daz2xna workflow

To bring 3D content from DAZ Studio to your XNA game is straightforward using d2x.  Here are the major steps.

A - Create your scene in DAZ Studio

Pick from the content library whatever you want to create your scene. Then use the animate Lite panel to animate your scene. Once you are satisfied of your creation export it in an fbx file. Select the FBX 2010 output, either text or binary format.

B - Load the fbx file in daz2xna

Now that your scene is in daz2xna, there are 4 steps to convert it:

d2x scene tool

1. Convert the scene to select the level of details you want

In the rubber band click on the button LOD. Once the scene in converted, use the slider control that appears in the 3d view to select the desired level of details for the scene.  You can also click on the Mesh list checkbox to display the list of nodes in the scene and reduce or increase the LOD of each node. Close the Mesh list once you are done.

2. Remove the vertices in the scene down to the selected level of details

Just click on the Remove vertices button.

3. Merge all the meshes in the scene into one mesh

Just click on the Merge button.  This option is only possible if the scene contains several meshes. This step can take quite a while to complete, especially for a big scene.

4. Remove the skeleton nodes in the scene down to the selected maximum number of nodes

Just click on the Remove nodes button.  This option is only possible if the scene contains skeleton nodes. This step can take quite a while to complete, especially for a big scene.

C - Save as the converted scene

When you save as a scene with daz2xna, by default a folder with the name of the fbx file is created in which the fbx file and all the texture files are saved.  The name of the folder that is created is the same as the name of the fbx file.

D - Load and display the fbx file in XNA

If you have not yet done it, you can download the code sample for displaying a skinned model here:

http://xbox.create.msdn.com/en-us/education/catalog/sample/skinned_model

In Visual Studio, open your XNA project, and in the Solution Explorer, right click on the content folder to add the fbx file and the texture files of the transformed scene. Select all the texture files and set the property None for the build action.  If your scene is animated set the Content Processor property to SkinnedModelProcessor for the fbx file containing your scene.  Make sure you load the asset name of your fbx file in the XNA code with the Content.Load function. Build the solution and launch the execution of your project to admire your creation.