Status update Episode 12 (Patreon)

This week, I replaced a PC slave with a new 5090 one. Rendering with it works well, and it was easy to set up. I will continue to upgrade my systems and share the news with you as they are done.

I updated my DAZ3D version to the most recent build and was pleasantly surprised to find that they had added geometry sculpting, which is something I use in 99% of my renders. It's basically a tool used to fix skin poking through clothes and other similar issues.

This DAZ3D update almost enabled me to pose static renders with the alpha version as a standard. However, I was missing two essential scripts that make characters look at objects and the camera when posing.

DAZ3D scripts are encrypted, so there's often no way to check out the code that a script developer wrote. I'm not sure how long it will take for DAZ and script developers to update the scripts. At the moment, you can't even sell scripts for the new DAZ alpha version on the DAZ store.

My problem was that I needed those two scripts now. So, I said fuck it and tried to write similar scripts from scratch by myself.

Luckily for me, DAZ3D scripts are written in C++, which I've worked with professionally prior to game development. Using outdated documentation for obsolete functions and trial and error, I managed to emulate the necessary functionality in DAZ3D Alpha. I was able to write the scripts I needed, and they work great.

This image shows the result of running the scripts I wrote.

It might seem like a small thing to do, but manually posing the eyes without the characters looking off-target is very hard without a script. It's also time-consuming to pose the eyes compared to pressing a shortcut after selecting a character.

I have been working with the latest DAZ alpha version since Monday, and I have encountered only a few bugs that have not significantly impacted my workflow.

I have mostly posed static renders this week, working through a canon scene and branched scenes with Sage and Jill.

I also posed a handful of animations. For this, I had to return to the old DAZ build, but it wasn't a big problem to work in this way.

Checking the dialogue I have written, I only have four more scenes to pose static renders for before I need to return to writing. Those four scenes are roughly equal to 350 static renders.

It's a very good feeling to catch up on the writing with the art. I will likely pose three out of those four scenes next week and continue to write more dialogue.

Have a nice weekend

Dr PinkCake