Content Package Assist Thumbnail Issues
anaximanes_2000
Posts: 342
I've noticed over time that I can buy a lot of Renderosity products, and then put them through Content Package Assist and I get about a 50/50 chance of having the thumbnail I drag and drop into it, to show up in Smart Content. I even tried, for the heck of it, to unzip the Renderosity zip, make a Support folder in Runtime and put the thumnail in there, re-zip and still randomly. Ealier, for a test, I took the same file, made four versions of it, used the same exact thumnail on each of them, and when it installed, the 4 of them showed up in smart content, only one of them showing the thumbnail, even though I did the process identically on all four times with nothing changing. Anyone else ever had this issue and know of a way to 100% force Content Package Assist to use the thumbnail every time?
Based on the first response to be clear, I need someone to tell me they trick they use on https://www.daz3d.com/content-package-assist to always get the thumbnail working in Smart Content, since, as my test proved, it seems totally random.
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Comments
To get the Thumbnails in Smart Content to show, they need to follow a very specific naming convention. Without any supplied metadata support files, a default metadata file is generated from the contents when installed with DIM and is imported into the database. If you want to add a thumbnail file, its name must be exactly the same as the generated file, with the .jpg extension. You can drop it into the Runtime\Support folder with all the others and refresh the view (I believe, never done it that way myself).
In Studio, you can add to the metadata if you like (that's a whole other story), export it and add it, the .dsa script and the thumbnail file (the three metadata support files) back into the CPA build and make a fresh copy with all the metadata support built-in, in case you ever need to re-install.
Thanks, but this is an issue with Content Package Assist . I've been using it for over a year. Like I said, I even tested it tonight by taking the same file from renderosity and duplicating it four times, ran it through Content Package Assist all four times. And 1 out of the 4 had the thumbnail in Smart Content, but not the other three. If you use Content Package Assist, I'd need to know the trick you use to get the pic to show up 100% of the time in Smart content. I even went into my Runtime/Support folder on my computer and all 4 of the thumbnails are there, but Content Package Assist randomly only did "something" right on one of them, like I said.
I do use it all the time, but I create and name the thumbnail file as per the metadata after the fact. My guess is that CPA does not know 100% how the metadata support files will be named (if there are none to start with), so its best guess might not always be accurate. DIM (or some CMS function) generates the missing files on the fly, so, if the thumbnail file name does not match, it does not show.
If that is the case, and I reported it for the PA to fix the product, how would we describe it to them. Or what you put there is all I need to paste? Basically, I need it to do what it is supposed to do every time. Like I said, personally making the Runtime/Support and placing the file in there before running the zip through CPA does not work, nor does the drag and drop... well they DO work, randomly lol But, I will need it to do what the product is supposed to do without failing. So, you circumvent a huge reason to use CPA in the first place. Anyone that uses CPA as intended, any advice for getting it to work as advertised 100% of the time?
I agree that adding an image to serve as the product icon is not fully functional as we would expect, but there is missing information to start, so it might be impossible to ever achieve without some additional work. I have not found a one-pass solution.
You can drop the original package into CPA, but there is no sure way to determine the metadata filenames if there are none to start with. You can start with the new package you create, without the thumbnail, install it, copy the metadata files back to a Runtime Support folder in the Build. Then copy your thumbnail file into the same folder, rename to match the other two files and Make a new package. (No need to drop the image into the empty slot on the Details tab, it will be found when you Make the package). Uninstall the original package, copy the new zip to the download folder, refresh DIM (or refresh the specific package data if you have a lot of products), install again. Should be good to go.
My workflow is a bit more complex, but I want the full metadata package. Long story...
How is it that it CAN do it some of the time? In other words, if it can do it, then why can't that be replicated every time? Also, I cannot do all the extra rigamaroll, hence why I got this thing in the first place. Ultimately, I'm looking for someone that found the trick. Once I had 100% with 10 in a row, but I cannot replicate it.
Maybe an example or two would help. A screenshot of a product with a thumbnail that shows properly from the Products tab, and a snip from File Explorer from the Runtime\Support folder showing the filenames of the metadata file (.dsx) generated when installing, and the matching thumbnail file installed from the zip created in CPA.
..and another set of one that does not show properly.
ETA: It's getting late, past my bedtime. I'll follow up tomorrow if no one else steps in...