Millenium SubDragon cannot be loaded DAZ 10+

AngelikM

Hi, everyone! Please, I need Help!

I'd just bought the Millenium SubDragon and had it already installed as shown in my IM (installed items tab) (here's the link to the screenshot: https://cl.ly/62cc05d50af2), yet I cannot find any *duf archive and the only thing I see either on my smart content or my Content Manager(even within the Poser items-as I read, yesterday, on other posts related to this issue) is the SubDragon LE (which was automatically installed the very first time I had installed DAZ (back in October 2018). Note that the image bellow shows the ONLY file found under Millenium Subdragon, otherwise (whether is dragons or creatures-->land/air) the only 'actor/figure' shown in SubDragon LE.

Also: Wondering if the visible checked marks within the IM installed tab means something, because there is none related to the Millenium SubDragon items (?)

I had bought a couple of items to enhance the Millenium SubDragon possibilities but I am unable to use them as I cannot load/see/find it.

What can I do? What am I missing?

Many thanks in advance.

NorthOf45

The "SubDragon LE.duf" in the Millennium Subdragon folder is the one that is installed with Genesis Starter Essentials. That particular product has DAZ Studio-native versions (ie., .duf) of several products, and for the SubDragon, it is the LE version (Limited Edition, meaning limited number of morphs). The regular product is a combined Poser/DAZ Studio affair and all the files are located in the Poser format part of your library (.cr2 and .dsb). The main character will be under Figures -> DAZ Dragons -> SubDragon, poses and materials under Pose -> DAZ Dragons -> SubDragon, and so on. Check the readme to see where to find all the pieces (if there isn't one on the site in the documentation center, there is usually one in the product file itself that gets installed with the product).

AngelikM

Thanks, @NorthOf45.

Unfortunately, I am unable to see any Millenium SubDragon anywhere... I can locate the poses and materials though :-)

And I don't understand why this Actor cannot appear within my SmartContent tab as all of my other Millenium products (animals) appear once installed. Even the Millenium Dog (I'd bought the Millenium Dog LE before knowing there was any difference)

Any ideas/suggestions will be very much welcome.

Thanks in advance.

MelanieL

Angelik M said:

Hi, everyone! Please, I need Help!

...

Also: Wondering if the visible checked marks within the IM installed tab means something, because there is none related to the Millenium SubDragon items (?)

...

The check marks show whether a product has metadata (i.e. whether it shows up in Smart Content).

If you right-click on the line in DIM that you highlighted then you should be able to click on "show installed files" (or similar words) - this will show you exactly where the files were installed. Then hunt for the (probably .cr2 file) listed there in your Content Library and you should be able to find it.

NorthOf45

You noted the lack of a check mark in DIM for the SubDragon items, that means there is no "smart content" available. Some users don't like the Smart Content pane because it does not show every single product and dependency, especially for older products. You can add it in manually, but that is another adventure.

Still, it should show in the Poser format Content Library folders. Have you refreshed the library or restarted Studio after installing? Sometimes items don't show up immediately in the Content Library. Is DIM set up to install to the same folder as Studio is expecting to find it? I presume it is, since other content is available. Did you change the installation path at some point before installing the SubDragon?

You can see exactly where the installed content ended up by going to the product in DIM, right-click and select "Show Installed files..." In the pop-up, the very top will show the root folder where it was installed. Verify that this is the same folder that your Content Library is based on, and is where DIM should install. All the files should be underlined blue hyperlinks, meaning that DIM found the content. If they are plain italic black text, then the files are missing, or not where they should be.

The main files of interest are down near the bottom of the list. Look for the lines "/Runtime/libraries/character/Daz Dragons/Subdragon.[cr2/dsb/png]". That is the SubDragon character. Other files you want are below that under "/Runtime/libraries/Pose/DAZ Dragons/SubDragon/", etc.

The "Millennium SubDragon StudioCF" product contains DAZ Studio optimized materials (only), and will be found in the DAZ Studio format section (not to confuse you) under Animals/Millennium SubDragon. You load the figure from the Poser section, then apply the materials from the DAZ Studio section. (That's why I use custom categories, puts it all in one place).

Szark

Extually the correct Path in the Content Library Pane (Not Smart Content) is Poser Formats - What ever the content folder is named mine is "My DAZ 3D Library" - Figures - DAZ Dragons and you are looking for SubDragon.CR2

AngelikM

Thanks a lot @Northof45, @Szark and @Melaniel!  

@Northof45: Yesh  I am refreshing the tab content before I click on any file within the tab, the files are all blue underlined hyperlinks... and I guess they are where Daz is looking after and Yesh, Ohhhhh I'd changed the installation path back in Dec because I needed memory/space but then reverted it all (at least I hope I did it right as NOTHING was working for a couple of days until I returned to default settings and reinstalled DAZ and everything!--- except that M4 and V4 are not working anymore... I'd asked for tech support in Dec and have not received any reply yet, but as I am a new user and guess learn quite fast, I now understand that those were very old characters and even though it is not ideal, I prefer genesis8/3 and the basic genesis... so I can wait... but again, the Millenium SubDragon seems quite versatile and I was so happy I can play with it as I am working with Dragons in my stories... but it is quite a challenge to use it now and I need to use them or return to drawing dragons manually).

I'd searched the file's extensions within Finder and voilá... all of the files are installed exactly as they were supposed to be installed within the right path/directory... yet when I'd tried the simplest way to load the file --> drag and drop (because I cannot see it anywhere!) it says: The 'SubDragon' Support folder could not be found.  Here it is the screenshot:

And then: 

Which I don't understand as all the files are where it's shown  (the same path/root) in the Read Me html file within my library.

Here they are two screenshots showing the IM route and the DS content manager route

So now I really really really don't know what is going wrong... :-(  What am I missing?

Again, many thanks in advance (I am having a crash course in DAZ directories with you all teaching me... amazing community!!!)

 

NorthOf45

Okay, one step closer. The M4/V4 and SubDragon not working are related. That generation of products used what is know as ExP technology, and must be initialized before they can be used. This should occur automatically when installing. In Windows there is a UAC (User Access Control) prompt to run an external program (Runtime/Libraries/!DAZ/DzCreateExPFiles-xxxxx.bat, one for each figure that uses it) that will create the needed files and folders. (There are similar initializations for V4 and M4, and others). Not sure how it goes on the Mac, so you'll need some Mac expertise to help on that front. I see on my Windows computer that there is a folder called DzCreateExpFiles.app under Runtime/Libraries/!DAZ which isn't in the installers, so maybe the command file is generated automatically?

I can't tell which folder is being used by DIM for installation (Current: Recommended DAZ Studio/Poser Content Folder), the shortcut names on the left side are truncated, but both start with "Recommende..." Your Studio libraries are "\Users\*******\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library" (which I believe is the default) and "\Users\Shared\My DAZ 3D Library" which don't seem to line up with the folders used by DIM to install. Make sure they are looking in the same place.

Also, the order of the library folders can have an impact on those ExP products. In your Content Set, make sure the main library is first in order for both (after you verify the correct paths are being used). Click on a library and use the Move buttons (bottom left).

AngelikM

Thanks for your recent comment @NorthOf45!!! 

It had made me dive deep into my rational-logic mind and like a flash my intuition noticed :-) Needed to do a lot of playful trial and error and then go to the root of the Content Manager and IM installed tab--> paths... then uninstall and re-install them all over again...

It was about the folder where everything was looked after/installed... the USER logic had a lot to do ... now I am able to load the Millenium SubDragon and V4 (and A4)... let me see if they are running smoothly, if I can play with the poses and shapes and so forth... so far, so good... 

If by the end of the week everything continues to improve, this challenge will be resolved...(I'll update this post for sure, YAY!!!!)

Lots of sunshine...

NorthOf45

Great! I'm sure it will be okay from here on.

AngelikM

Hi everyone... so happy to tell that the Millennium SubDragon is working fine!!!  [apparently, the system does not recognize my iPad's emoticons, so I needed to edit adding this editor's ones LOL).

Still some things and bugs to be aware of in DAZ, hopefully those issues can be resolved too...

Many, many thanks for your help.

Have a wonderful month!