DAZ Studios: How to make morphs in Blender (for skinsuits!)

 

Introduction

As I progress in my creative profession, learning to create morphs is crucial to push my capabilities for making unique stories. Learning to do it fast was the other part. Today, I share with you how I learned to do things quicker.

Bear in mind that these are methods for DAZ Studios (DS) and will be geared towards DS users. I know in the past, many Blender users have expressed their interests in how to do the same in Blender. Sorry, can’t really help you guys.

Methods

Below are the methods that I am aware for creating skinsuit effects.

1. Cloth based simulation
   1. DAZ Studios - dForce simulation
      1. You can use the built in simulation for quick simulations. Beware of cloth explosions.
   2. Marvelous Designer
   1. This is the ideal cloth simulator since MD allows you to drag parts of the clothing object for adjustments.
   3. Blender - Cloth Simulation
2. Sculpting (Creating morphs or shape keys)
   1. Blender
      1. While you can use Mesh Grabber in DS, I do not recommend it because the amount of control we need will be best if sculpted in Blender. Blender has many sculpting tools that will be helpful for many situations. Play with each brush to get the effect you are aiming for. Some of the exciting brushes are cloth brushes where they apply controlled cloth simulations on the brush.

These are the 2 methods I learned over the years. Sometimes one method works better over the other. In most cases, sculpting a morph in Blender will give you the best result since it gives you the most control. This is where you should take the time to learn how to hone you sculpting skills. One thing I do regret is sharing my past skinsuit tutorials, because I felt like that made it where everyone that learned from me applied the same skinsuit effect. Which I think made it a bit lazy or easy, un-creative…

The process all varies depending on what pipeline you want to go through. But I highly recommend learning how to sculpt because that will make your work more unique as it has you touch added into the mix. This is where you can separate your work from others. I hope that inspiring creators will take the basics and create something amazing. Use your imagination and apply it in 3D.

“Skinsuit” Wearable

The “skinsuit” wearable item that I created worked decently as a skinsuit. However, it did have issues. Using genitals would be a problem as geografts wouldn’t be able to be added to the skinsuit since it wasn’t a figure. This would be the tricky part of the skinsuit aspect.

I propose an advance method! The creative method works best, but will require far more work. You will make a morph for every skinsuit scene. Sculpt it in Blender.

How to make morphs (quickly?)

Sadly, there’s really no way to do this quickly…

But I can share you the things that made it worthwhile. The main things that slowed me down were the export/import phases for both DAZ Studios and Blender. Create similar keybinds to eliminate repetitive tasks and have to click through nested options. Keep the keybinds the same in both DAZ Studios and Blender so you don’t have to remember different keybinds. And the other component is not knowing how the morph will look since we can only do it in base resolution. Once I figured these things out, it made creating sculpts more fun since I can see how it will look. Turning frustration into fun since I can focus on being creative.

Chances of you being a gamer would be high. I like to keep my keybinds on one hand if possible. You can look up how to setup the keybinds as I won’t go through that. But like any gamer playing a game, use the keybinds that you are most comfortable with.

For both DS and Blender:

1. Import - (Shift + Q)
2. Export - (Shift + E)

DAZ Studios Only

1. Morph Loader Pro - (Shift + F)

DAZ Studios: Export Settings.

This is my OBJ export settings. Save this as your own preset. I exclusively use this for exporting to Blender and Marvelous Designer. No need to keep switching between mindless scaling.

There was a time when I was just like you, where I didn’t know what each settings did what. 6-7 years in my professional NSFW adult career, I can proudly say I still don’t know what these settings are! But please use the same settings as mine since they work. The main difference in my method compared to others is having “Write Separate Objects” and “Filtered Objects” checked on. This allows for a single OBJ export into Blender that can then separate the OBJs. This means we don’t have to hide the OBJs in DAZ Studios like the old method.

EXPORT IN BASE RESOLUTION FOR MORPHS.

Blender: Import Settings

When importing into Blender, it is important to use the correct version as certain older builds do not have the import option to bring it in separated. I use Blender version 4.3.2 with the default import OBJ settings. (From my understanding, “keep vertex order” was turned on by default. Which is why you don’t see this option if you used older builds.)

We don’t need to change the scaling since we already have the correct export scaling applied during the export phase for DAZ Studios.

Blender: Sculpt Morphs

A video demonstrating this would be helpful. Sadly I do not have time for that. Learn what you can from youtube tutorials and on the internet.

Use the various brush tools to get what you are looking for. Grab brush is the commonly used brush for me. Inflate helps too. Experiment with the cloth brush tool as well since that’s really fun.

This is a good question where you ask me that sculpting is hard because of the base resolution! That’s where you apply the SubD modifier in Blender to see how it will look in DAZ Studios! It’s pretty close to how it will look like in DS.

    Side Note: Now if you really need the extra polygons for the advance scenes, then you can apply a multi-res modifier or export the OBJ in SubD from DS so you have more geometry to play with. Keep in mind that this method won’t be making morphs and you will be creating a static OBJ instead. You can still copy the materials, but geograft stuff will be tricky to solve.

Blender: Export OBJs

It is time to export your selected OBJ once you crafted you amazing sculpt in Blender. Make sure the OBJ you want to export is the only thing selected.

Below is my export setting.

DAZ Studios: Morph Loader Pro

Now we import the OBJ as a morph via Morph Loader Pro.

Use my settings for creating morphs. The only thing to keep in mind is the “Overwrite Existing” option. This will overwrite any existing morphs with the same name, so if you are worried, I suggest changing it back to “Make Unique”. The reason why I set it to “Deltas Only” is because sometimes I need to make adjustments in Blender and export the OBJ again and MLP it to the figure. It’ll overwrite the morph that I loaded in.

Don’t worry, if you don’t save these morphs, they won’t appear on the next figure you load. They are only temporarily saved on the scene files for that specific figure/obj.

That’s all there is to making morphs quick and easy!

    Side Note: If you sculpted an OBJ with more polygons, all you need to do is import OBJ with DS with the scale at 10,000%. Save the materials on the original OBJ and apply the materials to the imported OBJ.

Conclusion

That’s really all there is in the process for making morphs with Blender. Making morphs is crucial for good looking skinsuit effects. It’ll give more creative control over simulated morphs. Both simulated and sculpting has their uses, so use the one that’ll give you the look you are going for. Or use both.

Goodluck! I look forward to your future skinsuit content! :)

 - - - - - -

If you found this guide helpful, please consider supporting my work:
https://envytsf.carrd.co/

Creating a Simple Skinsuit

 

Video

Hi Everyone!

This idea came to me when I wanted to use Geometry Shells (or geoshells) as skinsuits. Geoshells are a perfect duplication of the geometry of whatever object it copies, but they cannot be exported because it has no geometry. The next best thing was to make a skinsuit. I customized the G8F geometry to my liking by removing the inner geometry such as the eyes, mouth, and teeth. This way no other geometry will explode out.

This method takes longer since it adds more to the pipeline. It is worth it IMO over using dForce to simulate the physics that can explode anytime. Also, Marvelous Designer allows you to adjust the skinsuit in realtime. There are pros and cons to both methods so it’s a good idea to use what works to get the intended effect. Not everything works in Marvelous Designer so I have to resort to using Blender. This obviously adds more complexity, but the process is quite simple. Just tedious.

This method took me a long time to figure out and now I am happy to share with you how I create the skinsuit effect. Keep in mind that this method is not perfect and adjustments will be needed to make everything look good.


Why make a skinsuit?
The reason for making a skinsuit the first time is so you don't have to keep removing the polygons of the mesh. We can hide the geometries with an opacity map, but the geometries will still be there which might cause problems when simulating. Also, creating a skinsuit acts as an actual wearable skinsuit for are Daz3D characters! We can literally make them wear it! While I didn't demonstrate how to create that illusion, it's a possibility.

Why do I use Marvelous Designer?
I mainly use MD over dForce because it is more responsive and allows me to adjust in realtime. While dForce can randomly explode and adjusting it requires too much work with having to know how to use the animation timeline. MD is quite easy to use and play around with for skinsuit purposes. Sadly MD is a subscription license software.

Why make morphs?
We make morphs so clothing can fit onto the skinsuit in order to auto-transfer the morphs. This eliminates having to simulate the clothing as well. This is why we created the skinsuit instead of just using a static object.

Why don't we need to save morphs?
We don't need to save morphs on our skinsuit because we most likely can't use it in another situation. I like to think they are unique one-time-use skinsuit morphs. The morph file is saved within the current scene file you are working on so that's a good thing if you need to reopen the scene later. The morph file will go away if you delete the skinsuit.

Creating a Simple Skinsuit in Daz3D and Using Marvelous Designer

Step 1: Creating a Genesis 8 Female skinsuit

1A: Creating a Genesis 8 Female Skinsuit

• Load in the “Genesis 8 Female Dev Load” file.

• Set the Mesh Resolution of the G8F to Base.

• Export the G8F. (Make sure only the G8F figure is the only visible object in the scene.)

• Import the G8F Skinsuit. (The object that you just exported)

1B: Removing Internal Polygons

• Hide the Genesis 8 Female figure.
• Use the Geometry Editor Tool found under Tools
• Select four polygons from the back of the head.
• Holding “CRTL” + “+” (the plus sign on the numbers pad) will grow your selection. Get it looking like mine.
• Right Mouse Click within the Viewport and select Geometry Visibility > Hide Selected Polygon(s)

• Go to the Tool Settings tab and add the following with the “+” sign:
• Cornea, EyeMoisture, EyeSocket, Irises, Mouth, Pupils, Sclera, and Teeth.

• Right Mouse Click within the Viewport and select Geometry Editing > Delete Selected Polygon(s). Make sure to delete 2858 polygons. (WARNING! you cannot undo a delete polygon action. If you deleted more polygons by accident, you have to re-import the G8F Skinsuit.)

1C: Cleaning Up More Polygons

• Tips for the Geometry Editor.
• “CRTL” + “+” = Grow selected polygons
• “CRTL” + “-” = Shrink selected polygons
• “ALT” + “LMB” = Remove from Selection
• “CTRL” + “LMB” = Add to Selection
• “CTRL” + “F” = Orbits View around Selection
• Note: Zoom out before deleting polygons just to double-check that you didn’t add random polygon(s) by accident. You cannot undo a delete polygon action and will have to re-import the G8F Skinsuit if you deleted more polygons by accident.

• Checking “Use Symmetry” Axis: X helps with the selection, but something happened when I got to the eyes region after deleting the ears and nose polygons.
• Select part of the inner ear canal as I have selected and delete 22 selected polygons.

• Select part of the inner nose as shown and delete 66 selected polygons.

• Select part of the inner eyelids as shown and delete 52 selected polygons.

• Select part of the inner lips as shown and delete 34 selected polygons.

• Show the hidden geometry by Right-Clicking in the Viewport and selecting Geometry Visibility > Show All Polygons.

1D: Giving the skinsuit rigging via Transfer Utility

• Using the transfer utility thingy, we basically turn the skinsuit object into a wearable outfit thingy. This means that this skinsuit that we created will auto transfer all morphs from the G8F figure.
• Find the Transfer Utility under Edit > Figure > Transfer Utility…

• Source: Genesis 8 Female
• Target: G8F Skinsuit
• Apply the same settings I have shown below. (Feel free to experiment with what works best. I basically used the default settings.)

• Make sure to Convert the G8F skinsuit to SubD under Edit > Object > Geometry > Convert to SubD… (This way the geometry of the skinsuit will not be jaggy looking when simulated)

1E: Copy Surfaces from G8F Figure to G8F Skinsuit

• Shout out to Papa Dragon for sharing this tip with me. So you must be wondering how can the G8F skinsuit get the same skin materials as your G8F figure right? Easy peasy! Simply select the G8F figure and G8F skinsuit in the Scene tab and go to the Surfaces tabs.
• Expand the Genesis 8 Female thing and select Right Mouse Click on Surfaces > Copy Selected Surface(s)
• Select G8F Skinsuit and then Right Mouse Click G8F Skinsuit > Paste to Selected Surface(s)

• Note: The shader must match in order for it to properly copy and paste surfaces. In this example, I am using Iray Uber.
• I have not tested PBR enough to recommend it.
• If you are using a G8.1F character that is using Iray Uber shader, the body and head surfaces are separated but are basically the same. You just copy from either and paste the surface to Torso on your G8F skinsuit. Unless you made a G8.1F skinsuit, but IMO a G8F skinsuit is all you really need.
• If you are using a character with PBR shader, you must also convert the G8F Skinsuit to the PBR shader in order to correctly copy and paste the surfaces. But it might be a bit trickier since the UV maps might be different. Change the UV Set if needed.

Step 2: Simulate inside Marvelous Designer

2A: Export G8F Skinsuit to Marvelous Designer

• Make sure G8F Skinsuit is set to Base Resolution before exporting.
• Make sure to hide all other objects.
• Export the same way you do it with the default Daz preset

2B: Import to MD

• File > Import (Add) > OBJ to Garment
• We import the G8F Skinsuit as a garment because we want to simulate it like a piece of clothing. We don’t need to add an avatar because it is not colliding with anything for this example.

• Make sure the Scale is in cm (DAZ Studio)

2C: Simulate G8F Skinsuit in MD

• Now you simulate inside of Marvelous Designer. There are two options I mainly use. Fast (GPU) uses the GPU to simulate fast. Normal (Default) uses the CPU to simulate normal (slow), but it is a bit more accurate.
• Marvelous Designer Tips:
• “SPACE BAR” = Starts/Stops simulation
• “F” focuses and allows you to orbit whatever you selected.
• During simulations, holding “W” and dragging the garment (G8F Skinsuit) will create a pin that holds the selected vertices in place.
• You can pin areas that make it unaffected by the simulation. (Pros and cons, a con of MD are that we cannot weight map paint it like how we did it in Daz… Shame)
• Adjust and simulate by dragging it to your likely. Once you are done, you can export the G8F Skinsuit.

2D: Export G8F Skinsuit out of MD

• Make sure to have the G8F Skinsuit selected.
• File > Export > OBJ (Selected)

• Make sure the Scale is in cm (DAZ Studio).

Step 3: It’s Morph Loader Pro time!

3A: Morph Loader Pro

• Select the G8F Skinsuit
• Edit > Object > Morph Loader Pro

• Since I make morphs a lot, I’ve created a preset.
• By default, Reverse Deformations: is set to No. We need it on Yes. I think it does some weird stretch stuff if set to No…
• By default, Overwrite Existing: is set to Unique. I have it set to Deltas Only, because sometimes I make a morph and bring it into Daz and I don’t like it. So I edit it again inside Blender and bring back the morph with the same filename. So overwriting existing basic lets Daz overwrites the previously unwanted morph I made that had the same filename.
• You can save a preset by Right Mouse Clicking on the morph file you loaded in. Save as Preset and name it whatever you prefer.

• Once you have figured out the settings you want to use. Make a morph.

• Note: We don’t need to save the morph via save as an asset since these are unique morphs one-time use sort of thing. It will save into the scene file so the morph file will still be present once you open your Daz scene file again. If you delete the G8F skinsuit, I think the morph file will disappear from that instance and will need to be loaded via Morph Loader Pro if you needed that specific morph again.
• Locate the morph under the Parameters tab > Morphs

• Don’t forget to turn your G8F Skinsuit Mesh Resolution back to High Resolution so it doesn’t look all jaggy geometry.

3B: But the clothes?!

• This will be different depending on what outfits you have. There are many ways to go about it. But the simplest way for simple outfits like a bra and panty is to fit the clothing to the G8F Skinsuit since it’s basically the same geometry as an original G8F figure. It has the same rigging that we transferred using the Transfer Utility thingy.
• Right Mouse Click on the single outfit pieces and fit them to the G8F skinsuit.

• Make sure to Enable Smoothing Modifier if it is set to off like the panty was in this example. In most cases, a smoothing modifier can solve most poke-throughs. But there are some, you can use Mesh Grabber (Paid Add-On) to directly pull up the geometry that is intersecting with the colliding object. Or you can create another morph in Blender (Free!). You can use a push modifier inside of Daz and weight map paint it as well (Free too!). These are the main methods that I can think of as of now.

3C: Wait, what do I do with the skinsuit now?

• Good question! The reason I showed you how to make your own skinsuit is so we set it up once and don’t have to keep going through that whole process. We will be saving the G8F Skinsuit that we created as a scene subset. This allows us to load it into our scene whenever we want to do anything skinsuit-related! It’s adaptable to any character because we set it up with the Transfer Utility thingy to give it rigging so it carries any morphs over!
• I’m not sure if it matters, but I unparented the G8F Skinsuit and unparented the two wearables. This way I am sure I am only saving the G8F Skinsuit as a Scene Subset.

• File > Save As > Scene Subset…

• Make sure to uncheck everything else other than the G8F Skinsuit that you created.

• Any time I want to load in the G8F Skinsuit I created I just look for the .duf file and drag it into the Viewport of my current Daz scene that I am working on.

• It seems like the morph that I made was saved into the scene subset so it might have been a good idea to save the skinsuit right after we used the Transfer Utility thingy. I am not sure if the morph file will continue to be present this way.
• Make sure to fit the G8F Skinsuit to the character. Copy and paste the surfaces so it has the same materials. And create awesome-looking skinsuit renders!!

Conclusion

And this is how I create skinsuit morphs using Marvelous Designer. Feel free to share your creations with me as well! I look forward to seeing those renders!!!

 

 - - - - - -

If you found this guide helpful, please consider supporting my work:
https://envytsf.carrd.co/