DAZ 3D Adds Figure Morphing and ZBrush Plug-in

DAZ 3D has recently extended its software with Genesis, for building highly adaptable character
series based on a single model, in the DAZ 3D Studio 4 release, plus a newer plug-in,
GoZ for Carrara, that links with ZBrush.

Genesis, included with the new DAZ 3D Studio 4, is software for creating series of 3D characters that can blend into one another while taking on a very wide range of shapes and looks, based on one, initial figure. It has been built using new aspects of Studio 4 including very versatile mesh design that will extend to more shapes than can usually be accommodated by the mesh of a single model. The use of subdivision surfaces gives the model smoother skin, if required. A tri-ax weight map system for joints supports extreme joint poses, resulting in an adaptable joint system that can handle proportion as well as size changes, which is also unusual in a single figure
To avoid potential texture stretching and smearing problems between extreme variations, you can create a unique skin texture in DAZ Studio 4 and save it as UV swappable preset for each shape in the Genesis character group. These can be given to clients using your Genesis characters. A full Genesis series can share clothes and hair made for the initial figure. The items will be re-fitted for new characters using an automatic morph generation system. By also using a separate DAZ autofit plug-in, the clothing and hair fitting ability extends to items created for other DAZ figure groups, re-fitting them for your Genesis series. GoZ for Carrara DAZ 3D has a new tool called GoZ for Carrara, made for modellers to transfer data from the Carrara modelling application to ZBrush. Carrara, now in version 8, is used for figure posing, modelling, landscape design, rigid and soft-body dynamics, animation and rendering. Using this new tool adds morphs to parts of a Carrara character. By selecting the polygon data group defining the area to change, such as the head, a user creates and names a new morph target for this group. These polygons are selected and, when you are ready to edit, you can select these polygons and activate the GoZ plug-in, which launches ZBrush. Then you can bring the model into ZBrush to sculpt and edit the affected geometry. Since the purpose of working with ZBrush within Carrara is not to add polygons but to manipulate existing ones, if you can keep stretching and polygon drift to a minimum, the results on textures will look better. As you work you can also activate the symmetry function to match work done on one side of the model with the other side. When you finish editing, you can go back to Carrara and update the geometry, importing the new head as a morph that can be dialled in as required. www.daz3d.com