How to bring 2008 work up to date to now (2021) - Solved
VitalBodies
Posts: 161
Greetings Again,
Left off in Daz and 3D in 2008.
I would like to learn how to get back to where I left off and bring that into the now.
I have my old files.
Yet I would guess they have to be placed/installed/improrted/etc to work.
Getting the impression those were Victoria 4 times. Still exploring old files.
Are there tutorials or user manuals or the like or is it best to ask here on the forums.
Currently on a Mac M1 Big Sur. Get the sense I have to wait on that, but updates on when this will arrive would be fun.
Excited! Bought this to get back into 3D.
I have some older machines too that I dug up to make this go for now.
A Lenovo W700 with Win 7 for example or an old Lenovo D10 ThinkStation and possibly others.
The Basics I would think would be a machine that works, the Operating System needed for then or now or both and an understanding of how to place the many types of 3D files where they need to be to work - and work together.
Do I start with the current Daz or use an old version?
Help here would be wonderful. Would love to not lose years and years of work.
If my questions do not lead to the answer then answer as you will.
Thank you!
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Comments
I guess you would have been using DS2 or DS3? If you still have the installers they should still work, although DS2 transparency in the viewport may not work correctly with modern graphics cards. If you bought DS3 Advanced it should still be in your Product Library. The basics are the same, although a lot has changed and improved. The current version will still read your old content folders. .daz files from back then will usually work in DS4, but some won't. I'm not sure if you should jump straight to the latest version, or use an older version to re-familiarize yourself first.
Thank you for your help.
I will try to look into what version I was using. I believe I took some screen captures of some settings.
DazStudio came out in 2005.
According to the Wikipedia I would have been in Window XP or Vista, so further back than I thought.
Windows 7 had not come out yet.
I will check my product library. I know there was at least a version of DazStudio Pro and I think Carrara.
I setup the latest vesion today as a test but am willing to go back if needed or if I can.
I can setup another old computer if needed.
Would there be a proper way to make use of my old files? Meaning, import, drag and drop, copy and paste, or tell DazStudio there location?
Would one do that within the program or at the Windows file manager level or other?
I found DazStudio 2.3 in my product library:
https://www.daz3d.com/downloader/customer/files#prod_2075/
I also found Carrara 5 Pro and Carrara 6 then 6.2
Then 2013 I got DazStudio Pro 4.x which would have been a different era and different computer for me.
https://www.daz3d.com/downloader/customer/files#prod_13176/.
So 2.3 unless updates were not in the product library.
The version in the product l ibrary will be the final version of 2.3. transparency in the viewport may be messed up.
Put your old content folders somewhere outside of Program Files so you don't run into permissions issues
In DS4, go to F2 > Content Library > Content Directory Manager and add the path to your content folder under both "Daz Studio Formats" and "Poser Formats" -- the path should run from the disk letter to the folder containing the Runtime folder (but not the Runtime folder itself) for both formats.
Thank you again!
I will try that tomorrow.
For this effort of 2008 files I loaded Windows 7 Professional on a old Lenovo W700 laptop.
Windows updates are updated, virus scan and windows file corruption scan completed with no issues.
Backed up.
Added Daz Content Manager (DazCentral) and then it added DazStudio Pro. I think 4.15 but I can check that if it helps.
Hoping to try what DazCentral installed first (using your suggestions above) but willing to load another machine and go further back in time.
How much do you think DS versions matter? I know they matter, but there seems to be eras of versions that work up until the next era.
Are there known eras (not sure what word to use) to watch out for? You mentioned transparency. What era might I have to go to for that to work?
for example will 2.3 work?
On a different note: I installed DazCentral and thus DazStudio Pro (I think it was called CM) and could see my plugins and assets.
I clicked to install all the assets I thought I had used in the past. DazCentral seemed to install them.
In the "smart" view of DS I could seem them. Yet none of the little icon/images for an asset showed up except things like genesis 8 or new stuff.
For example Victoria 4 or 5 would not have an image? Is that normal or indicates a problem? Instead was a picture frame icon and an X.
Your old content probably doesn't have metadata for "Smart" (not) Content and therefore wouldn't show up in any of the Database driven views which are not real folders. Use the real folders that can be found in Content Library->Daz Studio Formats or Poser Formats instead.
Thank you for your help.
The content I added was direct from the DazCentral rather than my own files. I had forgot the name in what I said above.
So I have not added any of my own old or new files. Nice to know that adding my own might not be "smart" ha ha.
So far, this is a journey for me, and perhaps others if they need to revisit old files by getting old computers going.
In this case, Windows (to start) and onward from there or not.
I have old computers to work with and perhaps you do too.
Currently I need to get Windows 7 setup as that is the foundation for DazStudio, Blender/3D Studio or other software if you used that - then.
If the moderators approve, I wanted to share some helpful links and information that is helping me in the journey.
If you are trying to get Microsoft Windows 7 going in our current times of 2021 these resources might help, and have helped me.
The links are all to Microsoft website pages not outside sources. If you want to learn more like I did you can look each resource up on the Wikipedia.
Note: support for win7 ended in 2020 so extra effort is needed. The links can be hard to find because of that.
So let's begin.
This is a free scanner from Microsoft.
"Microsoft Safety Scanner is a scan tool designed to find and remove malware from Windows computers. Simply download it and run a scan to find malware and try to reverse changes made by identified threats."
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/intelligence/safety-scanner-download
There is another called Microsoft Security Essentials. This is a free Antivirus solution until 2023. This works on Win7
Scroll down to see it.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5201
And built into Windows is this tool: (This tool scans for corrupt Windows files and repairs them. )
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e
RE: the operating system comments and securityware - You can upgrade windows 7 to Windows 10 free still, we did it a few days ago on a PC dating back to 2013 and it is fine now. Windows 10 security from microsoft has a good permission system to help protect from ransomware too.
RE Daz in general when returning.
I started with Victoria 4 but found Genesis was easier to work with when it came out, then Genesis 2 came out and got the new content, then Genesis 3 which I got more content for. Not been a fast adopter of Genesis 8 as I have expressions and hand movements and so many more things for G3.
Where I am going with this is I was quicker to abandon V4 as I found her a bit harder to work with. Various bridges and converters were used for a time converting my custom characters from V4 to G2 then G2 to G3 but have not touched any of those converters in years. I do have my older content in a seperate content library I rarely use now.
There are paths,methods, scripts, procedures and programs to get textures and morphs from V4 to newer Genesis also. Sometimes getting a new texture and dailing up a new version of a character is the best approach though. One of my main actors is wear a converted Victoria 4 tecture and my mains shapes mostly were salvaged from old content using GenX plugin.
Really depends what you want to do. If you want to make new content and sell then your best to stay on the latest generation genesis, while I prefer the character I have the most stuff for.
If the Windows 7 is Pro or Ultimate, there is no point in installing W10 especially to an older computer, it's heavier on the available resources that as such would be far behind current technology, and in case you did have a supported Nvidia card in the computer, W10 eats up 800MB:s more VRAM (base load) than W7.
Windows 7 Home edition would not be worth keeping with it's 16GB RAM limit.
Thank you for your comments. How does one go about getting the free upgrade? Also was it OEM or a retail version of Windows?
Would the various methods to convert and update V4 generally be within DazCentral?
I started in poser and made to V4 and left off in 2008-2009. In 2013 I attemped to get going again and purchased V5 but never goit that going. Not sure why might have been the complexities of shifting from Win to Mac or the state of 3D in those times. Ultimately I will likely need to decide on start over or carry on as you mentioned.
General update:
Ended up with viruses on the Lenovo W700 and decided to restore from factory and start over. I ended up using the Open Source free program ClamWin to find virues allong with Safety Scanner. ClamAV is available for Mac, Linux and more. Look it up ClamAV and ClamWin on the Wikipedia to learn more.
There are mentionings on the Wikipedia of Clam not being that effective but they are from 2011 or so and Clam has been under constant development since then at least.
I decided to try to get the Lenovo D10 going with Win7 and try for the free upgrade to 10.
I am hanging in there, thank you all for your support!
We just did a google search on this older computer, we moved house so many times we could not find the windows 7 product key. It should of been on a sticker inside the case but we also searched for a utility that can find you all the product keys from things like windows install and office. You do need a valid product key to enter during the installation, I think all OEM ones do have one from a keygen sort of thing. The first utility we found wanted money to tell us the code, the next told us our own product code.
Basically "Free windows 7 upgrade to windows 10" in google - trust the microsoft sites avoid the unknown mirror sites. The upgrade was painless - the installed software such as microsoft office and various games from the windows 7 install still worked on the machine with upgrade to free windows 10. Didn't need to reinstall anything.
RE upgrade from V4 there were various products I used, Generation X for one to shape morphs and convert V4 morphs to Genesis generations. No so worried about body morphs now it is easy to estimate proportions. Was more worried about face morphs.
For textures I ended up using a product off another site called Texture Transformer. When Genesis 3 was young I used it a lot to get the better V4 textures onto my newer characters. Now Genesis 3 is a bit older there is such a variaty of skin tones and mostly at 4096 x 4096 resolution such that I don't bother salvaging 2000 x 2000 V4 textures now.
There are other products too, those were simply the two I used most.
The image is from my local area's microsoft page so localised but that link still gives a valid working installing windows 10.
BlueSirius, thank you for your comments.
I got Win 10 going through the free upgrade.
Ran into a technical problem I could not figure out.
Basically, I am using a Nvidia GTX 760 graphics card in a Lenovo D10 ThinkStation 6427-CTO.
I am using a Vizio 4k TV as a monitor via HDMI over a HDMI 2.1 cable.
That monitor works great until the moment I (or Windows Update) loads the Nvidia driver replacing the default Microsoft display driver.
At that moment the monitor says "no signal".
If I pull the hard drive and put in a different one and boot to Ubuntu 20.10 the monitor works with the open source driver but not the Nvidia driver?
Nvidia GTX 760: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/graphics-cards/geforce-gtx-760/specifications/
Vizio 4K model M65-F0: https://support.vizio.com/s/article/M65-F0-Model-Information-2?language=en_US
Tried older drivers, the latest driver but no luck.
Updated the bios, changed card slots, reboot, Windows updates etc.
Might have to use a different card but that is the best card I have for that older computer.
Oh my, I am nearly a pro in Win 10 on a crash course from hell!
All I can suggest is making sure drivers are the latest and trying alternatives. Maybe it puts the signal to another channel you can tune too, or set as AV input or S-Video etc.
Not all HDMI ports are the same: try different inputs on your monitor/TV. Also try a different cable (you can hook up many cables to the same monitor for diagnostics, just select the corresponding inputs on the monitor itself).
Install the nvidia driver and let it finish. Turn your PC off via a short press of the power button then turn it on, or reboot it via Remote Desktop. See if the display comes up.
Listen to Windows sounds during installation and use Device manager to see if the monitor is present and detected.
If Linux too works with the built-in driver, but with the Linux nvidia driver, I suspect your monitor might lack some feature required for a successful connection. That feature will be enabled at the time of driver installation, and might be anything from unsupported resolution, to unsupported color or encryption standards. I've seen TVs rejecting an input signal as unsupported because it was LESS than fullhd (1080p).
Good luck!
GLE, thank you for your suggestions.
In my mind, the clincher is the fact the Ubuntu can use the 4k monitor at the monitors choice of resolution and the cards max refresh rate of 30hz.
A Mac Mini can drive the monitor too and does the same except at 60hz.
Thus to me that proves the hardware is fine but the driver is not.
However, with that said, I did try multiple cables and ports. Even upgraded to 2.1 HDMI cable.
There are no adapters, just a new cable.
Went through 3 complete Windows 10 Pro installs. Ran the troubleshooting built into Windows.
It is like the Nvidia driver forgets there is an HDMI port.
I doubt that is the case, but there is zero evidence from watching the monitor that any attempt of any kind happens.
Again, same computer, same cable, same card, same everything (hardware wise) and it works great in Ubuntu.
I wish DazStudio worked in Ubuntu.
Still, trying a different port or whatever can sometimes trigger things to change or update.
Open to all ideas.
BlueSirius and all, thank you for your suggestions.
A friend gave me an AMD R7 250 E graphics card. So I pulled the Nvidia and installed the AMD.
Let Windows load drivers - no signal. Loaded the current drivers and no signal.
HOT UNPLUGGED & PLUGGED the HDMI 2.1 cable to the card and "Houston, we have signal" - in old quasi NASA talk.
Wow! Would have to do that each boot so far but not many boots. Still, that is awesome!
Had to see if that would work on the Nvidia - nope.
Same friend suggested EDID as a hardware addition for the Nvidia or within the control panel of the AMD.
Have not tried it yet - moving, slow but sure...
> It is like the Nvidia driver forgets there is an HDMI port.
If your 760 has DVI output, you can try a dumb adapter like this: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71DZ5QyT3RL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
If you have DisplayPort, a 4K adapter should be reasonably easy to find. Club3D had some certified ones if memory serves.
If you can get hold of another Windows 10 PC, try moving the 760 to that one and see how it goes.
I recall an ATI card that would glitch after driver installation, final diagnosis was toasted hardware. Keeping the same driver and using another identical card solved the issue.
After all, drivers unlock 100% of your brain hardware. Without it, you're stuck at 20%...
Thank you for the suggestions.
I have one of those adapters I can try for the DVI port. DisplayPort might be an option also as there is a port and I think it supports a higher refresh rate. I would need a cable to adapt to HDMI.
I have another old machine I could boot to Win 10, however, it does not have 10 installed.
How would one go about that? Would I download a Win 10 ISO and burn that to a DVD and boot to that or install it? I would prefer to not buy Windows 10 for a test.
I also now have yet another old laptop going with a factory restore of Windows XP Pro if that helps get my old files going.
Lenovo Z60m. Wow, a blast from the past!
RE the older machine: If it has an operating system try to get that free windows 10 on it? Maybe they are not strict, so long as the old computer has a legal windows key for some version it may cooperate. They almost want to give it away!
I was just given a Win 10 Enterprise (Workstation) version! It is so time consuming to load 7 that I cringed at the thought - just to load 10 - by design?
Hoping Daz moves to support for Apple chips - soon.
General update:
Tried a DisplayPort to HDMI cable and Win 10 now boots to the 4K - meaning, we have signal!
Full res and 60hz which is the max the card will do. Will only do 30hz HDMI.
My 3 foot cable was a challenge to use so I ordered a longer one.
Actually a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter and a longer HDMI cable.
Is there such a thing as an 8K version? I saw them with mini DisplayPort only.
Win 10 is loaded - Daz is loaded - DazCentral is loaded - my assets are loaded.
This is a epic...
On to the next steps. Sort down my old hard drives and extract out my 3D files.
Hard drives are sorted down and virus scanned.
All my files are moved to a USB-C SSD so this should happen in my lifetime!
Just need to extract my 3D files.
Thank You again for all your support!
Thank you for your help! This resolved my overall issue.
In my case, I ended being able to use the latest DazStudio Pro, DazCentral, and Windows 10.
I used F2 and your suggestions and added paths. My files are stored in a folder within "Documents".
Now my new and old files are in separate sub folders and both work great.
I am now able to start where I left off!
This will be fun to see how much has changed and improved too.
Additional comments:
I was able to use my Carrara files from the same era (2008) with the Carrara I could re-download (I had bought then) from my Daz account.