Import FBX files into DAZ from Unity

Aiijuin Graphics

I see that DAZ supports .fbx files, which is a common extension/file type in Unity content.  Has anyone ever successfully imported .fbx files from Unity into DAZ? 

If you have, could you let me know if the textures are compatible from one program to another?

*note: I'm not concerned with rigging.  I'm looking at a few simple low poly scenery toonish environments for my comics...

People usually ask the reverse, but I'm not a game maker who is interested in importing from DAZ into Unity - I would like to import and blend several element scenes from Unity with DAZ content inside DAZ studio.

Thank you!

FSMCDesigns

,FBX in DS is pretty much worthless for importing/exporting in my experience. If you don't need the rigging, I'd stick with .OBJ

Every model in this image was originally in .FBX format, but it never imported properly in DS, carrara, yes, but not DS.

Aiijuin Graphics

@FSMCDesigns,

Thank You!  I appreciate your honesty.  There are a few unique OBJ formatted items on Unity, so I will look into those...

 Not sure how that site works honestly, if I need the Unity to buy the products from their asset store or not.  I'm hoping it's similar to TurboSquid, but I doubt it.

Artini

I have imported from Unity to Daz Studio .fbx files of buildings made in

Building BuildR Procedural Generator. It exports also .obj files.

I was surprised how well the scale was preserved, so I could add Genesis 3 characters to the scene right away.

There is also Unity 5 Collada exporter available, that simplifies exporting even further.

I have bought some toonish assets from Unity store, as well.

Will try them to see, if they import to Daz Studio, later on.

If you search for obj in Unity store, you will find a couple of .obj exporters

and some of them are for free.

 

 

Artini

Have tried to import .FBX file of freebie column from Unity store to Daz Studio

and it imported without the textures and at the very tiny scale.

Next time I will try to import the .OBJ file.

 

Aiijuin Graphics

Artini said:

Have tried to import .FBX file of freebie column from Unity store to Daz Studio

and it imported without the textures and at the very tiny scale.

Next time I will try to import the .OBJ file.

 

@Artini,

OMG, you must think I'm the rudest person.  I never got a notification that you responded!  I don't often check the forums unless I have an issue..

Anyway... THANK YOU! I appreciate the advice.

I'm going to look for the obj exporters on the site when I get a chance again.  

Question:  Does FBX importer from DAZ work similarly to OBJ importer, where you can tweak the size ratio?  I've had an imported product look very tiny that I've brought into DAZ in the past (won't say what, because DeviantArt doesn't always have 'kosher' 3D content -- and I was new & stupid to it all back then), but anyway, I've imported certain models at 1000% and everything was fine after that. <--- I don't do  that anymore... 

Aiijuin Graphics

Artini said:

I have imported from Unity to Daz Studio .fbx files of buildings made in

Building BuildR Procedural Generator. It exports also .obj files.

I was surprised how well the scale was preserved, so I could add Genesis 3 characters to the scene right away.

There is also Unity 5 Collada exporter available, that simplifies exporting even further.

I have bought some toonish assets from Unity store, as well.

Will try them to see, if they import to Daz Studio, later on.

If you search for obj in Unity store, you will find a couple of .obj exporters

and some of them are for free.

 

 

@Artini,

I will search around the Unity sites for the Unity 5 Collada exporter.  I'm VERY, VERY new to their site.  Still can't figure the nuts and bolts of it all (oh, gawd, you're going to think I'm a granny replying back with those words).  

Yes.  I will check it out.

AlienRenders

I use the DAZ fbx importer all the time. For geometry, it works fine. I often use Lightwave to export fbx because it handles the materials better (and rigging). Lightwave is getting better with importing .obj materials but it still puts the specularity at 100% for some reason. If it wasn't for that, I'd use obj all the time. And no, there is no scale option. There is no dialog of any kind when importing fbx into DAZ. All objects in DAZ have a scale feature anyhow. So you could import fbx, set the scale slider where you want, export it to obj, and the re-import it the obj to have the scale part of the object itself. (And of course delete the original from the scene).

 

 

Aiijuin Graphics

AlienRenders said:

I use the DAZ fbx importer all the time. For geometry, it works fine. I often use Lightwave to export fbx because it handles the materials better (and rigging). Lightwave is getting better with importing .obj materials but it still puts the specularity at 100% for some reason. If it wasn't for that, I'd use obj all the time. And no, there is no scale option. There is no dialog of any kind when importing fbx into DAZ. All objects in DAZ have a scale feature anyhow. So you could import fbx, set the scale slider where you want, export it to obj, and the re-import it the obj to have the scale part of the object itself. (And of course delete the original from the scene).

 

 

@AlienRenders,

Thanks a Ton, Hon!  I will definitely try that then.  I'm still meddling and stumbling my way around The UnityStore...  Right now, my $$$ is pretty much split between DAZ and Renderosity, and my wishlists for each site are about a mile long, so I'll have to stick with freebies from Unity until I get another raise.  (DAZ wil be happy)

I appreciate your reply!  (I must stay on top of these posts... Otherwise I forget about them)

 

Artini

I have tested different exporting options from Unity and so far COLLADA Exporter for Unity 5 works the best.

It exports whole scenes as well as the selected items only. All textures are preserved, so it is easy to use exported items  in Daz Studio.

It looks like the scaling is consistent between differents assets, I have tested.

Below is a quick 3Delight render in Daz Studio of the free Satellite Dish / Communication Tower by StarCity Designs

exported from Unity as a Collada (.dae) file. I have added Genesis 3 Female for the size comparison.

 

Artini

... and another Daz Studio render of Simple Town - Cartoon Assets by Synty Studios

exported from Unity 5 as a Collada file.

Aiijuin Graphics

Thank you for the amazing examples, Artini!

You mentioned .dae files, are they compatible with DAZ, only through the Collada exporter?

Artini

Yes, Collada .dae files are directly compatible with Daz Studio and I do not have had to change the scale of them.

Daz Studio Collada importer is included with it and you can access it via "Import" from "File" menu.

I will try to do more renders in Daz Studio, especially using the freebies available in the Unity store, to show their potential.

The only problem with Unity is that it does not contain Collada exporter itself,

so one need to purchase it from Unity asset store.

I have used COLLADA Exporter for Unity 5, because I could not find the free one.

You need to have Unity installed on your computer to use Unity store for downloads its freebies,

purchasing the assets and running Collada exporter.

 

 

Artini

Another example - Genesis 3 Female and the freebie Rock & Boulders by Manufactura K4 from Unity Asset store

rendered in Daz Studio.

FSMCDesigns

Are you guys discussing loading models in general or models with rigging? While the examples look good, if they are just regular mesh without rigging, then format isn't that big of an issue since scale and textures are an easy fix once imported into DS. If anyone has figuered out to get a working FBX file "with rigging" into DS I'd LOVE to hear about how it was done.

Artini

Yes, I would also like to know, how to import FBX or any other common format for models with rigging into Daz Studio.

Looking at the first post of Aiijuin Graphics, it seems to me, that he just want to import some low poly scenery from Unity to DS,

so I have experimented with different options available and found, that Collada files are the easiest to import to Daz Studio (at least for me),

because they preserve much of the textures included with the original files.

 

Artini

Yet another example rendered in Daz Studio: http://www.daz3d.com/eruanna-for-giselle-6

and the freebie from Unity Asset store: Mushroom Land by Manufactura K4

FSMCDesigns

Thanks for the info Artini. I have so many items taken from the game I play that I use in DS that the only thing missing is getting rigging to import.

Artini

Right now, I am discovering which freebies looks good in Daz Studio, but will try to find out, how to transfer rigging as well.

For now yet another example rendered in Daz Studio: http://www.daz3d.com/lilith-6

and the freebie from Unity Asset store: Viking Village by Unity Technologies

Aiijuin Graphics

These examples are just so incredibly awesome, Artini!  

Hey, if you're still following this post, I have another question.

With the Collada exporter, can the materials be exported out in the item, or do I have to add my own textures after importing to DAZ?  

Also, are the dae files unmapped so recolonize can be done on specific areas of imported models.

(No, I still haven't bought the Collada exporter, because Unity is installed on the one laptop that I rarely use -- it's a 1st Gen i7 Quad Core Win 7 64-bit Toshiba Laptop from 8 years ago.  Yeah...so of course that means that it's been very quirky and laggy since day one, and yet it is the only WIFI capable machine that I have----> 

which can actually run DAZ, Photoshop, and Manga Studio 5

<--- Just not all at the same time lest it have a heat stroke, forget what a Wacom Driver is for an hour or so, and then finally cough up the infamous Windows BSOD).    

Artini

These were just plain renders in Daz Studio with 3Delight and I have not changed any of the materials after importing

collada file to Daz Studio, besides the tiling on the ground terrain (in Viking Village renders).

I have just added some lights to the scene. What I also like, that collada exporter preserves

hierarchy of the scene from Unity, so I can access any of the items itself after importing the collada file to Daz Studio.

I have not checked if imported materials preserve all of the maps included in the original Unity scene, though.

Unity items usually have many different maps, like: diffuse, normal, specular, emissive and so on.

Next time I will do my experiments with importing to Daz Studio, I will check it out.

If you ever decide to use imported items from Unity to Daz Studio, I would like to see your results as well,

especially if you made some toon renders in Daz Studio out of the imported items.

If you wish, you can just import .fbx file from Unity and then just add the maps yourself in Daz Studio.

It is more work, but you do not need to purchase anything from Unity store.