Actor vs. Character - what's the difference

clivewil2

hello. i did try googling this but nobody answered it...

i went looking for a figure in my library in the Figures section and didn't find it - until i turned off 'Filter by Content' and then it suddenly showed up, along with a huge mass of others, some of which i'd never even seen before.

all the hidden ones had a 'character' tag whereas all the normal, visible, ones were tagged as 'actor'

what's the difference between the two, and why would a PA release a figure in a form that the average user won't even see?

the Character figure in this particular case was MSO Mina 8.1

https://www.daz3d.com/mso-mina-hd-for-genesis-81-female

Richard Haseltine

The tags are expalined here http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/interface/panes/smart_content/files_page/results_view/start#content_type But do you mean those or are you looking at the categories?

clivewil2

yes those are what i mean.

thanks.

Pendraia

Wouldn't it be something to do with how it was saved? When you save a figure you choose what the item is? For example when I save clothing I categorise it as a follower/wardrobe which allocates the tag. 

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/dson_spec/format_description/metadata/content_types/start

The first two are

Actor

Actor/Character

Maybe it's just they saved it to Actor character instead of Actor? 

clivewil2

as far as i can tell, the only advantage to a Character is that it can replace an existing figure in a scene, i.e. if i had G8F with red hair and a blue dress in a scene and i double-clicked Mina*** then i would see Mina with red hair and a blue dress alone in the scene. 

doing the same thing with an Actor would result in both G8F and another Actor being in the scene.

i think so anyway

*** real early in my DS dealings i vaguely recall being asked what to do with a figure in the scene and i think i answered something like 'always create a new figure' - which is why i initially couldn't see the value of Characters - to me they behave like Actors.