Michael 4 Shapes++ don't appear in parameters tab after loading.
dr_evil111_132f7a4ff6
Posts: 10
Hello, I recently purchased the morphs for the M4 model and am having trouble getting them to show up in DAZ studio. Normally, when I add morphs to V4, I add her base model to the scene, then select her figure and double click on her morphs++ and it loads the morph dials into the paramters tab. However, with M4 I do the same thing, and while it looks like DS is loading the morph files like normal, when it's finished, the dials are nowhere to be found. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling M4 and his morphs, and I've tried using the powerloader when I first load M4 into the scene, but it's still causing the same problem. Has anyone encountered something similar to this? I'm using a windows computer with DS 4.9.
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Since you are not, by the sound of it, using the PowerLoader (which will pop up a dialogue when you load the figure, allowing you to choose which morphs to load) did you run the /Runtime/Libraries/!DAZ/CreateExPFiles-m4 file (in the content library to which the base figure and morphs are installed) after installing the morphs?
No, I hadn't run CreateExPFiles-M4. Is that required for certain figures? I went ahead and tried running that file after another fresh install, but I'm still not seeing the morph dials. I tried adding them manually, then with the powerloader in a fresh scene, but I'm getting the same result (no visible dials).
If you don't use PowerLoader (which does the same job) then the DzCreateExPFiles-m4 has to be run after adding or removing an ExP moprh expansion to update the list of files that is read in when the figure is loaded (which in turn tell DS/Poser to read in the individual morph files). You did install the Poser files for the morphs, to the same content directory as the base figure?
Yes, the base figure and morphs are installed to /Runtime/libraries/!DAZ/Michael. For the initial installation, when I started, I had the base M4 already installed, so I tried copying the content folder directly into the matching DAZ directory. When that didn't work, I tried using DAZ Install Manager to do the job, but got the same result. I tried browsing through my V4 folder, because her morphs work fine, just to see if the right files were in place, and it looks almost identical to M4's folder. Does the DzCreateExPFiles-M4 file need to be run while DAZ is open and the figure is loaded into the scene? Or before DAZ ever opens?
The DzCreateExPFiles-m4 script needs to be run before loading Michael 4 and trying to inject the morphs - it isn't doing anything database related so it doesn't matter whether DS is open or not.
I'm not sure if this will help towards figuring it out, but I had an older version of DAZ Studio installed on my computer (DS 3.0) and I tried loading M4 with his morphs into that program, and it worked exactly as intended. So I'm not sure where the disconnect is with DS 4.9. I even tried saving a scene with the Morph++ M4 in DS3 and loading it in DS4, but that always gives me a slew of errors.
Remove power loader and then you can find everything again.
I think the powerloader used to work well with earlier versions of Daz, but
the newest Daz absolutely hates it.
I had to remove it just so I could find Michael 4 models
Do you have the Power Loader script installed but not showing? If so (if there's a scroll icon on the Michael 4 thumbnail in Poser Fomrats>folder>Figures>DAZ People) try holding down the ctrl/cmd key as your double-click so that the dialogue displays and you can check its settings.
Still having issues. With regard to the power loader, it was working. It popped up with a message every time I loaded M4 into a scene, asking which morphs I wanted to load. Each time I selected the base and Morphs++ but it wouldn't show the dials. I then tried double clicking on Morphs++ in the pose folder and it would load as if adding them, but still no dials.
I just tried father1776's suggestion by removing the power loader all together. I loaded M4 into the scene and no powerloader appeared. Then I applied the Morphs++ in the pose folder and it did the same loading window, but no dials at the end.
What's frustrating is that I know the morphs have been applied because I can apply character morphs to M4's face and body. I just can't see the dials to adjust the morphs manually. And, when I click on show hidden properties, it just shows a bunch of dials I can't control.
Are you sure the characters that are working are using Morphs++? If the files are not throwing errors that means the poses are being found - is it posssible that you have two installs of the base figure in different content directories?
Yes, the M4 base model and Morphs++ are installed to the same directory. I even tried installing both of them in an alternate directory to see if they would load from a different location, but that didn't work either. Again, the morphs work, I know they work because I can apply preset character morphs using the content library, I just can't see the dials in the parameters tab, and only in DS 4. They dials are visible when the same model and morphs are loaded in DS 3.
Are the same content diectories listed, in the same order, in DS 3 and DS 4?
Yes, in both DS3 and DS4 I use the following path to load the assets:
Figures > People > Michael 4
Pose > Michael 4 > Morph Injections > INJ Morphs ++ M4
When I load M4 into the scene, the default parameters he has are:
General
>Transforms
>>Translation
>>Rotation
>>Scale
>Misc
>Mesh Resolution
Display
>Rendering
>Scene View
>>Bones
When I add the Morphs++ these parameters don't change.
I meant the content directories, the folders listed immediately under Poser Formats (or just listed immediately in the Content pane in DS3 as I recall).
In DS4 The folders listed under Poser Formats are as follows:
Poser Formats
>My Library
>Studio
>>Camera
>>Figures
>>Expressions
>>Hair
>>Hands
>>Light
>>Materials
>>Pose
>>Props
>>Scene
In DS3 the first/highest list I can navigate to looks like this:
DAZ Built-in Content
Studio
Shader Mixer Presets
Content
Shader Mixer Scenes
Content
Content
Upon looking at it, it seems like I have too many content directories. Though I installed M4 to two of them and neither directory works in DS4. I also tried upgrading to DS 4.10, but got the same issue as DS 4.9.
So which content directories have Michael 4 in them?
I installed him in two directories:
C:/Program Files (x86)/DAZ/Studio/Content
and
C:/Program Files (x86)/DAZ/Studio/Content/Content
The second content folder is located in the first and was an accident, but I kept it around for situations like this where I needed to install something in a less bloated folder. I have figure and object files in both content directories that load like normal in both DS3 and DS4.
Ah, well if you have UAC on (which it is by default) then that explains your issues - Windows won't allow the ExP Files utility to create its output in Program Files (it will be shunted to the Virtual Store folder) and so they won't be seen on loading the figure. Content should not be palced in the application folder. having nested content directories is also likely to cause issues with saved files as DS will get confused, for content in the inner folder, on whether it should include the first Content folder in the relative path.
I'm not familiar with UAC? Would turning it off allow the dials to appear? Or, would I need to install M4 and his morphs into a new content directory that isn't in Program Files?
Ah, okay, I looked up UAC and I see it's a windows security setting. And you were right about it not being able to run CreateExPFiles-m4 in the program files folder (it looked like it was running, but it wasn't creating the necessary settings). I installed M4 and his morphs to a new content directory located in My Documents, and DS4 finally added the dials! Thank you so much for your help! :D
I'm glad that resolved it.