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danielbui78,
You need to resolve this, from what I have seen and read from other former DAZ users, many are switching to other options such as Epic/UE5.1, Metahumans. DAZ heads can be transformed to Metahumans and iClone 8 is the easiest path for animation with option for live-link, lip sync and such.
10 years of investing in DAZ products only to be stopped dead by this Daz to Blender Bridge, this nightmare began on July 23, 2022.
Yes! I followed install instructions a hundred times, the DAZ to Blender Bridge is still not working.
All my programs such as DAZ 4.21 and Blender 3.3.1 are installed on the D:/drive, a much larger M2 SSD. Whereas Windows 10 is installed on a small M2 SSD (C:/drive).
For more than 10 years I have spent a lot of money on the DAZ store, now imagine how distressing it feels not being able to bridge content to Blender 3.3.1.
I have version 2022.2.18.42 installed in DAZ 4.21, the bridge install button in the dialog points to an old version 2022.2.17.40 for Blender 3.3.1. Would be nice if you provided a ZIP file format to directly install the latest downloaded version of the Bridge to Blender > Edit > Preferences > Addons. I’ve done this with other Blender Addons, it’s so easy and works right away.
Since July 23, 2022, every time I bridge content from DAZ to Blender, then open Blender to import, I get nothing more than two empty folders in the outliner (Blender 3.3.1) — and there are no bugs reported. That is nothing short of a nightmare, and no matter what I try, I get the same dead end results.
The immediate folder points to:
C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExports
And here is what DAZ spits out:
C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExports
to_daz_morphGenesis8Female_220905_121341 *NOTE: There are no «Fig» files to be seen.
Plugin for Blender points to:
C:UsersUsernameAppdataRoamingBlender FoundationBlender3.3scriptsaddons
I wish there was a ‘ZIP’ file plugin format of the Bridge to install in Blender. That is the standard that should be adhered to.
danielbui78,
Please provide very clear and precise ‘step by step’ and how to resolve this nightmare.
UPDATE:
Do Not Close This Topic — Issue is not solved!!
I tried again with immediate folder open, DAZ Bridge is not creating the files for Blender. I did this with a default DAZ Gen 8 figure, no morphs. Blender creates empty folders in the outliner, because DAZ Bridge is not creating the files.
Like I said, Blender is not listing errors, therefore, I have no errors to post here. I already provided more than enough details regarding this situation. I am determined to get it solved.
This DAZ to Blender Bridge is causing me (and others) a lot of frustration! I have followed danielbui78 instruction videos and texts with no success….
I have watched two videos danielbui78 provided, very simple indeed however, it is DAZ Studio > Bridge Dialog Panel that includes the «Install Button» is sending the wrong install version to Blender! An older of the Bridge is being sent to Blender! When I go in to Blender Edit > Preferences > Addons, there is an old version of the Bridge! That there is the issue, and I have no idea how to solve this issue. I wish that DAZ Dialog including the option for us to ‘browse’ the folder to where the latest version of the Bridge is, because it certainly appears that DAZ is not sending the correct version of the Bridge whenever I click that ‘Install Button’ in DAZ.
That said! Very frustrating! I continue to have the new version installed in DAZ but old version installed in Blender. Worse, DAZ is not creating the FIG files, which explains why the folder tree in Blender (Outliner) are empty. Many users here have seen the same issue, the DAZ Bridge is not working entirely, DAZ is spitting out ’empty’ files (no Fig as explained earlier).
NOTE:
Recently I painstakingly uninstalled everything, did a complete registry cleanup and reinstalled everything with assistance from DAZ Tech Support, still no success with the DAZ to Blender Bridge.
DAZ Tech Support pointed me to GitHub, DAZ3D, Daz To Blender Bridge,
danielbui78, will you please respond, this is your responsibility! DAZ Tech Support sent me here, so please solve this most frustrating issue. I explained in clear detail, there is nothing more I can add! And because there are no error reports to screenshot and post here.
Believe me, I cannot make this up, I provided an honest description in full detail. There is indeed an issue that needs to be solved. You need to understand there are loose ends in the design of the Bridge install process, and it needs to be solved.
.
Posted by @BeatsWorking in unrelated thread, moved here:
danielbui78,
DAZ3D tech support sent us to Github for you to respond.
Topic #149 opened 6 days ago by BeatsWorking regarding Bridge Stopped Working Since July 2022.
It took you just 3 hours to reply to butaixianran’s topic but you ignore #149 topic, and other similar topics.
Ty Duperron, Chief Product Officer of DAZ3D will be notified if I decide to file official reports regarding your unsatisfactory response to customers who invested a lot of money in DAZ3D products. Products purchased on the DAZ3D store advertised to work with the DAZ to Blender Bridge. Let that sink in and consider the responsibility falls on DAZ3D to solve this issue, don’t blame the customers, especially those who have been using DAZ for many years.
This is regarding the issue of not being able to get the DAZ to Blender bridge working, flawed install process that lacks key important options to correct the path and choice of versions (Bridge). In addition, the DAZ Bridge is not exporting FIG files, and the lame install button is sending the wrong version of the Bridge to Blender.
This is troubling because I already did a clean up (uninstall and new install). This has gone on for almost three months, not solved. It seems that the uninstall process of older versions of the Bridge is an additional issue. I was strongly advised to use the DIM and to uninstall the old version then install the new version of DAZ, Bridge and I also have the latest stable version of Blender 3. This is quite a task, unfortunately that did not solve the issue with DAZ.
The BBB has given DAZ3D a score of «F», the lowest of lows. Many complaints posted months ago are left unanswered by DAZ3D. This is very unfortunate, paying customers should not have to go through so much pain.
I also went through the process of uninstalling everything, clean up the registry and then reinstall everything! And yet the problem with DAZ3D to Blender Bridge still remains.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Difficult to solve because I have seen you respond with the same videos links and text that many DAZ3D users have already followed repeatedly but did not solve the issue.I and others have already given you constructive criticism and great suggestions regarding the DAZ to Blender Bridge.
I try to schedule time to review all bug reports and fix bugs once a week. Occasionally, I will respond earlier if I see an issue that can be quickly resolved with 1 or 2 sentences. I apologize if it appeared that I was deliberately ignoring you, but this is not the case. Your case will be thoroughly reviewed and addressed as soon as I can.
First of all, DTB 2022 works fine on my computer. WIth windows and Blender 3.3.
Since there is no error, here is a way for you to target your issue:
-
Export a G8 Female default character, without pose, animation or genitals.
-
Go to the folder where this character should be exported.
For windows, it use be:
C:Users**Your user name**DocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExports
Go to that folder, and into subfolder: FIG->FIG0
Check if there are those files in that folder:
FIG.dtu
, FIG.obj
, FIG.mtl
, B_FIG.fbx
If there are, go to next step.
- Open Blender.
- Go to menu: WIndow-> Toggle System Console
- In this console window, you should see 2 things
- Your DTB blender addon’s version number. Make sure you are using latest version. Or copy it here, we’ll see if it is the latest.
- The path that this addon used to find your model. It will be something like this:
DazToBlender: Default Intermediate Folder path: Here is the path
Check if the path is same as your character exported to.
And keep the «System Console» window open. Then import your character. If there is any error, the error should be in this «System Console». This window is the only way, to find addon’s error in Blender.
Normally, you should see errors in this console window, if you can not import character. Copy all error messages to here.
But, if it still does not show error, then there is the last and the most powerful weapon for you:
Go to this project:
https://github.com/butaixianran/DazToBlender
This is a modified version of DTB 2022’s blender addon. It merged everything of DTB 2022, fixed some bugs and offers some new feature.
You need to use this blender addon at Blender side. And Official DTB 2022 at Daz side. Then use this addon, to import your character into Blender
Before importing, you need to set following checkbox on this addon’s panel:
- Uncheck «Custom Shape»
- Uncheck «Use Driver»
- Check «Use Principled Shader»
The official DTB 2022 blender addon does not have these options, that’s why you need this one. After you do this, you basically is importing fbx with this addon, but with all materials being converted.
So, there is no way you can not import your charater. And if you can’t then there should be an error.
Once you find the problem and solve it. You can go back to the Official DTB 2022’s Blender addon if you like.
These 2 addons can be installed and used at same time. The modified addon changed addon name from DTB to DFB.
@BeatsWorking,
First, let me apologize for any misunderstanding about the delay in responding to you. I try to respond to bug reports within 7 days. If I see an issue that I can resolve quickly in 1-2 sentences, I may reply when I have a few minutes of free time. However, for some problems such as yours, I must spend several hours reading through your report, reviewing source code, recreating your system configuration and trying to reproduce your problems. Please understand that this is why I must queue up these reports until a scheduled time specifically to handle such bug reports and why I can only handle a limited number of them each week.
Second, please understand that the Daz Github pages are intended for users and developers to collaborate and exchange information about our opensource projects. Everything written here is publicly available for others to see. There is no system to send confidential information, so there is no direct way for me to help you with any customer service or customer complaint issues that you’ve mentioned in your posts without exposing your private information. To address those issues, please file a support ticket via the Daz website. I will instead focus on the technical issues in your posts.
Thanks to @butaixianran for the helpful post. @BeatsWorking, you should try out the fork by butaixianran if we are unable to resolve your issues with the official version of the DazToBlender bridge.
In order to make sure I don’t miss anything, I’m going to go through line-by-line of your posts and respond to them with numbered list items.
danielbui78,
You need to resolve this, from what I have seen and read from other former DAZ users, many are switching to other options such as Epic/UE5.1, Metahumans. DAZ heads can be transformed to Metahumans and iClone 8 is the easiest path for animation with option for live-link, lip sync and such.
10 years of investing in DAZ products only to be stopped dead by this Daz to Blender Bridge, this nightmare began on July 23, 2022.
Yes! I followed install instructions a hundred times, the DAZ to Blender Bridge is still not working.
All my programs such as DAZ 4.21 and Blender 3.3.1 are installed on the D:/drive, a much larger M2 SSD. Whereas Windows 10 is installed on a small M2 SSD (C:/drive).
-
Where is your Documents folder? On the D: drive or the C: drive?
-
Do you have OneDrive or Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office installed? OneDrive’s backup feature will hide the real Documents folder and try to redirect programs to use
C:Users<username>OneDriveDocuments
instead ofC:Users<username>Documents
. If you recently enabled, disabled or changed the OneDrive backup settings, this may cause the issues that you are reporting.
For more than 10 years I have spent a lot of money on the DAZ store, now imagine how distressing it feels not being able to bridge content to Blender 3.3.1.
I have version 2022.2.18.42 installed in DAZ 4.21, the bridge install button in the dialog points to an old version 2022.2.17.40 for Blender 3.3.1. Would be nice if you provided a ZIP file format to directly install the latest downloaded version of the Bridge to Blender > Edit > Preferences > Addons. I’ve done this with other Blender Addons, it’s so easy and works right away.
- You are actually using the latest and correct versions of both – I apologize for the confusion with the version number mismatch. Future releases will be more intuitively numbered. Please refer to issue Daz to blender bridge version error #148 for more information regarding version numbering scheme and how it will improve in future releases.
Since July 23, 2022, every time I bridge content from DAZ to Blender, then open Blender to import, I get nothing more than two empty folders in the outliner (Blender 3.3.1) — and there are no bugs reported. That is nothing short of a nightmare, and no matter what I try, I get the same dead end results.
-
Prior to July 23, 2022, was the Daz To Blender bridge working correctly for you? Or did you not use it before then?
-
If it was working, were you using the older script-based version found under the Scripts menu on the menubar, or were you using a previous version found under the File->Send To menu? Were you using version 3 of Blender or a previous version such as Blender 2.93?
The immediate folder points to: C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExports
- Could you please clarify: is that the path shown by the Daz Studio plugin or by the Blender plugin or both? Can you make screenshots of both and post it here? For Daz Studio plugin: Please open the intermediate folder using the “Open Intermediate Folder” button in the Daz Studio plugin. Then click on the Folder path in the File Explorer, so that windows will fully display the drive letter and absolute path to the current folder. Take a screenshot and post it here. For the Blender plugin, please open the Blender console and take a screenshot of the debugging messages outputted when Blender first starts up and post it here.
And here is what DAZ spits out: C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExports
to_daz_morphGenesis8Female_220905_121341 *NOTE: There are no «Fig» files to be seen.
-
Could you please clarify: do you mean that Daz Studio created a “to_daz_morph” folder inside the Exports folder? Is “Genesis8Female_220905_121341” another subfolder? Or is it a file? Can you please post the “date created” or “date modified” timestamp for “to_daz_morph” and “Genesis8Female_220905_121341”? Please also post a screenshot of the Exports folder from a fully maximized File Explorer window in Details view mode, with the date and time column fully visible.
-
Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to find any source code or script command which would produce a folder named “to_daz_morph” inside the Exports folder. The old script-based DazToBlender bridge did include a “Daz to Blender: Morph Exporter” script which produced a “to_blender_morph” folder, but that was inside “DocumentsDAZ 3DDTB” and not “DocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExports”. Please post the requested screenshots from item [7] above to help me try to understand what is happening. There is a «To Daz Morph» function within the Blender that that creates the «to_daz_morph» folder. This is completely unrelated to the export of files by Daz Studio. Unless you are certain that «to_daz_morph» is being generated by Daz Studio, we can assume it’s left-over files from an old exported DazToBlender project and ignore it for the present issues.
Plugin for Blender points to: C:UsersUsernameAppdataRoamingBlender FoundationBlender3.3scriptsaddons
I wish there was a ‘ZIP’ file plugin format of the Bridge to install in Blender. That is the standard that should be adhered to.
- This already exists. The zip file which is embedded into the Daz Studio plugin can be directly downloaded here: https://github.com/daz3d/DazToBlender/blob/master/DazStudioPlugin/Resources/blenderplugin.zip
To make sure you have the latest version, you can download the source code and create your own Blender Addon zip file by zipping up this folder: https://github.com/daz3d/DazToBlender/tree/master/Blender/appdata_common/Blender%20Foundation/Blender/BLENDER_VERSION/scripts/addons
Just make sure you include the DTB folder inside of the zip file.
danielbui78,
Please provide very clear and precise ‘step by step’ and how to resolve this nightmare.
UPDATE: Do Not Close This Topic — Issue is not solved!!
I tried again with immediate folder open, DAZ Bridge is not creating the files for Blender. I did this with a default DAZ Gen 8 figure, no morphs. Blender creates empty folders in the outliner, because DAZ Bridge is not creating the files.
Like I said, Blender is not listing errors, therefore, I have no errors to post here. I already provided more than enough details regarding this situation. I am determined to get it solved.
This DAZ to Blender Bridge is causing me (and others) a lot of frustration! I have followed danielbui78 instruction videos and texts with no success….
I have watched two videos danielbui78 provided, very simple indeed however, it is DAZ Studio > Bridge Dialog Panel that includes the «Install Button» is sending the wrong install version to Blender! An older of the Bridge is being sent to Blender! When I go in to Blender Edit > Preferences > Addons, there is an old version of the Bridge! That there is the issue, and I have no idea how to solve this issue. I wish that DAZ Dialog including the option for us to ‘browse’ the folder to where the latest version of the Bridge is, because it certainly appears that DAZ is not sending the correct version of the Bridge whenever I click that ‘Install Button’ in DAZ.
-
Sorry for the confusion. You are already using the correct versions of both. Please see item [3] above and issue Daz to blender bridge version error #148 for more detailed information regarding how version numbers work and how they will be improved in future releases.
-
To manually install the Blender plugin, you can install the add-on directly from the source code folder, or create a zip file as in item [8] above.
**2022-10-24: CORRECTION: link to zip file is actually in item [9]. **
That said! Very frustrating! I continue to have the new version installed in DAZ but old version installed in Blender. Worse, DAZ is not creating the FIG files, which explains why the folder tree in Blender (Outliner) are empty. Many users here have seen the same issue, the DAZ Bridge is not working entirely, DAZ is spitting out ’empty’ files (no Fig as explained earlier).
-
Please clarify: you mentioned previously that Daz Studio “spits out”
C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExportsto_daz_morphGenesis8Female_220905_121341
. Is it still producing those folders or files? Or is there nothing being produced now? Assuming this was mistaken information. Please see item [8]. -
Please provide the following information to help me understand might be the problem:
- Open Daz Studio, click Help->Troubleshooting->View Log File. This should open a Notepad window with Daz Studio’s log.txt file. Press CTRL+A to select all, then press CTRL+C to copy the entire contents. Open a new Notepad or Word window but LEAVE log.txt OPEN. Paste the contents into the new window and save it to a file named “Daz Studio Boot Log”. Go back to the log.txt window and delete everything inside the log.txt file and save and close the file.
- Now go back to to Daz Studio and click File ->New to create a new scene. Then add “Genesis 8 Basic Female” to the scene. Make sure “Genesis 8 Female” is selected in the Scene tab. Then click File -> Send To -> Daz To Blender. Make sure that Export Morphs and Bake Subdivision are both unchecked. Open Advanced Settings and make sure Show FBX Dialog, Generate Normal Maps and Export Material CSV are all unchecked as well. Click Accept. Wait for the export phase completed message box and click OK. Then go to Help -> Troubleshooting -> View Log File option and select it. Press CTRL+A to select all, then copy and paste the entire contents into a new text document and save to to a file named “Daz Studio Export Log”. Upload both the boot log and the export log files here.
NOTE: Recently I painstakingly uninstalled everything, did a complete registry cleanup and reinstalled everything with assistance from DAZ Tech Support, still no success with the DAZ to Blender Bridge.
DAZ Tech Support pointed me to GitHub, DAZ3D, Daz To Blender Bridge,
danielbui78, will you please respond, this is your responsibility! DAZ Tech Support sent me here, so please solve this most frustrating issue. I explained in clear detail, there is nothing more I can add! And because there are no error reports to screenshot and post here.
Believe me, I cannot make this up, I provided an honest description in full detail. There is indeed an issue that needs to be solved. You need to understand there are loose ends in the design of the Bridge install process, and it needs to be solved.
.
- I hear your frustrations, and I understand your efforts to resolve this issue both on your own and with the help of tech support. I’m sorry that you have had such a bad experience. I am making a good faith effort to help you to the best of my abilities. I have already spent several hours rereading your posts to make sure I fully understand them and do not miss any information, and reviewing source code to try to find any potential cause for your issues, and trying to recreate the system configuration you described above to try to reproduce your issues. Please try to respond with the above information and screenshots that I’ve requested as this will help me understand what’s going on and hopefully help me fix your problem. If I have missed any technical issue that you would like me to address, please let me know.
Respectfully,
-Daniel Bui
Re: my replies as follows:
re 1.
C: drive. (Windows Documents).
re 2.
No. Since Windows 10, I have never used MS office and One Drive, these are not activated. All my programs and files are is on the D: drive.
re 3.
Good to know, and agree as it stands this would confuse most people! Naming of versions need to be amended.
re 4.
I think prior to version DS 4.20, the Bridge was working (though not without annoying bugs). Bridge completely stopped working since 4.20 and update to 4.21. I was hoping 4.21 and the latest Bridge update would solve issue, I was optimistic but sadly these updates did not solve the issue.
I might miss out on the discount for G9, because I won’t be purchasing anything more until (unless) this Bridge issue is solved. It is likely I will switch to alternatives similar to DS, the alternatives are expensive but well within my budget. If the Bridge is solved, then I’ll have additional tools and content that I paid for at my disposal. I need to get my creative projects completed and released on schedule.
re 5.
The older version of DS and Bridge prior to two updates was working okay (not without bugs) as explained above. And yes, the script was located in the menu bar. However! The script still remains in DS 4.21 menu bar with additional access via the file menu (send to). I have tried both and neither worked as explained above. During the process I keep the Immediate Folder Location open (windows explorer) and there is it, C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExportsto_daz_morphGenesis8Female_220905_121341 (Folder) inside is an obj.file (1,415 kb) Weird! There are no FIG files.
re 6.
Yes, both DAZ and Blender display the same path as explained above. Blender shows no error reports, after import are two empty folders in Blender outliner. This situation is very frustrating, I can’t find a clue, no error report, nothing.
re 7.
Genesis8Female_220905_121341, yes that is a sub-folder, and inside is obj.file (1,415 kb) as explained above. Both DS 4.21 and Blender 3.3.1 LTS paths are the same ending with Exports,
C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExports
re 8.
This is weird and frustrating! I have morphs packs installed but all my tests for the bridge is with basic G8 (no morphs). You could be right about left-overs, it pains me when uninstalls do not catch all files! I suspected this! Stinking left-overs. Nothing short of having to reinstall Windows? #$@%@ I really don’t want to go that far.
re 9.
That approach is interesting but any slight modification of the path will corrupt the created ZIP file! Not for the faint hearted. Issue re.8 will probably remain an issue, I think this is where the core of the problem exist. I did install the latest version of the Bridge, so it seems issue re.8 should be attended to, registy hack? {sigh}
re 10.
Confused, now you say I have the correct version of the bridge. I should because I downloaded the latest. I think the uninstall of the older Bridge is the issue, stinking left-overs.
I also made absolutely sure there are no duplicate DS and DIM installs, no issue here with that. I don’t have DC installed as advised by DAZ Tech Support, I’m better off with DIM.
re.11.
regarding re.8, I prefer the ZIP was readily available because there is a risk of corrupting if not done correctly.
re 12.
The path still remains, C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExports
There are no options in the DS Bridge to create a custom path. This would probably solve the issue with older stubborn versions of the Bridge (left-overs) after uninstall.
re 13.
That’s a lot of work! I will have to look into this later and reply later tomorrow.
re 14.
I appreciate the time you exhausted, this works both ways. I think what caused this issue is the uninstall process leaving left-overs of the old Bridge and who knows what else. That is probably the core issue! While I work on re.13, maybe you could address the core issue, directions to clean up this mess.
Thank you.
.
After exporting your model from Daz, did you go to that folder to check if the fbx file is in that folder?
The path you offered here:
C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExportsto_daz_morphGenesis8Female_220905_121341
is a wrong path.
The right path should be:
C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExportsFIGFIG0
And if you see something like «to_daz_morph», means you are using a very very old version of DTB. Not DTB 2022.
DTB 2022 is not on your custom action menu. It is at Daz's File menu -> at Bottom -> Send To -> Daz To Blender
.
DTB 2022 is written with C++, the old DTB is written with Daz script. They won’t affect each other, no matter how you install or uninstall them. So, the only reason you have a «to_daz_morph» folder is: you clicked the wrong button when exporting.
I believe, you didn’t watch DTB 2022’s tutorial, so, you don’t know the exporting menu is changed to File menu. And you always click on your action menu to export model. Which uses an at least 2 years old DTB version, and export your model to an old folder.
butaixianran said:
» I believe, you didn’t watch DTB 2022’s tutorial, so, you don’t know the exporting menu is changed to File menu. And you always click on your action menu to export model. Which uses an at least 2 years old DTB version, and export your model to an old folder.» [ end quote ]
Thank you sir/madam for trying to help but whoa! You are absolutely incorrect.
-
Fact is, I have indeed been using the File > Send To > DAZ to Blender.
-
Fact is, I already made myself clear in my earlier comments that I followed the latest instructions with installing, also followed DAZ Tech Support, and then they sent me here to Github because the issue is not solved. DAZ3D support said the developers for the Bridge are here at Github! I have those facts burned in on my account activities with DAZ.
Now I have further concerns regarding left-overs after uninstall of old version (DTB), and of course uninstalls leave behind some files, but this DTB issue is worse than usual.
I always follow instructions (videos and text), I believe this is very important, that I made very clear in earlier comments. The instructions are actually very easy, that was the easy part.
butaixianran, I understand you are trying to help, and I greatly appreciate that. From hereon I ask, please read my earlier comments carefully before commenting. Thanks.
butaixianran you also said:
» The path you offered here:
C:UsersUsernameDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExportsto_daz_morphGenesis8Female_220905_121341
is a wrong path.»
Bingo! That is obvious! I appreciate you trying to help! Thanks. In addition to the, to_daz_morph folder, yes that is another obvious booger hanging out! Not happy about it. You are correct, DS should be creating FIG/FIG0, unfortunately DS is not.
I suspect there are left-overs of the older uninstall of the Bridge that is causing this issue.
I take great care with whatever is installed and how it is installed on my very expensive custom built computer! I am very upset about this DTB issue. I know that uninstalls of older versions may leave behind left-overs, but wow this is worse than I thought.
I ended my previous comment to Daniel with:
«I appreciate the time you exhausted, this works both ways. I think what caused this issue is the uninstall process leaving left-overs of the old Bridge and who knows what else. That is probably the core issue! While I work on re.13, maybe you could address the core issue, directions to clean up this mess.
Thank you.» [ end quote ]
Daniel, could you please help me clean up this mess left behind by DAZ to Blender Bridge. I also thought about an over-write, a simple drag and drop, but I am not sure this will work.
In DS, there is no option for the «Intermediate Folder» to change to the correct path. Put that down as a feature request. Everything else is nice, being able to choose the Blender version, as some users can have two or more versions of Blender installed. But I decided to go with the one, the latest stable version of Blender (LTS).
Thank you.
Ok, there is a thing called custom path. Maybe you have set it before with the old DTB script.
Go to this folder:
C:Users**Your user name**DocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderConfig
Is there a «daz_paths.json» file in it??
If there is, open that json file with text editor, and offer the path in it to here.
There are 2 values we need to check here:
«Default Path» and «Custom Path»
Offer these values here.
Also, have you tried to delete the «to_daz_morph» folder, then exporting?
Will it create this folder again? If this folder is created again. Then you are not using DTB 2022. You are still using the old version of DTB.
But, if this «to_daz_morph» folder is not created anymore, and also no FIG folder. Then your DTB 2022 exported your model to somewhere else. Not the path you offered above.
You can try this to find the path:
In Daz, go to Menu->Window->Panes->Script IDE
And in IDE’s text edit area, run following script in it.
// Array : Find the Daz Paths where content is installed
function findUsersContent()
{
var oContentMgr = App.getContentMgr();
var nContentDirCount = oContentMgr.getNumContentDirectories();
var aContentDir = [];
for(var i=0; i < nContentDirCount; i++){
var sContentDirPath = oContentMgr.getContentDirectoryPath( i );
aContentDir.push( sContentDirPath )
}
return aContentDir
}
function prepareForExport( )
{
var s_sBridge = "Blender"
var s_sDazBridgeName = String( "Daz To %1" ).arg( s_sBridge )
var s_sFig = "FIG";
var s_sEnv = "ENV";
var oDir = new DzDir( "" );
var sPath = oDir.homePath() + "/";
s_sRootPath = sPath;
var aFiles;
var sDelPath;
var oDelDir = new DzDir( "" );
var aRoot = ["Documents","DAZ 3D", "Bridges", s_sDazBridgeName]
var aFolders = ["Exports", "Config", "Presets"];
var aSubs = [s_sEnv, s_sFig]
for( var i = 0; i < aRoot.length; i += 1 ){
// Create Base Directory
sPath = s_sRootPath + aRoot[i] + "/";
s_sRootPath = sPath;
if ( i == 4 ){
s_sPresetPath = sPath;
}
if ( i == 5 ){
s_sConfigPath = sPath;
}
// Create Directories
oDir.setPath( sPath );
};
print("sPath: " + sPath);
for( var i = 0; i < aFolders.length; i += 1 ){
// Create Folders
var sTempPath = sPath + aFolders[i] + "/";
if( i == 0 ){
s_sRootPath = sTempPath;
}
if( i == 1 ){
s_sConfigPath = sTempPath;
}
if( i == 2 ){
s_sPresetPath = sTempPath;
}
// Create Directories
oDir.setPath( sTempPath );
if( !oDir.exists() ){
if( i == 0 ){
MessageBox.information( qsTr( "You can manually locate your export files here:n%1" ).arg( sTempPath ),
qsTr( "Your Export Path" ),
qsTr( "&Continue" ) );
}
print("sTempPath: " + sTempPath);
}
}
// Create Type Directories
sPath = s_sRootPath + aSubs[1] + "/"
sType = aSubs[1]
print("sPath2: " + sPath);
// Find Users Daz Content Paths
var aContentDir = findUsersContent( s_sConfigPath );
print("");
print("config path: ");
print("s_sConfigPath: " + s_sConfigPath);
print("Default Path:" + s_sRootPath);
};
prepareForExport();
This script will print all the path it need for DTB. Then you offer the result here. Should be something like:
Executing Script...
sPath: C:/Users/UserName/Documents/DAZ 3D/Bridges/Daz To Blender/
sPath2: C:/Users/UserName/Documents/DAZ 3D/Bridges/Daz To Blender/Exports/FIG/
config path:
s_sConfigPath: C:/Users/UserName/Documents/DAZ 3D/Bridges/Daz To Blender/Config/
Default Path:C:/Users/UserName/Documents/DAZ 3D/Bridges/Daz To Blender/Exports/
Also, have you checked the path at Blender side? go to blender, open blender’s menu->window->system console window
to find out the real path DTB blender addon used to import Daz model.
Offer that path here.
Also offer your blender DTB addon’s version number. Let’s see if there is anything wrong there.
Thanks guys,
Greatly appreciated.
One step at a time! First up, I’ll get back to Danielbui78 on Monday evening regarding the steps he wants me to do (excerpt, Danielbui78 said #: 13. Please provide the following information to help me understand might be the problem:)
@BeatsWorking
Daniel, could you please help me clean up this mess left behind by DAZ to Blender Bridge. I also thought about an over-write, a simple drag and drop, but I am not sure this will work.
In DS, there is no option for the «Intermediate Folder» to change to the correct path. Put that down as a feature request. Everything else is nice, being able to choose the Blender version, as some users can have two or more versions of Blender installed. But I decided to go with the one, the latest stable version of Blender (LTS).
Thank you.
Let me clarify my previous statement regarding item [8], the «to_daz_morph» folder: This is not a left-over from a previous installation. This is user-generated data generated by BLENDER and not generated by Daz Studio or the Daz Studio Bridge Plugin. Someone sitting at your computer clicked the «To Daz Morph» feature of the Blender Bridge Plugin from inside Blender, and generated the to_daz_morph
folder and all the files within it. This is why uninstalling Daz Studio and the Bridge Plugin did not remove these files: they are left-over user documents.
When I have time, I will write up instructions for you to cleanly remove any possible left-over installed files, and also cleanly remove any left-over user-generated files. However, the log files that I requested that you generate and post in item [13] will be much more helpful for us to solve your current problems.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for making it clear about the ‘Morphs» folder. Not sure how that happened. Currently all the settings in Blender 3.3.1 (DAZ Bridge, N-Panel) are default (not changed). However! That Morph folder could be a left-over from a ‘previous’ Blender version, because I recently updated when Blender version 3.3.1 LTS (stable version) became available.
Appreciate your help cleaning up the left-overs after the next two steps, log files….
NOTE: There are character-length restrictions (commenting) on this site, will have to break it up into separate parts.
This site will not allow extended comments — I get an error: Comment is too long.
The log files you requested far exceeds the limit, this will require way too many separate comments, and I could unintentionally leave out important information.
I’ve been interrupted by other matters to attend to, will get back to this later this evening to add attachments.
Whoa! Im back from a busy schedule, sorry for the delay.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for making it clear about the ‘Morphs» folder. Not sure how that happened. Currently all the defaults settings in Blender 3.3.1 (DAZ Bridge, N-Panel) are default (not changed). However! It that Morph folder could be a left-over from a ‘previous’ Blender version, because I recently updated when Blender version 3.3.1 LTS (stable version) became available.
First up! DS Boot Log (See attachment)
Further Information:
DS 4.21 is not suppose to be installed on the C:drive, I initially had DS 4.20 installed on the D:drive. Strange, all installs via DIM are pointed to the D:drive. DS is not listed in Windows Apps or Control Panel, no uninstall of DS available from there, only option is via DIM.
DS Content is installed on the D:drive as I intended, and all is accessible in DS without any issue. Not unusual to have a program on C:drive with library content on another drive.
Followed your instructions such as, no morphs, no subD, just a basic G8 Female created for the DS Log report.
DS > File > Send To > DAZ to Blender.
Immediate Folder opened in Windows Explorer pointing to:
C:UsersBeatsWorkingDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExportsto_daz_morph and inside that last folder is, Basic.obj file.
Opened Windows Explorer, according to the export Log:
C:UsersBeatsWorkingDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExportsFIGFIG0B_FIG.fbx . However! The B_FIG.fbx does not exist, the FIG0 is empty, there is no B_FIG.fbx. This is after I did the above DAZ to Blender.
Blender 3.3 and all addons including dzblenderbridge.dll are all installed on the D:drive. Blender is listed in Windows Apps and Control Panel with option to uninstall.
I opened Blender 3.3.1 LTS, hit N key, open DAZ to Blen, import new genesis figure, waited, (nothing) only two empty folders appear in the outliner: DAZ_Hide and DAZ_PUB. No error reported, the Bridge version in Blender is, 2022.2.17.40 and the path is, C:UsersBeatsWorkingDocumentsDAZ 3DBridgesDaz To BlenderExports
DS Export LOG file you requested (See attachment)
PS: Thought I would be able to post additional information with the logs in the comment section, I seen this done on other forums. Appreciate your help Daniel and Buta’
Thanks
DSbootLOG.txt
DSExportLOG.txt
This site will not allow extended comments — I get an error: Comment is too long.
The log files you requested far exceeds the limit, this will require way too many separate comments, and I could unintentionally leave out important information.
I’ve been interrupted by other matters to attend to, will get back to this later this evening to add attachments.
The red outline that @butaixianran has outlined is how you post files to this webpage. Please do not paste the actual contents of the files into the box. You have two options:
Option 1. Drag and drop the files (one at a time) into the area with the words «Attach files by dragging & dropping, selecting or pasting them.» This is the one outlined in the red box in the screenshot above.
Option 2. Move your mouse over the words «Attach files by dragging & dropping, selecting or pasting them» and click the left-mouse button. This will open a dialog window that let’s you select files to post. Navigate to the file to upload, select it and then click «Open». Repeat for each file you want to post.
Hi Daniel,
Log reports are here and I included additional information that may help you solve this.
Thanks.
@BeatsWorking, I reviewed your log files — they were very helpful, thank you. I believe your issue is related to file system write permissions. I’m trying different ways to recreate the issue on my end and potential ways to detect and fix them. Thanks for your patience.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks! Greatly appreciate the effort and hope you find a solution.
File permissions are allowed, I have it turned on, and many other applications including third-parties run on my computer with no issues.
Last resort, fresh re-install of Windows and everything else.
I am considering other applications that are very expensive and will transfer DAZ characters with no issues. DAZ will still play an important role.
2nd November 2022.
Unsolved:
It’s been almost a week since my last comment. The issue I am having with DAZ to Blender Bridge remains unsolved.
Conclusion:
DAZ updates, installs, uninstalls and reinstalls may have caused this issue with DAZ to Blender Bridge. All other programs work fine, no crashes, no errors. At this point in time there is one other option; purchase alternative programs but this will be expensive. I have to speed up my workflow! I am committed to magazine cover and TV interview by 2023, and mostly likely additional schedules throughout the year.
PC Specs:
Custom built Windows 10 desktop PC, MSI 6GB VRAM 1660Ti GPU, 10th Gen 10600K CPU, Asus Hero motherboard, 32GB (2x16GB) Corsair memory, Samsung NVME SSD, and exceptional CPU and ATX case cooling keeps CPU and motherboard below 61 at peak load e.g. Blender 4K renders. My PC runs very solid/stable and mostly silent with Blender 3.3.1 LTS. All systems are up to date. It is very unfortunate that DAZ3D to Blender Bridge remains unusable
I plan on getting another custom built PC based on Intel Meteor Lake by Q1, 2024, at least doubling performance overall.
Hi BeatsWorking.
New user to Github here, but I thought I should give my two cents.
I gave up on the bridge plugins a long time ago. I’m a Maya/C4D user and we haven’t had a workable plugin for years, and it looks like that’s still gonna be the case for the foreseeable future.
I have faith in danielbui78 to make the bridges work as they were intended, but it looks like he’s the only one in charge of fixing all the plugins available, which is absolutely nuts and that shows the poor planning and little care the Daz company has to make their product compatible with other apps. Many Daz devs have come and go and the bridges will never really useful for production work.
I switched over to Blender, but I’m using the Diffeomorphic plugin. I suggest that you try that one and stop using the bridge until some day it becomes usable for production. I’m not sure if I can leave links here but a google search should put you in the right direction. Or if you go to the Daz forum and the Blender section, there should be a discussion thread about the plugin.
Install that plugin and Daz assets and Blender should work as intended. The Diffeomorphic plugin is being actively developed, and the owner pushes updates every day. And it’s also free like the bridges.
Hope that helps and good luck.
Hi crisjsalina,
Thanks for your suggestion, will look into Diffeomorphic plugin.
What I am considering is the following bundle:
- iClone 8 + HeadShots
- Character Creator 4
- SkinGen 4 in 1
- Blender Pipeline (Free)
- Blender 3.3 LTS (Free)
- ActorCore Preset Animations, free and paid content.
- Metahumans / UE 5.1 (Epic/Quixel) free and paid licenses.
These additional tools should speed up workflow ten-fold. I have tried and had no issues at all, very easy to use. But of course these additions will cost at least $1,000. I am also venturing into Metahumans, although UE5.1 animation node base is more complicated compared to Blender (easier)! However, iClone 8 live link will make this process much easier, quicker. Metahumans on it’s own is awesome, but exporting to Blender requires many steps (manual process, somewhat complicated file structure), and materials requires a lot of tweaking. Reallusion is a good option but I will try Diffeomorphic plugin before making a final decision.
DAZ FBX Export — materials need to be tweaked, particularly the eyes and hair. Overall, the end results are okay for background characters but not acceptable for main characters.
Cheers! Wish you great success.
@ Daniel,
You have not replied in more than a week. I am still waiting for you to respond.
One week ago explained in reply to you that I had already (long ago) setup file permissions correctly! I use many other applications that require file permissions. Therefore, your suggestion (advise) may apply to others but not in my case.
Ty Duperron, Chief Product Officer of DAZ3D may be notified if I decide to file official reports regarding this matter. Please consider customers who paid a lot of money for content on DAZ3D Store ‘advertised to work with DTB’ — Point is, for me and many others, the Bridge is not working or is riddled with bugs.
It is likely that I won’t be purchasing any more DAZ3D products. It is likely that I will have to use alternative applications as listed/explained in my previous post.
The issue with DAZ to Blender Bridge remains unsolved
@BeatsWorking
I am developing a Daz Bridge troubleshooting tool for users to run inside Daz Studio. Before I discuss this tool further, I will try to clear up some misunderstandings:
I have previously indicated that I am working on several tasks related to your problems: trying to figure out ways to reproduce your problems in a controlled environment, figure out how to detect those problems and then how to solve them. I am already taking into account that you have setup file permissions correctly. The first steps alone will probably take more than a few days to complete, but I can not give an accurate estimate since I have not yet been able to consistently reproduce the described problems.
Please understand that there are many people with open issues across all the Daz Bridges who are awaiting bug-fixes. I balance my time between these bug-fixes as well as feature requests and improvements to the Bridges. I do all this in addition to working on several projects that are unrelated to the Daz Bridges.
Unsurprisingly, time is one of my limiting factors. On a daily basis, I am weighing my obligations to my employer, their business partners, the customers, and the community when making decisions on what tasks are prioritized over others. These can be difficult decisions, and I try my best to be fair to everyone affected.
Whenever possible, I try to come up with solutions which can benefit as many people as I can. If you have specific deadlines, time limitations or other urgencies then you are welcome to share them. I will take them into consideration and try to accommodate you. If you need an update or time estimate, then simply ask and I will respond as soon as I can.
However, what I won’t do is prioritize your interests over others because of your threats against my job and livelihood. If you wish to report my interactions to my bosses, then you are free to do so. With all that said, I do recognize that you are making an effort. Compared to your original posts, I can see that you are showing a considerable amount of restraint, and I appreciate that.
Daz Bridge Troubleshooting Tool Instructions:
- Download the «blenderbridge_troubleshooter.zip» file and unzip it. You should now have a file named «blenderbridge_troubleshooter.dsa».
- Open Daz Studio and start a new Scene.
- Go to the Script IDE pane. If you do not have one open, then go to the main menu and select Window->Panes (Tabs)->Script IDE.
- On the menu for the Script IDE pane (NOT the main menu), select File -> Open Script…
- Navigate to and select the «blenderbridge_troubleshooter.dsa» file and select Open.
- Click the «Execute» button.
- In the Script IDE output panel, look for the line stating where the log file is written. The file will usually be named «c:users[username]Log_DazToBlenderTroubleshooter.txt».
- Upload the log file here.
Labels
bug
Something isn’t working
This Daz to Blender Bridge FAQ covers all kind of questions and problems that might come up while using the exporter. We’ll also explain many advanced tips. As you already know, there is a new Daz to Blender Bridge tool available. It helps to export and import Genesis models between the platforms. You can also read our full Daz to Blender Bridge Tutorial that guides you through all the basics and the installation.
For those already familiar with the tool, well, next in line is a resourceful FAQ section to help you overcome possible common problems. Since this is a new tool, there are still many things that need some fine-tuning. However, as we wait, we can put these solutions into practice.
For this set of tutorials I will be using the Monique 8 Pro Bundle that you can purchase along with the Lingerie Robe Set, also available in the Daz Marketplace.
I do not find the directory to my add-on in Blender. Where is the ”Appdata” folder?
Some directories are hidden by default. Make sure to mark “Show hidden” in the Blender file view window. Go to the filter icon in the upper-right corner and tick the option.
What is the difference among SubDiv 0, SubDiv 1 and SubDiv 2?
The terms refer to the SubDivision levels or amount of polygons in the model mesh. The higher the number the higher the quality (and size!). Level 1 has more than 60,000 polygons and level 2 more than 240,000. You can start a test by exporting a model with level 0 and see how the computer performs as you increase in units.
What content can I export with Daz to Blender Bridge?
You can export most of the stuff that you would want to. The main purpose of Daz to Blender bridge is to transfer characters and all the assets attached to them. Meaning stuff like clothes and hair. More than that, you can also transfer poses and even animations.
Additional assets that are not connected to the characters can be exported too. Mainly I am talking about the environments, but also props.
Where are my export files stored in?
By default they are saved in C:Users<your user name>DocumentsDTB. These files are generally OBJ and FBX. You will want to check this folder from time to time, generally to delete any unused or unnecessary data since the export files occupy significant storage.
Can I pose my model in Daz and then export to Blender?
Yes. To do that you need to simply use Daz to Blender bridge on a posed character. No additional work needs to be done. In the same way you can even transfer animations. All keyframes will be exported to Blender automatically.
Posed Genesis 8 figure in Blender from Daz to Blender Bridge Tutoria
Can I improve the skin appearance of my model?
Here is one small adjustment that has a great impact on the render. Click on the Torso material. As soon as we open the Node Editor we will see mcy_skin generated by the add-on. Click and enter the settings inside the node.
It looks a bit messy, I know, but we are just going to change one little detail. By default, the last Mix Shader is connected to the Cycles output and the Principled BSDF to the Eevee one. The truth is that they should be connected the other way around as seen in the picture, since the Random Walk setting was designed to work with Cycles.
Before the adjustment
After the adjustment
We can now see a more vivid color and a fresh look on the skin.
My renders look completely different in Blender from those generated with iRay.
Skin has been updated in the newest Daz To Blender bridge versions. And it now transfers a lot more stability and with higher quality. But you still may want to know how to improve on it or other parts of the scene, such as clothes textures or hair.
Since the export process is not perfect, we will need to manually adjust a few things. An essential part of Blender is the Node Editor. Here we can make adjustments and add texture maps to obtain more realistic renders as tested with the skin. Some texture maps are not automatically linked by the Daz Extension, so I encourage you to dig inside the texture folders of your character to make sure all the resources are conveniently linked. To be honest, working with the texture maps deserve a special article but I will mention some details that I found relevant.
As part of the library exported from Daz, we can see there are many base color maps for the eyes. So always check your texture library because you can find additional maps and alternative color choices.
For the eye lashes, I made the following arrangement adding the RGB Curves node and changing the color to black in the Diffuse BSDF node. This solves the problem of white eyelashes that come as default with the import settings.
Leaving the eye lashes behind, for the Sclera material I made a few adjustments. The most important one is inside the mcy_eyedry node. Trace the Hue Saturation Value editor and increase the number to obtain a whiter eyeball color. In my case, from 1.000 to 3.000.
The result:
My hair texture looks strange, as if it was a low-poly mesh.
This usually happens when we export with SubDiv 0 applied. The hair is the most noticeable mesh to suffer the loss in quality. What we can do is a little trick. We will export our model with SubDiv 0 settings applied. Inside Blender, make sure to have the hair selected and apply a Subdivision Surface modifier. It will double the amount of polygons for that specific mesh for every unit increased so you can compensate for the previous loss.
The quality of the hair texture still is not good enough compared to my renders in Daz, what else can I do?
Recently a new shader was introduced to Blender called the Principled Hair BSDF Shader. You can edit each of your hair materials and add this shader along with a mix shader to add some realistic details to the final render.
My scene has a lot of polygons and it is consuming a lot of memory from my computer, what can I do to work more efficiently?
I personally recommend two things: Hide elements that you are not currently using and limit specific areas that you want to see rendered. In the Object Mode, Ctrl + B and then drag the mouse in the area of interest. This will just render the area within the frame. To Ctrl + Alt + B to unmark.
What are good render parameters?
One important detail before rendering our image is to check final settings inside Blender. In past tutorials I made a reference to both Eevee vs Cycles, explaining that Cycles performs better in final renders whereas Eevee is a real-time graphic engine which optimizes resources to provide speed.
Apart from that, we should pay attention to other outputs such as the color management settings. In general terms, we want to make sure we always have the Filmic option selected and probably Medium-High Contrast output. The software tends to wash out some colors and this option compensates well the issue.
Daz 3D Models
Checkout also many of our Daz3d Product Highlights here some examples below – always check their “Compatible Software” mention for Blender:
Source Daz3D Asian Female Characters
Source Top Card 3D Models for Daz
Source Top Daz3D Swimsuit 3d Models
Conclusion – Daz to Blender Bridge FAQ, Tips and Problems
We hope that you found this Daz to Blender Bridge FAQ, Tips and Problem explanations helpful! Checkout our other Daz Tutorials and Blender Tutorials.
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I have to be brutally honest with you: last time I’ve tried the official DAZ to Blender bridge I didn’t have a great time. But, a lot of time has passed and several updates have been released, so I thought perhaps I should try again with version 2.3.9.
The first hurdle was of course to install this thing. I’ve just found out how to do that and thought some notes for the inevitable future must be made (I’m prone to forget and all). These are those notes, valid for that time in late June 2021 and bound to be totally out of date (like every piece of documentation eventually will be).
Please forgive my attitude, it’s been a long and trying day, and it’s late.
What makes this so difficult
The DAZ to Blender bridge doesn’t work like any of the other bridges in DAZ Studio 4.15. I’m trying my luck with Blender 2.92, which is installed in a custom location. Why you ask? Because the “installer” location doesn’t work very well for Blender (by default in Program Files/Blender Foundation). That’s a good location for applications in principle, but Windows being the difficult beast that it is imposes some restriction on files changed in that location. Unless Blender is started with Admin Privileges, that location ain’t gonna make y’all happy. I’ve learnt this the hard way.
Hence I’ve installed a top level location called Blender in my C drive, in which I install various builds of Blender. I even keep old ones around for a while. If something works, I’d like for it to stay that way without “hip-and-trendy software decisions” breaking stuff by introducing features I haven’t asked for. I’ve learnt that the hard way too!
The advantage of a custom location is that Admin Permissions are not necessary to amend files here, which makes working with Blender that much smoother. It also means I can have multiple versions of Blender installed in parallel, each with their own set of preference files.
However, the DAZ Install Manager (or DAZ Central) doesn’t know that. It’s trying to be helpful by making the assumption that you have Blender installed in the “official installer location”. Software trying to be helpful is usually not working out too well. Other DAZ bridges have the option to define a path to such applications so that bridge files can be installed in the correct location – except for the (current) Blender Bridge.
So that’s a bit of an issue. When you install the bridge, the necessary files end up in a location that may not actually exist on your system.
How it’s all supposed to work
In a nutshell, here’s how it’s (supposed to) work, both installation and workflow. It’s far from easy, but it’s as good as it gets for any Blender bridge you use:
- close all applications
- open Install Manager (or DAZ Central)
- install the DAZ to Blender bridge
- open Blender and activate the Add-on
- open DAZ Studio and head over to Scripts – Bridges – Blender – Daz to Blender
- in Blender, press N to open the right panel / 3D Tool Shelf
- choose DazToBlender and start the import process
I got stuck at that point about “installing the add-on in Blender”. Usually you get a ZIP file and upload that to Blender, or you have a set of files to which you can point Blender. Otherwise, how is Blender supposed to know what to do? The obvious question then is where the hell ARE those Add-on files for Blender?
How it actually works
Good question! The obvious answer is to check the documentation, or perhaps the sales page but… that’s not how it works. I had to dig long and hard to find a snippet of text that pointed me in the right direction, namely on the Resources Tab in DAZ Central. In the section “How do I use the DAZ to Blender Bridge” it shows a location, but sadly it’s incorrect and was probably for an older version of the bridge.
The correct location in June 2021, for version 2.3.9 of the bridge is this:
- C:UsersyouAppDataRoamingBlender FoundationBlenderversionscriptsaddonDTB
Replace you with your actual Windows user name/directory and version with the version number of Blender (say 2.92). If you have multiple version directories here, the bridge files will be copied to the highest version number – at least that’s how it worked on my system. If you don’t have anything in this directory, I’m not sure what will happen… should you be in that situation, perhaps create this directory manually or install the Blender Installer Version for kicks (you can delete it later, but the bridge needs something here or you’ll never get hold of the necessary files).
Note that AppData is a hidden system folder and might not show up in your Windows Explorer. If you can’t see it, enable hidden files and folders under View – Options.
Now that we know where those files are, feel free to copy them into a place you can actually remember. Say the Blender addons folder where all the other add-ons live. Or you can leave them in their current location so that DIM or DAZ Central can update the files in the future, it’s up to you.
Either way, let’s tell Blender about these files and get the bridge going. Navigate to Edit – Preferences and select Install. Now navigate to the folder with the bridge files and choose Install Addon. That’s it! If you’re lucky, it’ll be showing with a tick in the box (as enabled) and some instructions on where to find the panel.
Now you should be able to follow the regular instructions for exchanging content. It’s not a seamless process, and Blender is not auto-receiving the file. Instead, DAZ Studio exports a set of files, and you have to import them manually with Blender.
If this is not working for you, know that there are two other bridges I know of that do a fine job and letting you use DAZ content in Blender. Those are Diffeomorphic by Thomas Larsson and Teleblender by mcasual/Jaques (the scripts guy). What one doesn’t do, the other might. Good luck!
Have fun, and don’t let this stuff stress you out 😎
Further Reading
- https://www.daz3d.com/daz-to-blender-bridge
- https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360057365611-Blender-Bridge-How-to-Install-Daz-to-Blender-Bridge-