DazToUnity Bridge

A modernized fork of the Daz3D DazToUnity Bridge, updated for Unity 6 and all three render pipelines — HDRP, URP, and Built-in.

Based on the original work by Daz 3D. This fork focuses on Unity 6 compatibility, runtime render pipeline detection, UPM packaging, and a unified uDTU shader family for all pipelines.

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Table of Contents

1. What's Different in This Fork
2. How to Install
3. How to Use
4. How to Build
5. How to Test
6. How to Develop

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1. What's Different in This Fork

This fork modernizes the original DazToUnity Bridge with a focus on clean, forward-compatible code:

Unity 6 compatibility

• Replaced deprecated FindObjectsOfType with FindObjectsByType
• Switched to EditorSceneManager for scene operations
• Removed Unity 2019 dead code paths
• Added safety around AvatarSetupTool

Runtime render pipeline detection

• New RenderPipelineHelper replaces all #if USING_HDRP / URP / BUILTIN preprocessor directives
• Pipeline detection is cached at runtime via GraphicsSettings.currentRenderPipeline
• Shader names are runtime properties, not compile-time constants

UPM package structure

• Installable via Unity Package Manager from a git URL — no file copying needed
• Proper Runtime and Editor assembly definitions
• SimpleJSON vendor dependency isolated with autoReferenced: false

Unified uDTU shader family for all pipelines

• HDRP and URP: existing Shader Graph shaders (Hair, Metallic, Specular, SSS, Transparent)
• Built-in RP: new ShaderLab surface shaders matching the same property interface
• All three pipelines use the same material conversion path — no legacy fallback

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2. How to Install

Daz Studio Plugin

1. Go to the Releases page
2. Download dzunitybridge.dll
3. Copy the DLL into your Daz Studio plugins folder:

   C:\Daz 3D\Applications\64-bit\DAZ 3D\DAZStudio4\plugins\
   

4. Restart Daz Studio
5. Verify: File → Send To → Daz To Unity appears in the menu

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Unity Plugin

Option A — UPM / Unity Package Manager (Recommended, Unity 2022.3+)

The cleanest install. No files are copied into your Assets folder.

From Unity:

1. Open your project
2. Go to Window → Package Manager
3. Click + → Add package from git URL...
4. Paste:

   https://github.com/Knuffelpanda/DazToUnity.git?path=UnityPlugin
   

5. Click Add

Or edit Packages/manifest.json directly:

"com.daz3d.daz-to-unity": "https://github.com/Knuffelpanda/DazToUnity.git?path=UnityPlugin"

From Daz Studio (automatic):

1. Open File → Send To → Daz To Unity
2. Enable Advanced Settings
3. Select UPM Package (Unity 2022.3+) from the dropdown
4. Click Install Plugin and select your Unity project root
5. Switch to Unity — the Package Manager resolves the package automatically

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Option B — .unitypackage (Classic, Unity 2019–2021)

Use this if you can't use UPM or prefer a self-contained install.

1. Open your Unity project and leave it running
2. In Daz Studio: File → Send To → Daz To Unity
3. Enable Advanced Settings
4. Select your Unity version and render pipeline from the dropdown
5. Click Install Plugin and select your Unity project root
6. A Unity Import Package dialog should appear — click Import
7. If it doesn't appear automatically, go to Assets/Daz3D/Support/ and double-click the matching package:
   • DazToUnity HDRP.unitypackage
   • DazToUnity URP.unitypackage
   • DazToUnity Standard Shader.unitypackage
8. For HDRP: add the Daz diffusion profile to your HDRP asset's diffusion profile list (Project Settings → HDRP Default Settings)

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3. How to Use

1. Open Daz Studio and add a Figure or Prop to your scene
2. Select the top node of your Figure or Prop in the Scene pane
3. Go to File → Send To → Daz To Unity
4. Select the Asset Folder for your Unity project
5. Choose the Asset Type:
   • Skeletal Mesh — for rigged figures
   • Animation — for animation clips
   • Static Mesh — for props and environments
6. Optionally enable Morphs or Subdivision levels via the checkboxes
7. Click Accept and wait for the confirmation dialog before switching to Unity

Unity will automatically import the FBX and .dtu file, apply materials, and set up the prefab.

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4. How to Build

Requirements: Daz Studio 4.5+ SDK · Qt 4.8.1 · Autodesk FBX SDK 2020+ · Pixar OpenSubdiv · CMake 3.4+ · Visual Studio 2017+

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/Knuffelpanda/DazToUnity.git
cmake -B build \
  -DDAZ_SDK_DIR=<path> \
  -DFBX_SDK_DIR=<path> \
  -DOPENSUBDIV_DIR=<path>
cmake --build build --config Release

The build output is dzunitybridge.dll (Windows) or dzunitybridge.dylib (macOS). Set -DDAZ_STUDIO_EXE_DIR=<path> to auto-deploy the plugin to your Daz Studio plugins folder after build.

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5. How to Test

Unit tests (Windows, C++):

• Build in Debug mode with /EHa (C++ exceptions with SEH) enabled
• In Daz Studio, load Test/UnitTests/RunUnitTests.dsa
• Set sIncludePath and sOutputPath on lines 4–5, then run
• Click through any dialog prompts that appear — they are part of the tests

Automated test cases (Daz Script):

• In Daz Studio, load Test/TestCases/test_runner.dsa
• Set sIncludePath on line 4, then run
• Results are written to Test/Reports/ as JSON and TXT

Manual QA:

• See Test/QA Manual Test Cases.md for 16 test scenarios

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6. How to Develop

C++ plugin (DazStudioPlugin/):

• DzUnityAction — triggers the export workflow via File → Send To → Daz To Unity
• DzUnityDialog — export configuration UI
• The DzUnityNS namespace prevents collisions when multiple bridge plugins are loaded simultaneously
• Uses CPP_PLUGIN_DEFINITION() instead of DZ_PLUGIN_DEFINITION to enable C++ class export across the bridge library boundary

C# Unity plugin (UnityPlugin/):

• Daz3DDTUImporter — ScriptedImporter for .dtu files, drives the entire import pipeline
• DTUConverter — material and shader assignment
• RenderPipelineHelper — cached runtime pipeline detection, single source of truth for all pipeline branching
• DetectRenderPipeline — manages scripting defines for backwards compatibility

Modifying shaders:

• HDRP/URP shaders are Shader Graph assets in UnityPlugin/Shaders/uDTU/
• Built-in shaders are ShaderLab files in the same folder (uDTU BuiltIn.*.shader)
• All shaders share the same _-prefixed property names so DTUConverter works identically across pipelines

Updating the .unitypackage files:

• Make changes inside Unity
• Export a new .unitypackage from Unity
• Replace the matching file in DazStudioPlugin/Resources/