Migrating runtimes
JQP
Posts: 512
I got started with Poser way back in the V3 days. Those were the bad old days when Poser could turn into a nightmare if you had too much stuff in your library, so a lot of people suggested keeping several runtimes, so that's what I did. Now I'm thinking about combining my V4 runtime into my DS runtime, since most of the stuff in my DS runtime is V4 anyway. And separate runtimes don't seem to be doing me any good these days.
My question is, how would you go about this, and what problems do you foresee? This is a "clean" runtime, in that there's no Poser install, just V4 content. My plan so far:
1. Back up the V4 runtime.
2. Cut-Paste all the non-library folders from the V4 runtime into the approprate DS directory (skipping any conflicts that arise, so that I have a record of sorts of what the conflicts were).
3. Move the library folders over by hand, since they can go wherever. Might keep it as-is, and just "tag" each top-level folder with a code word so I know from looking at it that I migrated it from the old runtime.
I know I'm overthinking this. I can't think of what might go wrong (as long as I'm careful with the library folders), but on the other hand, if something DID make me want to get the chocolate back out of the peanut butter, I'd be up the creek. I could back up both runtimes first, but then there would be the issue of what changes in the meantime, so I'd have to keep three backups.
Post edited by JQP on
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I was going to obsess over getting the forum to properly display my post, but I've decided to give up on doing that. The forum software is just awful. Javascript-requiring bloatware that refuses to load or properly format posts half the time, and takes forever whether it succeeds or not. Loves eating my paragraph breaks. I just got logged out of the forum randomly. There really is decent forum software out there, folks. VBulletin, for example.
First off, poser still has coniption fits with large runtimes.
As far as problems and how to do it.
just drag and drop the Runtime you want to move, in it's entirety, over to your Ds directory.
There really isn't a reason to move it in two seperate motions.
When it comes to the Library folders, you are correct that it doesn't matter if you have Cr2 files in the Character folder or even at the base runtime/libraries folder. Daz studio doesn't care. The custom v4 cr2 I use is in my base runtime directory, where Poser can't even see it(stupid program)
What does matter is how the PA's setup the cr2, hr2 etc. In many cases they will have Absolute references, meaning if something is not in the exact location daz studio will throw an error. PMD files are the most notorious but i've also had it with script files and others. This necessitates editing the particular file to correct the issue, or creating a new file of the same type. Either is time cosuming as it has to be done on a file by file basis.
Beyond that as long as the new location is mapped in daz studio, you should still be able to find your files.
Edited to correct the runtime file location, should have been runtime/libraries.
If you're seeing files in the DS interface that are in the base Runtime folder, you probably have your content paths set incorrectly. DS should only display Poser-format files that are in the 10 (or is it 11) designated libraries.
I know it's pretty much just a matter of tweaking folders inside the library folders (to prevent overlap with the folders inside the library folders in the destination (DS) runtime folder) and then dropping runtime on top of runtime. I plan to leave the relative structure intact. I'm just being paranoid because like I said, getting the chocolate back out of the peanut butter beyond the "undo paste" stage would be a nightmare. The more I think about it, the more I want to do it. Just not quite there yet.
Oh, yeah, I didn't even think about absolute references. Dang, good call. I suppose I could test by moving a runtime first, but there'd be no practical way to check all the references, at least not by hand. Is there some way to at least check to see if I have absolute references in a runtime, and if so, to enumerate them?
The only way I know of is the 'one at a time...try to load' and if it fails crack open the cr2/pp2/etc and look method...or in other words, nope. I don't know how many files I've edited because of absolute references...but it isn't a small number. And it's all been done one at a time...
PS: Don't try to use the more advanced editor...just go with the basic forum post and be done with it. The other way is the path to madness.
yep futzed that one up, edited and corrected
i should have said runtime/libraries.
screen shot attached.
Any other folders in the Runtime are invisible, outside the base 11, under poser formats.
Different definition of "the installed files". The scene saves you see in your Content tabs are not your content, they're pointers to where all the mesh data and texture images are stored. The files in the content tabs that you can click on are also only pointers to the actual content data. All of these pointers are set relative to the root folder of your content location — as long as D|S knows where your content folders are, it can always find all the content data files in those folders.
It's perfectly safe to move saved files around, what you must never do is move the content data files (which you can't see in the content tabs anyway, so it doesn't matter), which is guaranteed to break your content.
a much simpler method, if you are adventurous, is to pull up the files you intend to move in Notepad++.
Usually it's just one or two lines of code per file, but doing it one by one is massively time consuming.
With notepad++, you can pull up all the files in a certain folder and replace all the offending references in one fell swoop with the Replace function.
You'll have to manually type in the corrected reference only once.
In most cases it will simply be a change from say Runtime/Textures/Babayaga/ithinkitgoeshere/hilltop.jpg
to runtime/texture/babayaga/hilltop.jpg.
The easiest way is to pull up the particular folder in windows explorer and copy the address bar. You'll have to switch all the backslash( \ ) to forward slash( /) otherwise it has a tendency to flip out.
you may also have to use colons in place of slashes depending on age of the particular content.
If there is a full absolute reference, c:/runtime/textures/babyyaga/ithingitgoeshere/hill.jpg, it's amazing if it works at all.
simply dropping the c:/ reference usually takes care of it.
now as far as you scene files, depending on age of course(older daz scenes sometimes used full absolute references including drive letter), you shouldn't have any issue just migrating drives, as long as the folders/files maintain the exact same structure and layout, and are mapped properly.
If of course you move a folder within the runtime/libraries directory then the scenes will throw errors.
One last thing is make sure, if you are on windows, to check the file permissions after the move. In some cases i've actually lost the visibility of files, in daz studio, due to permissions being incorrect on files.
This may need to be checked on a file by file basis, and if a lot are missing proper permissions, or daz is throwing a lot of errors for missing content, you'll probably need to change the ownership of the top folder. This generally takes care of the lower folders and files.
Not quite...
They use relative paths, so as long as the folders are properly mapped, the content should be findable, by Studio when loading a saved scene.
I still have some "Runtimes" I created back in the 1999-2000. I've saved some of them on "spanned" DVDs that allow me to save a "Runtime" on as many as 20 DVDs. I managed to combine some collections rather easily. I have been using Macintosh computers for 9 years now. I have multiple external hard drives, along with backup drives for "mirror" copies of each drive. I use a 3TB hard drive for my "original" DAZ and Poser files. I use a 1 TB hard drive for my installed "Runtimes" or content collections.
If I want to install new content or combine two "Runtimes," I put the stuff over onto one drive. I always have a backup of each collection, and the original files on a different hard drive! I start with each folder, and go mehtodically through them. For example, the "data" folder for DAZ Studio. I select all, then drag the folders to the desired location. It's tricky for Mac users. If an existing folder already exists, "(ex AprYSH,") I choose to copy the files of that folder individually. Then I move to the next thing. Example "People" in DAZ Studio, or "Libraries" in Poser.
I've done countless Poser and DAZ Studio tutorials in the past. I took a break for a few years. I might consider coming out of retirement if people are interested in my work. I mainly post all my stuff on YouTube. I could include links in the forums. I just don't want to overwhelm the normal traffic here.
I'd say most of your Poser or DAZ Studio content uses "Relative" file paths. You shouldn't need to worry about editing items to change the file references. I did a quick look at one of my largest collections or "Runtimes," it's 40GB Poser & DAZ Studio have no trouble handling the content.