TexAnim 2022 with Animated VDB support

was TexAnim For Daz Studio 3 & 4 - V3.02

but i leave them here in case texanim2022 has issues

texanim20220414 is the new Texanim that supports VDB Animation

Version History

April 14th 2022 - texanim20220414 is the new Texanim that supports VDB Animation

March 2nd 2022 - texAnim 2022 replaces texanim 3.02, includes a timer that inserts a delay between changing textures and rendering the scene, also texanim now works for old shaders that have non-standard maps like "Normal map" on the DSDefault shader

may 19th 2012 tested for compatibility with DS4 and repackaged the kit

July 27th 2011 Updated from v3.01 to v3.02

note: some older versions had no support for Backdrop animation

Installation

at the bottom of this page, you will find 3 zip archives

texanim302.zip contains the script itself and should be unzipped in your daz content folder, typically c:\program files\daz\studio\content. Once installed it will appear in your library in the Studio/Scripts/mCasual folder.

texanim_manual.zip contains the web page you are reading. it could be unzipped anywhere you please

texanim_samples.zip contains

• • a sample Job List File for 1 animated surface (waterplanejob.txt)

  • a sample Job List File for an animated Backdrop (backdropjob.txt)

  • 30 images ib a folder named testpics ... to test the 2 job lists

Introduction

This script renders a series of frames as a series of numbered images.

Before rendering a frame, the script changes one or many of the image maps applied to surfaces of the objects/Figures in your scene.

This way you can achieve animated textures or even animated bump maps in your videos.

The list of surfaces to be animated, takes the form of a text file which we will call "the job file" or "the job list file".

You can also animate the backdrop image

Creating your Job List File

It is up to you to write the job file using a text editor like wordpad.

You must be very careful not to make typos.

For instance, the words in the first column must be typed exactly as shown below and the one named "Object" must always start a block.

Each block of 10 parameters is called a "job".

The two columns must be separated by Tab or Space characters

A typical job list file is as follows. This one contains two jobs.

Explanation of the Job List syntax

Object

The exact name of the object or figure that owns this surface material.

You can find the exact spelling of this name in DazStudio's surfaces tab.

examples: Cube, Sphere, !Aiko 3, !Aiko 3(2)

Surface

The exact name of the surface. You can find the exact spelling of this name in DazStudio's surfaces tab.

example: lips, SkinFace, Default

Property

The exact name of the surface property that will have an animated image map,

I obtained the following list of valid property names by saving a material through DazStudio's menu "File/Save As/Material Preset" then reading the content of the .ds file using WordPad.

You could do the same if you use a special shader with different property names

• Diffuse Color

• Diffuse Strength

• Glossiness

• Specular Color

• Specular Strength

• Ambient Color

• Ambient Strength

• Opacity Strength

• Bump Strength

• Displacement Strength

• Reflection Color

• Reflection Strength

• Refraction Color

• Refraction Strength

Path

The path to the images that will be applied to the surface's property. Note the absence of a trailing backslash.

example: c:\imagepack001

Prefix

The image maps filename prefix.

example: pic

Padd

The number of zeros used to pad the number in the image filename

example: 4

using this value, we'd get filenames like

pic0000.bmp, pic0001.bmp, pic0002.bmp .... pic9999.bmp,

example: 0

using this value, we'd get filenames like

pic0.bmp, pic1.bmp, pic2.bmp .... pic9999.bmp,

Suffix

The image maps filename suffix.

example : jpg

LoopStart

When the image map number reaches LoopEnd (see below) looping occurs and we jump back to this value.

example: 10

LoopEnd

when the image map number reaches this value looping occurs and we jump back to LoopStart

example: 100

First

When rendering starts, this image map number will be applied to the chosen surface property then the following one for the next render and on and on until LoopEnd is reached then the image map number will jump back to Loopstart.

example: First= 5, LoopStart=10 and LoopEnd=20

using those settings the following images will be used to texture the surface

pic5.bmp, pic6.bmp, pic7.bmp ... pic20.bmp, pic10.bmp, pic11.bmp, pic12.bmp ... pic20.bmp

example: First= 0, LoopStart=0 and LoopEnd=999

using those settings the following images will be used to texture the surface

pic0.bmp, pic1.bmp, pic2.bmp ... pic999.bmp, pic0.bmp

Animating the backdrop

you can animate the Backdrop (or background image)

simply name the Object, Surface and Property ---> Backdrop ( with a capital B )

A typical job for an animated Backdrop is as follows.

Loading the Job List File

For Windows users the best place to put the texanim_3.0.dsa script is probably

C:\Program Files\DAZ\Studio\content\Scripts\Texanim

Once your Job List File is ready, launch the texanim_3.0.dsa script.

Click on the "Load Job List" button and browse up to your Job List file.

If your Job List file contains errors you will get a warning and a short description of the problem.

Specifying what will be rendered

TexAnim's window is where you specify what will be rendered

Explanation of the fields in TexAnim's dialog/window

First Frame to Render

The first frame that will be rendered ( daz studio's timeline ). Often you'll leave this value to 0

example: 10

Last Frame to Render

The last frame that will be rendered ( daz studio's timeline )

example: 100

First Output Image Number

The rendered frames are saved as numbered images, this is the number that will be used to create the filename of the first rendered image. The following image will use this number + 1, etc etc. Often you'll leave this value to 0

example:1000

Filename prefix

The rendered frames are saved as numbered images, this is the word that will prefix the rendered image filenames

example: pic

File Number Padding

The number of zeros used to pad the numbers in the rendered image filenames

example: 4

using this value, we'd get filenames like

pic0000.bmp, pic0001.bmp, pic0002.bmp .... pic9999.bmp,

example: 0

using this value, we'd get filenames like pic0.bmp, pic1.bmp, pic2.bmp .... pic9999.bmp,

Image format

The file extension and image format for the rendered images Daz Studio will accept to render images in the following formats

• jpg

• png

• dsi

• tif

• bmp

Path to rendered Images

The folder/directory that will receive the rendered images. Notice the absence of a trailing backslash

example: c:\movieclipimages\clip001

Rendering

So, you created a valid Job List file using wordpad, and you filled in TexAnim's fields.

If your render settings are for OpenGL renders, move TexAnim's window so that it doesnt cover the DazStudio's viewport. Overlapping windows corrupt the rendered images

Click on the "Render Range" button

TexAnim will perform a few checks on the values you supplied before allowing the render.

If your newly rendered images would overwrite existing images, you'll be given an opportunity to cancel the render

To interrupt TexAnim's rendering process, click on texanim's "Exit" button.

If you render in Software mode, then you can cancel the current image render and TexAnim's rendering will also stop.

The "Preview Current" button

If you click the "Preview Current" button, TexAnim will re-texture the surfaces specified in your Job List File for the current frame in Daz Studio's timeline

License

//===================================================================

// by mCasual/Jacques

//===================================================================

// ( MIT License )

// Copyright (c) <2012> <mCasual/Jacques>

// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person

// obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation

// files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without

// restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,

// copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell

// copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the

// Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following

// conditions:

//

// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be

// included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

//

// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,

// EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES

// OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND

// NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT

// HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,

// WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING

// FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR

// OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.