Setting DS up for dual monitors?

pwiecek

I have a marked difference in the resolution of my monitors. I get the best results with iewports on the higher definition monitor and everything that requres me to read text on the lower. Fortunately, my lower resolution screen is still a pretty decent size

hjake

hjake said:

alan bard newcomer said:

hjake said:

ust a couple months ago I was broke when I walked into a local store and they had a couple of 40 inch plus 4k tvs that were monitor compatable on sale for $199. 

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I used to have triple 27" monitors in the past but current space requirements don't permit more than 2 monittors. Are you using 3 monitors at the same resolution? Because that seems to be the telling factor. On multi-monitor layout I had content/smart and scene tabs beside viewport on monitor one and all the other tabs (based on task) on monitor 2.

the middle is 4k the content one is 2k on the X-  and the misc pane collection is on a 1920  on the X+ side

 

This weekend I will take another look at multi-monitor DS. I see your computer is being held hostage by a masked bandit.  Good luck and God Save the Mice!  :-)

The DAZ interface and Windows 10 scaling are not friends. Usually I have have my 4K monitor scaled to 175% and my 2K monitor scaled to 125%.

The only way to make them work together is remove all scaling and/or match them for resolution.

If there is solution for this please let me know

 

 

 

hjake

hjake said:

hjake said:

alan bard newcomer said:

hjake said:

ust a couple months ago I was broke when I walked into a local store and they had a couple of 40 inch plus 4k tvs that were monitor compatable on sale for $199. 

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I used to have triple 27" monitors in the past but current space requirements don't permit more than 2 monittors. Are you using 3 monitors at the same resolution? Because that seems to be the telling factor. On multi-monitor layout I had content/smart and scene tabs beside viewport on monitor one and all the other tabs (based on task) on monitor 2.

the middle is 4k the content one is 2k on the X-  and the misc pane collection is on a 1920  on the X+ side

 

This weekend I will take another look at multi-monitor DS. I see your computer is being held hostage by a masked bandit.  Good luck and God Save the Mice!  :-)

The DAZ interface and Windows 10 scaling are not friends. Usually I have have my 4K monitor scaled to 175% and my 2K monitor scaled to 125%.

The only way to make them work together is remove all scaling and/or match them for resolution.

If there is solution for this please let me know

 

*** UPDATE ***

A few years ago I bought a Samsung U28E590 4K monitor. This is an entry level (budget) 4K monitor into the market, but I have it found it the be very servicable for DAZ Studio. The colour and dynamic contrast function well. There are sufficient settings to adjust the monitor for most tasks.

I was fantasy shopping for an ultrawide screen. Lo and behold, I found a local store had 3 of my monitor in stock and on sale! Both monitors are set at 4K and 175% scale and moving DAZ Studio panes  between them is seamless.

Now that I have two identical monitors, I much happier than I would have been with an ultrawide. The 30% extra wide would not have really given me the space I was looking for. DAZ Studio functions perfectly between these two screen and I use my old 2K monitor as my reading/watching screen for instructions, tutorials, file browsing, and ofcourse entertainment.

 

hjake

alan bard newcomer said:

hjake said:

ust a couple months ago I was broke when I walked into a local store and they had a couple of 40 inch plus 4k tvs that were monitor compatable on sale for $199. 

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I used to have triple 27" monitors in the past but current space requirements don't permit more than 2 monittors. Are you using 3 monitors at the same resolution? Because that seems to be the telling factor. On multi-monitor layout I had content/smart and scene tabs beside viewport on monitor one and all the other tabs (based on task) on monitor 2.

the middle is 4k the content one is 2k on the X-  and the misc pane collection is on a 1920  on the X+ side

In my previous post I had said things were working. It seems either I was delusional or something in Daz or Win 10 has changed since then. So now I have a problem:

 

Well I have 3 monitors setup and I can not get DAZ Studio to function in the manner I would expect for multi-monitor support.

My setup (Windows 10 with DS 4.16.03 Pro Edition 64-bit):

Monitor 1 (center) 3840 x 2160 at 175% scale.

Monitor 2 (right) 3840 x 2160 at 175% scale.

Monitor 3 (left) 2560 x 1440 at 125% scale

I use monitor 1 and 2 for DAZ Studio and monitor 3 for everything else. When I try to move a pane group from monitor 1 to monitor 2 the group jumps to the right side of the screen although the cursor is in the upper left corner where I want the group to  be placed.

The only solution I have found so far is to change the properties on ther DAZStudio.exe to enable "High DPI scaling overide" behaviour to "Application" and then change the style in DAZ Studio to "Main Street". Although everything is very tiny and I have to sit with my face less than 24" from my monitor, I can function but this is a GARBAGE solution!

Can someone PLEASE provide a better solution?

 

Second question.  How do I make separate tab groups on the same tab column? For example, in workspace "City Limits" Aux Viewport and Scene are in a different tab group above the tab group that includes Parameters.

 

 

 

 

PerttiA

On a 24" monitor running at 1920x1200, each pixel is about 0.25mm x 0.25mm => you get 16 pixels for every square millimeter on the monitor. I have never seen the edges of individual pixels at this resolution.

In the past you could run the CRT monitors at different resolutions without it degrading the quality, but these flat monitors are meant to be run at their default resolution (only). Using any other resolution or scaling the image, degrades the quality of the image because algorithms has to be used to calculate which pixels should be which color.

4K monitors are fine if one has a 40"+ monitor(s), but as some programs (like DS) are still using the traditional way of scaling the interface texts and elements to a fixed number of pixels, using a 24" or 27" monitor at four times the resolution, makes the interface elements that much smaller and is generally just waste of resources.

hjake

PerttiA said:

On a 24" monitor running at 1920x1200, each pixel is about 0.25mm x 0.25mm => you get 16 pixels for every square millimeter on the monitor. I have never seen the edges of individual pixels at this resolution.

In the past you could run the CRT monitors at different resolutions without it degrading the quality, but these flat monitors are meant to be run at their default resolution (only). Using any other resolution or scaling the image, degrades the quality of the image because algorithms has to be used to calculate which pixels should be which color.

4K monitors are fine if one has a 40"+ monitor(s), but as some programs (like DS) are still using the traditional way of scaling the interface texts and elements to a fixed number of pixels, using a 24" or 27" monitor at four times the resolution, makes the interface elements that much smaller and is generally just waste of resources.

 

You are correct to get the full value of 4K resolution three 46" monitors would be best. However I don't have three of those and I found 4K monitors scaled to 175% were more suitable for me than native HD or scaled 2K. I do other things on my computers besides DAZ studio.

The problem is DAZ Studio ability to scale its interface not the monitor of any size or resolution. Windows scaling came into effect with Windows 7 so this is not a new feature and Microsoft has been recommending it since Windows 8. The monitor is running at its default resolution. Itr is the interface text and icon that get scaled if the software was written to be adaptable. Blender is an example.

Please view the attached screenshots comparing Blender vs DAZ Studio on the same 4K monitor.

 

 

hjake

Windows 10 scaling is not the same thing as lowering the resolution on your monitor or zooming/resizing in the image. On Windows it is Display Scaling, on Apple it is Retina. The operating system has software designed to allow high resolution monitors to display the interface of a software (text and icons) at a larger size for legibility. If you use a software that was not written to take advantage of modern operating systems then when it is scaled up its icons will look fuzzy and it may have issues of clicking/dragging because the software is working from a 1:1 pixel placement with the screen. It seems DAZ Studio has not been updated to rectify this problem but maybe some industrious users have come up with a solution, other than just sticking to one monitor when using DAZ Studio.

 

This is the simplist explanation I could find:  https://www.techjunkie.com/windows-10-display-scaling/

I have attached to 2 images to show how DAZ Studio is impacted by scaling. Notice the character did not become 75% blurrier due to scaling. Again, changing resolution and image zoom/resizing are not the same thing  as Windows Display Scaling or Apple Retina.

 

hjake

I solved the problem. Too easy!!!   "Make Pane Group Undockable". I was undocking the Pane or Group but that is not the same thing.

This solution does create a weird issue if you have 3 monitors. The dropdown menus from the appear to the left of the main window. The only solution I found was to limit windws to 2 monitors if I wanted to avoid this.

Now if some kind person can answer my second question:

Second question.  How do I make separate tab groups on the same tab column? For example, in workspace "City Limits" Aux Viewport and Scene are in a different tab group above the tab group that includes Parameters. see attached image.

 

Omniflux

I think you undock a pane, which creates a new floating pane group, then you can drag the new pane group back into the main window, but it can only be placed in a few locations (edges maybe? top and bottom edges? I don't recall)

I put together my layout by saving the layout (Window -> Workspace -> Save Layout As) and editing the dsx (XML) file it created because I kept struggling with pane groups.

The .dsx files are located at "%APPDATA%\Roaming\DAZ 3D\Studio4\user layouts" ("C:\Users\Your Username\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\Studio4\user layouts" on most systems).

This is 2800x5120 + 5120x2800 + 2800x5120.

 

hjake

Omniflux said:

I think you undock a pane, which creates a new floating pane group, then you can drag the new pane group back into the main window, but it can only be placed in a few locations (edges maybe? top and bottom edges? I don't recall)

I put together my layout by saving the layout (Window -> Workspace -> Save Layout As) and editing the dsx (XML) file it created because I kept struggling with pane groups.

The .dsx files are located at "%APPDATA%\Roaming\DAZ 3D\Studio4\user layouts" ("C:\Users\Your Username\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\Studio4\user layouts" on most systems).

This is 2800x5120 + 5120x2800 + 2800x5120.

 

Thanks Omniflux. I will look at the XML (dsx) file when I have some more time and thanks for the pics.

hjake

hjake said:

I solved the problem. Too easy!!!   "Make Pane Group Undockable". I was undocking the Pane or Group but that is not the same thing.

This solution does create a weird issue if you have 3 monitors. The dropdown menus from the appear to the left of the main window. The only solution I found was to limit windws to 2 monitors if I wanted to avoid this.

Now if some kind person can answer my second question:

Second question.  How do I make separate tab groups on the same tab column? For example, in workspace "City Limits" Aux Viewport and Scene are in a different tab group above the tab group that includes Parameters. see attached image.

 

Can anyone else shed light on how to have multiple tab groups in the same column?

 

Richard Haseltine

hjake said:

hjake said:

I solved the problem. Too easy!!!   "Make Pane Group Undockable". I was undocking the Pane or Group but that is not the same thing.

This solution does create a weird issue if you have 3 monitors. The dropdown menus from the appear to the left of the main window. The only solution I found was to limit windws to 2 monitors if I wanted to avoid this.

Now if some kind person can answer my second question:

Second question.  How do I make separate tab groups on the same tab column? For example, in workspace "City Limits" Aux Viewport and Scene are in a different tab group above the tab group that includes Parameters. see attached image.

 

Can anyone else shed light on how to have multiple tab groups in the same column?

You mean one above another? Drag the second by its top bar to the bottom of the existing group and release the button when a line of highlight colour appears.

hjake

Richard Haseltine said:

hjake said:

hjake said:

I solved the problem. Too easy!!!   "Make Pane Group Undockable". I was undocking the Pane or Group but that is not the same thing.

This solution does create a weird issue if you have 3 monitors. The dropdown menus from the appear to the left of the main window. The only solution I found was to limit windws to 2 monitors if I wanted to avoid this.

Now if some kind person can answer my second question:

Second question.  How do I make separate tab groups on the same tab column? For example, in workspace "City Limits" Aux Viewport and Scene are in a different tab group above the tab group that includes Parameters. see attached image.

 

Can anyone else shed light on how to have multiple tab groups in the same column?

You mean one above another? Drag the second by its top bar to the bottom of the existing group and release the button when a line of highlight colour appears.

 

Badabing !!! Thanks Richard. Works like a charm.

 

UPDATE: It only works on the main windows not undocked pane groups.

 

Also, is there a way to make the tabs vertical in an undocked pane group instead of horizontal?

 

Richard Haseltine

hjake said:

Richard Haseltine said:

hjake said:

hjake said:

I solved the problem. Too easy!!!   "Make Pane Group Undockable". I was undocking the Pane or Group but that is not the same thing.

This solution does create a weird issue if you have 3 monitors. The dropdown menus from the appear to the left of the main window. The only solution I found was to limit windws to 2 monitors if I wanted to avoid this.

Now if some kind person can answer my second question:

Second question.  How do I make separate tab groups on the same tab column? For example, in workspace "City Limits" Aux Viewport and Scene are in a different tab group above the tab group that includes Parameters. see attached image.

 

Can anyone else shed light on how to have multiple tab groups in the same column?

You mean one above another? Drag the second by its top bar to the bottom of the existing group and release the button when a line of highlight colour appears.

 

Badabing !!! Thanks Richard. Works like a charm.

 

UPDATE: It only works on the main windows not undocked pane groups.

What do you mean?

 

Also, is there a way to make the tabs vertical in an undocked pane group instead of horizontal?

Not as far as I know

hjake

Richard Haseltine said:

hjake said:

Richard Haseltine said:

hjake said:

hjake said:

I solved the problem. Too easy!!!   "Make Pane Group Undockable". I was undocking the Pane or Group but that is not the same thing.

This solution does create a weird issue if you have 3 monitors. The dropdown menus from the appear to the left of the main window. The only solution I found was to limit windws to 2 monitors if I wanted to avoid this.

Now if some kind person can answer my second question:

Second question.  How do I make separate tab groups on the same tab column? For example, in workspace "City Limits" Aux Viewport and Scene are in a different tab group above the tab group that includes Parameters. see attached image.

 

Can anyone else shed light on how to have multiple tab groups in the same column?

You mean one above another? Drag the second by its top bar to the bottom of the existing group and release the button when a line of highlight colour appears.

 

Badabing !!! Thanks Richard. Works like a charm.

 

UPDATE: It only works on the main windows not undocked pane groups.

What do you mean?

You can only stack pane groups in the main DAZ Studio window (the one with the File, Edit, Create, etc menu). You can not do stacking in Undocked Pane Groups. This is not a deal breaker just unfortunate in allowed flexibility.

 

Also, is there a way to make the tabs vertical in an undocked pane group instead of horizontal?

Not as far as I know

Richard Haseltine

Ah, yes - that is correct. There is some discussion of docking behaviour here

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/change_log#4_15_1_72
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/change_log#4_15_1_81

hjake

Richard Haseltine said:

Ah, yes - that is correct. There is some discussion of docking behaviour here

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/change_log#4_15_1_72
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/change_log#4_15_1_81

 

Thanks for the links. I would not have found that info on my random searches through Google-Bing.

I really wish DAZ 3D would hire a technical documentation administrator. There are plenty of easy to develop online services (e.g. whatfix.com) that could be used to develop and maintain documentation, but you need a central administrator to herd the cats and keep things up to date and organized.