DAZ and Poser files - Unnecessary duplication?
I have been downloading products with the DIM for a while now. I just went with the defaults from the beginning, since I didn't know any better.
I noticed a LONG time ago that I was getting offered a DAZ version and a Poser version of the same product. So, not knowing any different, I just accepted both.
For the last...oh...2 years.
Do I need Poser files, or is this unnecessary duplication?
I've noticed that some DS products can't be found in the DS libraries. I have to locate them in the Poser libraries. Why is that?
Thanks!
"D"
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If you don't use Poser at all, you can uncheck the box in Filters inside DIM, but you may know that now?
Older DAZ Studio figures, up to and including Generation 4 (V4. M4 etc.) were in Poser Format (CR2 and PZ2 files), so that is why they appear in the Poser Formats area in the Content Library.
Since Genesis was released, all of the newer figures (, Genesis, G2F, G2M, G3F) are in DAZ Studio Format (mostly DUF) and that is why they can be found under DAZ Studio Formats
There is no simple answer to this question, I'm afraid. I wouldn't delete any Poser files unless you are sure that you don't need them. If you use DIM, it is a simple matter to uninstall content, and anything that has 'PoserCF' in the filename will be a Poser Companion File, and unless you use Poser, these are not necessary.
There are also StudioCF files which are companions to Poser content files, so you would want to keep any of Poser files that they refer to.
If you want to find all the items you've installed that you don't need, you can do the following:
1) Go to the Installed tab and click the Products box to select everything
2) Right-click on an item and choose "Deselect Installed" > "All Tagged DS4.5+" (or whichever version you use).
3) Repeat this for any other software you use, and for "Software" and "Plugin".
4) Now you should only have the files you don't need selected and can uninstall them.
Thanks Jimmy and Mike for the quick response.
This is helpful. I did a number of searches looking for the answers to these questions before posting. No success.
This is why I drifted away from DS in the first place. I couldn't (and probably still can't) get a grasp of the file structure that DS uses. There's nowhere that I have found that lets me know which file extensions are uniquely DAZ, and which are Poser files that I can do without.. Like you said, there are older generation formats for both DS and Poser. I have no idea which is which, which I need or might need someday, and why.
Then there is the mystery of installing content manually. Like freebie content, or stuff I hope to make myself one day. This is a huge frustration. Data folders, geometry folders, runtime folders, people folders, content folders, image folders, template folders, picture folders, .OBJ folders, map folders, prop folders. When I download and unzip a folder, where should the unzipped folders that are inside be placed?
I have been trying to install Poser freebie content for 2 years along with DS freebie content. The DIM has been installing both on my comp, so I naturally thought both formats were useable in DS.
In DS 4.8, when I look in the Content Tab under DAZ Formats, I see 2 library folders: My DAZ Library, and My Library. I have useable content in both.
When I look under Poser formats, I also see My DAZ Library and My Library folders. I have useable content in both of these, too! I can click on stuff in the Poser folders, and it loads normally. This is why it comes as a surprise to learn that the Poser format can't be used in DS.
The real frustration is not being able to locate the info I need anywhere in the documentation, or on the forums. I hate to come in here and sound like a whiney newbie, but after 2 years, I seem to be making no progress whatsoever.
And yes, I've asked! I have been told, "Well, I have no idea what kind of file structure you have, so I can't really help you." I should have the same file structure as everybody else, shouldn't I?! I mean, I let the DIM put things where it normally defaults to. I would think it puts things in the same place on everybody's computer. Why would my file structure be any different from what everyone else has?
/sigh.
Ok, that's my rant for today. If anyone has any words of encouragement or advice,. it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for listening, and thanks Mike and Jimmy for helping out.
"D"
A few clarifications:
1) DAZ Studio can use Poser content. The distinction is that Poser-format content needs to be in the Runtime folder, while DS-format content needs to be outside the Runtime (except for what are called "sidecar" files, where there is both a Poser file and a matching DS file in the Poser library).
2) The reason for the two content folders ("My DAZ 3D Library" in shared documents and "My Library" in a particular user's documents) is that the first location is for content installed using DIM and the latter for other content (although this isn't required).
3) When installing content manually, the two folders to watch for are "Data" and "Runtime". Both of these folders need to be directly under your content folder (My Library or My DAZ 3D Library, or whatever you named yours), not several layers down. Most of the time just using those folders as a guide will tell you where to put everything -- anything on the same level as Data and Runtime goes into that top-level content folder.
4) You won't actually see the word Runtime inside DAZ Studio's Content Library -- the folders that are displayed in DS are the ones in specific subfolders of Runtime/Libraries that DS knows contain the Poser-format files. (You also won't see folders named Data, or Textures, or Geometries -- those are all behind-the-scenes files that are called by the user-facing files (the ones you CAN see).
Thanks Mike,
This is again very helpful. I actually spent quite a bit of time last night after I posted my last rant....er....comments, looking through my file structure and directories. I watched Wilmap's tutorial (she offered help a LONG time ago; can't remember why I never followed up on that), and managed to download some of her stuff. Then, wonder of wonders, I managed to actually FIND it in my libraries!!
Cool! A breakthrough maybe?
I have a much better handle on it now, but need to keep at it. I have noticed at least 4 file extensions: .cr2, .pp2, .pz3, .duf; and some others. Not sure why some things load and others don't.
I tried to find things various ways, and it's not easy or intuitive at all. Even the search function doesn't yield expected results. Products don't show up in search, even though I know I have it somewhere. It seems that the search is dependent on the library or directory you are in, and maybe even the product you have highlighted.
The content and smart content windows change depending on what you click on. Is there a back button? I can never get back to where I was once I click off something!
Materials aren't always located in the same place the props are. How did they get separated, and how can I get them linked back together?
Progress is slow, but at least it's progress!
Thank you!!
"D"
None that I know of, perhaps it would be easier to use another method of looking at content. In the drop-down menu in the Content Library pane, there is an option to View as List (which I use), View as Tree, and View Side by Side. One of these may be easier for you.
Creating new Categories by AdamR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_nnPf8nCcc4
What throws me is that Daz doesn't "thatch" it's content products. Some of these items are useless when working with the latest figures. I bought a couple things yesterday and there is no way they will work with M6 character. On the other hand, other older things like the Supersuit will work. There doesn't seem to be any consistency and ideally we should buy with confidence.
The ones that end in a digit are Poser formats. Some represent objects (cr2 for objects with multiple bones, hr2 and pp2 for objects with a single bone, pz3 for scenes. Some are settings that only work if you apply them to an object you've already loaded (pz2, mc6, fc2).
The ones that start with d are DAZ Studio formats. .daz is the old scene file format which is no longer used, although you can still load old scenes (usually; part of the reason they are no longer used is that they can be erratic). .ds/.dsa/.dsb/.dse are scripts that need to be applied to an object (it could be a Poser object or a DS one). .duf is the new format and can be used for both objects and settings.
Poser used to be much more rigid about file locations -- .cr2 files had to be in Runtime:Libraries:Character, .pz2 files had to be in Runtime:Libraries:Pose, etc., and Poser-format products still get set up that way, even though Poser is more flexible now. So the materials were always in a separate location from the object (Pose or Materials). I use Categories, so I can create a category for the objects and make a sub-category for the materials, regardless of where the actual files are located.
Again, Thanks, Mike!
Good stuff!
I need to work on installing Poser content manually next, and make sure I can put them where I can find them. I know I have stuff installed that I was never able to find, and I also have duplicates because if I installed something and couldn't find it, I installed it again somewhere else until I could find it.
Sad, but true...
Yes! It's WAY past time that I got this under control! I will look at the Youtube video, and wait for your details.
Thanks!
There aren't really many more details for the moment.
I would just like to stress that you should use the drop-down in the Content Library pane, Content DB Maintenance, and then select Export User Data on a fairly regular basis. That way, if the db ever becomes corrupted, you can reload you User Data by Re-Importing Metadata, and it is the very first option on the screen that appears there.
That way, the work that you have put into categorising your content will not be lost, and have to be redone.
I have mine done by figures, Like M3 and V3, with sub folders for each for Clothing, each clothing item with a subfolder for the materials for that clothing. That keeps it all logically together, unlike the way it appears in Poser Formats.
The Genesis figures are arranged much more logically, and most of their stuff can be easily found as is.
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Was this a case of the Poser version not being tagged for DS as well, or do you not use DIM?
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Thanks Jimmy,
I have done so, and will try to remember to make this a regular practice.
I think making my own catagories and personalize it so I can keep track of stuff is a good way to go. Will look into that more.
I did notice one useful feature I never saw before. I have a product, I think it's an old freebie by Stonemason, called Dwell. I installed it, and was never able to find it. Took weeks before I located it! Somehow, it got put in a Pose folder under Poser formats. (who knows? Maybe that's where it belongs...)
Anyway, when I right clicked on it, that menu that one of you mentioned came up, and one of the choices was to show it in Products.
right click> show in> products.
There were other options, like show it in smart content or mapped folder. As long as I can look in Products under "D" and find it listed, I'm happy!
Now if I do locate other lost products, I know how to recover them and put them where I can find them again.
The odd thing is that if I do a search for "dwell", nothing comes up. Does this mean there is no metadata connected to it?
Thanks!
Thanks for the heads-up, Horus.
I went back and clicked the Poser options in DIM.
Just to be safe...
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Wow..this was REALLY useful!
I followed a Youtube tutorial on recovering lost files and assigning them to the Unassigned folder. I had a ton of stuff show up! Not all of it was lost, but I am hoping some stuff I was missing is in there.
Content Library tab > Catagories > Default > Unassigned
Here is the tutorial link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_nnPf8nCcc4
Hope someone finds this useful. Let me know if it's not doing what I think it's doing.
Thanks!
"D"
I have Poser but really never use it.
No, I filtered the Poser stuff out as directed, in DIM. DIM therefore, and rightfully so, after that showed only the daz file (s). After that I was just a little too worried that I might be missing something that I may not be aware of or find out about. The little things perhaps.
Could you submit a bug report saying that the tags are wrong? I know I've run into that occasionally and reported it so they could be corrected.
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Right, submit a ticket, title it something like "Content Bug: Name of Product", department Technical Support, saying that the Poser files are needed for DS but aren't installed by DIM if you only have DS in your download filters.
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