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Cleaning up files before zipping to share for testing (SOLVED)

CrissieBCrissieB Posts: 195
edited January 2017 in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

Hi all,

I have my denim dress finished, and I'm almost​ ready to zip up the files and put them in my Dropbox to share for testing. But I'd like to tidy up a bit before I do.

Following LittleFox's advice, I updated my DAZ Preferences to use the author name CrissieB, rather than the email-address-based user name that DAZ gave me by default. I then set up a new content library on my desktop -- CrissieB DAZ 3D Library -- with a People > Genesis 3 Female > Clothing > CrissieB > CB Denim Dress > Materials subfolder set and a Runtime > Textures > CrissieB > CB Denim Dress subfolder set. I copied my texture maps to the Runtime >>> CB Denim Dress folder, went to the Surfaces tab and reset the texture maps to the ones from the new folder, and saved a Material Preset in the People >>> Materials subfolder. Finally, I saved the dress as a Figure/Prop Asset in the People >>> CB Denim Dress subfolder.

That Save As created a data > CrissieB > CB Denim Dress > CB Denim Dress subfolder set, because I used the same name for the product and item. That second CB Denim Dress subfolder has the CB Denim Dress.DSON file for the dress, and two subfolder sets: Morphs > old_user_name > Base and UV Sets > old_user_name > Base. (It's not actually old_user_name, but it is the email-address-based user name DAZ originally gave me.)

The Morphs >> Base folder has the two Breast Bridger morphs that SickleYield's G3F Ultra Templates added to my rigging, plus two pJCMs that DAZ created last week when I mistakenly saved the dress on a posed figure, before I redid the rigging with SY's templates. The UV Sets >> Base folder has the default UV map.

Questions:

​(1) How can I get my old_user_name off those Morphs and UV Sets subfolders?

​(2) Can I delete those two (now unused) pJCMs from the Morphs >> Base​ folder, or will that break something?

​(3) Once I have the files zipped and in my Dropbox, in which DAZ forum should I post an invitation for product testers?

​​Thank you all for your help. smiley

Crissie

Post edited by CrissieB on

Comments

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 102,744

    Yes, you can delete the unwanted morphs - in fact that's the onyl way to remove morphs, as far as I know. As for the ones you want but which are under the wrong name, try doing a fresh File>Save as>Support Assets>Moprh Asset to save them, then remove the folder with the wrong name and make sure the dress still loads correctly.

    I think, though I haven't checked, that you would want to save presets after saving the assets - that way the preset will point to the correct thing.

  • CrissieBCrissieB Posts: 195

    Thank you, Richard!

    Deleting the unwanted morphs caused no problems, and the fresh Save As>>MorphAssets fixed that issue. The data>>>Morphs folder now has ​CrissieB>CB Denim Dress Morphs​ subfolders, with only the two  breast bridger morphs in that last folder. I closed DAZ and reopened the scene, and the dress loaded fine, with those morphs in place.

    To replace the ​UV Sets​ subfolders, can I: (1) make a ​UV Sets > CrissieB > CB Denim Dress UVs folder set; (2) copy the default.DSON file from the current ​UV Sets > old_user_name > Base folder to the new UV Sets > CrissieB > CB Denim Dress UVs​ folder; then somehow (3) select that new default.DSON; and (4) delete the old_user_name > Base​ folder set?

    If so ... ummm ... how do I do Step (3)?

    Thanks again for all your help!

    Crissie

     

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 102,744

    Sorry, I missed the UV set. That is a little trickier - I'm not sure there is a simple way to fix that. You would probably need to edit the .dsf file for the UVs after moving to correct the path (remembering that you need to use the same characters as you would for a URL  -space, for example, becomes %20). The file will probably be compressed since that's the default option - you can unzip with a utility like 7Zip or using the Batch Convert pane in DS. Obviously work on a backup if you do this.

  • CrissieBCrissieB Posts: 195

    Hi Richard,

    Which dsf file would that be?

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 102,744

    The oen for the base UVs (other UV sets you could just resave)

  • CrissieBCrissieB Posts: 195
    edited January 2017

    Hi Richard,

    In that file, would I change this ...

    "id" : "/data/CrissieB/CB%20Denim%20Dress/CB%20Denim%20Dress/UV%20Sets/old_user_name/Base/default.dsf"

    ... to this ...

    "id" : "/data/CrissieB/CB%20Denim%20Dress/CB%20Denim%20Dress/UV%20Sets/CrissieB/Base/default.dsf"

    ... and then copy that dsf file from here ...

    ​data > CrissieB > CB Denim Dress > CB Denim Dress > UV Sets > old_user_name > Base

    ... to here?

    ​data > CrissieB > CB Denim Dress > CB Denim Dress > UV Sets > CrissieB > Base

    ​I just tried that, and the answer is a resounding ... Nope.

    There is some other file that looks for data >>> UV Sets > old_user_name > Base

    It may be the geometry file, or the scene file. But I get a File Not Found error if I try to load the scene without that default.dsf file in ​data >>> UV Sets > old_user_name > Base​

    Post edited by CrissieB on
  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 102,744

    It may be recorded in the main .dsf asset file, and editing that would be a pain. I'm pretty sure there is a trick to this, but I can't recall what it is.

  • CrissieBCrissieB Posts: 195
    edited January 2017

    Hi Richard,

    ​I fixed it​. Here was my workflow:

    1. Use your file navigator to ​make a new subfolder of UV Sets in your new user name​, in my case: ​CrissieB DAZ 3D Library > data > CrissieB > CB Denim Dress > CB Denim Dress > UV Sets > CrissieB​
    2. Use your file navigator to copy the Base​ UV folder including the ​default.dsf in the folder with your old user name, in my case ​data >>> UV Sets > old_user_name > Base > default.dsf
    3. Use your file navigator to paste the copy of the Base UV folder into the folder with your new file name, in my case: data >>> UV Sets > CrissieB > ​Base > default.dsf

    You now have a copy of your default UVs in the folder you want. You'll need to edit the main asset.dsf file, but first you need to make a copy and decompress the copy:

    1. Use your file navigator to make a copy of the main asset.dsf file, in my case: ​​CrissieB DAZ 3D Library > data > CrissieB > CB Denim Dress > CB Denim Dress > CB Denim Dress.dsf
    2. In your file navigator, paste the copy in the same folder, in my case: data >>> CB Denim Dress > ​CB Denim Dress - Copy.dsf
    3. In DAZ, select Window > Panes (Tabs) > Batch Convert
    4. In that dialog, click ​Add Files...​ and select the copy of your main asset file, in my case: ​data >>> CB Denim Dress > CB Denim Dress - Copy.dsf​
    5. Make sure Uncompress Listed Compressed Assets is checked and click Apply​.

    You now have an uncompressed copy of your main asset file, ready for editing:

    1. In your file navigator, find the uncompressed copy and open it with your text editor​.
    2. In your text editor, ​select Edit > Find ​and enter UV%20Sets​​. That should take you to the line that references your default UVs, and you should see the current file-path, something like:
    3. ​data>CrissieB>CB%20Denim%20Dress>CB%20Denim%20Dress>UV%20Sets>old_user_name​>default.dsf
    4. In your text editor, ​replace your old_user_name in that string with your new user name:
    5. data>CrissieB>CB%20Denim%20Dress>CB%20Denim%20Dress>UV%20Sets>CrissieB​>default.dsf​
    6. In your text editor, save the file​.
    7. In your file navigator, rename of your original main asset file, e.g.: ​data >>> DB Denim Dress > ​CB Denim Dress.duf ​renamed to CB Denim Dress - Original.duf
    8. In your file navigator, rename the copy of your main asset file to the 'original' name, e.g.: data >>> CB Denim Dress > CB Denim Dress - Copy.dsf renamed to ​CB Denim Dress.dsf
    9. In DAZ, select Windows > Panes (Tabs) > Batch Editor, click Add Files... and select your edited main asset file.
    10. Make sure Compress Listed Uncompressed Assets is checked, and click Apply.

    You now have a compressed main asset file that references the UV Sets​ subfolder with your new user name. You still have the original, unedited main asset file, and the original ​UV Sets​ subfolder with your old_user_name, 'just in case'.

    1. In your file navigator, move the original, unedited main asset file -- and the original UV Sets​ subfolder with your old_user_name -- to wherever you keep 'just in case' files.
    2. In DAZ, open the scene with your asset and make sure it loads properly. If it does, you're done.
    3. If not, you probably made a typo while editing your main asset file. ​​In your file navigator, ​delete your edited main asset file and restore your original, unedited main asset file (by returning it to its original folder and renaming it to its original name)​. Then repeat the steps above to make a copy of the main asset file, decompress the copy, edit, etc.

    Your content library should now have a main asset file (e.g.: ​data >>> CB Denim Dress > CB Denim Dress.dsf​ ) that references the default​ UV file in your new folder (e.g.: data >>> CB Denim Dress > UV Sets > CrissieB > Base > default.dsf​ ).

    Thank you all for your help, and I hope this workflow helps someone else! smiley

    CrissieB

     

    ​

     

    Post edited by CrissieB on
  • CrissieBCrissieB Posts: 195

    I'm pretty sure I have the files set up and zipped for a standard DAZ install, so I have one question left ...

    ​Which is the best forum to invite people to test products?

    Thank you all for your help!

    Crissie

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 102,744

    Is it going to be commercial, and if so is it going to be offered to DAZ? If it's a freebie or if you plan to offer it to Daz you can post in Art Studio (for freebies) or the Commons. Do bear in mind that if it's a commercial item at another store, from the outset or after ebing rejected by Daz, we would have to remove the thread as offsite-commercial (question/techncial threads like this one are fine).

  • CrissieBCrissieB Posts: 195

    Thank you, Richard!

    I plan to offer it to DAZ, so I'll post a testing invitation at the Commons. Is it customary to handle testing by DM, or in a public thread?

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 102,744
    CrissieB said:

    Thank you, Richard!

    I plan to offer it to DAZ, so I'll post a testing invitation at the Commons. Is it customary to handle testing by DM, or in a public thread?

    I think people usually prefer to use PM, or email, rather than public posts.

  • CrissieBCrissieB Posts: 195

    Hi Richard,

    I kinda hoped so, actually. Airing dirty linen and such....

    Thanks again for all your help!

    Crissie

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