Content Path in 4.6
knightedfeline
Posts: 29
Could someone please be straight with me. I would like to know how the content path is set up for in DAZ 4.6. I know that in the previous version it went something like this:
runtime> geometries> obj
runtime> libraries> character> .cr2/.png
runtime> libraries> props> .rsr/.jpg
runtime> libraries> lights
runtime> textures> (image files)
But I can not find anyplace that tells me directly where or what the the changes are for 4.6, nor how My DAZ3D Library works with it. I may be looking in all the wrong places, using all the wrong keyword searches, but I can't find the info. Why is this so hard to find?
EDIT:
runtime> libraries> scenes
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Comments
You're looking in the wrong way — what you're showing has nothing to do with the actual content path. The complete path for a texture or object file is actually split into two; you're listing the path after the Runtime folder (which incidentally is completely unchanged in D|S4.6), the vital part is what's before the Runtime folder. This is set in the Content Directory Manager (Edit>Preferences>Content Library and click the button under "Directory Management").
Are you using the DIM installer program? One thing that does confuse people is that, unless you change the DIM default installation location, it does NOT install content to the same place as D|S is looking for content. One fix is to open the Content Directory Manager in D|S and add the DIM installation locations there.
If you're downloading and installing the .zip files manually, there are a couple of obvious-but-misleading ways that can be done as well.
Sorry this still tells me nothing as to where MY DAZ3D LIBRARY goes or DATA or SCENES or how any of the newer set up for DAZ4+ work for DAZ.
And there is a change in 4+. Everything used to run directly from:
DOCUMENTS> CONTENT>RUNTIME> (content folders)
Now it goes:
DOCUMENTS> MY DAZ3D LIBRARY> (I don't know where or what)
Please help me understand the rest.
Yes I am importing from zips. I'm just trying to figure out were things are supposed to go. I know a lot of the older content I have does not go into MY DAZ3D LIBRARY. I'm just looking for the correct path to put a lot of the newer stuff in.
When I use DIM it auto puts in that stuff and I have no worries. However I use a lot of stuff that's free and they don't always tell me what the proper set up is.
The proper setup is exactly the same as it's always been. Inside your content folder (the old one or the new DIM one) there should be a Runtime folder. To install Poser content, merge the Runtime folder with the Runtime in your content folder. Note that it is probably best not to use the DIM content folder for non-DAZ content. Some free stuff has D|S files, all you do is merge the files into your content folder instead of your Runtime folder.
We're still miscommunicating here. Or, you're just a jerk. I would prefer to not think the latter.
Where do the other folders (DATA, PEOPLE, PROPS, ENVIRONMENTS, PRESETS, DYNAMIC CLOTHING PROPS, UPDATER, UNINSTALLER, ANIMALS, APPLICATION, CAMERA PRESETS) go? Do they go in MY DAZ3D LIBRARY or outside of it? If they go in, where do they go (RUNTIME, or just in MY LIBRARY)? What are the file types that are DAZ3D and which are Poser?
I have been told that .duf files should be in the DATA folder, but I have one in and one out of MY DAZ3D LIBRARY.
What files signatures are light files? What files signatures are the camera?
What are .daz files and where do they go? What are.dsb and where do they go? The same goes for .dso, .dsv.
.obj files are the basis and go into the GEOMETRIES. So do they all have to go to RUNTIME> GEOMETRIES> (FOLDER NAME) or do they go MY LIBRARY> RUNTIME> GEOMETRIES> (FOLDER NAME) or do they go MY LIBRARY>
All of the folders for DS-format content (in particular the Data folder) go inside My DAZ 3D Library but NOT inside Runtime. It's the same way that DS3 worked, except that the top level folder is called "My DAZ 3D Library" instead of "Content".
And yes, your .obj files will be in My DAZ 3D Library > Runtime > Geometries.
What files are you trying to install manually this way? They should come in a folder structure which you should keep intact -- only the top-level folder changes.
Sorry about that, yes, we do seem to be talking past each other here.
Okay, most of the time, you won't need to worry about file types, just the folders they're placed in. Wherever a folder (and the files inside it) is in the installation .zip, it'll go into the same place in your actual content folder. E.g. if you're installing a Poser item with its files in a Runtime folder, then you merge that Runtime folder with your existing Runtime folder — every folder and file inside the Runtime will still be in the same relative place after you've merged it, you don't need to worry about drilling down through the folders to the individual file level. Once you run D|S after installing, you'll see the new content appearing in its new folders in the Content Library tab. (As for the Smart Content tab, if you use it, most of the time only things you've bought from the DAZ store will appear there.)
A couple of points, though — .duf files don't go in the /data/ folder, they're the new universal file format for D|S4.6 so they're what you'll see in the Content Library tab when you install a new D|S-format item. Recent items made for D|S4.5 or later have .dsf files in the /data/ folder.
For older D|S-format items, .daz files are scene files and .dsb are one type (there are others) of general-purpose script files. These scripts can be anything; apply D|S materials, create lights or cameras, apply a pose, etc. The .dso and .dsv files are /data/ files for D|S3 and earlier.
One other thing, I just noticed this bit:
The first two locations are effectively exactly the same place. And geometries files must only be put in a /Runtime/Geometries/ folder — it sounds like you're trying to take the files for items you're installing out of their preset folders and putting them into other folders: that is a way of installing something, but it's far from the easiest.
FIXMYPCMIKE: Thank you. This is helping.
I've got a bunch of content that has gotten misplaced by merging and DAZ at one point was reading 20 different "content" folders. I've gone through and managed to clean up a lot, but there were still a lot of loose folders I wasn't sure where they went.
SPOTTEDKITTY: I'm beginning to see where we were getting confused. Thank you for sticking around to help. :D
I had been doing some work on the "identity" of my computer and that process seemed to really screw with the computer. The worst affected seemed to be DAZ. When I went to clean it up, I couldn't figure why there were three different "data" files and which one was the proper one. I know DAZ tried to keep enough similar, but this problem with my comp, seemed to mess it all up.
I usually do just merge the files, but when they're loose like that, it's really hard to put them back in the right spots if you don't know where the right spots are to begin with.
I hope you both have continued to read all of this because I have been able to clear up a lot. Now I just wonder if all the content is in the right place. I can find stuff again in the "Content Library" and "Smart Content" but it's been a major pain in the backside.
Also I should mention that I'm having a bit of trouble with some other content which is another reason I asked. I recently installed the "Dawn" character into my content, but it doesn't want to show up in "Smart Content" or "Content Library" I had to go digging in the "DAZ Content" folders in the tree just to be able to find her. I wanted to mover out to a point that would be easier to access, but I have no idea how to do that.
Want to get really confused? They all are.
One of the oddities about the way D|S (and Poser before it) understands content locations is that the program looks at all the locations pointed to by the Content Directory Manager and essentially sweeps them all up together into One Big Content Folder. As long as all those data folders are in the right place in a location noted in the Directory Manager, it doesn't matter that there are three of them. When you click on something in D|S to load it into your scene, the program looks at each of the logged content locations to see if the file you just clicked on exists in at least one of them. This is why you kept coming up with content paths starting at "Runtime" — everything before that was irrelevant, it was looked after by the program in the background.
There are a couple of gotchas to look out for, though. While loading an item from the Content Library tab, the proper files can be in any content folder, when you save a file or a scene, all the important files go into the /data/ folder in the first D|S-format location in the Directory Manager. Incidentally, this is the most important location when you're doing a complete backup of all your files, since this one is the most likely to contain /data/ files converted from Poser format that can't be replaced by simply re-installing your content. (Note that they can be replaced if you lose them, it's just a bit of a fiddly process I'd rather not go into just yet if you don't need it.)
Also, it is possible (in fact sometimes way too easy) to accidentally have the same content files in more than one content location. Most of the time this is a nuisance but fairly harmless, but if the data files for Genesis, or one of the 4th Generatiion figures (V4, M4 or their morphs) are duplicated, the program can get confused and not know which files to retrieve. If at any time you get Weird Stuff™ happening with morphs seeming to vanish or stop working properly, checking for duplicates should be one of the first things you try.
Hope I haven't confused you any more than necessary... ;-)
Edit: just noticed your comment about Dawn. I can't help you much there, I don't have that figure. Are you sure the files you did find are in a proper content location that D|S knows about?
Yeah, I'm having a similar problem. So I can't use content manager because when I do it malfunctions badly (And has done it twice now, I think it has something to do with my machine), e.g. I can't use textures at all (Clicking on the textures does nothing- does not apply it to the figure) or poses (Same problem), so I must manually install all items on download.
Which has been fine until recently when I bought a few items for V4... Installing them (By copying them into the runtime folder, which is what the zip files all have) puts them in "My DAZ 3D Library/Runtime/Libraries/Character" Which I can't find in-program. (I DO have an old P8 runtime installed, but it's not going in there, those paths are fine).
The paths in-program are :"DAZ Studio Formats > My DAZ 3D Library > aniBlocks (Animals, Camera Presets, DAZ Studio Tutorials...etc). But there is no "Character" folder at all... which makes me think that what is in the DAZ 3D Library/Runtime is not the same at all as the My DAZ 3D Library > in program.
Where is it installing these things? Can anyone tell me how to find it in the library pane of the program?
The Runtime folder libraries are Poser Format -- "My DAZ 3D Library/Runtime/Libraries/Character" can be found in "Content Library > Poser Formats > My DAZ 3D Library > Figures".