File locations for Carrara Models?

HeavyD

Should the files for models including textures,geometries, and the like be installed on the system drive (C drive = 205GB in my case) along with the program or on the storage drive (G drive = 2.72 GB in my case)?

I think they should be on the G drive but that means many need to be moved so I think I might be better off uninstalling everything, including Carrara, and starting over. I think this will help me straighten out some other file-location problems I have been having lately, too. I changed something in InstallManager that I probably shouldn't have and now new installs are not showing up in Carrara. Also, Smart Objects don't show up. And, there are a bunch of ZIP files on my C drive that I don't know are needed or installed or what.

So, basically, how and where should my files be installed? What kind of structure should I adhere to?

Thanks to anyone who can help make this clear to me.

Dartanbeck

Yeah, if drive G only has 2.72 GB, you wouldn't want that as a file storage system for this type of thing - personally speaking.

I keep all of my content and file saves on my C drive, keeping a nice huge C drive in my machine to handle the load. When it looks like it's getting more full than I might like it to be, I go through and move files that I'm no longer going to be editing (like test renders, finished scene files, animation file that are completed, etc.,) onto a storage device.

I keep my old hard drives for use as extra storage. But currently I have a nice large internal drive set up for such storage.

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If you really want to plan for the future, look into a large hard drive on sale for use as a storage device - a place to dump stuff off of your primary C drive when it starts to get full. That way you're not deleting the files so you can retrieve them if needed, while also being able to maintain more free space on C drive, which is very important to have.

Also, in all of my software that utilizes a "Scratch Disc" (used for storing tmp files for undos, etc.,), I set them to use that storage drive instead of C. I create custom folders within that drive so I know where they are. In the case of Carrara, I like to go in there once in a while and delete everything (when Carrara's not running). Sometimes it doesn't completely clean up after itself.

This Scratch disc folder is also where renders go before saved to their final destination. So if you ever can't find a render, check there in case you didn't give it a new location ;)

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Using DIM to install

Personally, I set DIM to install after download, and delete after install. Sometimes I'll change that for special circumstances, but then I change it back again when I'm done. 

It can be nice to save copies of products for hard-storage. In that case, just remember to put them into storage after downloading them, or during your monthly cleanup routine, etc.,

TangoAlpha

My DIM downloads to an external drive (handy when going back & forth between Mac and Windows)

Carrara expects native content to be in a sub-folder of it's program directory (if it's not there, stuff won't appear in the presets dialog, browser tray etc). Not sure if you can install the program somewhere else - if so, it'd probably just a matter of telling DIM where the new program folder is to be, then letting it install (another good reason for keeping your downloads on an external drive and not deleting: it makes reinstalls a walk in the park.

If you can't move the program, there's still a way to fool it into thinking the data is in the same place even if you put it somewhere else, by using aliases (Mac term - not sure what they're called in Windows). "My Documents" is an alias - the actual folder can be anywhere; it's just a redirect to somewhere else.

HeavyD

Sorry for the long delay before responding to your input. I didn't realize anyone had responded. I used to get an email notifying me that a reply had been posted. Does that not work any more?

Anyway, I meant to say my internal G drive has 2.7 TBs of storage not GBs. I think I figured out a little more about where my files should be stored and some things are working better.

One big problem with Carrara, at least in my opinion, is figuring out where to look for a model after it has been installed. Is it a figure or a prop, is it under the artist's name or a DAZ folder, for example? Very few models say they will work in Carrara so you just have to install them and then see if they can be found. Does anyone know of a better approach?

Thanks.

3DAGE

HI Heavy D :)

Generally,. you're talking about using "content" developed for use in Daz Studio and Poser,. (they'll also be usable in other 3D programs)

The majority of these producs are designed to be installed into a (Library, or "runtime" folder) whih is an archaic remnant of the original "poser" file structure.

This folder structure causes issues for new users,. so Daz created a database system of "smart content" (not all content is smart,. still being developed)

and a concept of "Categories" where you could re-organise your products in a virtual way without physically moving any files around and potentially breaking connections btween files locations.

The Naming conventions of Daz3D products,. and thier locations,. have nothing to do with Carrara,. although Carrara can access and use those products,. the creators of those products designed them to be installed and used in Daz studio or Poser file / folder structure,.

 

Carrara,. is  a Full 3D suite,. which is capable of modelling a character, texturing it, rigging it with bones, animating that, and rendering the results.

It's not dependent on using "Content",. although most avalable stuff should work.

Genesis 3 doesn't work in Carrara yet.,.

It has a different bone structure and a different weighting system,.  which carrara doesn't curently support.

Genesis 1 and 2 are fine,.as is older (pre genesis) content.

 

There are "products" available which were designed to be used in Carrara,. and these products are designed to be installed into the Carrrara program folder structure.

If you're using DIM (Daz3d's Install Manager),... then the installation of your products should be automated to identify the location from the files,. and install it into the right place.

You can (right click) on a selected file (in DIM) and choose "show installed files" to see the physical folder were the files are installed.

Generally,. when you're working in a program,. you're using the "content browser" to locate and load (figures, poses, props, hair),.by navigation to what you want to load.

Smart content should automatically present you with all the items which work with the selected model you've loaded, (if that model is smart content)

so there's less manual browsing through folders,. and hopefully easier for newcomers to get into.

Hope that makes sense. :)

 

 

 

Dartanbeck

Yeah... it can get confusing. Poser runtimes were easy enough for me to figure out... but I was a bit obsessed with figuring it out then, so....

But the My Daz3D Library is a bit of a catastrophe where some artists seem to have complied to some sort of similar convention, while others have taken the liberty to make their own directories wherever they want, named whatever... okay, Dartan... enough ranting!!!

So as for the "My Daz3D Library" thing, here are my suggestions:

If you're looking for anything that goes onto a Genesis figure, like clothing, hair, prop, material or shape, etc., Look under the "People" folder and go from there.

So, if you need the Short Order Cook for Genesis 1, you'll find it under My Daz3D Library > People > Genesis > Clothing > Short Order Cook

Vehicles, Buildings, stuff that doesn't get added to a person, is all a bit more iffy. We just have to go into My Daz3D Library and start opening folders that look like they might lead us to the right thing(s).

Poser-aimed content is still categorized the same way it always has been, at least here at Daz3D it is. I like this method, because it's easier for me to organize for easier finding when I need it. For that, now, I use DIM... well... now it's called IM :)

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So, if I'm going to use IM to download/install stuff for Genesis, Genesis 2, or Genesis 3, I use the default method as is set up without anything extra done. This default library is C Drive > Users > Public > Public Documents > My Daz3D Library

I find it a lot easier to maintain all of the updates that happen to this growing technology by keeping it all together in their own setup - and it has been working well for me: My stuff wasn't broken after updates compared to some users with custom locations of their stuff. Nothing against custom... just not for me... not for this.

Now, I still love using Generation 4 figures (M4, V4, Freak 4, Aiko 4, etc.,) and their support. For these, being a Carrara user, I prefer to use the Poser versions installed the older Poser Runtime way. In that regard, when ever my purchases have Poser versions, I always install those into runtimes as well.

For those items which is my largest percentage of content to date, I have written a short article with a rundown on a fairly common way to do it - of course, we all have our own taste which may alter the method somewhat:

Daz Install Manager - Installing Custom Poser Runtimes
Basic walkthrough of designing your own custom runtime structure

Dartanbeck

Another mini article I've put together that some of my friends have found to be quite useful:

Your Carrara Browser
Making great stuff isn't as cool if you can't remember where you put it. Let's get some good habits going right from the start

 

chickenman

I have been fairly sucessful in using the Smart content tab to find my content coupled with DIM.

DIM can tell you the location of the file and also link to the Help files which should tell you the product location in the old content tab.

Dartanbeck

chickenman said:

I have been fairly sucessful in using the Smart content tab to find my content coupled with DIM.

DIM can tell you the location of the file and also link to the Help files which should tell you the product location in the old content tab.

I've forgotten to mention that! Some of my favorite things about DIM:

A - Ultra-Fast downloading/installing! No more individually going through every darned little thing!

B - Organization friendly! We can make our own custom organizational setups and it'll automatically install any updates to all of the correct places!

C - As Chickenman mentions above, Right-click an installed file to see where everything went during installation. The right-click has many nice features throughout the app!

More on B, if we install something to one organizational directory and later wish we'd have put it somewhere else, DIM makes resolving the change super-easy. Simply select every file we'd like moved to a new location, and run the queue to uninstall them. If we chose to "Delete after Install" the files we just uninstalled will now be in the Download area, ready to be downloaded. If not, we'll see them in the ready to be installed area of the Install tab. Either way, we can now select the location we'd like them in and run the queue again. Need a new directory? Set one up. I have many for my Poser Runtimes system.