Daz to Blender Beta: How To Download Release Versions, Manually Install, and Replace Old Installs

Razzle-Dazzle3D

We're excited to be rolling out a beta version for the next release of the Daz to Blender bridge - featuring updates to rigging and morphs, Genesis and Genesis 2 figure support, general bug fixes, and more!

Since this bridge beta must be installed manually; we've created instructions outlining the processes to download the latest (or a previous) release of this bridge, the process to manually install this bridge via the RunOnce folder, as well as the steps to replace previous versions of this bridge installed via DIM or Daz Central.

 

To download the beta version of the Daz to Blender bridge, please follow this Github link:

https://github.com/daz3d/DazToBlender/releases/tag/2.3.5-beta

 

To access any version of the Daz to Blender bridge or to reference additional documentation, please follow this Github link:

https://github.com/daz3d/DazToBlender/tree/develop

 

How to Download a New Release from GitHub:

1. Go to the link listed above to find the newest release on GitHub

2. Under Assets you will find the newest build. It will be named DazToBlender_VersionNumber

3. Download the zip and Inside you will find the Contents needed to use the bridge. Follow the steps below on how to install the bridge

 

Installing via RunOnce Folder:

Please follow these steps to manually install the Daz to Blender bridge:

1. Open a new File Explorer window and enter "%AppData%" (without the quotes) at the top of the window

2. Navigate within this Roaming folder to  --> DAZ 3D --> Studio4 → RunOnce

3. Now, within the Daz to Blender release folder, locate the Daz to Blender ASCII scripts located within the Daz Studio sub-folders (under ...\Daz Studio\appdir_common\scripts\support\DAZ)

4. Drag and drop these scripts to the RunOnce folder and close out of this window

5. Then, navigate to your install location for Blender -- by default this location is  "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\2.92"

6. Navigate to your plugins folder (if you don't have one, just create one at the root) and locate Blender

   1. ​For example. "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\2.92"

7. Drag and drop the "DTB" folder from within the Develop branch (under ...\Blender\appdata_common\Blender Foundation\Blender\BLENDER_VERSION\scripts\addons\) and place this folder in your Blender plugins folder

8. Launch Daz Studio and Blender, and the plugin should run normally​

 

Replacing Version from Daz Install Manager/Daz Central:

1. Go to your install location of Daz Studio. By Default that location will be 

(WIN) C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4

1. Go to the location of the Original Installation which will be: \scripts\support\DAZ\

2. Inside of the Build Downloaded you will find the needed files under \Daz Studio\

3. Replace the old versions with the contents here

 

Padone

daz studio 4.15.0.2, blender 2.92.0

As for 2.3.5 beta I get the following error if I try to import a G8F with toulouse hair and basic wear. Test scene included g8f-basic.duf.

steps:

1. in daz studio load the test scene g8f-basic.duf
2. export the G8 figure with arms and legs jcms
3. import in blender

Padone

@Razzle-Dazzle3D @DAZ_sam @DAZ_vish So did you fix it ?

p.s. I see that names with spaces or other special characters don't get referenced with @, as razzle dazzle above. Is there a way to get it work or are such names just not allowed ?

Padone

update. 2.3.6 beta works fine thank you guys for the fix. I do like the new ik controls. Going to test the other features ..

Padone

update. As for 2.3.6 beta something odd happens if I try to use the ik controls on a G2 figure. But may be the IK controls are supposed to work only with G8. The FK controls work fine with G2.

steps:

1. export a G2 figure with the default options
2. import in blender
3. activate and use the ik controls

 

Padone

update. 2.3.6 beta. As for jcms I see they spread everywhere. That's not good especially for HD figures. Below an example where I exported the arm jcms for G8F and they are exported in the toulouse hair too. I removed the prefix with the new utility to better show the names.

steps:

1. export a G8 figure with some garments and hair, include some jcms
2. import in blender

 

DAZ_sam

@Padone Thanks for you great notes like always. I will have @DAZ_Vish look into it as soon as he can. 
I implemented a way to optimize the morphs in the cinema 4d bridge will its not perfect I will see if we can get it implemented before the next release. 

Yeah thats really weird effect from the IK Controls we still haven't had a chance to refactor the basic control rig setup and only basic fixes on Rigify it be easier to know how to fix it once the code is has been fixed. I will take a note of it for a future update.  

Padone

update. @DAZ_Sam As for 2.3.6 general release the issues above are not fixed. Also @DAZ_Bryce reports a 2.3.7 that doesn't exist in the repository, may be he intended 2.3.6.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/498796/updates-daz-to-blender

DAZ_sam

Padone said:

update. @DAZ_Sam As for 2.3.6 general release the issues above are not fixed. Also @DAZ_Bryce reports a 2.3.7 that doesn't exist in the repository, may be he intended 2.3.6.

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/498796/updates-daz-to-blender

Thank you for the catch! That was a mistake by us actually. 2.3.7 has been added to Daz Release as well which has added support to 2.93 as well.

Also wasn't able to get the morph fixes into the release in time but, add a beta release 2.3.8 with some morph optimizations and fixes. 
Currently the morph sliders do not work as they should as they do not take into account the parent sliders. For example Eye Blink and Eye Blink Left are both applied the driver is recieving 2, still need to work on that so they take into account the other drivers. 

Padone

@DAZ_sam As for pruning jcms 2.3.8 beta is much better, at least it excludes jcms by bone. But you can do better. That is, you can check if the bone gets any influence in the weight map, and if not the jcm for the bone is to be pruned. Below an example with the toulouse hair where only the neck and head bones get influence, so jcms for collars and shoulders don't make sense.

As a side note I'd advise to run "remove morph prefix" by default, since morph names are relative to the object anyway, so the prefix is not needed and it just makes the name hard to read in the panel.

Please let me know if something is not clear, or if there's anything I'm missing.

DAZ_sam

Both great ideas! Thanks for the ideas. I will give it a shot. 

Edit: 
https://github.com/daz3d/DazToBlender/releases/tag/2.3.9-beta

@Padone should work as you expected. Assuming I understood you correctly. Thanks again!

Padone

@DAZ_sam As for jcms 2.3.9 beta seems to work fine in general. But there's a glitch with the toulouse hair since I get collar jcms there. When I check with the weight map editor in daz studio I don't see any influence from the collar bones so I don't get it. You may want to check this please.

Also the bug with the ik controls is to be fixed. This also affects the G8M figure, not only G2 as reported above. Below it's G8M with ik on the legs.

Padone

2.3.9 seems the same as the beta, that is, doesn't seem to fix the issues above

1772028463

Padone said:

2.3.9 seems the same as the beta, that is, doesn't seem to fix the issues above

I am also in this situation(⇀‸↼‶)