Interesting problem in the legs

[Prenses Karolin]

Problem; When I tilt the hip bone 90 degrees and bring it closer to the ground, the legs turn over.

Also, I don't want to use the neck and chest IK bones, so wouldn't it make sense that when I deactivate them, the bones are automatically hidden, and when activated, the hidden bones reappear on the screen? So you know, it just has no effect for me and it just sits there on the screen.

Moreover, the IK bones of the neck and chest have problems with elongation. When I grab them and pull them, they extend forward. I guess that's not supposed to happen? I mean, as far as I know.

And, when I open the lowerjaw bone a little, the mouth opens in a strange way. As far as I remember, this was not an issue in previous addon versions for the same character. So this is the first time I've seen it this weird.

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Character: Tiffany G9

Armature: MHX

Blender Version: 3.3.9

Add-On Version: Latest

[Alessandro Padovani]

If you don’t want the new mhx ik controls you can uncheck them when creating mhx.

As for the jaw it looks like you didn’t import jcms.

As for the legs that’s ik flippng. The issue is that ik requires prebending to work fine and daz figures are not. We use “improve ik“ to allow to keep the daz rest pose, so to be compatible with daz poses when we import them, but doesn’t always work for extreme poses. Otherwise you can use “optimize pose for ik“ before converting to mhx.

@Thomas. Below there’s a better version of “improve ik” that avoids flipping, including the case noted by Karolin. Please note that rotation X must be locked, otherwise it clears when we reset the transformation controls, eg. alt-R.

# better improve ik
rotation x = 30 locked
ik limit x = -15,160

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[Prenses Karolin]

Where can I find the option I don't want new IK bones? I checked the plugin but couldn't find such an option.

What are the basic settings to import a character without any body errors?
Obviously there are too many options and I don't understand which ones are basically absolutely necessary. What are the basic settings?

For example, I still haven't figured out what Flexions are.

[Alessandro Padovani]

You can easy import without mhx then add it later, this way you get more options.

rigging > convert to mhx

Flexions are the bending for muscles in daz studio, as opposed to jcms that’s the bending for joints, usually you import both for a full rigged figure. I agree easy import could be made more “basic“ both in options and features. The goal should be to get a full rigged figure with little options, then for advanced customization there’s the manual import.

@Thomas. We could include presets for G1 G2 G3 G81 G9 to get a full rigged figure with the daz rig, same as daz studio, so newbies have a easy starting point.

[Prenses Karolin]

Thank you very much, I was not choosing Flexions as unnecessary but now I learned from you that they are necessary. And yes. I definitely think there should be a basic transfer option and an advanced transfer option.
Obviously I prefer the advanced one.

[Prenses Karolin]

These are my general and import settings.
I use these settings for characters. Can you check them for me?
Are there any inaccuracies/lack/redundancy?
What I want is to have an optimized and fully developed armature.

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[Alessandro Padovani]

Well, optimized and fully developed are opposites I’m afraid. And it depends on the genesis generation you’re using since each one has different settings. That’s also why I am suggesting to include presets.

Below there’s what I consider good default settings, but again it may vary depending on your needs. For rigging I don’t import limits because they’re limiting for most poses, for morphs again I use a multiplier to exceed the daz limits for more freedom. I don’t care about final values since they’re a mess in daz studio too and essentially they don’t work. I don’t use ERCs because they're too heavy for blender and don’t work with IK.

DAZ orientation and subtract rest pose essentially don’t work, you may want to stay away unless for specific reasons.

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Below there’s easy import for the various generations, that @Thomas may want to consider as included presets. I don’t use body morphs because they don’t work with IK. Please note that face units and FACS are not intended to be used together, and they also heavily degrade performances if you do so.

Note that G9 is extremely heavy to load compared to previous generations, so to be avoided unless necessary. Then G9 also requires HD since it is HD based.

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[Thomas Larsson]

Now there is only a single option for easy import: Use Default Settings. This loads the scene with settings that depend on the character. I also removed the rigging and mannequin options. It is better to convert to mhx or rigify manually after the character has been introduced.

[Alessandro Padovani]

Commit 79b2d62.

In my opinion “use default settings“ is extremely un-transparent and un-informative. That is, the poor user doesn’t get a clue of what settings the figure will be loaded with. Thus what he may eventually need/want to add. Since easy import already provides presets, it would be better to include G1-G9 presets that the user can start from and eventually modify, as suggested above. That’s much more transparent and informative.

I agree the rigging section can better be done manually once we import the figure with the daz rig.

p.s. We also need “better improve ik“ above.

[Alessandro Padovani]

Commit 19521a7 works great, thank you for the fix. I believe this will sort out most doubts for newbies and at least give a good starting point.

p.s. May be we can remove “add soft body“ and “combine scene materials“ from easy import. That is, soft body is part of rigging so if we rig manually it makes sense to also add soft body manually. As for combine materials we usually don’t want to, because we could edit the materials later, combine is more a final optimization pass if we want to save some memory for the specific scene.

[Thomas Larsson]

The improve IK parameters have been improved in the last commit. There are also some changes to easy import.

1. Combine scene materials has been removed, but Add softbody is kept. The reason is that the latter has to be done before geografts are merged, since softbody depends on vertex numbers.
2. One should perhaps add the Make Deflection tool to easy import, because it also depends on vertex numbers. However, I almost never add a deflection mesh myself. Perhaps if hair simulation works in the future.
3. I added a Final Optimizations option which calls Finalize Meshes, Optimize Drivers and Finalize Armature. This is good for getting an posing-ready character, but it limits the extent that you can do further setup; e.g., you cannot load additional morphs or merge geografts if you haven’t already done so.

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[Noel Lang]

Figure presets are a great idea @Alessandro Padovani and thank you for implementing them @Thomas Larsson !

How would we use this with the Easy Import operator bpy.ops.daz.easy_import_daz() ?

[Thomas Larsson]

The more general problem is how do you use presets with Blender operators. I don’t know. The presets are python files in the folder “C:\Users\Thomas\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\3.6\scripts\presets\operator\daz.easy_import_daz” but I don’t know how to access that from python. In particular, the files start with the lines

import bpy
op = bpy.context.active_operator

Unfortunately, Easy import only becomes the active operator once you call it, and then it is too late, I think. Maybe somebody else has a better answer.

[Alessandro Padovani]

Commit 97599db.

bug. rotation x. Rotation X is not locked for the IK bones, it should be locked as explained above in “better improve ik“. Other than that it’s good.

These are some personal notes of what I don’t like, not bugs, you may consider or ignore them.

1. fix shells. Fix shells is really really not needed, and it makes little sense for an importer to fix materials that are broken in daz studio. The user should fix the shells in daz studio, not in blender. This is definitely an option that should not be included in easy import. See #1671 how to fix shells in daz studio. At least we may make this option disabled by default.

2. add softbody. This is an advanced feature for rigging, it may make more sense to place a warning in the “merge geografts“ option that it doesn’t allow to add soft body later, same as there’s a warning in “final optimizations“. So if the user wants soft body then he will merge geografts as a manual step. We may make “merge geografts” disabled by default.

merge geografts tooltip: “This tool doesn’t allow to add morphs later, or to add softbody later, so it is advised to merge geografts by hand after easy import.“

3. final optimizations. Not sure if final optimizations make too much sense in easy import, being final optimizations usually we do them as a final step after rigging and everything, saving fist a backup because you never know if something breaks. At least we may make this option disabled by default, the warning is good.

[Prenses Karolin]

@Alessandro Padovani Thank you very much. I applied your setting and it has everything I want and it is much more optimized than my settings.

[Thomas Larsson]

Alessandro, the purpose of easy import is to bring a posable character into Blender with minimal manual work. And by that I mean to minimize the amount manual work in both DS and Blender. Fixing shell materials can be done in DS, but if it happens automatically in Blender the user (like myself) doesn’t have to learn how to do it in DS.

As for final optimization, sure you can do it manually by pressing three buttons. You can also import standard morphs by pressing a single button and selecting which types of morphs to import. Reducing the amount of manual work is the idea with easy import.

Anyway, the presets work fine for me, which makes me think it could work for others as well.

[Prenses Karolin]

@Alessandro Padovani

I would like to ask you a few questions, I would be very grateful if you could answer.

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1: I wonder if the "Baked Correctives" feature will work for me, because I understand that when this feature is enabled it creates a few extra tables in the morph panel and I can change these morphs.
Is there anything "absolutely useful/necessary!" about this feature?

2: I like the "FACS Detail" feature, but in the morph panel there is only one morph called "FACS Detail Strength". This morph value is 0 by default. When I change it, it has no effect. I gave the character an expression and changed this FACS Detail Strength value, again no effect (I see that HD morphs change in the Shapekeys section). If this value does not change, will this cause a problem in the future?

3: I use a "Custom Morph JSON" file instead of "Daz Favorite". It's easier for me (since each character will use the same package, I just specify the location and get good results). But I wonder, is there a difference between these 2? I mean, can we say that one is better than the other in this respect?

4: I automatically merge the georaft when importing the character, but I saw somewhere that it is better to merge it manually afterwards. What is the reason for this?

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[Alessandro Padovani]

1. Any custom figure gets custom jcms other than the standard, so baked correctives imports them. Without baked correctives you only get the standard jcms that may work fine enough or not depending on the figure.
2. G9 requires HD that is much more troublesome to get right. For expressions you need to import HD maps with the Xin addon, I guess FACS details work with HD maps too. But I’m not an expert on G9 I don’t use it myself because it is too heavy.
3. Not really, daz favorites is easier because you can set it up in daz studio, but “custom morph json“ is good as well.
4. Merge geografts will not allow you to import other morphs later, or to add softbody later, so it is better done as a manual step after you’re sure all your morphs and softbody are in place.

https://bitbucket.org/Diffeomorphic/import_daz/wiki/Advanced/HD Meshes

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[Prenses Karolin]

Thank you for your answers. It will help me a lot.

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[Prenses Karolin]

@Alessandro Padovani

There is one question that puzzles me.

You said we should use Xin's plugin for HD. But I don't use it.

I just make sure that the "FACS Detail" property is checked. Also when I checked the Shape Key list, I saw that the HD morphs are loaded and work with the expressions.

What exactly is the task of the Xin plugin / how is it different from the above process?

[Alessandro Padovani]

The “hd morphs“ loaded by diffeomorphic drive the base resolution layer, then you need to load and link the HD map for the HD morph to have its effect. Otherwise you only morph the base resolution, you don’t get the HD details for the morph. You may want to read the Xin documentation included with the addon #1399.

Be aware that displacement only works with cycles, not with eevee. Unless you use a displace modifier.

[Prenses Karolin]

Thank you!

[Thomas Larsson]

On second thought, I removed the simulation option and disabled fix shells and final optimization in the presets. The nice thing with presets is that I can make my own where those options are enabled. I need to make my own presets anyway, to include the favorite morph files that I want to load.

[Alessandro Padovani]

Commit 993e36b.

Thank you for the fix, I use personal presets too but I believe these defaults are good enough as general purpose.

bug. rotation x. Again, I see rotation x is not locked for the ik bones, let us know if there’s any reason not to so we can close as resolved. As I understand it, if we don’t lock then it resets with transformations the first time we place or reset a keyframe, so this is a bug.

[Prenses Karolin]

I would like to ask one more question.
For example, I prepared my character yesterday.
I imported it, edited its materials, added new shapekeys (for personal stuff), edited its clothes, added a few extra modifiers (for personal stuff) and all these preparations took half a day.

What I'm wondering is, when the plugin gets a new update and some bugs are fixed, will it have an impact on my already prepared character? How can I find out? Do I need to import and edit the character again?
Honestly, I'm so bored with the character editing process. Does the plugin automatically apply the new features/fixes to my existing character? How should I proceed?

There is an "Update" button for the MHX Add-On but not for Importer.

[Thomas Larsson]

Location X is now locked for IK bones.

Prenses, the development version is unstable by nature. It may be better to stick with the latest stable version even if it has known bugs. Or keep an unstable build that works for you. You may also want to stick with a Blender version that works for you.

That said, the plugin is called daz importer because it imports things; scenes, morphs, poses. As long as you just animate your character and don’t import anything new, there is not much that can happen.

[Alessandro Padovani]

Commit 48270a3 works fine for improve ik, thank you for the fix.

@Karolin, your concern for stability is rightful, when you work on a project you don’t want to mess it up with new bugs. I agree with Thomas that the best way is to use the latest stable version, if there’s bugs you at least know them and they will not change. That’s the same with blender.

That said, personally I use the dev version, but keep an eye on what Thomas is doing. If I see he’s working on some critical feature then I save the previous version until he finish. It is also true that Thomas is exceptionally active fixing bugs, especially relevant ones, so if you find a bug you can usually expect it to be fixed in some days. That is an incredible added value I never seen in any addon or application around, usually you wait for months for a bug to be fixed.