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Genesis 9 Character Sculpting Process

Load Genesis 9 from the Developers Kit

  • People > Genesis 9 > Developer Kit > Genesis 9 Dev Load

Export eye and mouth geometry followers to help rough in proportions.

  • People > Genesis 9 > Anatomy > Daz Originals > Base Anatomy > Genesis 9 Eyes
  • People > Genesis 9 > Anatomy > Daz Originals > Base Anatomy > Genesis 9 Mouth

Rough-in Character in DAZ Studio

Keep mesh symmetrical.

  • Can start from Base Feminine or Base Masculine Shapes
  • Genesis 9 Head Shapes
  • Genesis 9 Body Shapes

The following morphs should NOT be included in the character shape. You must reverse them from the character shape on reimport if you activate them now.

  • Asymmetry
  • Navel
  • Nipple
  • Mouth Realism
  • Teeth
  • Eyelash

  • Eye morphs that affect eyeball geometry (Pupils and Iris )

  • Proportion

Save a scene file of the character.

Export OBJs for ZBrush (or the application of your choice)

  • Change UVs to Single UDIM UV before export

  • Surface Tab > Editor > UV Set > Base Single UDIM

  • Export mesh to ZBrush using one of two methods:

  • Use GoZ to send Genesis 9 Dev load to ZBrush. It will automatically put eyes and teeth as separate subtools.
  • Export OBJs manually using default Daz OBJ export settings with resolution set to Base.

Sculpt in ZBrush with Layers

Keep character symmetrical for everything but skin details and fine wrinkles. Build a new layer for any other asymmetry (crooked nose).

Do not sculpt height, limb, neck, or torso proportion changes.

Do not sculpt (for now)

  • Nipples
  • Navel
  • Eyes
  • Teeth

Use Landmark Textures for Sculpting Reference

Can be found in DAZ 3D Library\Runtime\Textures\DAZ\Characters\Genesis9\Base\DevKit

  • Genesis9_Detail_Atlas_F.jpg (Female Landmarks)
  • Genesis9_Detail_Atlas_M.jpg (Male Landmarks)

Mesh Areas Sensitive to Sculpting

  • Eyelids
  • Lips
  • Fingernails
  • Toenails
  • Neck area (do not slide mesh around)

Export OBJs (Question: GoZ back?)

Export base resolution OBJ with Cage active

Export high-resolution OBJ of Genesis 9 sculpt

Load character OBJs onto Genesis 9 in DAZ Studio

Use Morph Loader Pro HD plugin

Check for mesh issues

  • thin eyelids
  • lip pinches (open jaw to see)
  • Base Resolution Cage should wrap around HD character.
  • Adjust rigging to shape and test some poses

Decide on the character's presentation name

The name will be used for future steps. It can change later, but it is extra work to rename all the files.

Create a folder for all character files. Add this folder as a new base directory.

Split Head and Body base resolution and HD Morphs

Base resolution morph should wrap around HD morph

Use the Genesis 9 Headsplit DFormer to split head and body morphs using Morph Loader Pro.

  • Genesis 9 > Developer Kit > Genesis 9 HeadSplit DFormer
  • Morph Loader Pro > Attenuate By (right click) > Weight Maps > D-Former1 > Influence Weights
  • Set Attenuate By Strength to 1 for Body morphs, -1 for Head morphs

Add proportional morphs to set character height

Create a character control dial

Add proportional morphs and ERC them to the character dial

Additional sculpting

Sculpt any other proportion morph fixes

Sculpt Custom nipple, navel, and teeth morph if needed

ERC additional morphs to character dial

Texturing

You can assemble a character using only the existing Genesis 9 MAT presets. You may also customize these textures.

Skin Textures

Start from provided Genesis 9 MAT textures (01-04 for Feminine and Masculine)

  • Genesis 9 > Base Materials > Genesis 9 Base Feminine MAT 01
  • Genesis 9 > Base Materials > Genesis 9 Base Masculine MAT 01

There must always be a skin texture without eyebrows. Texture-painted eyebrows are not required.

Use the micro detail normal maps.

  • Genesis 9 > Base Materials > Genesis 9 Base Feminine Skin Details MAT
  • Genesis 9 > Base Materials > Genesis 9 Base Masculine Skin Details MAT

Genitals

Fix genital seams on the torso map. Tier 1 characters must support Male and Female genitals.

Bake torso textures to the genitals with Genital Map Bake UVs.

  • Surfaces Tab > Genesis 9 > UV Set > Genital Map Bake

Eye Material

There are 16 Eye Mats available to choose from.

  • Genesis 9 > Materials > Base Materials > Eyes > Genesis 9 Eyes MAT 01 - 16

Only create a new eye MAT if needed for the character. You may modify the Eye MATs for redistribution (Question: or can they?)

Mouth

Use the default mouth texture unless the character requires something different.

Eyelashes

Do not texture eyelash colors as individual hairs.

Eyelash colors can be modified using shader tints or textures with the following:

  • Solid texture color card fills.
  • A root-to-tip gradient that fills the eyelash card.

This allows all Eyelash library alphas to be used with custom colors.

Save a character preset

Save custom morphs

  • Save As > Support Asset > Morph Asset

Save character preset

Run Validator on character content library

Package the character folder as a Zip and submit it to PASS