Exporting a DAZ Figure, Redux

Recently we discussed how to export a figure for use in DAZ Studio. However, we noted that the eyes did not look right in DAZ Studio, because the Genesis 9 eyes are a separate figure. To deal with this situation, the Save DAZ Figure tool has been updated. This post describes how to use it to create a character that can loaded in DAZ Studio.

First we prepare the character in Blender. Meet Nana, a Genesis 9 female character with the underwhelming stature of 95 cm, which should be around 3'2 for American readers. Since the figure was originally imported with the Easy Import tool, the rigs have been merged so there is only one armature with several meshes.

Now create a new empty directory where the files will be created.

Add this directory to the content directories in the global settings.

While we are in the global settings dialog, we can also update the author information.

Next we import our reference figure. Since we don't want to merge rigs, we use the Import DAZ Manually button in the Advanced Setup panel. We could also use Easy Import, but then we have to uncheck the Merge Rigs option.

Set Mesh Fitting to one of the Unmorphed settings. Since this figure will be used for reference, we don't want to add any morphs to it. Also choose a viewport color that distinguishes it from the other character.

Here we have both figures. Note that the reference figure consists of several armatures.

With the target rig active and the reference rig selected, press Save DAZ Figure.

We need to change the morph name and the root directory.

When the required fields have been fixed, we press OK.

The export script now creates several new folders under the specified root directory.

Files called Nana.dsf have been created, one for each separate subfigure. Here is the file for the Genesis 9 Mouth.

In DAZ Studio, add a new base directory.

Select the directory that contains the new morphs.

The new directory appears in the directory tree. We could of course also have copied the content of the Nana for G9 folder to an existing base directory, or exported the files to an existing directory, but if we save the files in an empty directory we can zip them together and distribute our figure.

Add a Genesis 9 figure to the scene. The Nana morph appears in the Shaping tab.

Nana for G9 can be downloaded from https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/swldigd2jphvcuu430tcf/Nana-for-G9.zip?rlkey=zvloy2xh6bzipo81n33zcj9je.

Save DAZ Figure

Update:

The Save DAZ Figure tool has been improved, see Exporting a DAZ Figure, Redux.

Original Post:

A recent issue in the bug tracker made me implement a tool for saving figures for further use in DAZ Studio.

Import a base figure from DAZ Studio and tweak the mesh and bone locations. No vertices may be deleted or added.

Rename the mesh to what we want the figure to be called.

In the global settings, add author information in the Presets section. This information will be added to the figure file, and the author field also influences where it is stored.

Select the preferred root path at the top of the DAZ Setup tab. The preferred root path is use in several places in the addon, including where to save the file here.

Now import the same figure again, but with Mesh Fitting set to one of the Unmorphed options. Since this is our reference figure, the mesh topology and bone hierarchy must be the same as the other mesh.

With the target mesh active and the reference mesh selected, press Save DAZ Figure in the Advanced Setup > Morphs section.

A file selector opens. We could select a filename and save the figure file in the chosen directory, but there is also another possibility. If we enable DAZ Directory, the file will be saved in a location where it can be found by DAZ Studio. We can change the preferred root path here. The relative path is deduced from the mesh URL and the author name. The global author information can also be changed here.

The file is stored in the specified location.

Now open DAZ Studio and load a Genesis 9 character.The new morph should be found in the Shaping tab

Note that the eyes are popping out. The Genesis 9 eyes are a separate object and the procedure needs to be repeated for them.