PTF Grungy Threads instructions
synechodus_b7d65b3411
Posts: 125
I have purchased PTF Grungy Threads but, although I have tried to install it several times by different methods, all of the instruction files both in the main folder and subfolders (and they are essential) have either not decompressed or have corrupted- the shaders etc. all seem fine. Trying to decompress these manually brings up error messages. It may be Mac issue but I have not had it with any other product. Where can I download the instructions to get this to work?
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I hope they fix it for you. Looks like a cool concept. I'm thinking of getting it. Though i wanted to see what people did with it first. Maybe @PixelTizzyFit
Will see this thread.
Bought this too.
Checked the product. There is no manual that I could find. Instead it's a series of tips activated by dufs. Tips consist of 2 kinds of images.
(1) There is one's with script in the duf's top right hand corner will open up a larger image. In my case in photoshop. Don't know what it does without an image editor linked in like I had. You can open image this manually by right click duf, and select browse to file location. From there look for the larger image corresponding to the duf and open in any image editor.
(2) The other kind has empty dufs (nothing to extract - so will show error). But they work as intended. Hover over the empty duf, and a larger image shows, and it says for example, "To change Geoshell opacity, experiment with cutout opacity". That does assume of course you know weher in the surface parameters to find "cutout opacity"
So question is, are the dufs there on your MAC install? They are there for WIN.
I hope someone figures it out.
They assume a little familiarity with Daz Studio, but not too much.
You will need to go to the Surfaces/Editor tab for the garment you wish to modify. Then, you need to find the surface of the shirt, or skirt, etc. Once you have selected a surface, you can double click one of the shader options to apply it. For example, if it's a rip, a transparency map will be applied.
In the editor tab, cutout opacity is the first option in the Geometry section. Along with Grungy Threads sections you will find Utilities. Offset Vertical with a down arrow and a negative number will move the selected transparency map either a little or a lot, depending on the option you chose. You'll need to fiddle and try to get a satifactory result, which will vary depending on the specific garment. Not all utility options apply to all distress options. For, example, you probably won't TILE a map that rips off the bottom of a garment, but you might tile a map that puts a star-shaped hole in it.
If a Geometry Shell is required, you will need to select the garment and then select New Geometry Shell in the Create options in the menu up at the top of your screen. You will need to select the Geometry Shell and apply options to that, and not the to garment.
Umm what's left to figure out?
The basics are there. There is No manual. Instead a series of tips in DS. Some you hover over dufs (that have no data) to see image tips , and some larger tips that one way or another you need to open in an image editor to see full tip. Cos I have a bridge in DS to photoshop, this is how my larger image opened.
Author does suppose some knowledge of DazStudio. Sevrin posted some info to help.
I would suggest viewing the product in the Content Library, rather than in Smart Content, as the folder arrangement helps to make things clearer. I do wish that, for products like this, the categorisation would keep the folder structure as sub-caegories.
Thanks for these. I gave up on smart content because I found it more confusing than normal. The tabs for the instructions are there, but there is no content in them and nothing comes up hovering or clicking on them. But I think I have figured most of it out anyway.
I hope someone figures it out.
What i meant. i was hoping someone could figure it out, Before I would buy. I would like to know how the product works. Which Sevrin did. Thank you Sevrin :)
This product has honestly made me feel Stupid when I tried to use it, I Only use smart content so unfortunately I couldn't use RIchards tip, as it is right now I'm half of mind of completely giving up on it and returning it, cause no product should make the user feel genuinly stupid!
Might add that I have been using studio for some time and have been using shaders without any kind of problems before, but not even the damn blood shader seem to work at all, it colors all of the things solid blood red, instead of being the splatter that is seen on the thumbnail.
As for the tips in the thumbnails, there was nothing in there to help me at all, since I only wanted to use the actual blood splatter shader as it looked :/ going to try what Sevrin said but still not sure I keep this one, despite it being a product I felt was and is useful.
Edit.... Trying to follow along with Sevrin's tips didn't work, since I guess that's only for the ripped part. The shaders for blood, mud and the like doesn't give the splatter they show on the thumbnail, they color the chosen garment solid instead of the splatter. And none of the things I've found in the utilities has been of any help.. guess I really am too stupid to use this product *sigh*
You can right-click on a file in Smart Content and select Show In>Mapped/Virtual Folder (as the case may be) to see the product's structure on disc.
I'm also completely lost on how to use this product. I keep trying to click things, but it either makes the garment disappear entirely, or colors it in completely. It doesn't seem very well put together and I'm sorry I spent money on it. Two questions: Is there a way I can return this? And does anyone know of a product that will allow me to add splashes of blood to people and clothes. That's all I'm really looking for.
There are a couple threads with more instructions on how to get it to do what you expect: ptf grungy threads, PTF Grungy Threads results
A couple other products to add stains of all sorts (some Layered Images, some Decals): Iray GrungeWorx, SY A Big Mess for Genesis 8, Iray WetWorx. There is also an assortment of wound kits for bodies, but not necesarily splashes.
You have 30 days to return any product through the Help Desk (Contact Us)
I forgot to wrote in here after I got it to work, I used Richard's tip on how to reach the virtual folder, and that actually made it a bit more clearer for me. I still think this product need a lot better sorting/info for those that use it from the smart content tab, because in that tab it is just a mess in all honesty.
All in all, I do love this product once i got it to work for me :)
I just got this product as it was on sale, and I wanted to have a bit of dirt on some surfaces. After a bit of trial and error and printing off all the tool tip screenshots, I have managed to apply the dirt geoshells to clothing items, and the results are not too bad - looking quite similar to the product page. But I also want to apply dirt or splash to the character's skin, and it suggests this is possible on the product page - but I can't figure that out because the tool tips only cover fabrics and not skin.
What goes wrong if you ue the same method with skin? It may well depend on the shader used, so try it with the Genesis 8 Base first as a test of the methods.
OK this time I applied Grungy Threads to the skin using the LIE option, not the Geoshell option and it worked OK. However, it's not quite as versatile as I would like - at least for me as a non-technical Daz user. My objective is to have a realistic small amount of dirt where I want it.
So I just spent a few more $$ and also purchased Skin Effects for G3F & G8F by Aeon Soul. By using the two products in combination I can get the sort of effect that I'm looking for. Skin Effects LIE can be applied to partial areas of the body and I found the colours more realistic (at least via the defaults).
I have attached two quick and imperfect renders but they do show what I produced as a non-techie user using these products. They are at a reasonable 300dpi resolution so you can zoom in and see the dirt and grime effects in reasonable detail.