Tough Getting Started...
BorisBadenov
Posts: 51
I'm pretty new to Daz 3D. From what I've experienced so far, it's probably not for me. I was looking to start slow, and maybe start buying content as I learned more, and got better at it, but it's WAY too frustrating. I tried a couple fully inclusive projects that went reasonable well, but that's where the fun ended.
I decided that rather than risk buying content, I would just start with some free stuff, and see what I could do from there. It's impossibly complicated. I haven't been able to get one single thing to work. The installer loaded Daz folders all over the place on my hard drive. I have 2 Daz folders in my documents folder, a Daz folder in my c: drive Program folder, a Daz folder in my c: drive Program (x86) folder and probably a few more scattered about.
When I manage to find free content to download, I have no idea where to put it. The folder structure is unbelievably complex. (Why is this even necessary?) When I finally did put the content in a folder, and it showed up in the Daz menu, I got error message after error message with no idea what to do about it.
There are so many generations of models that I can't possibly keep them straight. I have no idea where to go to begin learning, and absolutely no interest in buying anything when everything is this complex from the get go!
If someone tells me I need to wipe everything and reinstall, that's a good sign I need to stay away from the product. I'm a hobbyist, not a professional. I'm not going to be making money doing any of this. I was just looking for a diversion from my video editing, and after effects projects. Thought I might be able to create some cool fantasy scenes, etc, in Bryce, add a few 3D models and spice up my projects. (hobbyist, remember...?)
Now I'm thinking that if Bryce is this complicated, I may need to rethink it. The 3D models here have been amazingly disappointing. So I probably won't need a scenery program since I have no characters to put in them.
Can anyone else relate to this?
Is there anything that can be done to get started without investing a ton of money.
Thanks.
"D"
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Comments
Well, I'm not the BEST person at the moment to ask about installing DAZ, but I will say this- the program is free, the Genesis Essentials that comes with it has some very nice things so you can putz around with it, to set DAZ up if you go with the recommended C drive that DAZ suggests, you don't really need to change that recommended path. You will find the people on these forums extremely helpful- the best in the world frankly. There's no dumb questions.
So far as free content, tell specifically what you've done to install it, as folks can't help if they haven't a clue what you're doing. I'm not good with the technical stuff (as witnessed by my installation/smart content issues on a thread that's going on right now, lol.) But we'll all be glad to help you if we can- just be specific as to what you don't know to do and what you have DONE. Hang in there!
I second Novica's post!!
The people of this forum are absolutely amazing. I have learned a lot by posting the challenges I faced while getting started. I empathize with you and I encourage you stick with Daz Studio to realize your goals you want to accomplish as a hobbyist.
There is nothing wrong with slow conservative approach by delaying purchasing content. The starter kits have enough content in them for you experiment with. As you experiment your imagination will begin to see more potential and you may see content worth buying in the near future. For now, experiment with Genesis and Genesis 2 Female (G2F).
The good news about the previous generations of content is backward compatibility where Genesis and G2F may use clothes, hair, scenes and one may even switch out textures too. So in the Daz Studio world, old may not mean obsolete. When I started Daz Studio, just when Victoria 6 hit the content store, I bought the V6 pro pack but found myself falling in love with Thorne's product line which is mostly generation 4 products. So personally I found value in many of the products for Daz Studio.
When you are ready to buy content, I would encourage the platinum membership because you will save a lot money.
Anyway we'll all be here for you on the forums if you encounter opportunities while using Daz Studio.
I feel your pain. I have learned a lot just from reading the forum. I do not use any free stuff just because I do not know how to install them. I do buy every now and then when something is on sale. The installer makes it nice. I have problems also. Sometime Items show up and sometimes not and other problems. There is an old post that states that Poser is more for us hobbyist. For now I will stay with Daz Studio because it is free. Good luck.
It certainly can get VERY confusing very fast, and getting content sorted is a real pain.
I'm no expert, (which is why I am in the beginners area!), but I'd strongly advise you to stick with Genesis figures until you are more confident. Daz have put a lot of work into automating that stuff, and you will get a lot less grief than if you try and mix and match different resources.
The tutorial videos are fairly helpful, (though there's still a lot to learn).
A couple of tips I find help me out.
1. I keep a document with info on the stuff I buy or download, and add some notes when I get something new. Mostly you can just copy the welcome or readme notes, but I find it good to have them in one place. I can also exptend them with screen shots if it takes a couple of goes to make the new resource work.
2. The first thing I do after installing a new product is to locate it and make something that uses it - so if it's a character I apply it to genesis, and save it as new-chap.daz or whatever. That way I can find it easily in the operating system, and fire it up rather than rebuild it.
Hope that helps,
Nick
Just in case folks don't know how to test and get a product to show up
1. The SKU number is on the product page, on the right side toward the top, under the Add To Cart
2. Go to Help at top of page>Documentation Center (Wiki)>then left side menu will say ReadMes. Those will tell you where the product should be located (if there's a Readme)
In your studio, if you are in Smart Content, there is a little menu to theEDIT: RIGHT of the words Daz Store, when you click on it, you'll see the option for Content DB Maintenance. Select Re-import MetaData, Accept. When the popup appears, uncheck everything except the one you are looking for- they are by SKU number, which is why you must know that number from the product page. Many times after re-importing the metadata (if your product has it) then your product WILL appear- and you know where to look because of the ReadMe.
Very handy Novica, thanks.
That's getting copied into my notes document!
Nick
That should read that the menu is to the RIGHT of the words DAZ Store.
Thanks for the encouragement all...
DHOLM said: "I feel your pain. I have learned a lot just from reading the forum. I do not use any free stuff just because I do not know how to install them."
Ack! That should be the first thing we change! The other night when I tried to download some free stuff, I was looking at:
Dungeon Chambers - FREE SCENE with LIGHTS and CAMERAS
Author: shiftingimages.products
This looked very interesting, and I thought maybe I could work up a few scenes and practice getting to understand the interface, etc.
The problem, as I see it, is that many of the veterans around here know instinctively what products will be compatible with the models they have. I've noticed that many vendors don't even bother to list what models are compatible with their products or freebies.
Everyone just seems to know.
Well, I have the Essential Starter pack and whatever other freebies came with the initial installation. The question is: Should I have even bothered downloading Shiftingimages product? Will it work with what I have? Doesn't seem to. I got error after error message, and got frustrated and wrote my OP.
I mean...I have a Genesis basic female model, a Genesis basic male model, and a Genesis 2 basic female model. When I see something that's for a Genesis 2 female model, wouldn't it make sense that it's compatible with what I have? If not, why not? How can I tell what's compatible with what I have so I can avoid what isn't?
And as DHolm said above...even if I figure out what is compatible, I have no idea where to put it.
Shiftingimage advised me to "Unzip it into your content folder". I looked in every Daz folder I could find and finally concluded that I didn't even HAVE a content folder!! So..I made one, and put his stuff in it! Sure enough, it showed up in the inventory library, but none of it was useable.
If someone can point me to some good resources for downloading the correct content for the models I have, and help me make sense of the file structure for Daz3D so I can correctly put the new content (freebies or purchased) in the correct folder, I would be very grateful.
Thanks all...
"D"
Add my voice to the chorus of the confused!
My content purchases all ended up on my C: partition and yet my DS4 can't see anything; the whole left pane is generically blank with only options for watching videos. Something's very screwed up. I am about to deinstall all products and then reinstall only DS4 and one or two products, then figure out where all the pieces-parts are and how to get DS4 to see them.
It's a mess at the moment but I am convinced I will eventually be successful.
One of the basic things that seems to get very new users (aka, those just installing) messed up is the Genesis Essentials. If you don't have that, the Smart Content side is literally gone. The Genesis Essentials will be listed under the DAZ Studio 4.6 in the Product Library. After that, see if Content Management Service is running (go to Start on your computer and find it in the programs) Even after you start it, once you open the studio, do a cntrl + alt + delete to get the Task Manager open, and scroll and see if the DAZ Content Management Service has shut itself off. Some of us are wondering if the new Windows 7 update is messing things up- both ScorpioDragon and myself are having problems (well, MORE problems) since that update a few days ago.
So check the Essentials, check to ensure the CMS isn't shutting off- even after you turn it on.
I checked under my START menu...CMS wasn't listed. In fact, there were no Daz programs or folders listed there. I went looking for it in my Task Manager, and it was listed and running. So..I went looking on my c: drive and found it in a Daz folder. CMS.exe I clicked it just for the heck of it, and checked in the Task Manager again. Still Running...
All seems good so far.
Went looking for the Genesis Essentials stuff. Looked in Content Library first. (highest level of the folder structure)
I see 5 options: Daz Studio Formats, Poser Formats, Other Import Formats, Products, Categories
Under "Products ", I see 3 choices: D, G and S
Under the G option, I see: Genesis 2 Female Starter Essentials, Genesis 2 Female Starter Essentials PoserCF, Genesis Starter Essentials, and Genesis Starter Essentials PoserCF.
Seems all good so far...
I'm getting problems using materials. I see that I have alot of products in my content library and what not but when I try and use a material option, I get a loading progress bar and then nothing. I have checked to see if the management service continues to run in my task bar and it doesn't. I just do not know what to do.
I haven't read all of the above because sadly I don't have time at this precise moment, but I did read all of ravenns1's original post, and I chuckled.
Not in a rude way.
But I spent the best part of two years hanging around this new user's forum asking questions and offering help where I could. Slowly I got to grips with how Daz Studio worked.
All I will say is ask as many specific questions as you can, people won't mind. The official team here are great, and the rest of us like to help out as well, so there's a lot of support.
It is fun when you get into it. I promise.
Barry.
A content folder is any folder that contains your 3D content and has been defined / mapped in the Content Directory Manager. Confusion over the content folder (or folders as you can define / map as many as you want / need) comes from DAZ Studio originally naming the content / library folder "Content" the "My Library" and now something new (I have never used the default content library location so I can't recall what the current name is). When dealing with freebies and in some cases product from other stores they are often packaged with content inside a folder with one of these old library names, this is simply wrong and wont work when extracted to your actual library. What is worst is freebies that are packaged with no file structure at all, just loose files. As far as Smart Content and CMS is concern I hate them strongly encourage people to stop relying on them, us Content Library tab instead. CMS is a temperamental POS that doesn't play well with some anti-virus and firewall software or even some security settings of the OS.