Transfer Utility never works

paid

I had opened a ticket about thise problem some time ago but got no help. Therefore I ask here:

Does anyone was able to use an obj file of a clothing item after using the transfer utility? I never had any item (I tried around a dozen from different sources) that worked in any way after using the transfer utility. Using dforce did not work either (the item just explodes).

Is there any other way to make an obj file of a clothing item usable in DAZ studio? Is there a way to alter an obj file in blender to work with the transfer utility?

Any help?

Attached is one of the files I used.

 

 

felis

I have frequently used transfer utility, without issues.

What are you experiencing?

And if an object explodes when using dForce, it has not to do with transfer utility, but potentially that the mesh is too dense, or it is intersecting with something in your scene.

Leana

What do you mean by "didn't work" exactly? That's pretty vague.
Which figure are you working with?
Was the clothing obj modeled for its default shape or for a morphed one?
What settings did you use in transfer utility?

crosswind

No issue for me either. Attach your obj file if possible.

lilweep

i cant see what you think you attached, as i believe there are forum issues.  Maybe use another image host or upload to the daz community gallery (dont publish, just use the link for the image)

Transfer Utility is usually only a first step toward making content.  Or at least if not the first step, one of many steps in the process.

Tranfer Utility transfers bones and weights for riggingl from the base figure to the clothing but the algorithm makes a lot of assumptions about where to apply these weights.  Usually clothing has to be very tightly fitting to the figure to get good weights transferred via transfer utility.  Even then, the fitted clothing may still need adjustment by smoothing out the weights manually in weight painting mode, and then additionally supported by custom corrective morphs.

Dforce i am not an expert on, but dforce has some limitations too you would need to be aware of.

As an alternative, Marvelous Designer is good for simulating external obj clothing, provided the clothing items are welded. Welded means there are no loose pieces and the pieces of clothing have edges joining the vertices of the mesh together so that the clothing doesnt fall apart during simulation.

Catherine3678ab

paid said:

I had opened a ticket about thise problem some time ago but got no help. Therefore I ask here:

Does anyone was able to use an obj file of a clothing item after using the transfer utility? I never had any item (I tried around a dozen from different sources) that worked in any way after using the transfer utility. Using dforce did not work either (the item just explodes).

Is there any other way to make an obj file of a clothing item usable in DAZ studio? Is there a way to alter an obj file in blender to work with the transfer utility?

Any help?

Attached is one of the files I used.

 

 

I don't see any file attached either. {you made this file I trust} Model to the shape of the default figure as it loads. Single mesh, all seams welded together.  Quad mesh is preferred by Daz Studio.

Depending upon the edition of D/S you are using, if the entire program is crashing -- whichever way you try it, [selecting the mesh in the scene OR selecting nothing from the scene] do the opposite.

Transfer Utility has been working fine for me. To keep the edges proper, a near-to-the-edge line needs to exist. [i.e. for mesh where it is open at the seams intentionally - i.e. for a coat opening]

After the clothing is made, save it. Then for pants, long sleeves, etc. a few pJCMs are likely required.

 

paid

Thank you for your answers.

I use clothing items that were not designed for DAZ figures but for I don't know what. They are only available in obj form (the vendor says he does not know enough about DAZ). If I use the transfer utility the item is attached only to a part of the left arm of the G8 figure and stays outside the figure.

I attached a file and trying it again I see that the forum software tells me the "updloaded file type is not allowed". It is just an obj file ... is there a limit how big the file is allowed to be?

I used dforce instead of the transfer utility because in another thread that was suggested.

I really do not know how an obj file for a clothing item has to be to work with the transfer utility - until now I only used DAZ items.

The item I wanted to use (but tried others as well) is here: https://www.renderhub.com/albin/medieval-japanese-people

I imported it as an obj file type and as a blender file type into blender and exported it as obj to seperate the individual parts of the clothing (is is just one big obj) but neither did work. Do I have to change the item in blender in any way to make it compatible with DAZ?

lilweep

paid said:

Thank you for your answers.

I use clothing items that were not designed for DAZ figures but for I don't know what. They are only available in obj form (the vendor says he does not know enough about DAZ). If I use the transfer utility the item is attached only to a part of the left arm of the G8 figure and stays outside the figure.

I attached a file and trying it again I see that the forum software tells me the "updloaded file type is not allowed". It is just an obj file ... is there a limit how big the file is allowed to be?

I used dforce instead of the transfer utility because in another thread that was suggested.

I really do not know how an obj file for a clothing item has to be to work with the transfer utility - until now I only used DAZ items.

The item I wanted to use (but tried others as well) is here: https://www.renderhub.com/albin/medieval-japanese-people

I imported it as an obj file type and as a blender file type into blender and exported it as obj to seperate the individual parts of the clothing (is is just one big obj) but neither did work. Do I have to change the item in blender in any way to make it compatible with DAZ?

(A) dont redistribute other people's objs.

(B) to use transfer utility you need to check that your obj has baked transformations. What does that mean? You need to align the obj with your figure as a first step, and then export this out of daz/blender. When you reimport the updated obj will now be in position and transforms will be baked.

(C) You also need to change the settings on the Transfer Utility if you are not using base figure. For instance, if you have any morphs active on the figure, you need to check 'reverse source from target' in the transfer utility screen to tell the transfer utility to transfer weights from the non-base figure rather than base figure.

Ideally you do this for all pieces of complex outfit separately.

lilweep

Also, as I mentioned before, transfer utility is only first step in content creation process as it will not give perfect rigging except on tight fitting models. If it was so trivial to make daz content, everyone would have items on daz store.

Leana

Transfer utility won't magically make clothing modeled for other figures fit Genesis figures. It is used to rig clothes modeled for those figures.

So you would need to modify the mesh so that it fits the base figure first. 

crosswind

Tricks -:

1. Go for remodeling / resculpting on the imported obj in Blender base on you Daz character, make the clothing fitted AMAP, and assure the geometry welded per piece of garment;
2. Import obj into Daz, rig each garment with Transfer Utility (set Source Item Shape - Current and tick Reverse Source Shape from Target)
3. Finetune FBM or bs on the garments and fix all necessary pJCMs / cbs, in Blender and import back to DS...

As for dForce, I checked the product on RH, for such a japanese style clothing, it's usually doable to add dForce modifiers to Juban, Kimono, Haori, Hakama even Kyahan, but not on the Mino, hat and shoes. You better know well about how to set up properties on dynamic surfaces, with simulation testing. More experiments lead to more experience and better results...

Recommend a youtuber - Kelvin Jin (aka shinteo), who's good at making stylized characters and transferring clothing from Blender to Daz.  https://www.youtube.com/@Shinteo5 Check his tutorials...

lilweep

i just bothered to check the renderhub link.

You are using Albin's clothing.  His stuff is really nice but can be unwelded in places. I have used some of his military outfits before.  Be aware that when simulating unwelded clothing with dForce and Marvelous Designer etc, unwelded parts will fall apart.

crosswind

For unwelded geometry, it'll be doomed in DS, but if go for simulation with it in MD, you can use Pins and finetune in Blender.

paid

All right, now I start to understand how the process works. I will try all of your suggestions and hopefully after that I can use at least parts of these sets.

Thank you again for your help!

paid

I watched some yourube tutorials and now know I first have to add bones to the clothing. So I added the first bone but I cannot select the tip of the bone - all I can select is the whole bone! That drives me crazy because in all tutorials I watched no one had a problem selecing just the tip and not the whole bone. What am I doing wrong?

crosswind

paid said:

I watched some yourube tutorials and now know I first have to add bones to the clothing. So I added the first bone but I cannot select the tip of the bone - all I can select is the whole bone! That drives me crazy because in all tutorials I watched no one had a problem selecing just the tip and not the whole bone. What am I doing wrong?

I don't understand the purpose of adding Bone(s) to the garment in Blender... You want to bring this garment to Daz, don't you ?  If so, you just need to transfer rigging / weight from Genesis figure to the garment in DS by using Transfer Utility...

lilweep

paid said:

I watched some yourube tutorials and now know I first have to add bones to the clothing. So I added the first bone but I cannot select the tip of the bone - all I can select is the whole bone! That drives me crazy because in all tutorials I watched no one had a problem selecing just the tip and not the whole bone. What am I doing wrong?

 What videos were you watching lol?

Transfer utility can add the bones and the rigging. (It transfers the bones and the weight mapping from a donor figure that already has rigging, i.e., Genesis 9 etc)

transfer utility transfers the rigging based on distance of your clothing to the rigged figure.

the only bones you will need to add to a garment are ones for things that dont correlate to genesis 9.  E.g., maybe there is a hanging tassle or a cape or something.  But Transfer Utility also has some templates for things like that, or you can buy additional templates sometimes from daz store.

Maybe watch proper videos.

paid

Of course I tried to use the Transfer Utility (see my first post) and it did not work. I watched a video of Kelvin Jin () as crosswinds suggested and in it he positioned the clothing with bones to the G8 form before exporting it to DAZ - besides meanwhile I got the bones and all as in this video but when I import the obj.file into DAZ I only get boxes ...

I am close to kicking DAZ into the trash can

 

crosswind

Haha, let me refresh my memory by reviewing this tutorial from him first...

Edit: urh.. a long one, I don't remember if I ever watched this tutorial, but I assume if he "fitted" the armor by driving bones... If so, why didn't he use sculpting tools... Let me quickly check...

...Yes, that's right, as that armor from a game asset with FBX format, then Kelvin used bones to "align fitting". You don't have to do that !  You just need to use Grab, Draw and Smooth brush in Blender to quickly tweak the sleeves to fit on G8M. It may just take a couple of mins ( try using Symmetry first !)

And the XYZ translation values of the robe in DS are not correct, they have to be all Zero. You should export and reimport obj before transferring rigging, or well align the robe with G8M for fitting in Blender.

paid

Ex- and importing the obj changed not much.

felis

The clothing has to fit (match) the source before doing transfer rigging.

And your issues with lifting the arm is not the rigging, it is the weightmaps. When doing transfer rigging there might be different templates, that will distribute the weights differently, but sleeves like these, have to be manually modifed afterwards.

crosswind

The robe needs to fit on the figure ... Transfer rigging with Transfer Utility then fix pJCMs in Blender and import delta morph back to DS...

lilweep

paid said:

Ex- and importing the obj changed not much.

Well the sleeves in your image dont match the figure at all before transfer utility so no wonder it fails.  Earlier i said rigging is transferred by distance. Daz Studio is not psychic. It doesnt know where to put bones magically so the garment and figure need to be aligned so that transfer will work correctly, using the distance between the two models, hence why the garment was being posed with bones in the video you showed (which i now acknowledge makes sense in that context)

I think we actually have two options for aligning,either pose the sleeves of the garment to match the figure or pose the figure to match the garment.  (And as mentioned much earlier in this thread, if using anything but default pose/shape, you need to click reverse source from target or whatever the option is called).

As your question about posing garments in Blender is a Blender-specific question, i guess it makes more sense to look into blender videos/forums about this aspect for more details if it's confusing.

crosswind

The perfect way is always using Base figure + default A pose, and well fit the clothing on it before transfer rigging. Current Shape + Reverse Src. has flaws in term of Base Geometry no matter what templates you use...

lilweep

crosswind said:

The perfect way is always using Base figure + default A pose, and well fit the clothing on it before transfer rigging. Current Shape + Reverse Def. has flaws in term of Base Geometry no matter what templates you use...

That's true.  Esha says this in her content creation videos. I dont want to spread disinformation, just thought it might be easier approach for people like the OP who seems to be struggling doing quite simple things 

crosswind

lilweep said:

crosswind said:

The perfect way is always using Base figure + default A pose, and well fit the clothing on it before transfer rigging. Current Shape + Reverse Def. has flaws in term of Base Geometry no matter what templates you use...

That's true.  Esha says this in her content creation videos. I dont want to spread disinformation, just thought it might be easier approach for people like the OP who seems to be struggling doing quite simple things 

Agreed. If it's just for personal use, that'll be simpler and not a big deal.

paid

To fit the garment to the figure I tried to use the bones in blender - I did know almost nothing about blender - but then after importing the asset I get only blocks

In the Transfer utility there is an option "Reverse source shape from target" but I cannot select it. Well, it looks as if I have to dive deeper into Blender ...

Thank you so far!

crosswind

paid said:

To fit the garment to the figure I tried to use the bones in blender - I did know almost nothing about blender - but then after importing the asset I get only blocks

In the Transfer utility there is an option "Reverse source shape from target" but I cannot select it. Well, it looks as if I have to dive deeper into Blender ...

Thank you so far!

You need to 1st choose Current from Source - Item Shape dropdown list before ticking Reverse Src....

Yes , it's worth learning more about Blender.. free (mostly) but strong...

paid

Finally it worked! Thank you all for your help!