what is a support asset?
sriesch
Posts: 4,241
What exactly is a support asset, and why would I want to save as that rather than as .duf?
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Saving it as a support asset saves the necessary data information for it to be stand alone so that it can be sold or shared as a daz file. At least that is how I understand it.
That does save it as a .duf file. It's just that a support asset save creates all the proper data files just like a prop or figure you buy from DAZ. Simply saving as a scene or scene subset doesn't quite do it in the same way, and there can be problems when you try to merge the file back into another scene you're working on. Something saved as a support asset doesn't have this problem.
So... should I stop using save as scene entirely and start using save as asset instead for every scene and scene subset I create? (I'm not creating product for sale at the moment, just myself, but I would like to be able to provide a complete scene that support can use if I submit a support issue to DAZ, and I would also be really happy to find a way to save a scene in one spot since every time I think I have it figured out, I discover it's not doing what I thought.)
Or is there still a valid reason to use save as scene instead of saving as an asset?
Saving as a support asset is used to create NEW data files. Products you get come with those data files already so there is no reason to save the data. When creating a new product you have to save it as a asset but only once. Even changes made to it can be done via a regular scene subset. The valid reason not to create scores of new assets is that every one of those will create an unnecessary data file that will just take up space for no reason.
As long as they own the product (which comes with the data) then you can already share a scene file with them.
On multiple occasions they have not been able to use my scene files because things are missing, even if I am certain that I have either included all custom materials, or used no custom materials, and if freebies are used, have provided a link and instructions to install the freebie in question, so it seems I still have not figured out how to successfully (every time) share a scene file with anybody yet.
While I cannot for certain identify what happened, I recently realized that data folders aren't always saved in the same folder as the scene I save and scene 1 may reference data files from scene 2's folder. I have deleted (and will want to delete in the future) older and abandoned scenes and test copies of scenes. However, some of the newer scenes apparently could be using the data folders from these older folders rather than creating their own, so it turns out I may have been deleting things I needed to keep. Although I believe I wrote down instructions that allow one to recreated the data folders in an emergency (unverified), of course I wouldn't want to be doing that on a regular basis even if that works.
I'm not sure how much disk space and file search/backup time I would be adding with this unnecessary duplication should I choose that route. I understand the value of not having duplication that is not necessary. However, I also see the value in not loosing necessary files. Despite repeatedly thinking I had figured out how to save a scene over a period of many years, the unfortunate truth is, I have not yet done so, and really have no faith that the next time I figure it out "for sure now" that I really will have. If the price for guaranteed success is a bit of wasted but still reasonably affordable disk space, I will happily take that over lost data. So, it looks as though PERHAPS this could be a solution, even if it's not the most efficient solution?
Think of Data as coming in 3 forms.. 1 form is data that is included as part of a product. It will include the geometry or morph data and so on. All that jaz. 2 is data generated when you save scene with a product that did not come with data. Things like poser files that get saved are saved with the proper Studio data. And 3 is things that you create and save as an asset yourself. Lets say that you create a morph with the deformer and save it as an asset. Your also going to create a unique file folder in data for yourself for that item.
Data files are only the stuff that relates to the geometry of the object like the well..geometry and morphs. It isn't the surface settings or any of that other stuff. Those are contained in the .duf file but they are not included as part of the data information. If you repeatedly re-save the geometry as new data your not really creating anything but duplicate files
Things like shaders and so on..those are part of the scene information not data. Saving something as an asset to retain those should be done as a regular file, scene or scene subset.
If you lose data.. if it is a purchased product that came as a studio file then you reinstall the product. If it was a poser file that data was created for on save you can load the product and re-save the scene with a new name. It will recreate the data and your all good again. The only way you would be unable to fix it is if the data was not created in the original scene in the same place as it was created the second time. But now that studio will open an incomplete scene you can sort out which object is missing data, delete it and then reload and re-save to fix the scene.
Different purposes. Assets are generally single things — a chair model, the surfaces/shaping settings for a Genesis figure, a light preset, etc. A scene or scene subset is one or more assets — you can save every object in your scene at once, or you can use a scene subset to select which objects in your scene get saved.
Once you've saved a newly created somethingorother as an asset, after that you can save it as part of a scene or scene subset and the asset data will be used. This is what allows properly saved items to have moderately small .duf files; the scene can contain multiple copies of an object, but they all point back to one copy of the asset data.