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Does it show up in Content Library > DAZ Studio Formats under:
“People:Genesis 2 Female:Clothing:Piratess:Materials:CaptainTempest”
“People:Genesis:Clothing:Piratess:Materials:CaptainTempest”
yes thanks but where is it in smart content?
Since it's a material set it should show up as a material option when you have one of the outfit parts selected, assuming that the base outfit is showing in Smart Content itself.
Hi, all. Can anyone explain why I shouldn't chuck the whole file organization and start over from scratch?
I'm pretty new at this hobby too, but my backgound in GIS mapping has helped a ton to speed up the learning curve. But I've run into the same "Where's my content?" question over and over. I've harvested an awful lot of free stuff and I want to learn it all... but the file organization is a screaming disaster!
I see what it's trying to be: classes of file types grouped together: lights, cameras, actors, wardrobe, props, etc. But within this basic structure, it all seems to fall apart. Ok, so (to continue with the acting analogy) there's an ensemble of core characters - Genesis, Vicotria, Michael, etc. - and ever-younger versions of themselves. Bill Shatner for Kirk 1; Chris Pine for Kirk 2. Daniel Craig for Bond 7. (!) The associated files are segregated since they represent (maybe) incompatible genertions of technology and technique.
BUT - and here's where it hits the wall - there's so much that is (maybe) compatible or adaptable across the whole circus, that scores of thousands of enthusiasts sharing their own equally cool stuff can't keep it all straight. Nobody can enforce file naming and storage conventions. What's worse is, you need separate file clusters for every actor in every studio casting call (and every kid in every mirror) trying out the Bat-cape. But to what extent are they just masses of duplicates? JPG maps of blue eyeballs I guess are slightly different to account for different geometries even though they all look the same. But I'll never use half of what comes in the downloads... unless I cave and get Poser... and the ones I do want somehow wind up with identical file names in six different locations. Material files for the same tuxedo found repeated under Connery, Moore, Dalton, and Craig in the People/Genesis/Character/Actor trees, but also in the separate "Materials" directory and very likely inder the "Poses" and/or "Props" and/or "Libraries" and/or "Scenes" directories as well. All named the same, with maybe a kb or two's worth of difference. Which is which? DAZ set it up this way on purpose??
Where am I supposed to put manual downloads so the software can find them? I swear I've spent more time trying to find that damned lightsaber map I just saw a second ago, that I didn't know I had because it came in a bundle, than I have actually learning the interface! The Install Manager put my Chris Evans files in some obscure "$.20Fox/HSapienFlashlight" folder instead of the "Marvel/Avengers/Captain America" path where they ought to be....
...Sorry if I'm confusing anyone. I might as well have fun with the ranting. : ) I'm not asking detailed questions about specific downloads; I'm just trying to make a point and maybe sort it out in my own head while I'm at it. The bottom line really is this:
For God's sake, how many nested single folders do I really need? If I just throw out the whole herd of cats and set up my own content structure and naming conventions, will Studio 4.8 choke? Am I going to have to reconstruct this whole mess?
Yes...it will choke and nothing will be found.
No. Just leave it all the way it falls and ignore the actual files and create your own categories/organisation with the database.
One of the problems with the way the content is organized, is that it is still trying to maintain some measure of backwards compatability and with Poser. Another problem is that content default locations have changed...and in order to maintain that backwards compatability, it has NOT been updated to the current defaults.
You can also use shortcuts in DS, which you can arrange as you like (perhaps in a second content directory so you don't have to navigate the things in the overfull directory).
Thanks for the replies. Richard, could you tell me a little more about how to set up and use shortcuts? I can't seem to find anything on it, but it sounds like the way to go. I suppose... hope... that means the second content directory can be somewhere totally independent of everything else?
"ignore the actual files and create your own categories/organisation with the database"
hmm... intriguing.
**OHH!*** What happened? I just went to Studio to take a closer look at the bottom directories in the Content Library, to start thinking about your replies. I don't know what I clicked by mistake - but the entire structure disappeared from view! I know the structures themselves are still where they belong, but I can no longer see either "My Library" or "My DAZ 3D Library" in that section of whatever pane this is... It must have been something around the edges of the pane, when all I tried to do was expand and collapse a few directories...
The two darker areas above 0-0 of 0 are toggles for collapsable panels - you've accidentally hit the one that cotnrols the folder list, click again to bring it back.
As for shorcuts, for Windows just find the files you want, copy them, go to the folder (in another content directory if desired) that you want them in, right-click, Paste as shortcut. As you can see they then appear in the Content Library pane as normal files. As far as I know this works for the Mac equivalanet feature too.
Wow... what a relief! Thanks so much, Richard. I'll let you know how the shortcuts work for me, but I don't foresee a problem. : )
Well, I guess I'm not doing shortcuts right. But in trying to figure it all out I came across this article addressing the question very precisely: http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/artzone/pub/software/dazcontent .
I'm going to learn it backwards and forwards (eventually... I'm not done with the first section and already my head hurts!
), but I'm guessing it'll be best for understanding how the file structure got where it is - not actually for understanding what it currently is. Does anyone know if the article's been updated to reflect Studio 4.8 files types and uses? (The information in that link was new with Studio 3, 64-bit.) Or if there's a comparable write-up somewhere?
Thanks