Alternatives to Daz3d

[glfx]

Hey,

So I've been playing the games posted here and trying out Daz3d, while watching some of the tutorials I noticed that people use rather hacks to get away with this software imperfections.
Hacky navigation, clunky controls. I myself experienced weird situations like geometry changes won't apply without me zooming in/out (!?) or polygon selection goes through a surface and selects rear faces.

Having said that and before diving deep into that, are there any other alternatives people use here to create VN games?
I do get the extensive abilities behind Genesis models and robust assets store and everyone here is for the high end renders, but maybe something else is catching up now..?

Thanks a lot and sorry if this question is not worthy the forum, still learning my ways around here.

 

[polywog]

vast Daz model library


imagine being a game character, and them DAZ pork n beans was the only thing available, then every game would need a scat tag. Daz Studio isn't "the shit" it's just shit.

 

[glfx]

That's a funny response polywog but maybe I wasn't explicit enough.

Of course I'm aware of Maya, Max and Blender software, but for me they "the shit" for professionals.
When I was asking for alternatives to Daz it was only in relation to making relatively easy sculpting of morphs like the ones you do with Genesis and applying ready assets to build a scene. I guess Poser comes closer to an alternative maybe...

 

[polywog]

That's a funny response polywog but maybe I wasn't explicit enough.

Of course I'm aware of Maya, Max and Blender software, but for me they "the shit" for professionals.
When I was asking for alternatives to Daz it was only in relation to making relatively easy sculpting of morphs like the ones you do with Genesis and applying ready assets to build a scene. I guess Poser comes closer to an alternative maybe...

relatively easy sculpting in DAZ??? there's no such thing in Daz Studio. Daz models aren't even made in Daz Studio.
they are created in other programs then converted to work in Daz Studio proprietary environment.

Don't get me wrong DAZ Charcters are good, but Daz Studio program, isn't even in the top 50 list of 3D software.

Poser was purchased by Renderosity and is undergoing some incredible changes right now. Always was better than Daz Studio, and soon it will be more geared towards Game Development.

 

[i11uminati Productions]

So polywog as a very new user to Daz how soon could we expect this better alternative to be available? Do you know if it will be possible to port the same models I have been building in Daz over to Poser?

 

[polywog]

So polywog as a very new user to Daz how soon could we expect this better alternative to be available? Do you know if it will be possible to port the same models I have been building in Daz over to Poser?

Most 3D models, millions of them that you find on the web are compatible with just about any 3D software. I spent a big chunk of my life making these models. LWO, OBJ, 3DS, FBX, DAE, STL... to name a few "industry standard formats" that are mostly interchangeable.
Proprietary 3D File Formats Hinder Interoperability
Daz chose to go this route and use a proprietary file format. 3D studio also used a proprietary MAX format. But the world hates proprietary greedy companies.

You can export Daz characters for use in other programs right now, but Daz does not sell them in industry standard formats.
You have to use Daz Studio to do the conversion.

https://f95zone.to/threads/daz-to-maya.8235/

 

[polywog]

If you talk about converting models over in the Daz Store forums, the Daz moderators will immediately delete your post, and limit your access. They don't like cult members escaping. Former Daz cult members who have been ostracized from the main Daz cult, have set up thousands of splinter daz user community lesser cult forums, but they too require a % of your income to prove your devotion.
It's different here in the F95zone community. You'll find Blender users, and Maya users... and links to millions of models, and giving up your first born, is completely optional.

 

[Choo-choo]

you can try Illusion games

 

[Deleted member 1121028]

I spent a big chunk of my life making these models.

ahahahhaa.
Man I would like to take a look at your portfolio .

Reminder that dsf files, core of Daz files system are plain text files lmao.
So much for proprietary format .

 

[Saki_Sliz]

I noticed that people use rather hacks to get away with this software imperfections.
Hacky navigation, clunky controls.

I myself use daz to prototype character designs, but then export to Blender for final modeling, pose/animating, texturing, and final rendering, and i guess for the better controls, but I just thought it was because I was more use to blender. I even made a little action figure I could throw into tabletop simulator (the game) using blender, but it was originally daz assets.

 

[Deleted member 1121028]

I myself use daz to prototype character designs, but then export to Blender for final modeling, pose/animating, texturing, and final rendering, and i guess for the better controls, but I just thought it was because I was more use to blender. I even made a little action figure I could through into table top simulator using blender, but it was originally daz assets.

tbh for an optimal render result you could just render with Daz/Iray just sayin'

 

[PlayfulUK]

If you talk about converting models over in the Daz Store forums, the Daz moderators will immediately delete your post, and limit your access. They don't like cult members escaping. Former Daz cult members who have been ostracized from the main Daz cult, have set up thousands of splinter daz user community lesser cult forums, but they too require a % of your income to prove your devotion.
It's different here in the F95zone community. You'll find Blender users, and Maya users... and links to millions of models, and giving up your first born, is completely optional.

So I'm on board with Daz being a "cult". The forum moderators are colossal wankers as well, when they bother to engage. So when OP talks about "alternatives", what he means is he doesn't want to do the modelling, the skinning, the rigging, etc. He wants to load a character base and fiddle with some sliders to make his character, double-click some files to load some clothes, etc. Even something like Diffeomorphic export/import process is a pain in the ass to use. The other exporters are dumb as fuck, exporting some base poly cage (the level 0 daz figure), as for some completely retarded reason Daz thinks "HD" is a premium feature.

I'm kind-of done with it now. If Poser is being improved and can seamlessly integrate with, say, UE5, there's still hope.

 

[MidnightArrow]

So I'm on board with Daz being a "cult". The forum moderators are colossal wankers as well, when they bother to engage. So when OP talks about "alternatives", what he means is he doesn't want to do the modelling, the skinning, the rigging, etc. He wants to load a character base and fiddle with some sliders to make his character, double-click some files to load some clothes, etc. Even something like Diffeomorphic export/import process is a pain in the ass to use. The other exporters are dumb as fuck, exporting some base poly cage (the level 0 daz figure), as for some completely retarded reason Daz thinks "HD" is a premium feature.

I'm kind-of done with it now. If Poser is being improved and can seamlessly integrate with, say, UE5, there's still hope.

Diffeo used to be a confusing clusterfuck but with 1.6 they've been improving. There's helper scripts for Daz that automate setting up your environment and a "simple" import option for Blender takes care of all the low-level jumping through hoops to get it up and running ASAP. If you're frustrated with Daz's laggy broken garbage UI then posing figures with Rigify is smooth as butter. You don't need to deal with fucking terrible lag where you grab a limb and drag it, wait five seconds for it to respond, and then watch your figure fly across the screen. With Rigify your figures stay where the fuck you put them and it's something I forgot I needed in my life.

 

[PlayfulUK]

I hear you. I had trouble with rigify though. For example, default import using Diffeo and I got bendy limbs. I don't want bendy limbs, so I had to go in to the IK and fiddle with settings I had no idea what they were until it worked. Then someone told me I shouldn't have to do that. Then I kind-of gave up because it's not right by default and there's an opportunity cost to learning it all.

 

[MidnightArrow]

I hear you. I had trouble with rigify though. For example, default import using Diffeo and I got bendy limbs. I don't want bendy limbs, so I had to go in to the IK and fiddle with settings I had no idea what they were until it worked. Then someone told me I shouldn't have to do that. Then I kind-of gave up because it's not right by default and there's an opportunity cost to learning it all.

Good point, though I knew a bit of Rigify before I started using Diffeo so I knew to just turn the IK stretch down to 0.0. I guess it does take a little getting used to but compared to the old fucking hassle of setting up Diffeo it's a light summer's breeze now. Plus Blender/Rigify has a shitload more tutorials on Youtube than anything Daz-related so it's real easy to get caught up quickly.

 

[PlayfulUK]

Funny, I "discovered" I had to change the stretch to 0 but it seems extremely weird that doesn't come in by default. Who uses bendy limbs in Daz? It's little things like that I found really confusing. I should put some time into it I think.

 

[MidnightArrow]

Funny, I "discovered" I had to change the stretch to 0 but it seems extremely weird that doesn't come in by default. Who uses bendy limbs in Daz? It's little things like that I found really confusing. I should put some time into it I think.

That's the Rigify default. It's meant for bendy cartoon limbs I think. You can always just go to the source code repository and put in a bug report if you want.

 

[Deleted member 1121028]

>"So I'm on board with Daz being a "cult"."
>Proceed to export now half broken assets into Blender in a flawed pipeline for subpar results

Blender masochists are truly something else in missing the obvious.

 

[Deleted member 1121028]

The Diffeo pipeline works fine if you know how to use it. And manual posing in Blender is 10,000% less masochistic than Daz Studio's atrociously shit IK.

Diffeo bridge, Cycles renders:

View attachment 1420007
View attachment 1420006

It's subpar over Iray, not even close.

 

[MidnightArrow]

It's subpar over Iray, not even close.

Yeah no.

You're comparing a basic test render lit with a Nishita HDRI to a scene with a moody lighting setup and I assume postwork.

Skin looks a little better in Iray Sun-Sky but I didn't change any of the Diffeo import settings either since I haven't learned what they do yet. I said it's fine, not that I'm an expert at 1:1 parity after a single test render.