installing freebies from sourcecg or other freebies into the studio 4.5 pro
i love the 3d programs. it is very exacting and i plan on making it a major hobby. i am new to this so i don't know if i am in the right place or not but i want to load some of the freebies from other sites and would love it if someone would let me know how to install the freebies into Daz3d 4.5. send me an e-mail me at radarbugs@ live .com i would really appreciate it. or point
thanks,
radar
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Moved post to The New Users Help Forum as it is a request for help, not an offer of a freebie.
Here you will find all sorts of people willing to help you in the forum.
For a start there is a thread here, where you may find some information you need already in the thread
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/320/
As a lot of such items are older files, the main thing to remember is that "Content" is now called "My Library" ... so to merge the new Runtime in with the same Runtime in My Library and so forth.
It's also a very good idea to first unzip all freeware into a "holding folder" and see what's in there first. Many people were learning how to, and didn't know how to, package their gifts. So, in order to work, some or many items may require a little TLC to get working correctly.
As these items do not normally have metadata, they will be found in the Content Library either under the Daz files section or Poser's.
thanks patience55, if you could, please walk me through the process. i am green as a junebug to the 3d world. i am a fast learner if explained to me in hillbilly terms.lol. like my wife has told me, you can build a 2 million dollar building but cant put a mcdonalds toy together. i got all the videos and will take my time to learn but there isnt enough content in the basic daz4.5.thanks for for your help, thats anyone that helps, not just patience55.
thanks chohole, i see now that the post is in the new users help forum. very cool. seems like some good folks here.
:)
This is actually a fairly complicated question to answer.
A lot of the freebies are designed for Poser. Poser is a different program from a different company (and is not free). DAZ got its start selling content for Poser, and DAZ Studio supports most content designed for older versions of Poser and content for the newest version can usually be made to work with some adjustments.
If the freebie is a "Poser" freebie, the Zip file will contain a "Runtime" directory and maybe a doc or readme directory or files.
In your My Library or My DAZ Library folder you have a "Runtime" sub folder that holds all the "Poser" format content for you DAZ Studio. You can just copy and paste the Runtime folder from the Zip file over the "Runtime" folder in My Library. Assuming you are on a PC, it will ask if you want to merge the folders. You say yes. It will copy all the content into the runtime folder.
DAZ Studio supports multiple Runtime directories for Poser Format content. So you do not have to merge this with the Runtime folder in My Library. I use a separate Runtime folder for different content sources/projects. Especially with the freebie content where I'm not sure it will work or is really what I want, I usually create a separate Runtime folder for each download. Then if I decide I don't want it, I can just delete the directory.
If you put the Runtime for the freebie in a different directory, then you need to add that Poser Format library to DAZ Studio. Go the the Content Library pane (Not the Smart Content pane). In the upper right corner there is an icon that will bring up a context menu for the Content Library pane. On that menu select Content Directory Manager. That will bring up a dialog box. Select "Poser Formats", Then click the Add button on the left of the dialog box. Navigate to the directory that contains the Runtime folder and select it. That will add your new Poser format library. The name of the library will be the name of the directory that contains the Runtime folder.
After you have added your content, the next problem is finding it in DS. Most freebies do not include metadata so you will never find them in Smart Content. You will need to find them in the Content Library. For Poser format content, you look under Poser Format -> My Library or Poser Format -> My DAZ Library if you pasted the content into one of those libraries. If you put it in a new library, then it is Poser Formats -> . One of the advantages of putting the Runtime into a new library, is it makes it easier to find the content. There will not be a lot of DAZ content making it hard to figure out where the freebie went. Where it will go depends on what kind of freebie it is, but figures, props and poses are good places to look. Since these are "Poser" libraries, a lot more things go in the Pose category than you might expect.
If the freebie is a DAZ Studio content, then the process is a little different.
If your freebie is in DAZ Studio format (usually something for Genesis), then the Zip file will contain a Content or My Library directory. "Content" was used by older versions of DAZ Studio and the name has been changed to My Library.
DAZ now has the DIM that uses Public/My DAZ Library to install content. I have another library in "/My Library" that is used for DAZ content that still is not supported by DIM and 3rd party DAZ format content.
The zip files for DAZ format freebies may contain a Content or My Library folder. A few I have seen just contain folders like Data, People, Runtime that are suppose to go into your My Library folder.
I usually find all the directories like Data, People, Runtime, ect and copy and paste them into my "My Library" folder, tell windows to merge the folders.
To find the DAZ studio content you need to use the content library pane, but look in the DAZ format libraries. The freebie content will almost never have metadata, so it will not show in Smart Content. The directories you had to paste things into give some hint as to where to start looking. There frequently are ReadMe files that will tell you where to look too.
Thank you so much Mark 128 and Patience 55. i am learning as i go. the info you all gave me is very useful. i just downloaded and installed all the free tutorial videos from DAZ and cant find them. i have looked in my library and my DAZ library and dont see them. any idea where they went. i also did a search with no luck. i hope you dont mind me bugging you guys but i think the 3d is awesome and like many hobbies i have started, this is one i want to stick with.
thanks for any and all help.
radar
? when you installed them, 'where' did you put them. Videos are not found via the program, I just open the folders the way one normally and run them.
Installers [which are being phased out] will give an option to install to some default location it's picked [could be correct, could be not so] or for a custom install [which most - I think - pick]. Then have the installers tell you which path they would choose, and if it's something like "My Library" where you are putting your content [i.e. NOT in the program folder], let it.
The tutorial videos are not really DAZ Studio Content. They are where ever your browser put them when it downloaded them. I have all my browsers set to always ask where to download things to, but I know most browsers are setup to download to some specific location without asking.
Does your browser have a download history you can use to find where they went?
hey Mark 128, i found the downloads, and yes they were in my browser download history. i am also finding parts that i havent even installed or downloaded yet.
thank you very much.
radar
I DOWNLOADED THE VIDS FROM WORK PC. WE HAVE A 1GB LINE AND IT TAKES NO TIME TO GET THEM. WILL START CHECKING THEM OUR WHEN I GET HOME
THANKS,
RADAR
Glad you found them :-)
Patience55 and Mark 128 and Chohole, if you are typ[ical of the folks on this site, i will definitely enjoy learning from you all. thanks,radar
lets take this new avatar out for a spin
Pardon me for jumping in (PMFJI) but as to the part about not being able to find... things, I'm curious if other people have this problem. For what it's worth, I seem to have trouble with looking for anything on my initial, "test" installation of an OEM version of Windows 7, that I installed over Windows Vista 64-bit, and it made a "WINDOWS.OLD" folder, etc. etc.
For those who don't have this problem just skip this query of mine as you must be leading a charmed life, on your PC.
I tried installing a third-party utility called Fileseek, but it seems to give strange results, and it gets caught for twenty minutes at a time in WINDOWS.OLD and other system folders, and never, ever returns the results that I want.
Again, just curious as to what's going on out there as I must be doing something wrong.
For the record it's a real hit and miss thing, on my computers (Win XP mostly), as to which DAZ products install properly and I can locate the textures and morphs and so on, and which ones seem to vanish into the ether. Good thing I'm handy with plasticene and a hobby knife. I'm learning Hexagon also - make and modify my own props, sort of thing.
On W7, upper right corner of any folder is the search box. It will only search that folder and subfolders found therein.
Seems to me that by default it doesn't search hidden or system folders so you could try "hiding" the Windows.old folders. [and/or look for that option to enable or negate it].