Daz3d Studio to MUA: Proof of Concept

[phenom]

So I really wanted to convert nicer models for some characters that aren't showing up in games, but I'm not practiced with 3d Modeling. I knew that Daz Studio and Poser were often used to create figures in Unity, so I wanted to see if they could be back-ported to MUA. Although the process wasn't as straight-forward as using downloaded game character models, I was successful in converting to IGB and getting model to show up in game!

Finished Model in DazStudio	Converted IGB Model

Some of these steps may not apply to you, depending on your familiarity with 3d modeling or texture mapping and such as.

After you've finished the model in Daz Studio:

• Export the model as FBX with these settings. If you didn't use Texture Atlas, you should check 'Embed Textures' so they will show up in the next step.
  
• Import the FBX file into 3Ds Max 2016 with the settings below. The latest version worked seamlessly for importing the FBX for me. Max 2010 wouldn't load opacity maps correctly, and Max 5 just doesn't load the FBX no matter what I tried to do. If you embed the textures in the model, you would have to use 3ds Max to separate them as they will not import to Max 5 as an OBJ (or they didn't for me.)
  
• Export as OBJ using these settings. If you create the MAT library, the textures wont import automatically to Max 5 but you might be more familiar with how to use that setting. Before you export, you can also delete unused/hidden mesh items (like underlying body mesh under a costume, or the tongue mesh). If you look at the IGB, it looks like there might be some more mesh in the mouth I'll want to get rid of.
  
• Now you can import to Max 5! I use these settings. Importing as a single mesh makes it easy to apply textures collected with TextureAtlas in DazStudio, but maybe you don't need that option? I found that when you use a Vertex Scale of 1 instead of 40, the poser figure is just slightly more than 7 boxes tall. For the final models, I think will try with decimal scales to see if I can find a better height!
  
• If you used TextureAtlas to apply the textures, you will want to follow these video tutorials to get the opacity for the eyes to show up correctly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eDF6PN0yOc[/url]. I found mesh-only view made it MUCH easier to select the right pieces to make transparent.
• You can modify the model prior to starting the biped process. For instance, I found it easier to import the hair as a separate OBJ (following the same steps as I did for the body) because it was in my way when trying to complete Step 5. Once you're ready, you can follow the awesome video tutorial Anderson has posted to finish the conversion!

I do not have a screenshot of this model in the game, as I did not scale it properly before creating the biped and so it was HUMONGOUS. However, it *did* load and that gives me hope! Now that I've proven to myself it can be done, I will finalize some character models and get them nicely converted to MUA!

Some Things I Discovered

• If you make an item transparent in DazStudio, that will import as FBX but not when you import it as OBJ. For instance, I had to make parts of Dazzler's costume hidden but when imported as OBJ they showed up. I actually had to HIDE sections of the model so it wouldn't import as FBX, however it's not as attractive. I figure it can be fixed by modifying the texture (at least  for form fitting clothing). Maybe there is a way to apply some sort of opacity map on top of the diffuse map? Seems like that could also make the issue with the eyes much easier to manage.

[andersonbrazil]

Really has a way to make the transparent textures in 3DS max5. I'll post soon a tutorial teaching how to do this. But what I have not figured out is how to merge the transparency feature with reflection.

[Dr. Bruce Banner]

Andersonbrazil is right .You only have to adjust the opacity of the right texture and of course you have to use the multi/sub object option in the material editor window :

[phenom]

Oh awesome! Thanks for tips you guys. I've also found that I can select geometry in Daz Studio by surface, which allows to remove parts of the mesh more cleanly within Daz before exporting. Also plan on fiddling with this Decimator tool to make the overall mesh smaller resolution.

With this, the opacity is set to the complete texture, right? I was thinking more of having an item have both a diffuse map and a transparency map ie. so the parts that weren't transparent would be colored by the diffuse map. That would make the process of fixing the corneaReflection much faster since I'd be able to just apply the diffuse and opacity map to the entire OBJ rather then select out the pieces that need to be transparent. I think those pieces also end up being colorless too, which is why I'm trying to educate myself on the process. It seems like I should just be able to stack them on one material.

[Dr. Bruce Banner]

You can select editable mesh in 3DSMAX with the options below, just click on the geometry :



If you choose the element one, you can select different parts of the mesh.
And you're able to do a lot of things with the selected one.
For example you can detach it from the mesh , or just simply delete it :



If the mesh is in high resolution you can use the Optimize modifier to reduce the vertex count.

As I wrote, you have to use the multi/sub object option if you want to make a transparent part .
But I don't want to take the point out of a joke ... when Andersonbrazil share the tutorial, it will be obvious .

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