Import from Daz Studio

The process of importing Daz Studio models to Cascadeur is similar to the regular import process, but with some differences.

Model Import

Start with exporting your model from Daz Studio.
Use either FBX or Collada format; both should work fine.

After this, import the model to Cascadeur.To do this, select either Import FBX/DAE → Scene or Import FBX/DAE → Model from the File menu.

You should end up with something like this.

Rigging

Now you need to create a rig for your model.

The base of the rig can be created using Quick Rigging Tool.
However, it is recommended to then use the regular Rigging Tool for making refinements to the prototype rig.

For example, Quick Rigging Tool cannot properly work with additional objects. If your character includes complex hair or clothing meshes, you’ll have to rig them manually.

As usual, your goal is to create sets of Prototype objects for the joints associated with your character. However, you don’t have to rig every joint.

For example:

Standard Daz Studio skeleton starts with a root joint. It is sometimes used for moving the character as a whole, but for Cascadeur rig, it is not necessary.We recommend to ignore it and start rigging from the next joint in the hierarchy (named Hip).

Joints

Character skeleton in Daz is structured similarly to the one used by standard Cascadeur models, but its structure is a bit more complex, and some of the joint names are different.
The following tables list the main joints in the Cascadeur skeleton and their counterparts in Daz skeleton.

If a joint has two or more counterparts in the Daz Studio skeleton, we recommend to rig all of these joints with one set of prototypes. See Rigging Complex Skeletons.

Additional Meshes

Models in Daz are often made up of several 3d meshes: one for the character body and a few others for the hair, clothes and accessories.
These additional objects have their own sets of joints.

For the clothes, this can be disabled by using specific export settings:

Merge Clothing Into Figure Skeleton for FBX export

Merge Skeletons for Collada export

Some of the more complex hair meshes have additional joint sets even when you enable settings described above.
For them to work properly, you’ll need to parent them to the head joint(s):

1. Select the joint to which the mesh itself is attached.
Usually it is the joint on the end of the chain.

2. Enable Only box controller on the Rigging Tool panel.

3. Create a box controller for the selected joint.

4. Select the newly created box controller.

5. In the Outliner, drag it on top of the other box controller: the one for the main head joint.

Now, the box controller and with it, the hair mesh, is parented to the head of the character and can be animated with it.

For the spine, we recommend to create about three Rigid Bodies:
Further increasing their number might overcomplicate the rig.

Twist Bones

Limbs in the Daz skeleton include Twist Bones:

See here to learn how to deal with them.

As usual, don’t forget to create Hinge connections for shoulders and knees.

Facial controls

At the moment, Cascadeur does not support morphs.
However, if you are using joints for adjusting facial expressions, you can create rig elements for them.

It is not recommended to create Rigid Bodies for these small joints (doing so will needlessly increase the complexity of the rig). A better oprion is to rig them using only Box Controllers.
See Secondary Elements to learn how to do this.

Finalizing the Rig

Once everything is set, click Generate rig:

Then wait a bit, and your character should be fully rigged and ready for animation.

Export to Daz Studio

Once you’ve finished animating your model, you’d probably want to send it back to Daz Studio for rendering.
To learn how this can be done, see the dedicated page.

See Also

Import FBX/DAE

Rig