couple of general issues of models designed for conforming clothing in Studio. These may not be hard and fast rules, but are worth considering.
Subdivision smoothing. - Models intended to be used in Studio are often lower res and then are given subdivision smoothing to add detail. From the base modeling discussion above, recall that each level of smoothing typically results in 4 times the effective number of vertexes. Although these smoothed models are not being converted and so are not a drain for saving/storing files, the resource use at time of manipulation should be taken into account. A more important issue is how smoothing affects modeling choices. A cube subject to successive smoothing would tend to look more and more like a sphere.
Bracing - One way to preserve the shape of an object subject to smoothing is to brace the edges. Here is an example using a cube.
- Here is a simple cube, 8 vertexes, 6 sides, just like a box or like dice.
- If I apply one level of smoothing, it gets rounded somewhat.
- Successive increases in smoothing makes it look more and more like a sphere.
- A brace is an interior line that reduces smoothing in that direction. Here is the same cube but with an interior line bracing the left and right faces (just 2 of 6 possible faces).
- Notice that with smoothing, a cube with just 2 opposing faces braced looks like a cylinder.
- As more faces are braced, the cube retains more of its shape even under smoothing. Here is a fully braced cube without smoothing.
Here is the same fully braced cube with smoothing.
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The important point is that if a model is intended to be used with smoothing, the modeler should pay attention to features that will need to be braced.
Although this is not the time or place for too much detail on modeling for subdivision surfaces, I can provide a link to an excellent resource. I highly recommend a site called polycount, which addresses many modeling issues. In particular, there is a page devoted to tutorials for subdivision surfaces.
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Subdivision_Surface_Modeling
Scroll down to the tips and tricks section for ways to have circles within squares and other useful issues. Here is a table on using all quads but changing density.
I resurrected this old post by SickleYield because of the dang buttons.
I resurrected this old post because I did not want to repeat the discussion of edge flow, etc.
I put out a call for advice on buttons. The thread is here. https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/266586/current-best-practices-for-buttons#latest
@Grinch2901 gave some great advice on rigid follow nodes with links to tutorials.
Here's a tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4COp0PIC74
And here's another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp4x6DmDfc8
OK, so I returned to my base shirt mesh. I made some initial attempts to get the collar and the front rectangle overlap for the button area. I also created seams at the sides and near the bottom (but not at the bottom).
- I renamed and saved the new mesh so as to not overwrite my base starter mesh.
- I used the vertex modeling tools for extract around and extract along to create more lines for the front panel. Notice that this resulted in some triangles and some 5-sided polygons.
- I used the point selection tools and the tesselate tools to add points and connect points until restore quads
- The result is that most of the shirt remains the same but the front has a rectangular panel that will be braced for smoothing, and can have an inner area that can be extruded for seams.
- I used the extrude tool to create the collar by using the extrude sweep set to "radial" and then going up and repeating down with new scale.