DigitalCookie has discovered an issue with rotated objects that can look displaced after transformation. Good thing is that most people are going to be using this on modded costumes which, more often than not, already have the rotation reset (I think it covers most use cases, everyone likes some nakedness, lol). I didn't notice this issue since none of my own mods have rotated objects.
I can look into fixing it, but in the mean time, such errors can be corrected by resetting the object rotation with Harry's tool and manually edit those displaced objects in an editor.
You can use my OBJ<-> TMC conversion tool to do these types of simple edits (usually involves just moving the whole object closer to the body where it should be attached.)
Such object rotation after transformation It is usually a problem with official unmodded costumes. Especially on accessories. I will attempt to find a solution to address these type of issues.
Today I am releasing an updated version of my converter tool to 0.3.9d
What's new in this version -
V0.3.9d
- Support drag & drop operation. The tool window accepts either OBJ or TMC file format.
- Recompute normal vectors functionality actually works now!
- Removed the Smooth Seam only within same group. It is now the default since it makes no sense to smooth seams across different object groups.
- General house keeping stuff to clean up useless code
I will go over the new stuff here.
There are often times when you modify a model and end up with broken normal vectors. Worry not! Timmy comes to the rescue.
In addition to fixing the seams that my tool already provides with the "Smooth Seam" functionaltiy, I've re-written the "ReCompute Normal Vector" now that it actually works! It is no longer a proof of concept gimmick. I take an academic approach to calculating the normal vectors while taking into account all the neighboring triangles to achieve the same smoothness you see in a 3d editing software.
Immediately upon opening the new tool, you will see that the interface has been rearranged a bit
The recompute normal vector is now more prominently featured and the "Smooth Within Own group" checkbox no longer exists.
A new feature suggested by navmesh is the drag and drop support to speed things up, which has been included in the tool.
It accepts either TMC or OBJ.
Let's give the ReCompute Normal Vectors a test drive.
The feature can now be used without loading any OBJ files, as long as you select the right group.
Be sure to uncheck the "Copy Vector Positions" before hitting Import OBJ to TMC if no OBJ file has been loaded and you just want to recompute normal vectors
Using Lisa as an example, the normal vector recomputation is successful, minus the seams which is normal since this is what you get in editors like Blender and 3DS MAX.
Remember the smooth seam? It comes in handy here.
Try different radians until you are satisfied with the result.
After seam smoothing -
It is now pure sexiness
You will notice a bit of a neck seam with this feature, but it really is not too noticeable at all from normal viewing distance
You've got to go up close to see the seam, and it appears worse on the back of the neck
But it really isn't distracting at all from normal distances
How to deal with displaced objects after transformation
I've found some temporary workaround with the rotation problem that Digital Cookie found today.
Some objects that are rotated can have weird issue after transformed.
For instance, take Phase4's DLCU15 as an example:
After transformation, the ribbon becomes detached from the body due to it being associated with rotation matrix
To correct this issue, you can first try transforming without the "Transfer Bone And Collision" checked, it sometimes can correct the problem. For instance with Hitomi's COS005 with 11 rotated objects -
It looks messed up with auto bone transfer, otherwise, it's fine.
Back on topic, with this particular costume for Phase4, we need to do something else in addition to unchecking auto bone transfer. We can use Harry's Reset Object Rotation tool to disable rotation before transformation.
And do the transformation without enabling "Transfer Bone and Collision"
Since bone and collision are not transferred automatically, you will have to use Harry's Skeleton Patcher to fix it up. Now it appears attached, and looks attached as well in the game.
I hope this workaround is enough to get people going while I figure out a way to deal with this issue in the tool itself.
I've finally figured out what's wrong with my transformer when transforming models that have "rotated" objects. Most of the bikini ribbons are such objects, but they are not just rotated, but also translated and possibly scaled. These vertices are tricky to deal with when such transformation relies on having an accurate picture of where every pixel is in space in order to gauge a relative distance between each vertex.
After several hours of head banging against the desk - I have finally come up with a solution to the problem. The most difficult part is to find out what transformation matrix is used to transform the vertices, and figured out a way to move these vertices by their relative distance to the reference models, and transformed them back to their original coordinate system where they sit at the origin.
That's one of the big items that this build resolves, but there are other cool things in store for you guys.
What's new in
Character Transformer Update Version 0.1.6
V0.1.6
- Now support user defined TMCs. As long as it conforms to the format as provided in the folder "Kasumi_UserDefinedSample.TMC", it should simply work by dropping it into the "UserDefined" folder. The custom TMC will show up on the list as "UD_<name>".
- Fixed the issue with some accessories being displaced after transformation. There's no need to use Reset Object Rotation tool now.
- The default character selection for the "From" field now defaults to the top selection if the tool cannot figure out who the TMC belongs to.
- Added the option to have separate controls for bone and collision transfer by popular demand. The bone stuff is tricky, but the collision bit works most of the time.
The biggest update this time is the fix for the "rotated object" bug that can be seen in 0.1.4 build. It should no longer be an issue.
I have also rearranged the interface a bit to give the user more freedom in terms of what they want to have automatically done. As I stated above, bone stuff is not as reliable as I'd like it to be, but collision seems to work most of the time, so if you are having issue with the transformed TMC, try to use just collision auto transfer and use Harry's Skeleton Patcher to fix up the bone.
Another new feature is the support of user defined models. You can drop your own custom models into the "UserDefined" folder and it will show up automatically in the tool as "UD_<filename>". Please keep in mind that these reference files need to follow the same format as a sample I've provided. The number of vertices and their order must be the same. You can change the shape and whatnot and the tool will transform your model to conform to your desired shape. Update on the custom reference models - Actually, they can be any vertex count as long as the basic organization of from and to are the same, meaning same vertex count, same vertex order. It does not have to be the same as the ones I use/provide. It allows a lot of freedom for user created transformation references. For instance, you could create a set of references for Holden's set of nude meshes and transform between them.
I've also changed the naming convention since it's getting pretty long. Now it just adds _Auto if either bone or collision is checked (or both).
Some intensive testing I did today. For the first time I am happy that there lots of strings attached!
Marie Hula was done with just "collision" checked, and it appears to work very well.
Update: I decided to bump up Smoothness to a max of 30 for the heck of it, lol. It seems like some models turn out really well with a 30 SF. I might consider bumping it up even more depending on the user feedback. If you see 15 as max, please download from the same link again. The tool has been uploaded to overwrite the existing one. No version update.
Update: I decided to bump up Smoothness to a max of 30 for the heck of it, lol. It seems like some models turn out really well with a 30 SF. I might consider bumping it up even more depending on the user feedback. If you see 15 as max, please download from the same link again. The tool has been uploaded to overwrite the existing one. No version update.
To my surprise - it actually makes quite a bit of difference with little performance penalty -
Perhaps I should consider bumping it up to 100? lol
Okay, I have concluded that I was too conservative before with the smoothness, lol.
Based on a few tests, I think SF30 is the best compromise between quality and performance. Although increasing SF doesn't really take all that much time
Here are a few comparison shots
SF@100 closeup
Be careful though as the SF increases, the shape will begin to resemble more closely to that of the "from shape" (in this case it's Phase4), so be sure to experiment and see what you like best. I've made it so you can go up to 100, but it doesn't mean you should always use the highest value.
I think I should explain what the smoothness actually does -
It is probably best explained using a cleavage as an example :bush:
My tool uses greedy heuristics to do the approximation, meaning that it considers the nearest neighboring vertex the best answer. The nearest neighbor also carries much more weight since I use a weighted average to gauge distance. This, of course, is not always the case.
The bikini string that sits in between breasts is a very good example
For instance, this is the result of SF15
Picture yourself being at the starred position - you look around you and you see a hill. so you think that you are kind of on top of a curved surface and probably should conform to the shape a bit.
However, if you are in the middle of the string as pictured below. This is normally a good place to be, but not so in the case of my app :bush:
You look around and you see that you are in a valley (most people would be very happy being in this position :bush:), and the both sides of the hills are closer to you than the bottom of the valley. Since with SF15 you only look at 15 nearest neighbors - both hillsides carry much higher weight and as a result, they cancel each other out, and the string sticks out a bit more than it really should.
Now if we use a higher sample rate, say 50. It paints a very different picture for the vertices in the same locations
Now the "hill sides" don't carry nearly as much weight as they did before with 15 sample rate, since the weighted average is now out of 50, and the result is a much smoother transformation on the string itself.
As for the smoothness setting, it is very much in the same principle as computer graphics "Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing" (MSAA) that I am sure most of us have heard of.
It's a shame. I used to like South Park, but now I don't watch it nearly as much.
Here's 50 vs 1000 vs 500
It's time for the big four point zero update for my now (aging badly) Advanced Converter tool.
After having been through the struggle with the transformer, I've come away with a lot of interesting lessons that I can leverage to make my converter tool a little better. Today I am presenting my fruits of labor - Timmy's Advance Converter V0.4.0
I pushed out an update just a few days ago, but that was more of a house keeping release to clean-up useless stuff and to add a much requested "Drag and Drop" feature that seems popular among modding circles. Being new to this game modding circle, I had no idea it was very high demand feature. Now that's added and done, I have shifted my attention to adding enhancements to the tool.
First of all, you will most likely (I hope) notice the rearranged user interface.
I have put things together in groups that make logical sense. The "TMC Post Process" group of controls can be used without having to load an OBJ file.
The usual conversion stuff still applies - the tool can deal with UV, normal vectors and vertex positions.
Here's UV1 and UV4 in 3ds max. Note that the model is very smooth in the editor because my tool can import and export normal vectors.
One of the biggest problems with the tool before was the inability to edit objects that have been transformed. Meaning that the object actually sits at the origin, but their position in game is transformed via a matrix. Here's an example of such object - the infamous bikini ribbon
The model on the left is imported using V0.3.9d, as you can see, the ribbon is not at its actual location as seen in the game, but rather, at the origin. The model on the right is imported using the new version, and the in-game position is now reflected.
Now it is not going to do you much good if all you can do is look at it right? I've made sure that the changes you make in your editor can be imported back into TMC. We used to have to rely on Harry's Reset Object Rotation tool, but it is no longer necessary with 0.4.0.
Once the change has been made in your editor of choice - export the model
You can drag and drop the OBJ file onto the tool window and hit IMPORT
Now the ribbon is where you want it.
The little ribbon's UV can be examined in the editor as well
The new "Auto Correct Neck Vertices for" control set is for fixing neck rings that can result from using my recompute normal vector functionality, or it can be from your editor. Sometimes if normals are not imported correctly, the model ends up looking like this upon export
Now the recompute NV and seam smoothing can fix it up as I've described here [DOA5LR] Timmy's Private Stash, Tips & Tools (02/12/16 - transformer 0.1.6 &converter 0.3.9d)) | Page 6 | Undertow
Now there's a new setting to automatically correct neck seam issues for most models
To use it, enable it and select the correct mesh group.
Be very certain to uncheck "Copy Vector Positions" if no OBJ has been loaded, otherwise you will see an error
Here are some comparison shots
I hope this makes it easier for modders who like to use a different editing software other than Blender (blender already has a very complete suite of tools by Mr. Dotouku) such as 3ds max
Update: There's no need to convert TMC to OBJ if you just want to use the "TMC Post Process" functionalities to repair broken normals, seams and/or neck seams. Anyone can try to repair neck seam now with a click of a button. Please note that the neck seam repair is not complete until the skin mtr col is set, and the proper texture is swapped in.
Looks like there's a bug in my collision transfer code. For now, I recommend trying with the "Auto Transfer Collision" unchecked while I work out a fix.
Okay, I figured out the problem with my collision code. I had it working, but I just made it so it was the other way around, lol! That's what staring at lines of code for hours does to one's head
I will be uploading the updated version shortly.
What is new in V0.1.6b
Change Log
V0.1.6b
- Quality of life - the From and To dropdown boxes are now sorted.
- Fixed the "Auto Transfer Collision" check box. Now that it actually does what it says, not the other way around.
Known issue
- Honoka's feet don't touch the ground. I will be working with the Master of Perversion SaafRats on getting a higher quality base mesh for Honoka. Since nobody does Honoka better than MoP!
This is mostly a quality of life maintenance update, as I think this tool is complete as is. I think other stuff such as auto texture transfer and skin stuff is "nice to have" but with people having different preferences for nipple shades, shaved/bushy pussies etc it's too much of a pain to implement. Best to have people spend a few seconds on swapping out texture that they like to use.
A few things new are mostly minor updates - such as the "From" and "To" boxes are now in alphabetical order (yay!) and that "Auto Transfer Collision" actually does what it says, not the other way around (lol). Thanks to zoidnoid11 for finding and reporting the issue!
A few test shots of the now working (I think) collision transfer
v0.1.6a - clothing items and accessories can go into the body model
v0.1.6b - this problem is now fixed
I'd like to take a moment to go over what "Collision" really does -
When you transform between ladies that have long hair, it is normally not an issue, but if you try to use any of Lisa's outfits on other ladies, usually you get a lot of hair clipping through bodies.
For example - use this Lisa outfit Looks pretty sexy, let's put it on Honoka and see.
Without "Auto Transfer Collision" - Hair clips through her shoulders - this looks pretty bad.
This V0.1.6b update brings the correct "Auto Transfer Collision" and this is what happens if it is checked along with bone transfer -
Now that's more like it.
A few more shots of breasts physics collision showcase :bush:
I have a few ideas to try to further improve the transformed model's quality and smoothness, but I also have other projects (non-DOA) going at the same time. I'd like to get some more tests going and see if I can make the quality go up even more when time allows.
Please let me know if you guys find any more issues. Any feedback, suggestions, criticism anything at all are most welcome. I appreciate you guys taking a few moments to try my tools out! I think this version is pretty stable now, and quality is pretty decent as well.
I've been doing some massive transformation testings and I've found a few tips to make repeated transformation fun, fast and simple.
Before transforming for one character, you should make a copy of the original and give them meaningful names.
For instance - when I worked on Lisa->Honoka, this is what I did
I made a copy of the TMC and TMCL files and renamed them.
Then, I modified the texture
You can speed it up even further by doing the skin mtrcol before hand if you'd like.
After that, I can keep transforming on the same file, and all the texture will be set for me everytime it is done, since the tool makes a copy of your TMCL and it already has the correct skin texture. Repeated attempts will take no time at all! This is especially handy if you want to check out the effect of many different smoothness values.
All of this is because I am too lazy to implement skin and texture swap in the tool itself :p but why reinvent the wheel? right?
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