I have some exciting news for anyone who is interested in using DAZ characters in their games. Typically, their characters have way too many polygons to use them in video games not to mention too many draw calls. I figured out a way to reduce the Genesis character down to 4k vertices and use it in Unity games.
Below is what I did.
First, I morph the character and make any adjustments that I want. I get the character looking the way I want him or her to look before proceeding Witt he following steps.
I create a Texture Atlas using the Texture Atlas in Daz Pro 4.5 which is currently free.
Next, to reduce draw calls, I use the Polygon Editor to reduce the material groups down to 3. I exclude the Tar and Eyelash groups from the new group I create called Skin because they use different opacities then the skin groups.
Next I decimate the character down to 4k. Here is the trick though, I decimate in increments. First I go down by 10 - 15% and save the LOD. Then I click prepare to decimate on that LOD and do it again. I keep doing that until the character is down around 4k vertices. In the decimator it shows double the number of poly’s because it triangulated those poly’s before decimating, so I actually get it down to around 8k poly’s which is 8k tri’s or 4k quads.
Now you will notice two things. It will appear that the UV seams split because there will be white lines where the seams are. To fix that, switch the UV map on the skin group from Texture Atlas UV to V4 UV. The next thing you will notice is the character’s face looks distorted. Simply export the character out as .fbx, the. Reopen DAZ and reimport that .fbx file. It will look great and if you look in the scene info you will see there is only around 4k vertices. Now after doing these steps, Genesis will lose some of the features such as morphing so it is import to do all of that first. Also, if you use clothes, make sure you turn the eyeball off on things such as the legs on genesis in the scene panel because it is not needed. Also, the clothes can be decimated down pretty low with very little loss of detail. Once again, add all your clothes before decimating and reducing the Polygon Groups.
The new Genesis character can still be animated using the timeline or AniMate becaus the rig is maintained throughout the process.
I hope this information helps. I tested this theory on an iPhone 4 by monitoring the fps in XCode’s internal profiler and with a total of 70k vertices and 20 draw calls I was running at about 40fps.
Also in Unity, when you import the model make sure to set mesh compression to high and click on optimize mesh.
This same process can be used on other objects such as cars, weapons etc. DAZ also allows you to import .bvh files for animation.
As I discover new techniques I will share them with everyone.
I thought it was against the Daz Studio licence agreement to use the created models in a game.
I may be wrong, but that was the case last time I checked.
Yes you have to purchase a game license to use their models in games. The game license is $500. It use to be $500 per game but they changed it to a one time $500 licensing fee which includes all games made using DAZ assets. For me it made sense to get the license because I am a one person team. My options were to either spend several months modeling every aspect of the game by hand, buy models, pay someone to create the models, or give a share of what I make on the game to a modeler. I decided the $500 license was a better option because there are a lot of assets that I could use as is or tweak some to make them unique. The other reason I liked DAZ is becoming animation is really easy in DAZ plus I liked the direct bridge to Photoshop.
The documents can be a little confusing which is why I contacted them directly to get clarification. I looked at the licensing fee as an investment in my indie game studio. I looked at it this way, if it helps me actually get my game done rather then dreaming about it getting done, it was worth the investment. I come from a business background and know it is nearly impossible to start a successful business without incurring some costs. This was one of those costs that I could see a return on my investment with.
My strengths are in programming and not modeling, so for me, DAZ helps with at least creating base meshes that I can work with. It is not for everyone, but is good for people that need help on the modeling side. Since their software is free, I didn’t feel so bad spending money on the license. If the software would have been a few hundred dollars, then that may have changed things.
Also, I didn’t buy the GDK for the same reason listed above. I just purchased Decimator for $99. At first I wasn’t sure what I thought about the Decimator but after playing with it some, I figured out techniques that really make it a valuable tool. It is like anything else out there, you have to play with it some to figure out the best techniques for using it.
The new DAZ 4.5 Pro comes with the .fbx import export and Texture Atlas. The new version now allows you to import .fbx files as long as they were created in DAZ originally. I don’t know if it works with other .fbx files.
Yes ZeroByteDNA, that is true. If I can make over 100k developing games, and the DAZ software helps me do that, I’ll happily she’ll out $2500. Lol
$500 is still a lot of money, but I decided if it helps make my game an actual game and not like a lot of projects out there that never gets completed, it was worth investing in it, at least for me.
Also, the DAZ indie license covers using DAZ Original content in games. Meaning, models made by DAZ. The DAZ store is like the Unity store where there are a lot of artists selling their work. The EULA can be a little confusing which is why I spent a few days talking to DAZ directly so I understood it completely.
If you are using the models for 2D work such as cut scenes or posters, then the Indie Game license is not required. You need it only if you plan on actually using the 3D model meshes in a game.
My suggestion to anyone who is considering DAZ is download the free software and play with it. You don’t need the Decimator or license unless you want to use the models in a game. That was the one thing that I liked. I could play with it and see if it could be useful to me before buying anything. My original post was just to describe a technique I discovered that makes the models useable in games. The Genesis character is pretty awesome with what it can do. For me, it is a major time saver. Their is also a bridge in DAZ to their free Hexagon modeling program which allows tweaking the model the way I want, and then I can send it back to DAZ with a click of a button. As long as you do not add or remove vertices in Hexagon, it will retain its rigging, UV maps and textures. There are enough initial vertices in Genesis to manipulate it in Hexagon to just about anything without adding or removing vertices. Always make all of those changes before Decimating though. There is also a technique online to create custom morphs for Genesis in Hexagon. I saw an awesome video on YouTube where someone created a werewolf morph and using DAZ’s animation tools, made a person change into a werewolf. That video really intrigued me which is why I started looking more into DAZ as a solution for my studio.
I had just switched the UV Map to the V4 character. This was working on the Genesis character, I’m not sure if it works on the other characters. Also, try switching the mesh resolution from the Decimate to Base and then back again.
Some things to check is:
Make sure you create a texture atlas from the base mesh. Also make sure SubDivision is set to 0.
Before Decimating, I combined the material groups into one single skin group. Everything g was added except the Eyelash surface and Tear Surface. Once they are all combined into one group, make sure you delete the empty groups. I noticed if they are still there, they sometimes cause issues even though they are empty. That also includes deleting the group called Default. If you haven’t done that, that may be why it isn’t working. I don’t remember exactly what issues I was experiencing before deleting those groups, but there was definitely issues.
I hope this helps. Once I have some available time, I will try to create a video demonstrating what I did.
I had a couple questions about reducing materials. You are using the Polygon Group Editor? If so, do I select face groups,surfaces, or regions?
And also how do I delete unused material groups?
Thanks
To use DAZ Original Models in Unity (or any game engine) is $500. To buy the Decimator is less than $100. Then each DAZ Original model is extra.
That is by far the best deal on proven, professional models out there. Particularly if you are good at texturing. Morphs and such shouldn’t be exported but you can apply morphs and export that resulting model.
Things that don’t use meshes is where you’ll have problems: hair and some clothing and other features.
Note that the genesis models come free but naked but are still probably easier to use with the DS 4.5 than the MakeHuman/Blender option. Be careful to only use DAZ Original models and to purchase DAZ Original models to avoid legal troubles. That also means you can’t buy a mod of a DAZ Original by a Brokered Artist (usually morphs and textures) without buying a license from that Brokered Artist as well. In general to buy a license from a Brokenered Artist is 5 times the price in the DAZ store so it’s rather expensive rather fast but nowhere the cost of commisioning an original from a professional. Also, many Brokered Artists do not and will not sell game licenses for their models / mods.
The best thing about DAZ Studio Pro 4.5 is being able to roundtrip models in FBX format. If you combine DAZ Studio 4.5 with Hexagon 2.5 and Bryce Pro 7.1 they together can do alot of the things that Blender / Gimp / MakeHuman can do and do it easier. The penality comes when you want to make original models if you ever are inclined to try that (I don’t think you are: you just want to retire :-P)
Elsewhere in the Unity Forum pages if you search you can see others have done character customization of Genesis models within Unity. For what I’ve seen Victoria 4 works the best.
I do use the Polygon Group Editor to reduce the amount of material groups down. This reduces the draw calls in Unity. When using the Polygon Group Editor, I use surfaces. I combine all of the surface except for Eyelash and Tear into one group. When you do this, you will see the original groups will show 0 vertices. I then select them while still in Polygon Group Editor and right click delete to remove them. There will also be a Default group that will need deleted. Usually I create a new group called Skin and combine everything into that group.
As far as creating a video tutorial, I am currently working on an iOS game that I’m trying to get done that will use the Genesis character.
Once I’m done and have a little extra time, I will create a video tutorial demonstrating what I’m doing.
Everything that Goat said is correct. To legally use DAZ models in a game, you need to purchase a game license. Fortunately, you can purchase the Decimator first and get your game 100% complete before having to buy the game license. That will allow you to see how everything works and if you are happy with the results. If everything is working properly, and you are happy with your game, then you could buy the license to ensure everything is legal in your game. Fortunately the license is a one time expense and covers all future games you make.
There is a way to bring in a custom character and rig it in DAZ. I’m working on a simply solution and explanation of how to do that currently. Someone also wrote a book and has it for sell in the DAZ store on how to do that. I believe it was $19.99. They demonstrate how to rig a gingerbread man they made in another program.
For someone first starting out in 3D, DAZ has Bryce, DAZ Studio, and Hexagon which are all free programs. They also have a program called Cararra which is lot less than Maya and 3DS Max or Vue. Try out their software and then you can decide if it will work out for you or not. Fortunately, since it is free, you are not out anything if you don’t like it.
you may not in any case: (a) separately publish, market, distribute, transfer, sell or sublicense any 3-D Model(s) or any part thereof; or (b) publish, market, distribute, transfer, sell or sublicense renderings, animations, software applications, data or any other product from which any original 3-D Model(s), or any part thereof, or any substantially similar version of the original 3-D Model(s) can be separately exported, extracted, or de-compiled into any re-distributable form or format. Subject to the foregoin
Based on a common sense interpretation you should be allowed to use DAZ 3D models in a commercial game provide the files are protected unless DAZ argue that no protection system is 100 % reliable