What is the Support folder for?
Ron Knights
Posts: 2,112
in The Commons
Does this folder have info on the items that are installed? Is the Support folder necessary if you manually install your products?
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The Support folder generally holds files associated with Metadata for Smart Content.
OK. If I ignore Smart Content, do I need the Support folder?
Well, its lack won't cause any errors directly - it's there if you need to reimport metadata, it isn't used live - but don't forget that some features, such as AutoFit, do rely on the Content Management System and more may do so in future.
Richard, thanks for the info. I don't use Smart Content, so I'm not concerned about metadata. Autofit, however, is essential. I'll keep the Support folder.
How does the Autofit feature rely on CMS? I don't use CMS, never installed the support files, and sofar don't recall getting an autofit problem....
How did you install? If you used DIM then the database will have been populated (unless you mean you haven't isntalled PostgreSQL). I can't recall exactly how it depends, but if you really don't have the database available then you should at least have fewer options in the AutoFit dialogue.
Honestly, I don't recall using Autofit all that much, if at all. I have each character use clothes that were made for it. (Genesis with Genesis clothes, etc.) I have, however, decided once again, to go exclusively with DIM installed content. It's just too much trouble to install manually or to change things around.
I install exclusively by hand - you're making me curious what I'm missing out on?
@Nath "I install exclusively by hand - you're making me curious what I'm missing out on?"
DIM will generally be faster / simpler because you won't have to manually point the "unzipper" to the right directory / folder or open the right location to drag/drop.
I install Studio products w/ DIM and Rendo stuff manually. DIM is faster..
I know DIM is faster*, but I was more intrigued by what Richard said about DIM installs affecting autofit.
* I still prefer having everything in my own custom categories so it suits my workflow
@Nath "I was more intrigued by what Richard said about DIM installs affecting autofit."
In my experience, I haven't noticed an Autofit behavior difference between a Renderosity product I've manually installed and a similar Studio product that DIM installed.
I manually install and use the content library. I never install the support folder. The only issue that Ive ever noticed with autofit which may or may not be because of the support folder is that a very small percentage of clothing items may not autofit and instead load as default. All I do then is select the item, right click and choose "fit to" [g1,g2,g3,g8]. Problem solved.
Exactly what does autofit mean? Does it mean that Michael 5 can wear Victoria's clothes, etc?
Daz Studio's built-in Autofit lets you use clothes between genders within the same generation, so M5 wearing V5's clothes like you said. It also lets you fit the prior generations clothes to the same gender, so M6 can wear M5 clothing, but M6 can't wear V5. Then there are PA products that allow crossgender clothes fitting between nearly all generations, depending on which product you buy. At least that's my understanding of it.
When you say you install by hand, does that mean opening each install file and clicking through the install menus for each one? That's what I did years ago, and I was wondering if it's still the same.
Nowadays it's more unzipping the zip-file. Data and Runtime I just copy over, no messing. All the other directories (props, environments, people, etc) I move into my own corresponding custom directories by hand. It's not as much work as it used to be, especially since I can unzip a bunch of files together and sort it out from there. The big plus is of course that categories make sense to me, and I can get rid of vanity folders.
Sounds cool, maybe I'll try that one day. I knew 7zip could open up .exe files and pull out the interior files, but I didn't know if it would work in this case.
I always understood it as "attaching" the clothing or hair to a figure. That way, you don't have to adjust it's pose to match the figure, or use adjustments to get the clothes to fit properly. Downshot is that auto fit sometimes changes the shape of the attached object in ways you might not want (especially around the breasts of any female character). Some.figures have autofit between generations (Gen 8 is pretty good with that), but crossing genders on anything other than Genesis 1, properly at least, takes an additional product of some kind.
Yep, I don't use DIM and don't have PostgreSQL installed. so now wondering what the missing options might be.,,,
Not what I meant: the installers are no longer exe-files.
(And I didn't know that about 7zip. I use IZarc)
Dang. It really has been a long time since I looked at those. I remember when install files were exe and you had to go through a whole sequence of EULA, chosing an install folder or something like that for each one. The new way sounds a lot better.
DAZ still packages their zip files the wrong way. DAZ has a "content" folder at the top. DAZ hasn't used a Content folder in DAZ Studio for years. It just makes one more unnecessary thing for us to deal with. Someone obviously programmed DIM to eliminate the Content folder, and install things the way we see them in the end.
I am very concerned that I might have been killing my hard drives by the mass movement of files for manual install. I've seen Finder crash, shudder, blink and squack. I've heard terrible noises coming from the hard drive. I've seen the screen go black etc. I read somewhere that hard drives have trouble moving all those files. Your file manager has to find a file, then move it, whatever. That is another reason I've decided to return to DIM.
i'm sorry, we may have gotten to the point where some of this discussion duplicates my "Lost Artist" thread. If that is true, I am open to gentle prodding from the moderator(s).
I remember those too... I've been at this game for too long
The Content folder is there to keep the content, as opposed to say plug-ins or files for another application, in one place for DIM.
Richard, as always, it's great to hear from you. But have you looked at your Content?! The Content folder does NOT exist once everything is installed!!
No, it is for DIM to separate different types. The stuff rom the "Content" folder is what goes in the target content directory.