Novica & Forum Members Tips & Product Reviews Pt 8
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@DSDT. I took a look and reworded a couple of things in the document and uploaded the edited version to the original post. I'll also double-check again tomorrow (today, lol) when I'm awake. I need to proof the whole thing anyway.
Ah! ok I thought you installed stuff manually :)
With the DIM, if you right click on the product after it's installed, there's "show installed files" .....it opens up a little box that shows exactly where everything got installed, and they are links also so you can just click on them and it'll open up the folder.
I thought I'd mention this here, as some people may not be aware of this little program.
A lot of the older content has .rsr files instead of .png files.
There's a nifty little program called "P3DO Explorer" that will convert those .rsr into .png easily. (it does other stuff too but I only ever use it for this)
http://www.senosoft.com/
Basically, you open it up, browse to where the product folder is that has the .rsr files, and go to Tools -> convert Rsr2png and it'll turn them all into pngs.
If you use the content library, it's helpful to convert them.
I used Content Library forever. It was SO easy, especially once I figured out that you can rename product folders and put the props/hand/mats folders in the main outfit folder, so everything was there in one place. DIM to me, was brilliant (except the abbreviation ha ha - what is it with daz and their "DIM" and LIE"??) Download and install everything from one place, and then right click it to find out where it got installed so I could then go in and change it all.
I resisted Smart Content for the longest time - in fact I was quite vocal about never using it or Connect.Then one day I decided to reorganize everything (i do that occasionally) and decided to give Smart content a go. I was hooked. Having the icons made it SO easy for me to visually see what I had, and what I was looking for. Being able to search for a vendor and everything by that vendor showed up, and also being able to save that search. ("key::stonemason" in the search bar) was like manna from heaven for me. There are times tho when I am extremely frustrated with Smart Content. Specifically when the metadata is incorrect and half the product is in "lost and found" when it shouldn't be. Or they've neglected to categorise separately the iray and 3delight mats so you have NO idea which is which (this happens quite frequently unfortunately). Or when the visual icon for the product is not there and it's just the grey default icon (this drivee me INSANE - it's not that hard to get this right and there are a number of products that do this). So yeah, while Smart content can send me tearing my hair out, I find the visual icons are much easier for me.
@gypsyangel Will you test this arm and see if you are getting this result, or anyone else who bought Eilish? Unless the arm is upraised in a closeup, you'd never see it, but it still shouldn't have those lines by the armpit. I'm doing a larger one now so you can see it better. She is quite a lovely character, lights easily, and I really like her. I think the lights are probably making her nails a bit darker than they really are.
Yeah, I know, it shows installed folder. But what I was saying is some of these don't show where they are- like the one I mentioned, there was no textures in the Content Library, and nothing named GorodinBody, or at least not that I found. When I look at file paths, I don't get it unless it's exactly how the Content Library is set up. Does that make sense? Like the ones which have People>Genesis 3 Female>Characters, of course I know where that is.
Look at Tamara Clothing- she doesn't even have a FILE labeled Tamara. Seriously?
Tamara Clothing and Accessories for Genesis 3 Female(s) (Core)
You can find new icons for loading this product in the following DAZ Studio Folders:
“People:Genesis 3 Female:Clothing:3D Universe”
“People:Genesis 3 Female:Clothing:3D Universe:3Delight”
“People:Genesis 3 Female:Clothing:3D Universe:Iray”
Interesting. Smart Content is organized by those same categories, right? Curious how using the categories in Content Library differs from Smart Content (assuming filter by context is unchecked)...
I use the Content Library, but it's pretty much sorted into my own subfolders (like all things that I class as a place go into my own directory 'Places' - this includes Environments, Props, Scenes). I download zips and install by hand, so I know where most stuff is, and I can eliminate 'vanity' folders (that I then separate some vendors myself because I always use their stuff, well...). If I have only a vague idea that I might have something, or if I want to be randomly inspired, I use P3DO (quicker and more effective than searching within Studio) to search or just look through folders.
oh so THAT'S what P3do gets used for!! LOL thanks :) I only ever use it for the rsr to png conversion, so had no idea what other uses it had. :)
AHHH!!! Ok i'm understanding you now!
With manually installing and organizing the Content Library myself, I would definitely rename those folders.
“People:Genesis 3 Female:Clothing:3DU Tamara Clothing”
and then I'd put the 3delight and the iray folders inside that so it's right there.
With Smart content, it doesn't matter what the folders are called, so long as it's organized correctly in categories/metadata so when I clicked on the product icon, the left hand side tree would let me choose Iray or 3Delight mats.
So yeah, some of the folder names and folder organizing is very confusing. If I was using Content Library, I wouldn't know to find them there - and I'd rename them asap. LOL
I still loathe Smart Content. I occaisionally try it again and so far, I haven't changed my mind. And I hate how it throws everything all together so if there are mats for both iray and 3delight and the vendor hasn't clearly marked them I have no idea what's what. I will keep trying every couple of months or so because I do like the icons in the hopes that it will grow on me.. But for now I am sticking with DIM.
It depends. What I've discovered is sometimes there are two 'settings' for it in the dropdown on the left. For instance, some of the shader sets - there'll be "shader set" and if you dropdown, it has the name of the product then it breaks everything down into iray and etc. Then underneath that, there'll just be 'shaders' and it's all lumped together. I'm in the middle of a render so i can't do a screenshot to show what i mean, but it is seriously confusing WHY that happens. THAT trips me up all the time. That, and the constant metadata errors.
I don't use connect or content library usually. I prefer dim and now that I can make my own installers I like doing that for stuff I buy at other stores.
I personally think a better filing and naming standards would greatly reduce the need for multiple installation methods. Content is not consistently named and content can be under a pa's name or the file name or in one directory or a different directory. I find the lack of proper editing and consistency to be an irritation. A copy editor and standards would certainly improve the installation process
+1 to infinity
Textures won't show in the Content Library, as they aren't user-facing files. Unless it's a very old product, there should be material presets to load them -- if it's in Poser formats it would be in Pose or Material.
That is a mistake -- I've seen a few products like that which were updated to have a folder with the product name. Daz 3D does have a standardized folder structure now, but older stuff (especially Poser format stuff) hasn't been updated unless it needs to be updated for other reasons.
Yes, thanks for taking time to explain. I actually don't even use aniblocks that much myself anymore, besides a few walk cycles. I did initially, but once I started doing keyframing by hand, I found it much easier to create smooth animation doing everything by hand. And I also started learning how to animate much more rapidly as it forced me to pay attention to the rhythm of how people actually move, as opposed to just "painting by numbers" which is what I call using aniblocks. So I probably will just use Mixamo for background player animations, filler material, if you will.
Yeah, because Tamara was just released April 7th.
@DSDT, you should take a look at Mixamo and browse their animations, because their animations are very high quality. The animations are not aniblocks and have no relation to the aniblocks sold in the DAZ store. These are real life professional-grade motion captures. As I said in my earlier post, I don't use DAZ aniblocks. After Mixamo, they feel way too primitive.
Here's one Mixamo animation with no correction applied (I've got another version of this animation where I've applied the Animate2 high heel correction, but I haven't converted it to a .gif). All of a few minutes work to download and apply. . Mixamo actions include things like taking down torches, sneaking around corners, carrying someone out of battle, driving a car, picking up items, ad infinitum... Not to mention, you can cut and paste segments to create a custom animation. I mean, you'd just have to look. Over 2,000 professional mocap animations that are far beyond the quality of any aniblock I've bought on DAZ. And Mixamo animations are not aniblocks; I just convert them to aniblocks to store and reuse easily in DAZ Studio. It's not required.
Very cool. I didn't mean to give the impression i wasn't going to take advantage of it. I'm definitely gonna venture over there, and start using your script to get them in my library of assets, as soon as my render is finished. (I can barely type responses right now on my PC, its bogged down with a render which wouldn't fit on my GPU. I have another 20 hours to go at least. CPU rendering sucks) If they're all smooth like that with no cleanup, wow, that is impressive. Can't wait to play around with them.
Nice animation! I'll have to read your pdf. I tried a Mixamo dance for V4 and the feet were not nearly as stable as what you're demonstrating.
That's weird. You sure have a good eye!
That's a mesh issue with the lighting you've used. I've found that some of the softer lighting rigs show the mesh below the textures at times. It's not a character flaw, it's just Studio not playing nice with the figure.
Yep, it's just the lighting!
Oh, I'm a proud mom. My son beat 204 players worldwide last night in a video game tournament. What I love about it, the second place person he was battling it out with- a friend of his, is from Florida too. That rocks when you think about worldwide, and it ends up between two buddies! (And they both got really good prizes, enough said. Other than I need to change hobbies.) This makes it easy to tell my hubby, "See, told ya letting them choose video game creation for their jobs was a great idea." (I know, winning a game and having it for a job are two different things..but don't point that out to him.) The modeling I did/doing is for the characters in one of the games. (what a way to start that, no pressure.)
That's cool! :) Some of the gaming tournaments pay big enough money that the teams do it for a living. Kinda strange to think I pay to play and others play to get paid.
At least you know HOW to play. I'm sure I couldn't even jump on or off an elevator in vintage Nintendo Mario World anymore LOL.
Very cool. Two of my sons want to do something in the video game industry. They just haven't figured out what they want to do that will still earn them a money, though. :)
That's awesome Novica!
So what Tesla3dCorp did you grab? I got the Hospital Room, Island Room (for the roof, double door setup basically) The Coffee Shop and Seafood Restaurant. Like the deck.
I think it's very nice of them to offer a discount for buyers of the Mega Bundle for the Egyptian theme, I just don't need any more of that in the near future. The items I bought from Tesla3dCorp, I went for variety/practical. If anyone got the Egyptian products, would love to see them as I can't render them.
@Novica, Do you like Tesla3dCorp's models? Ever since the Lecture Hall, I can't bring myself to try his stuff. The desks were out of proportion in differing amounts on multiple planes/axes and couldn't seat characters. The fact that it wasn't just one measurement or symmetrical, meant it would be a pain to resize the desks. I thought of replacing the desks with desks or chairs from another model but decided it wasn't worth it. I really liked how it looked, tho. Just didn't function. I've wondered if it were just the one model that was so out of proportion and obviously not checked with a DAZ model to sit in the seats.