MATs not loading
I'm using DAZ Studio 3.0 (yeah, yeah, I know) for Win7, and I have a bunch of MATs for some newly-installed content (Toolgirl for V4) that aren't loading. The OBJ files all load fine, but load without any MATs (which isn't unusual), but when I try to apply MATs, nothing happens. The pz2 and dsb files seem to be in the right place, and so do the jpg files with the actual textures. I've tried the "Import an existing file" function to import the pz2 file directly, but that doesn't do anything either. I also tried re-installing the content. Any ideas?
Just to satisfy my curiousity, I opened the pz2 file in Notepad, and then opened a pz2 for a working MAT (for another item). The working MAT file has its contents neatly organized, whereas the non-loading MAT pz2 is all over the place. Could that be the problem? Perhaps the pz2's are correupted in some way?
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I don't have toolgirl for V4, but are you loading OBJ files via the Import menu? Have you looked in Poser Formats > My Library for any figures.
Toolgirl is a set of clothing I think for V4, and V4 should be loaded first. I cannot find this item in the store, do you have a link?
Toolgirl is no longer in the Daz Store.
But yes it is conforming clothing, and I think some props. Would be found in "poser formats"
I made a mistake. They are not OBJ files, they are cr2 files. I load them the normal way, through the content menu, just like I load everything else. The problem is they load without textures (but lots of stuff does that; that's not unusual) and I can't apply MATs. All the files are where they should be, they just don't load.
One thing I just noticed: MATs that have worked for me in the past have had .dsa files, whereas Toolgirl has .dsb files, in addition to the .pz2 files.
Oh, BTW, I started using DAZ studio in Jan. of 2011, so I'm not a newbie, but this seemed like a pretty basic question/problem, so I posted here. Thanks!
Ah, now there is your problem. I am not a DS user, but I gather that .dsa will work in both DS3 and DS 4, but .dsb will only work in DS4.
The problem is that a .dsb file is tagged with the version it was saved from and will not work in older versions - the format has always been available, but like a .daz scene file it has never been backwards compatible.
Hmm. Toolgirl V4 is, obviously, for V4, so why wouldn't it work for an older version of DS?
As Richard says the .dsb format can only be used in the version of DS that they were created in.
This clothing set was made to work in Poser, which is why you have the cr2 and the pz2. Daz Studio will read these formats, but the mats need tweaking for DS. So the creator converted the pz2 mat files, so that they could be read by DS, but obviously used DS4 to create the DS mats, so unfortunately DS3 cannot read them.
Had she used the dsa format for them instead there would have been no problem.
Just because the product was created for Poser and V4 it doesn't mean it is an old product, It is not very old. People are still creating products for V4 even now, Generation 4 figures are still very current and very much used.
Not exactly the answer I wanted, but thanks!
The vendor now sells some products at RDNA or Renderosity, where she trades as Bad Kitteh Co. You could try getting in touch with her there. This particular item is not in her stores there though.
You could install DS4, apply the material, and File>Save as>Deprecated>Materials preest (I can't recall the exact menu chain, but it's close tot hat), making sure when you save that the format is set to the ASCII .dsa option. Those files should then work in your DS3.