So, where's that content guide again?
WsCG
Posts: 391
Hi folks,
So, I'm setting up DAZ/Carrara on a fresh install of Windows, and am having trouble finding a guide I'd seen on here in the past.
My goal is to basically keep one central location for all my Genesis characters and related content that can then be 'shared' between DAZStudio and Carrara. In the past, I've ended up having redundant copies of it on my system because I'd install it through DAZ but then was unable to get it to load correctly into Carrara, or vice-versa.
There's so much information regarding content in DS and Carrara that it's become difficult (for me anyway) to parse out the bits that I actually need 
.
Thanks!
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Comments
This one?
Daz Install Manager - Installing Custom Poser Runtimes
Basic walkthrough of designing your own custom runtime structure
I'd seen that, but I recall seeing something that was a bit more of a "thumbnail version", or a TL;DR outline. The link you provided is really a lot more information and detail than I need in this case.
I've tried installing the stuff through DAZ and then pointing Carrara to DAZ's content folder, but it ends up as a long list of folders with non-helpful names, all letters and numbers, instead of something descriptive like Genesis, or what-not.
And when I try to install the content through DIM and then point to those folders with DAZ Studio, the characters don't load in right (they show up as a hierarchy of white 'blocks' instead of the actual character models.
I know I'd made it work in the past. I just can't figure out how I did it now.
I have to admit - I'm lost as to what's going on here.
When looking for content in Carrara, where you're seeing letters and numbers, are you looking in the Smart Content tab or the Content tab?
In the Content tab, if you have the main DAZ Studio library (My Daz3d Libaray by default) added as "Content" (Instead of "Runtime") it should show the correct Daz3d Library.
To find Genesis (for example) go to
> My Daz3d Library
> People
> Genesis
And inside that you'll find listings for Characters, Clothing, Hair, etc., etc.,
The File/Folder menu options are in this little icon here, which is what we use to Add or Remove file folders to the browser. In the case of the COntent tab, Runtimes and/or Content Libraries.
We might have the same directory loaded into the Content tab twice, one with the word: "Runtime" on the end. That one is for Poser related items using the Runtime structure.
If we add a new Runtime to this tab, after we select the folder to add, a dialog will appear asking if this is a Poser runtime or Content. Choose "Content: to get the Daz Studio Library system.
Thanks, Dart...
Also, hi! Hadn't seen ya around here for a bit!
So, in theory, I should be able to:
1) Install DAZStudio
2) Download my content via DS (Genesis/Genesis2, etc) to the default library location
3) Load up Carrara and add that folder as a Content folder?
I've tried doing that before and that's where I got it showing a ton of different folders with numbers/letters instead of product names or categories. I can try again and see if maybe it plays nice this time.
I was happy to see you too! Yes, it's been too long!!!
Daz Studio is not needed unless you want it.
I use the Daz Install Manager, which I (and others) call DIM
If we install Daz Studio's Postgre database, DIM will update the database and sort everything out as we install/uninstall, etc., which will work for Carrara 8.5's Smart Content tab - but I never use that, so I'm not a lot of help in that department.
When you mention numbers and letters it makes me think you were looking in Smart Content tab instead of Content tab.
But we also don't need DIM. The thing is, when Genesis and Carrara 8.5 beta were really young, certain changes made to files, especially when their names stayed the same but the format changed from .dsn to .duf, made it necessary to remove certain files when updating products - instead of just adding the new files - otherwise we Carrara users would get errors, etc., so DIM makes it nice because it does all of that for us - plus keeps track of where we put things - as well as where the individual products put things. Makes it nice for finding files.
But if we manually install any product to a folder - any folder - we can add that folder (Add Runtime) to Carrara's Content Tab. When doing so, we need to know what's in the folder:
In that same icon I point to in the post above (File/Folder Menu) we also have Auto-Detect Runtimes, which will catch the Daz Studio COntent folder for sure. I've had it not catch some of my Poser runtimes, but they're simple to add manually so it wasn't a big deal.
=======================================================================================
I did have Auto-Detect add a folder that didn't work called "library". I think it's a Daz Studio thing that gets added to My Documents - or maybe I made that myself - I don't recall. But it didn't have the proper categories, so I used that same icon (File/Folder Menu) to remove the folder.
Sorry for the delay. I was rehearsing my drums with my new lightsaber drumsticks Rosie bought me (Early Christmas) and when I got home she made me homemade pancakes with eggs. Oh yum!
A fellow drummer! Nice! :D I have a nifty little electronic set here; live in an apt. so I can't exactly have a normal kit heheh :p
As for the files in Carrara... I install DAZ because I intend to create stuff in Carrara and then bring it into DAZ to use for projects/scenes, etc. I've never been able to get runtimes to work. Ever. Carrara never recognizes them, even when they're clearly present. So I've just gone with setting up Content folders.
Begin minor siderant...
Still really wish DAZ could make the setup of content more intuitive and consistent across their products. It just seems like installing content to a folder, and then simply pointing your program to that folder should be enough, and the program will know what to look for, and do the rest. I suspect that's how it's supposed to work, and on a few occasions, I've gotten it to after fighting with it enough. Most of the time, though, it doesn't. If I set stuff up through DIM, DAZ Studio won't pick it up right. If I install through DAZ, Carrara won't pick it up. I've only been able to make things work by having all the content installed through both programs, which wastes an awful lot of HD space, and doesn't seem like it shouldn't be necessary. But alas... it is what it is, I guess.
End minor siderant...
Anyhow.. thanks for your help/info!
I take it by: Install by DAZ you mean installing directly through Daz Studio? I've never done that.
I like having Daz Studio installed too. I barely ever use it, but I like to be able to run it if I need to. I just wanted to make it clear that we don't need it.
I came to Carrara from Poser, so for me its the Daz Content being the newbie on the block. It is the newbie for Carrara as well.
One thing I love about Poser's Runtime system is that we are somewhat constrained on folders, unlike Daz Studio content, where I feel that Daz PAs have really made a mess of things. Environments, Environments > Architecture, Props > Architechture, I guess if I used it more I'd be more used to it.
Like I explain in the article I mentioned above, Installing Custom Poser Runtimes, each "runtime" folder is basically a clone of the Poser installation directory found in Program Files (if your on Win). I only mention that because it's a delicate system. If we mess with the folders structure or names, etc., we break that delicate system. But when we don't wreck it, it works well.
I also mention it that way because it makes it clear as to how to install to such a system.
I have many "Runtime" folders, but I call them that because it was a common term we used before DS switched to their own structure. The actual runtime folder which contains the runtime structure should have its own unique name. Like mine are each named by a broad category like: Environments, Vehicles, V4, M4, LoRez, Dragons, Animals, etc., Each of those words are the name of a folder, and each of those folders hold a folder called "Runtime".
So for an example, if I got a new Animal product from somewhere other than Daz3d I'd open the zip and either see a folder with the product name. Open that to reveal a folder named Runtime and perhaps a Documentation folder, etc.,
To install this, I'd drag the Runtime folder (from the zip) and any other folders in the same location into my "Animals" folder. Since the Animals folder already contains a Runtime folder, we need to merge them as well as anything else that matches. So in WinXP (remember that?) we'd use "Overwrite"
I just recently got an electronic kit. An Alesis DM10X Mesh. I love it!
But I'll never part with my acoustic power kit. Yeah... it's illegal in all residential areas! LOL
Nice!
I have a Roland kit. TD-something. Small little thing, really crappy bass and hi-hat pedals, but it was decently priced for my budget at the time.
I'm looking to upgrade to a better kit, maybe this year. We'll see. How do you like the Alesis? I was checking them out, but hadn't heard much about them at the time. Might check them out next time if I see enough positive feedback on them.
As for the Carrara thing, I just stuck with Carrara and installed my Genesis 1 and 2 stuff, and added that as a content folder. It'll be enough for me to work with at least for now.
I love it (Alesis Kit), but it's hard to find that model now. The new ones that look similar to mine use a different brain module with a single plugin with little wires for each pad, which I wouldn't like myself. The new flagship Alesis, Strike and Strike Pro look fantastic, though a bit pricier than what I paid. Mine was actually nearly the same price at first, but was discounted well when I finally took the plunge.
Roland certainly still rules the roost, but are even pricier for the ones we can actually gig out with. If I could afford one that's what I'd go for, I think.
When I can, I want to add a Sample Pad Pro to gain an additional nine pads, and then I want to work toward getting a Strike kit and use some of the pads I have to to fill it up - sort of combine them together.
Back when drum machines hit the market and were on the rise, Alesis was a name that really produced some great sounds and excellent playability, so I felt I could trust them. I was a drum tech/salesman for Guitar Center at the time and so many drummers were feeling betrayed by the idea of Drum Machines. I led an argument against that - proving that drummers can be just as free using drum machines to play other instruments. I didn't sell drum machines. I sold drums. But I wasn't afraid of them either.
Tama gave me one of the very first consumer-sold drum cages to put on display. The thing was incredible and I'm surprised that more of them didn't sell - but since they didn't, I think they were once again removed from the consumer-level market.
I filled the whole center and right side of the cage with acoustic and the left and overhead with elecronic drums. It was really cool! So cool that the manager from Pro-Sound gave me a stage for it and surrounded the thing with an amazing Crown/JBL sound system and some of the finest midi sound modules on the (then) market. Lights, microphone, sound and drums mounted all over this massive chrome cage - Zildjian and Paiste cymbals everywhere!
The store manager dimmed the lights for the whole store as my stage came to life - I played "In the Still of the Night", by Whitesnake, all by myself. The electronic drums were midi sounds of bass, guitar, and these killer-sounding electric violins that I used for the guitar solo, orginally played with a violin bow on a guitar. People from all over surrounded the stage and filled me with that feeling that just makes everything flow even better than normal! It was unforgettable to me!
I've barely touched electronic drums since I left. I bought a used older kit for some quiet gigs but ended up using my acoustic kit instead and just played really quietly. Such a thing was so hard for me when I was young. But now I can really rock out at a very low volume. It's a really fun challenge - hard to do which makes it even more fun.
Awesome. I found a picture of a Tama Cage (not my setup)!
Oh yeah... the bass drum on the right (or my Cage setup) was acoustic and the left was electronic, but I also had a double pedal on the acoustic.
I set the electronic bass drum to trigger a snare drum sound. So while I played bass and guitar with the pads to the left and overhead (left was Bass, overhead was guitar) I could hold the beat with my feet! ;)
Very nice!
Have you seen this monstrosity?
http://www.bitrebels.com/lifestyle/worlds-largest-drum-set-813-pieces/
The guy's basically playing a Drum & Percussion store.
Wow! I would have a lot of fun with that - if not how it is, tearing it all apart and setting it up how I'd want it... to have all of that stuff is... well....
I must say that I love all of the many, many sounds I can make with any one of my acoustic drums. One drum has so many ways to make sounds. It's so fun to just solo away for an hour or so on a well-tuned (or not, I suppose) kit. The more I used to do this, the better I got at solos, but also at everything else.
It did have a negative affect of making me ALWAYS want to be the soloist. LOL