Invisible downloaded files in content
malcolmkarpeta_40f9af0b00
Posts: 257
Good day to you all, a total DS newbie here and I really hope you can help me before I get on the blower to The Samaritans.
I am a humble filmmaker and have worked with Photoshop, Final cut, Motion and other packages for many years so not a total nugget when it comes to this sort of thing. However, DS navigation and naming conventions has me somewhat perplexed.
Having downloaded Daz3D 4.10.0.123 Pro and played around with it for several days I was confident enough to download a freebie “Bedroom” scene from Renderosity thinking the install would be quite intuitive. Silly me.
I have followed all of the tutorials and advice available to install said asset but, whilst all of the files in all of the folders show up in Finder location, only the folders show up in DS, no content inside them.
Now, I do not inquire of your clever-dickie selves lightly. I have Googled the cr@p out of this issue and tried all of the methods. Though I haven’t tried to use DIM, for 2 reasons; 1. General advice is not to 2. I don’t know how :(
OK, techy stuff, I am on Mac Pro with Mojave 10.14.3, Processor 2x3.33GHz 6-core Intel, Memory 64 Gb 1333 MHz DDR3, so I don’t think I have an issue there, I’m not sure it’s even relevant.
On installation of DS, all of the assets for it went to the path Users/macpro/Shared/My Daz 3D Library/Downloaded freebies (I created that last folder all on my own on advice from this forum :) See attached image. So that is where I put the following folders (Pardon me while I relate the strategy) Also see attached images
Download Classic Bedroom Final.zip
Unzip, Contains; Runtime.zip, Render settings.jpg, Promo Pictures folder
Unzip Runtime, Contains folders; Textures, Libraries, Geometries
Opening each folder path reveals:
Textures – .jpg files
Libraries - .cm2, .png, .xmp, .It2, .pp2, .pz3 files, lots of other empty folders
Geometries - .obj files
Copy these 3 folders to Users/macpro/Shared/My Daz 3D Library/Downloaded freebies
Refresh DAZ content pane
I have tried various other strategies found on the interweb but to no avail
Are you still with me…?
Now, not one to give up easily the only way I could see any files in DS path structure was to import one of the .obj files from finder location and then save it as a .duf file (Yet another format!) It works fine then, but I hope I shouldn’t have to do that with each individual file…?
Oh, almost forgot, I have also added the path to DAZ Library in Applications tab on DIM (Another image)
If you are still reading, kudos my friend, I salute you.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Malc (Vexed)
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Comments
The good news is that being a 3rd party product from outside of DAZ it won't be 'seen' by DIM (unless you have anotehr 3rd party product ..) so younot using DIM here is not an issue! From seeing the content confirms my initial thoughts in that it is in 'Poser formay so you will want to extract or copy/move the extracted files to a location where Daz Studio can see amd recognie them as Poser format. It's not quite Catch-22 so take a deep breath .. start Daz Stuidio and look at the Preferences (I don't use Macs so not sure on actual key names, but F2 or Edit>Preferences). You'll be looking for the tab on that dialog that deals with content location (Content tab, then 'content Directory Manager' button). Expand (click on th elittle + symbol) for the Poer Formats entry and it wil lshow what locations Daz Studiocurrently knows of.b You can eitehr use one of those (ir nmore than one shown), or create a new folder for the purpsoe and add it to this list. Ifcreating a new one you can call it anythign youliek so long as the lowest folder name is 'runtime', so something like "renderosity\free stuff\runtime". To addf to the list click on the Poser Formats label, then on the 'Add...' button that should have becoem active. navigate to the 'runtime' folder just craeted and accept (it will displ;ay in the list without the runtime fiolder, so don't panic!).
To get your files to the right place, extract the files to a temporary location and then just move the runtime folder so that it will merge into your selected destination folder. And that should be it. If Daz Studio is running at teh time you will need to go to the content libray, pick the destination folder used, right-click and select Refresh. All should then be good.
Phew! Many thanks Simon, very comprehensive reply. Now to try it :) I will digest bit by bit and acton upon said advice. I think I understand that I have to create a folder in Poser directory so DS knows the images are Poser formatted, then copy files/sub folders to there. Got it.
Wish me luck, I'm going in!
I don't know who advised you to add that "Downloaded Freebies" where you did but they where wrong. If you move that folder to Users/macpro/Shared/ you coud link it as a new library in Studio from the Content Directory manager, just add the full path Users/macpro/Shared/Downloaded Freebies under both DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats. Finally in the Applications pane of DIM for DAZ Studio the path should point to where Studio is (just like you did for Hexagon and Photoshop) not your library.
Don't add folders, there is a structure that has to be followed (especially for Poser formats) and if you add folders without knowing what you are doing you can break that structure.
Simon, I want to have your babies. Genius work my friend.
Slight issue, I get messages when the the image is loading that "....cannot find a file for /runtime/geometries/Primitives/Construct.obz" but it's no biggie, if I click Stop Asking it still loads enough for what I want.
Image attached to show you how clever I am :)
Malc (Happy of Spain)
Jestsmart, thank you also for the advice. Understood, I will absorb and go back in to make sure there are no conflicts.
Malc
OK guys, final question and then I'll stop bothering.
If I download assets in the future, I have to check what format the files are (DAZ or Poser) and install to the appropriate Studio folder...?
Malc
As long as you install to a folder that is set as both a Poser and a Daz studio content diectory in DS, and place the Runtime, Data, and any other folders at the same level in the zip in the content diectory itself (not a sub-folder) then all you have to remember is to check under both Daz studio Formats>Content directory and Poser Formats>Content directory for the files
Thank you Richard, much appreciated :)
Malc
Good work! I have often found that teh item missing (most often a texture file) is actually presnet but justnot in the expected place. It can take a little looking, but if you look inside the zip file (easier this way as it wil lcontain all that came with the item!) drill down each folder structure (shoudl only need the geometries folder) and see if it is there and if so, which folder itresides in. It might appear as either a .obz (as requsted) or, possibkly a .obj - the .obz is a compressed version of the .obj). Correcting this, if that is the problem (file present, just in difefrent place) is to eitehr copy/move the 'offending file' to the location it is being lokked for in, or editing the underlying file (possibly a .pp2) to have th elocation updated to poitn to where it actually is.
Thanks again Simon but I discovered that I was saving the character incorrectly, if I save as a scene subset all is okay.
My next problem is that when I apply my saved character to, say, the bedroom scene, it loses its skin tone and looks awful! I'm trying different settings when saving the original character so will hopefully find out what I'm doing wrong.
Or it will be another question for the board!
Malc
Needless to say it should not be doign that. I woudl suspect some kind of interaction between any or all of: the poser item havinbg 3Dleight textures/shaders, Iray render engine selected, lighting in scene, and possibly the viewport using OpenGL (which yiou can do nothing about)..
If you do your save, clear the scene then reload your saved item, does it still look liek it did? Does anything change when rendered (often items look different in viewport and when rendered).
I'll try rendering before I save, watch this space!
Hmm...still looks pasty and washed out, maybe the "Bedroom" scene just does not match the "Character" scene in terms of properties...more experimenting!
Are you using the Poser lights that came with it?
Hi Ascania
No, haven't tried that, I will now though!
As a test I bought a bedroom scene direct from DAZ store and din't have a problem with that so it must be the compatability issue. Back to the drawing board... :)