Questions regarding free content 'for' purchased items in the store.
patience55
Posts: 7,006
Okay ... let's say one has several texture images that could be used on a particular clothing item sold in the store.
I'm using D/S4.0 for the time being.
If I create mat files 'for' new textures [I make] 'for' clothing 'somebody else made' ... where in the folders of D/S4 do people want them to appear?
For eg. The Summer Dress is followed in the Content Manager by a texture set called Breezy.
Would it be preferable for me to have my texture item then inside that subfolder for Summer Dress so its folder is nestled beside that of Breezy?
Or somewhere else altogether ... like we used to do in D/S3?
If people want metadata for either 4.0 or 4.5, are there any 'templates' I can fill in to produce these? [or if there's a magik button to push in 4.0 that generates this, where is it located?]
Thank you.
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I was persuaded by quite a few people that the best way was to make sure that the mat pose folders all started with my name, so people could have a chohole folder, but then I did make a few textures. :roll:
And I make my texture folders and Mat pose folders have the same name, not different names. I direct the path on the mat poses to a texture folder called chohole, and then in there I have separate folders for each set, with the same name as the mat pose folder.
With regards to the texture folder, definitely that's under my name! I wouldn't want to chance overwriting anybody else's work.
Came across your new [?] website last night ... that's quite the display! Don't think I'll ever make quite as many as you have done, nor near so lovely ... but a little here and there, providing some diversity for folk.
Are you making metadata?
nope, I make the Poser mat poses, Neil adds DS mat files for me And so far Neil hasn't added any metadata that I know of.
Do textures need metadata ?
And the site isn't new, just moved to a different server.
Asked Neil and he says no he doesn't do metadata for freebies. When he is working as a PA, the QA people add the metadata.
Okay! :-) Then I shall not fret over this either.
Hope the new home works out well for you ... I was thinking 'remember the bandwidth' while visiting and only took a few items ;-)
My host, who is a member here, does keep an eye on the bandwidth, but so far we haven't had any real hiccups, not like we did before when Francemi was hosting me. It was mass downloaders that hit us there.
Metadata is as handy for textures as for anything else. I click on Genesis and all the hair models I intend to use with it are in the Hair category section; I click on the hair and all the textures for that particular hair appear. I've set metadata for a good deal of my runtime now. I've never been a fan of the Poser runtime system and adding metadata means I have to go in there less and less. It becomes very quick when you get the hang of it—categorize and add database entry (setting type and compatibility). If you are adding a new figure, then it's a matter of also creating compatibility base for it and scene identification data, but it takes me just a few minutes per product. You should probably create product data if you are actually putting a product together, but I don't bother with that myself as it's not essential.
I am told that if you are making add on textures for store products that already have metadata it is not really neccessary.
But as a Poser user, I can only go on what I am told..
This is what I would prefer. The less time I have to spend navigating back and forth through directories, the happier I am.
Redacted
You don't need to create metadata, but then people won't be able to use your textures in Smart Content. However, it is grossly incorrect to say that "add on textures for store products that already have metadata it is not really neccessary". They do NEED metadata otherwise they won't work, but if you're doing a freebie you can choose to skip the metadata. I'm sure no-one will complain if its a freebie.
There's a link in my sig to the DAZ Studio Metadata Toolkit for creating & dsitributing your own metadata. I strongly recommend you read the entire tutorial otherwise you are likely to get stuck.
Good luck!! :-)
Thank you ;-)
But then even some of the die hard DS users don't bother with smart content and metadata.
Yep, and it doesn't matter to us where you put the MAT files as we'll always move them to suit our needs.
Agreed, I am very much a DIY person, when it come to organising my runtimes.
I think this has a lot to do with whether you use Genesis extensively and have a lot of products that have metadata with them by default. I find it's much easier using these products via Smart Content than from the DAZ Formats Content Library folder, which is even more confusing for me than the Poser Formats library. This gets you using SC and you start to see the benefits. Otherwise you aren't going to see the point of it. By adding metadata to the rest of your stuff you will then only have one place to go for content instead of two or possibly three. I think it is newer users who are going to be more motivated to understand and use SC for this reason.
I've only fairly recently started using Smart Content for "runtime" stuff and I had up until that point extensively reorganized my runtime, but I now find SC more convenient. I'm also probably weird in quite enjoying adding metadata—I find it quite fun!
Redacted
Me too! I think the enjoyment has to do with stimulating different parts of the brain. I'm at my happiest when I've got several things happening at once, and usually something technical like coding, something artsy like a Reality render, and something organizationy like my Smart Content and metadata. I find it very satisfying to have my stuff properly organized, and working with product thumbnails rather than files adds a tremendously pleasant aesthetic. I used to play Napoleonic wargames as a kid and I got a kick out of having my guns, dragoons and hussars all nicely lined up before battle :-)
Please tell me if you think this is off-topic and I'll edit it to say something sensible (and a little less embarrassing).
Well, I created my very first "metadata". As one of the key .pdf files got damaged somehow in transferring between my online and offline computers; it was partly following one of the instruction .pdf files and partly guess work. End result, well it works on my computer and I'll guess it might on somebody else's ;-)
Notes I made 'til about page 7...
tips for adding new items to Smart Content:
For the "Scan for New Files", UNCHECK the "only new items".
In discovering "how to" "where to" it could be that one puts a reference where it is not wanted. So yes one can 'remove/delete REFERENCE' ... and after removing all the references one may discover that no matter how many times the search for content is repeated one's product is simply not going to reappear in the "Unassigned" section.
Brainwave Strikes Again! :-)
Close D/S4 and open the real folders, slide to the Desktop the actual folder containing the desired product.
Open D/S4 and run the search for products gizmo.
Close D/S4.
Open the real folders and slide back into its place, the desired product waiting on the Desktop.
Open D/S4 and run the search again checking to look for 'new' ... and there it'll be! :-) [was trying to get it to show up in the unassigned once more]
If I set up other categories are they only on my computer or will they also appear in other 4.0 programs in which this product is installed?
[we were told that Napoleon had cold hands and that's why in his portraits he often had one hidden]
Well, I created my very first "metadata". As one of the key .pdf files got damaged somehow in transferring between my online and offline computers; it was partly following one of the instruction .pdf files and partly guess work. End result, well it works on my computer and I'll guess it might on somebody else's ;-)
Notes I made 'til about page 7...
tips for adding new items to Smart Content:
For the "Scan for New Files", UNCHECK the "only new items".
In discovering "how to" "where to" it could be that one puts a reference where it is not wanted. So yes one can 'remove/delete REFERENCE' ... and after removing all the references one may discover that no matter how many times the search for content is repeated one's product is simply not going to reappear in the "Unassigned" section.
Brainwave Strikes Again! :-)
Close D/S4 and open the real folders, slide to the Desktop the actual folder containing the desired product.
Open D/S4 and run the search for products gizmo.
Close D/S4.
Open the real folders and slide back into its place, the desired product waiting on the Desktop.
Open D/S4 and run the search again checking to look for 'new' ... and there it'll be! :-) [was trying to get it to show up in the unassigned once more]
If I set up other categories are they only on my computer or will they also appear in other 4.0 programs in which this product is installed?
[we were told that Napoleon had cold hands and that's why in his portraits he often had one hidden]
.....................
editing to add that no, how I categorized the item did not travel over to the tester's program. oh well ...
Redacted
Yes it will, but you need to save your product metadata file after adding the categories, otherwise they are not saved into the DSX file. I suggest you try to re-download part 3 of the tutorial as it explains how to distribute your metadata.
By the way, if you are going to be distributing your metadata, I suggest you read along with the rest of us on the guidelines here: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/7542/ If everyone uses different guidelines it will become a complete mess.
Okay, I don't recall in which order that was made so I'll make note to try that over and see what happens.
Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.
Also having these happy memories of when I first shared out anything ... since there was no where a clear concept of "how to make a mat file" ... I simply redistributed the flat piece of image and let people do whatever they wanted with it. Given the number of programs available at the moment and how each has its own quirks, that might turn out to be the best way. We'll see how things go next month.
edit: found thread. hehehe okay ... well I got the 'actor' part right :-)
No themes!!!! .... "no comment" ...
"happy memories" ... hehehe .... might do the mat files though since I now have a mat creator ;-)
Cheers