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Best way to build custom characters

patrickgoud_f660e2c6b2patrickgoud_f660e2c6b2 Posts: 0
edited September 2012 in The Commons

Hello daz users,

I am a newbie here, so take it easy...

I am exploring daz studio, and the genesis character is really awesome.
After seeing the products in the stores i am wondering what is the best way to create new characters.

Looking at the tutorials i see the options to use Maya or other 3d tools to create morphs, but i think a lot of different faces can be build with morph packages inside daz studio.

What is the most used option that content creators use to build their own character?

Morphing inside daz with sliders?
Or using external programs?

The thing i have in mind is a human character, not a fantasy figure.

Thanks,
Patrick

Post edited by patrickgoud_f660e2c6b2 on
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Comments

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    If you are using Genesis, have a look at the Evolution Head and Body Morphs in the store, they can make big changes.

    If you want to do even more, you could use Hexagon, and send the Genesis figure to it from inside DS4P, create your morph, and send it back. DS will then creat a morph slider for you.

  • patrickgoud_f660e2c6b2patrickgoud_f660e2c6b2 Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Thanks, I will check these out to see if it can create the things i have in mind.

    Possibly i want to create content for other users, this means that they will need these morph packs too to use my content. Is this correct?

    Thanks for the quick reply and information.

  • RKane_1RKane_1 Posts: 3,037
    edited December 1969

    If you are interested in making a character from SCRATCH, you will need a good modelling app. Hex is good if you have little to no money (it is free) and ZBrush or Mudbox is best for organic characters if you have the funds. 3DsMax is best for harder, less organic shapes.

    If you simply want to make a human character for your own use or to show in a 2d format (pics and movies) , then morphing the Genesis figure is the way to go.

    If you want to make your own morphs, that is entirely possible with the free tools provided in DAZ Studio 4.5 Pro with DForm or by exporting into Hexagon and using the tools there. These morphs can be sold through the store.

    I have a tutorials here that will help you at:

    TUTORIAL - Creating a Genesis Partial Body Morph in DAZ Studio Pro 4 Using the DForm Tool by RKane_1

    and

    TUTORIAL - Creating a Genesis Full Body Morph for DAZ Studio Pro 4 by RKane_1

    For modelling your own figure, there are a number of factors in getting one up and started. It is no easy task but it can be done with time, effort, and know-how.

    We have a discussion about this very thing at another thread I am on and there is an outpouring of very insightful links there. You may want to take a look.

    The thread is:

    DazPeople would like to see tutorials at dazshop - teach people 3d character creation! (call to al CONTENT CREATORS)

    Don't be discouraged by the tone of the thread in parts but try to look past it to see the links I described.

    The "truth is out there", if you will. I am doing my best to learn as well.

  • patrickgoud_f660e2c6b2patrickgoud_f660e2c6b2 Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the links and info,

    I am going to read into it, and after that make a decision what path i am going to follow.

    At work i have the 3d tools at hand (Maya / Lightwave), and we have made some characters in the past, but after playing in daz i convinced my fellow colleagues to use daz. Great content, and we just can't model as fast as it is cheaper to buy content like clothes in the stores.
    A shame that the content for victoria 4, or michael 4 sometimes doesn't fit on genesis. Like the shoes and the feet positions in poses for example.

    Thank you for the very useful feedback!

  • RKane_1RKane_1 Posts: 3,037
    edited December 1969

    Most of the Generation4 content (M4,V4,H4,A4,Freak4,etc,) does fit with little issue., It's really mostly the shoes that are the main issue.

    Don't forget, though, if you want clothes for A3 and such then you have to buy those sets in the DAZ store. Genesis on its own only fits M4 & V4 stuff.

    On a positive note, there are a LOT of foot wear items out for Genesis now.

    Happy hunting!

  • eiliestleiliestl Posts: 100
    edited July 2013

    i would like to make a custom morph like these.

    726636a96fe4dee06dfc97cf69a2992b-d5a185o.jpg
    522 x 648 - 244K
    9d578c7fbdb753505eb23418c56627be-d5mkcgc_(1).jpg
    447 x 544 - 155K
    Post edited by eiliestl on
  • pwiecekpwiecek Posts: 1,582
    edited December 1969

    OK, this is a generalization, so take it for what its worth:

    Most people who want to make a new character base it on something else:

    V4, Genesis, V5, Gen2, V6, Miki 4, etc.

    Most people who are making new clothing make it from scratch OR limit it to textures & trans maps for existing clothing.

  • ghastlycomicghastlycomic Posts: 2,531
    edited December 1969

    One of the handiest tools I find for morph creation is DieTrying's 182 Morphs for Genesis.

    http://www.sharecg.com/v/58198/favorite/21/DAZ-Studio/DieTryings-182-V4-Morphs-for-Genesis

    These are restriction free so you can use them for creating your own morphs.

    Be warned though, there are a few of the morphs which are glitched and have unintended consequences (one of the head morphs messes up the tongue, and the thin body morph deforms the feet). But over all these morphs will get you 90% of where you want to go with a morph and then sculptris will take you the rest of the way. It has to be one of the most usable set of free morphs going.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,260
    edited July 2013

    ...+1 on that (I have them too and find them extremely useful)

    I generally create characters using morphs as my modelling skill is pretty much zilch.

    It takes a lot to create a human character mesh from scratch, a lot of practise and a lot of time. True you can make absolute one of a kind characters, but then everything they wear pretty much has to be made for them as well which means more modelling and more rigging so you can pose them.

    It depends on what you what to do and the type of workflow that suits you best. My goal is to illustrate stories so creating character meshes from scratch is pretty much out as that would consume most of my time. I would rather get a recognisable appearance for a given character (for example my Leela Grande) through morphs so I could devote more time to developing the scenes she appears in both visually and plotwise.

    Besides the main applications (Daz 4.6/Carrara/Bryce) the tools I use include:

    Genesis
    Genesis Evolution Morphs
    Iconic Body Shapes for Genesis (V4/M4/A4/S4G4/F4 A3/H3/D3 - I also have to original figures as well)
    GenerationX and the plugins for several figures (which allows me to use all the Gen3/4 morphs and characters I have)
    Die Trying's 182 morphs
    Handspun Studios Morph Resource Kits
    Hellfish Studio's HFS shapes (a set of nice alien morphs)

    Characters for Genesis
    Victoria 5 Pro Bundle
    Steph 5
    David 5
    Hitomi
    Satsuki
    Aiko5 Starter Bundle
    Young Teens5 Pro Bundle
    Sadie and Sam (toon)
    Kimberly (toon)
    Amy (toon)
    Jasmin (toon)
    Troll
    Abominable
    Mavka (toon)
    Nata (toon)
    Stalker Girl
    Zombie

    The beauty of Genesis is one can mix any Genesis based character (and "Legacy" character through GenX) with another. which really opens up a wide range of possibilities. Like anything new, it takes some experimentation at first. You'll find things that work great, and things that work not so great. For example, my aforementioned "Leela" character (below) used a bit of Mavka, a bit of Tommi (a Gen4 character via GenX), the Steph4 Natural Petite Morphs (through GenX), a bit of Satsuki (a slightly stylised Asian character for Genesis), Teen5 Julie, and the skin map from Tindra Thompson (a third party character for Victoria4 not sold here).

    Leela_cute_2.jpg
    650 x 919 - 96K
    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,823
    edited December 1969

    RKane_1 said:
    If you are interested in making a character from SCRATCH, you will need a good modelling app. Hex is good if you have little to no money (it is free) and ZBrush or Mudbox is best for organic characters if you have the funds. 3DsMax is best for harder, less organic shapes.

    If you simply want to make a human character for your own use or to show in a 2d format (pics and movies) , then morphing the Genesis figure is the way to go.

    If you want to make your own morphs, that is entirely possible with the free tools provided in DAZ Studio 4.5 Pro with DForm or by exporting into Hexagon and using the tools there. These morphs can be sold through the store.

    I have a tutorials here that will help you at:

    TUTORIAL - Creating a Genesis Partial Body Morph in DAZ Studio Pro 4 Using the DForm Tool by RKane_1

    and

    TUTORIAL - Creating a Genesis Full Body Morph for DAZ Studio Pro 4 by RKane_1

    For modelling your own figure, there are a number of factors in getting one up and started. It is no easy task but it can be done with time, effort, and know-how.

    We have a discussion about this very thing at another thread I am on and there is an outpouring of very insightful links there. You may want to take a look.

    The thread is:

    DazPeople would like to see tutorials at dazshop - teach people 3d character creation! (call to al CONTENT CREATORS)

    Don't be discouraged by the tone of the thread in parts but try to look past it to see the links I described.

    The "truth is out there", if you will. I am doing my best to learn as well.

    Just a small correction, hope you don't mind. But Hexagon isn't free any longer, it hasn't been free for as long as I've been a part of Daz (which isn't long, since late April 2013) I knwo it Used to be free, but alas.. not any longer *pouts* It is fairly cheap though, specially compared to the other programs you mentioned *smiles*

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    Smileys work again too Carola :cheese:

  • Carola OCarola O Posts: 3,823
    edited December 1969

    JimmyC_2009 said:
    Smileys work again too Carola :cheese:

    I know, I just are used to use the *smiles* from all the RP'ing in games I'm doing, actually used that more than ordinary smilies before they broke too ;)

    Thank you though *smiles warmly*

  • W1R3DmusicW1R3Dmusic Posts: 7
    edited December 1969

    Can any of you guys help me out

    Am I allowed to sell morphs if they were made with the daz evolution sliders? Or is that illegal?
    I can't find anything that tells me

    Thanks guys

  • ChoholeChohole Posts: 33,604
    edited December 1969

    W1R3Dmusic said:
    Can any of you guys help me out

    Am I allowed to sell morphs if they were made with the daz evolution sliders? Or is that illegal?
    I can't find anything that tells me

    Thanks guys

    If you are making morphs and using some one else's product to make them,, then they are not your morphs, merely dial spins and thus not yours to sell.

  • Herald of FireHerald of Fire Posts: 3,504
    edited December 1969

    I was under the impression that if you required the original morph dials to use the dial-spun morphs then it was fine. Eg. A morph which used Zev0's Youth Morph, for example, could be distributed only if it still required the purchase of Growing Up. Am I wrong in assuming so?

  • SixDsSixDs Posts: 2,384
    edited December 1969

    If you are making morphs and using some one else’s product to make them,, then they are not your morphs, merely dial spins and thus not yours to sell.

    I was somewhat puzzled to read this, Cho, and am inclined to agree with Herald of Fire. As an example, perhaps one of the best, there are a plethora of V4 characters for sale out there that state that morphs++ are required, implying that the characters were created, in whole or in part, using that morph package. Such products are available on most commercial content sites out there and have been for years.

    I suppose the ultimate advice would be to carefully read the EULA that comes with any morph package.

  • ChangelingChickChangelingChick Posts: 3,250
    edited December 1969

    HeraldOfFire said:
    I was under the impression that if you required the original morph dials to use the dial-spun morphs then it was fine. Eg. A morph which used Zev0's Youth Morph, for example, could be distributed only if it still required the purchase of Growing Up. Am I wrong in assuming so?

    I think the term is ERC freeze then instead of Morph? Basically you make a master dial that doesn't contain any deltas of its own.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 102,931
    edited December 1969

    The question isn't clear - if it's "can I sell a shaping preset (or pose) that uses the DAZ morphs then the answer is yes, if the question is "can I bake a combination of DAZ morphs to a single morph that doesn't require the DAZ morphs to work?" then the answer is no, which is how I read the question and I think how Chohole read the question.

  • W1R3DmusicW1R3Dmusic Posts: 7
    edited December 1969

    chohole said:
    W1R3Dmusic said:
    Can any of you guys help me out

    Am I allowed to sell morphs if they were made with the daz evolution sliders? Or is that illegal?
    I can't find anything that tells me

    Thanks guys

    If you are making morphs and using some one else's product to make them,, then they are not your morphs, merely dial spins and thus not yours to sell.

    Thanks man, you saved me alot of trouble

    Thank you

  • W1R3DmusicW1R3Dmusic Posts: 7
    edited December 1969

    Thank you all for the help

    all of your imputs helped me better understand something that Daz barley explains

    Thanks everyone

  • MasterstrokeMasterstroke Posts: 2,053
    edited December 1969

    How to make shure, that clothes and conforming figures follow your custom morphs?

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    What figure?

    Can you give a bit more information on what you are trying to do?

  • MasterstrokeMasterstroke Posts: 2,053
    edited December 1969

    I try to make a custom Full body morph for Genesis 2 in an external program. Works niceley , G2F has a new shape. How to make sure, conforming figures follow my new G2F bodyshape?

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    If you have created a morph for G2, then clothing should conform to it automatically, that is how genesis and G2 work.

    Have you tried loading conforming clothing onto your new figure?

  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,344
    edited February 2015

    So, kind of to sum up:

    If you make a new morph from scratch using modeling software, you may:
    - use it for your own renders
    - share it for free
    - sell it

    If you make a new morph, but use other morphs in the process, you may:
    - use it for your own renders
    - NOT share or sell it, unless the other people's morphs are Merchant Resources (and then you should check the license to see what exactly you're allowed to use them for), or unless you do so in a way that requires that the other user to own the morphs in question (creating a master dial using reverse deformation/ERC freeze)

    If you make a dialed character using other morphs, you may:
    - use it for your own renders
    - share or sell the character preset or shaping preset (for the preset to work correctly, the other user would need to own those morphs)

    See here for more information: http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/creating_content/packaging/tutorials/saving_morphs/start

    Post edited by Scott Livingston on
  • W1R3DmusicW1R3Dmusic Posts: 7
    edited February 2015

    So I created this genesis character using the genesis evolution bundle. The morph package is a DAZ original. If I make it an original morph by exporting it to Sculptris then bring it back, is that against the license agreement and illegal? Also, does anybody know what UV map or surface is used for the genesis model so I can put it as a material or surface for this figure? Because, I made a custom morph in a modeling program, Sculptris, and I need to know where the UV map or surface for genesis is to edit it.

    Thanks again everyone

    Post edited by W1R3Dmusic on
  • TimbalesTimbales Posts: 2,368
    edited December 1969

    W1R3Dmusic said:
    So I created this genesis character using the genesis evolution bundle. The morph package is a DAZ original. If I make it an original morph by exporting it to Sculptris then bring it back, is that against the license agreement and illegal? Also, does anybody know what UV map is used for the genesis model so I can put it as a material for this figure? Because, I made a custom morph in a modeling program, Sculptris, and I need to know where the UV map for genesis is to edit it.

    Thanks again everyone

    I would say that it is not an original morph if it started with a morph package from Daz. You'd be better off selling it as a preset and listing the required morph package. It would only be original if you started with the base Genesis figure and created your character in Sculptris from scratch.

    Genesis is able to use 4 default UVs, I believe - M4, V4, Base Male and Base Female.

  • MasterstrokeMasterstroke Posts: 2,053
    edited December 1969

    JimmyC_2009 said:
    If you have created a morph for G2, then clothing should conform to it automatically, that is how genesis and G2 work.

    Have you tried loading conforming clothing onto your new figure?
    That's what I thought. Sometimes it does work, but mostley it doesn't. The confirming figure does not follow the custom morph of the base figure.
    So I created this genesis character using the genesis evolution bundle. The morph package is a DAZ original. If I make it an original morph by exporting it to Sculptris then bring it back, is that against the license agreement and illegal?

    That doesn't matter as long you're not intending to redistribute someone's work. You are not allowed to redistribute, what's not yours- even if you bake it in one morph.
  • W1R3DmusicW1R3Dmusic Posts: 7
    edited February 2015

    Thank TimG and Masterstroke

    That really helped

    Sorry if I dont know much about Daz, I only started using it last year.

    I also am 18 in high school
    XD
    But dont let my age fool you
    I know a thing or two
    XD

    But, thank you everyone, its nice to get advice from my elders

    Post edited by W1R3Dmusic on
  • Scott LivingstonScott Livingston Posts: 4,344
    edited February 2015

    W1R3Dmusic said:
    Thank TimG and Masterstroke

    That really helped

    Sorry if I dont know much about Daz, I only started using it last year.

    I also am 18 in high school
    XD
    But dont let my age fool you
    I know a thing or two
    XD

    But, thank you everyone, its nice to get advice from my elders


    If you are interested in making your own characters and possibly selling them, please be sure to read this (same link I posted previously) as it contains some good information both on the methods and the legal aspects of doing this.

    Good luck--I know there's at least one vendor here who got his start at your age or earlier. :)

    Post edited by Scott Livingston on
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