Guides Guide and Blender template to convert V4, M4, G2/3/8/8.1/9 textures to G2F/M

[MrGiggly]

MrGiggly submitted a new resource:

Guide and Blender template to convert V4, G2/3/8/8.1F textures to G2F or G2M - Blender 2.79 template and User Guide to convert textures to G2F/M format

This Guide and Blender Template file will allow you to convert (bake) a set of G2F or G2M textures based on (V4, G2F, G3F, G8F and G8.1F) sets that you own.

It can be used to convert Diffuse, Normal, Spec and Gloss if these are included with your original texture set.

Note that you will need a copy of Blender 2.79 to use the template. Full instructions can be found in the guide.

Also note that it will not include genital textures in the final outputs.

Read more about this resource...

 

[JoyBoy]

Great guide. Easy to understand and follow. Would love it if you could include a tutorial on the conversion process of a texture.

 

[MrGiggly]

MrGiggly updated Guide and Blender template to convert V4, G2/3/8/8.1F textures to G2F or G2M with a new update entry:

Guide minor update

Guide updated to reference Chokaphi's female genital template for Photoshop on the hub as old reddit link was no longer available.

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Maxman3D]

Great idea, only issue and it's a big one is none of the converted files can be shared/sold legally since they are still copyrighted, so it can only be used for personal use. Guess it's time to keep a closer watch on looks to see what textures are being used.

 

[jillian]

I have followed the steps to set up the G3/8 to G2F template and have been attempting to convert a G8F texture set and all seems to follow your flow in the tutorial - but at bake I get "no objects or images to bake to'. I have been at this for 2 days straight and cannot figure out what is wrong. Any ideas or hints welcome. Only thing that is perplexing is that when I pick a G8 texture with the silver ball and then click the checker box and then "new"- I do not see a file to choose ( see attachment from MrGiggly's guide) and from there open a texture- just an option to open or browse to a file. I do this and get the G8F textures and they are displayed.
But then when I go to Bake - I get the "no objects or images to bake to". Any insights or suggestions about where I'm going wrong?

 

[MrGiggly]

I have followed the steps to set up the G3/8 to G2F template and have been attempting to convert a G8F texture set and all seems to follow your flow in the tutorial - but at bake I get "no objects or images to bake to'. I have been at this for 2 days straight and cannot figure out what is wrong. Any ideas or hints welcome. Only thing that is perplexing is that when I pick a G8 texture with the silver ball and then click the checker box and then "new"- I do not see a file to choose ( see attachment from MrGiggly's guide) and from there open a texture- just an option to open or browse to a file. I do this and get the G8F textures and they are displayed.
But then when I go to Bake - I get the "no objects or images to bake to". Any insights or suggestions about where I'm going wrong?

Hi, It sounds like you have missed or misunderstood one of the steps. Have you assigned all of the blank png images that you created to the G2F target model? Just before you bake, are you also selecting your target model from the list (top right), holding shift and whilst held, clicking on your source model too? Also make sure they are both visible (little eye icon to the right of the model name).

 

[MrGiggly]

Great idea, only issue and it's a big one is none of the converted files can be shared/sold legally since they are still copyrighted, so it can only be used for personal use. Guess it's time to keep a closer watch on looks to see what textures are being used.

Yes, you are correct, though not an issue. It's no different to converting or modifying clothing, textures or morphs, including using any of the 100's of copyrighted G2 textures already out there as as base. All follow the same copyright rules as the original source material. i.e. only for personal use.

 

[JoyBoy]

Yes, you are correct, though not an issue. It's no different to converting or modifying clothing, textures or morphs, including using any of the 100's of copyrighted G2 textures already out there as as base. All follow the same copyright rules as the original source material. i.e. only for personal use.

Must models from smutba.se use the gen 8 uvs so it's easier for me to use your way of converting rather than wrapping. An easier and faster way is always better. Thanks for the guide.

 

[RonBurgundy]

Hi, It sounds like you have missed or misunderstood one of the steps. Have you assigned all of the blank png images that you created to the G2F target model? Just before you bake, are you also selecting your target model from the list (top right), holding shift and whilst held, clicking on your source model too? Also make sure they are both visible (little eye icon to the right of the model name).

i'm getting the SAME error that gillian had. i tried 1.79b then i used 1.79.
Your guide is very easy to follow but for some reason it still doesn't work. does it matter if its in object mode or edit mode when you hit bake? because i tried both.
I did create the blank PNG files, first with paint.net and then with GIMP.

a screenshot of the settings and the error along with a folder of the blank textures to the right
IF i can get this working, how do you do the specular, diffuse etc?

EDIT: i also tried changing the destination blank images to another drive entirely with simplified path and still same error

 

[MrGiggly]

i'm getting the SAME error that gillian had. i tried 1.79b then i used 1.79.

Hi. The error sounds like the blank images you've created haven't been correctly assigned to the G2 model.
If you could double check you've followed step 7 fully. i.e Have you definitely selected body parts in turn, clicked select (that part will turn orange) then assigned your blank texture to it, deselected, then moved onto the next?

Also be sure that for G2, you are in UV editor mode and using the folder icon along the top bar to assign your blank textures.
When you do your source (eg G3) you will use the materials/texture section with the folder icon to asign a texture being over on the right. within that section.

You can actually test you've got your template set up correctly by baking without assigning any textures to your source model (eg G3). They will obviously be blank but you shouldn't see any error messages.

Once you get diffuse working, you simply assign either a normal, spec, gloss, etc texture set to your source model instead of the diffuse set and bake that set out before saving as images, making a copy of the output images and moving on to the next set. Attached is a blank png just to be sure its not an issue with those you have created.

 

[RonBurgundy]

Hi. The error sounds like the blank images you've created haven't been correctly assigned to the G2 model.
If you could double check you've followed step 7 fully. i.e Have you definitely selected body parts in turn, clicked select (that part will turn orange) then assigned your blank texture to it, deselected, then moved onto the next?

Also be sure that for G2, you are in UV editor mode and using the folder icon along the top bar to assign your blank textures.
When you do your source (eg G3) you will use the materials/texture section with the folder icon to asign a texture being over on the right. within that section.

You can actually test you've got your template set up correctly by baking without assigning any textures to your source model (eg G3). They will obviously be blank but you shouldn't see any error messages.

Once you get diffuse working, you simply assign either a normal, spec, gloss, etc texture set to your source model instead of the diffuse set and bake that set out before saving as images, making a copy of the output images and moving on to the next set. Attached is a blank png just to be sure its not an issue with those you have created.

thanks for taking the time to reply!
I was wondering since i'm running the .ZIP version of blender, i ran as administrator

i started ALL over and followed everything to the T
used your blanks and still the same issue
when i SELECT the body parts on the target G2, i'm then selecting a blank image at the TOP of the screen right?
opened source textures and when i hit BAKE still get same error

is there a way to see a detailed error log?

EDIT: Could it be that the target OBJECT isn't selected properly somehow?

 

[MrGiggly]

thanks for taking the time to reply!
I was wondering since i'm running the .ZIP version of blender, i ran as administrator

i started ALL over and followed everything to the T
used your blanks and still the same issue
when i SELECT the body parts on the target G2, i'm then selecting a blank image at the TOP of the screen right?
opened source textures and when i hit BAKE still get same error

is there a way to see a detailed error log?

EDIT: Could it be that the target OBJECT isn't selected properly somehow?

You've done everything correctly. There's a mistake in the guide, step 19 !

Reads
19. Up in the hierarchy window (top right), left click on the ‘Target model’ you’re using then Hold shift and Left click on the ‘Source Model’. In our example this would select G3/8F and set G2F as active.

Should read
19. Up in the hierarchy window (top right), left click on the ‘Source Model’ you’re using then Hold shift and Left click on the ‘Target Model’. In our example this would select G2F and set G3F/G8F as active.

I'll arrange to update the guide

 

[MrGiggly]

MrGiggly updated Guide and Blender template to convert V4, G2/3/8/8.1F textures to G2F or G2M with a new update entry:

Guide update

Corrected an error in guide step 19 where 'source' and 'target' selection were wrong way round. This would result in user receiving the error message: 'No objects or images found to bake to' and bake process failing.

Step 19 of the guide should read:
Up in the hierarchy window (top right), left click on the ‘Source model’ you’re using then Hold shift and Left click on the ‘Target Model’.

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Angell657]

Awesome guide! I was able to follow everything and got the limbs/torso working nicely. However, my faces are consistently coming out with large grey streaks and checkered bits of skin (see attached). Going from G8 to G2. Would you happen to have any idea what I've done? Seems like I jacked up a setting somewhere....

 

[MrGiggly]

Awesome guide! I was able to follow everything and got the limbs/torso working nicely. However, my faces are consistently coming out with large grey streaks and checkered bits of skin (see attached). Going from G8 to G2. Would you happen to have any idea what I've done? Seems like I jacked up a setting somewhere....

Hi,
It looks like you may have had additional model parts selected on G2 and assigned them to your G2_Face texture. At least part of that image (white) is eyes uv. The Grey looks like the lashes uv, but there may be more.
If you select G2 Target, go into uv view, select edit mode, under materials select G2_Eyes from list and click select button, then check up at the top to confirm which texture you have assigned it to. It should be your G2_Eyes blank or nothing if you dont want to bake eyes. Do the same for the rest of your materials, using deselect each time before moving on to next material.
If you have linked something by accident and you need to remove it, just click the 'x' on the top bar that's four icons to the the right of your assigned texture name.

 

[Angell657]

Hey MrGiggly - You were right on the money. Thanks! Looks like I had a extra things selected for the face when I set up the new template. Did this twice in a row apparently. Thanks for the detailed and prompt response!

 

[RonBurgundy]

You've done everything correctly. There's a mistake in the guide, step 19 !

Reads
19. Up in the hierarchy window (top right), left click on the ‘Target model’ you’re using then Hold shift and Left click on the ‘Source Model’. In our example this would select G3/8F and set G2F as active.

Should read
19. Up in the hierarchy window (top right), left click on the ‘Source Model’ you’re using then Hold shift and Left click on the ‘Target Model’. In our example this would select G2F and set G3F/G8F as active.

I'll arrange to update the guide

That did the Trick thanks!
i don't have photoshop but can if you have G3F gens can you convert those?

 

[jillian]

Hi, It sounds like you have missed or misunderstood one of the steps. Have you assigned all of the blank png images that you created to the G2F target model? Just before you bake, are you also selecting your target model from the list (top right), holding shift and whilst held, clicking on your source model too? Also make sure they are both visible (little eye icon to the right of the model name).

I was going crazy with this and finally tried reversing the source/target instruction. Now I see the change in the tut text. Thanks anyway for the help.

 

[MrGiggly]

That did the Trick thanks!
i don't have photoshop but can if you have G3F gens can you convert those?

Hi,
Unfortunately its not possible to bake gens with this method. G3 usually uses the anatomical elements geograft that comes with paid products such as v7 pro, although there are other 3rd party genital options available.

Vam uses a 3rd party geograft from 3feetwolf which is also a paid product. The models are quite a bit different so it would take a considerable amount of work to make them look similar enough for the textures to map across correctly.

For a quick fix you can use the 'auto generate gens textures from torso' within Vam.
If you did want to add additional detail, Gimp which is free has some of the functionality of photoshop. It can also open PSD templates, however the genital template referred to with this guide may not be fully featured.

 

[RonBurgundy]

Hi,
Unfortunately its not possible to bake gens with this method. G3 usually uses the anatomical elements geograft that comes with paid products such as v7 pro, although there are other 3rd party genital options available.

Vam uses a 3rd party geograft from 3feetwolf which is also a paid product. The models are quite a bit different so it would take a considerable amount of work to make them look similar enough for the textures to map across correctly.

For a quick fix you can use the 'auto generate gens textures from torso' within Vam.
If you did want to add additional detail, Gimp which is free has some of the functionality of photoshop. It can also open PSD templates, however the genital template referred to with this guide may not be fully featured.

sorry to bother you again but when i got it to work, it only worked that one session & i converted several textures successfully.

Tried it earlier this week and i no longer get the previous error and i can tell it IS baking because the CPU max's out after hitting bake. (see attached screenshot)
However, NOTHING is saved! I've changed WHERE its saved, made sure file/folder isn't compressed and modified file/folder properties to remove any restrictions.
I even re-downloaded your blank.png files and created a NEW folder, reassigned the G2 destinations with no success.

i revisited this and have attempted half a dozen times, even starting over from scratch and following (2.1 revised) the guide explicitly.

All i need it to convert 2 face textures so i can release a look today, if i can't get this resolved, is there anyone that could at least help me with these 2 face textures?
these 2 right here 3.4mb https://anonfiles.com/VfhcS484qa/CarmillaFacemakeup_zip

 

[MrGiggly]

sorry to bother you again but when i got it to work, it only worked that one session & i converted several textures successfully.

Tried it earlier this week and i no longer get the previous error and i can tell it IS baking because the CPU max's out after hitting bake. (see attached screenshot)
However, NOTHING is saved! I've changed WHERE its saved, made sure file/folder isn't compressed and modified file/folder properties to remove any restrictions.
I even re-downloaded your blank.png files and created a NEW folder, reassigned the G2 destinations with no success.

i revisited this and have attempted half a dozen times, even starting over from scratch and following (2.1 revised) the guide explicitly.

All i need it to convert 2 face textures so i can release a look today, if i can't get this resolved, is there anyone that could at least help me with these 2 face textures?
these 2 right here 3.4mb https://anonfiles.com/VfhcS484qa/CarmillaFacemakeup_zip

Hi,
Not sure what's happening here as once you've assigned your blanks to G2 and saved your template you never need to do it again, and will continue to work unless you move where your blanks are saved or rename them.

Once you've baked. If you are in 'uv mode' do you see a * appear after 'Images' menu heading to allow you to choose 'Save All Images' ?
I can't open the files you've saved above as my antivirus (and me) don't like that its a .msi file rather than a straight .zip
And to check, as you mentioned sharing, these are non copyrighted textures rather than the daz store camilla which is copyright?

 

[Merade]

Is it possible to convert genesis 2 textures to genesis 8 with this blender file?

 

[MrGiggly]

Is it possible to convert genesis 2 textures to genesis 8 with this blender file?

Not out of the box, but you could use the template as a basis to save yourself some work. You will need to amend the source and target models to switch them round. There's a link in the guide to the original 'changeling chick' tutorial which will help with this. Note that she references G3, but G8 is exactly the same as the uv's are interchangeable.

 

[Lione]

Hi, thx so much for this.

I have some questions.

1.

My original DAZ Face Textures in the DAZ Texture Folders do not have any Eye Brows as i noticed.
Is there a Step needed for this in DAZ or Blender to export a Face Skin Map / Face Texture with eyebrows?

2. All MAPS Slots match the GEN 2 very good ( i converted from GEN 3 to Gen 2 )
except if i add the Maps to the "NORMAL" Slots in VAM.
Here they do not match the Body anymore . You see that LImbs / Torso etc have different light / Colour so you seee thedges.
Why is that? Is the Normal Slot even needed in vam or are DECAL and Diffuse enough?

 

[MrGiggly]

Hi, thx so much for this.

I have some questions.

1.

My original DAZ Face Textures in the DAZ Texture Folders do not have any Eye Brows as i noticed.
Is there a Step needed for this in DAZ or Blender to export a Face Skin Map / Face Texture with eyebrows?

2. All MAPS Slots match the GEN 2 very good ( i converted from GEN 3 to Gen 2 )
except if i add the Maps to the "NORMAL" Slots in VAM.
Here they do not match the Body anymore . You see that LImbs / Torso etc have different light / Colour so you seee thedges.
Why is that? Is the Normal Slot even needed in vam or are DECAL and Diffuse enough?

1 - Some daz authors use fibremesh eyebrows which is a separate model. This is not supported in this template so you would need to add some brows to your final conversions using photoshop or similar. In my experience its fairly rare that they won't include brow and browless texture options though.

2 - Normal maps appear blue in colour. Are you definitely using these and not bump maps? And yes, normal slot whilst not necessary in VAM will add nice micro details such as pores, eyebrow detail, veins etc.