Unreal Engine Daz About DazToUnreal workflow (+ gens tests)

DarknessFX

New Member
Feb 2, 2022
3
2
Hello everyone,

I'm starting to learn Character Animation in UE5, for various reasons I choose to learn using Daz models and Modular Characters (means to split the model body in parts so you can use any Hands+Gloves with any Feet+Boots). I read and learned a lot of Daz+UE from topics here and I want to try to contribute a little.

DazToUnreal works great in current versions: Daz 4.21 + DazToUnreal 2.0.15.2, Unreal 5.0.2 (built from source) + DazToUnreal UE Plugin v5.0.1 (built from source).

Add any model to Daz, menu File > Send To > DazToUnreal and it is imported in UE5 almost perfectly, even Morphs are transfering with good results. Because I'm doing Modular Chars this kind of fast workflow is great, Daz > Load Feet, apply Sandals, Send To > DazToUnreal, and it is done, a new pair of sandals to test in animations.

Inside DazToUnreal UE Plugin Content there are IK Retarget and ControlRigs ready to retarget UE5 ABP_Manny and get the model running in UE TPS Template with zero effort, after the retarget most animations that work with UE mannequins apply easily to imported Daz models. I created the same IK Retarget and Basic Foot ControlRig for Gen9 and it plays good.

Clothes, hair and shoes are working too, for pieces that show up some clipping you can fix using morph targets. I didn't try to apply UE Clothing yet so I don't know if dresses are going to behave dynamic or not. Daz posing like Healed Shoe or Tip Toes are working with some minor adjustments. Hair material needs to be changed manually to BaseHairMaterial, some don't look good but overall is okay.

Genitalias are (always) the problem... Most genitalias use Shell (somewhat similar to UE Decals) where the Genitalia UV are stored while genitalias object share UV with the body. I tested Send To > DazToUnreal with a lot of options but all resume in 3 alternatives:
A- Model + Genitalia + Shell, best result if don't need to open, looks like Daz but genitalia have no morphs.
B- Model + GeometryEditor > Merge Fitted, somewhat useless alternative, it import with overlapping geometry.
C- Model + GeometryEditor > Delete Overlapping Polygons, this is the best result if you need to open, all morphs are exported and work, but no shell and no Genitalia UV.

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For sure there should be more options out there, some that I don't know, some obvious (like "fix in Blender") but since this is about testing DazToUnreal this is what I found out. Cheers!