How to clean-up Render Presets Tab
marble
Posts: 7,500
I like to save Render Presets but I can't seem to delete old ones. Now I have a crammed pane with lots of dead links to presets I have deleted from the Render Presets folder, yet they still appear in the pane - albeit with a dotted line border. How do I clean-up the preset list?
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Have you tried right clicking them and choosing remove reference? Or delete, not sure which comes up
You'd think so, wouldn't you. But I can't see any such option.
I'm a long way from my computer right now, but is there a Browse to Folder Location option? You could hit that, then delete them by hand. I seem to remember that the Render Presets folder is in the My Library folder, and if so, yeah, just clear them by hand. I do that with my saved scenes that I don't need anymore.
Yes, as I said in my OP, I did delete them by hand from that folder. The icons are still there in the panel though, even though they are not connected to any files.
That's what I get for not reading... Okay, back at my computer. Right Click on Default on the left hand side. Click Show Category in Content Library. This should give you all the icons you had before, but under the Content Library. Spot your deleted icon and Right Click on it. Select Remove Orphaned Reference... from the list. You're asked if you're sure, and do be sure, because apparently, you can't fix it after you've removed it. Then click back on to the Render Library, Presets, then right click on Default and pick Refresh. That should clear away your old file.
Ok, I did follow your instructions and I learned something new so I thank you for that. Unfortunately, the orphaned icon does not show in the Content Library as you suggest. In fact the Content Library Render Settings catergory looks perfectly fine - I wish my actual Render Settings tab looked so clean and tidy. :)
[EDIT] I found that there is a R-Click option for the icon called "Categorize" and that has an option to "Remove from All Categories". I tried that too but it is still there in my pane. Which makes sense really as it doesn't show up in the Catergories when I look for it using your method.
I am told
Content Browser (ala Smart Content & Presets pages) vs Content Manager (Content Library)... Right click, Show in Content Library... Then try right clicking an asset for options that relate to managing... like removing a reference.
I really have no idea what you are talking about. I don't use the Smart Content panel at all but I assumed you meant that so I opened it. I can find an entry for "Render Settings" but it bears no resemblance to my Render Settings tab and there's no sign of the orphaned file/icon. I have looked down the list of tabs and panes and there is no mention of any "Content Browser". There is a "Content Library" but that is what we were looking at in the posts above.
However, once again, if I go to my Render Settings tab and R-Click on the offending icon, I do have an option to "Show in Content Library". When I click that, nothing happens - I get a list of valid files but not the "orphan". So, I am guessing that the database does an occasional clean-up because I now realise that old "orphans" which have niggled me in the past are no longer evident, so they must have been removed somehow. The present culprit has been there for several days now so whatever routine is run must be very occasional.
Smart Content and the presets tabs of the property panes are all "content browser" panes, while the Content Library pane is a "content management" pane. However, I thought Show in Content Library would show the file (if it existed) under the Daz Studio Formats folder - what I would think you wanted was Show in Categories, which should then give you access to the database-elated options including Remove Reference.
Again, you'd think so but it doesn't. The actual file does not exists so it doesn't show anywhere except as an orphaned icon in the Render Settings pane. The icon is not the original icon either - it is the default "missing file" icon as shown above.
Wow, this is rapidly turning into a help ticket for a completely broken feature. I think I steered you wrong by saying Right-Click on Default. From the picture above, try opening up Render-Setttings, Scene Builder, and Saved Files. There's probably sub-directories galore, but keep poking around. You're looking for the group that has the !DAC IRay files, especially the one with the broken icon. Once you find the lowest directory on the tree that has that icon, try going back to my directions, only Right Click on the bottom directory. Otherwise, everything should be the same.
This might not help with your specific problem, but something you could do is save your Render Presets under Render Presets, or other directory of choice, under wherever you keep your content (probably My Library somewhere) and not use the Presets tab under Render Settings at all. You can erase and refresh the files there to your heart's content.
I am told (by someone typing with one thumb in a moving, crowded train, now that's dedication to try and help you)
"Show Asset in > Content library > Mapped Folder" or "Show Asset in > Content library > Products" are the actions in the asset's context (right-click) menu that I was thinking of. You can also "Show Category in Content Library" from the category's context (right-click) menu, and then "Remove Reference..." from that asset's context (right-click) menu.
Yes, I did try that and yes, I found some orphans which indeed had the option to remove reference. As I have been trying to say, that doesn't apply to the one in question (see above). It is an icon without a file and without any reference in the category. The only place it exists is in the Render Settings panel. I think I'll just have to ignore it - maybe that mysterious routine will run and whisk it away one of these days.
By the way, not a clue what you are taliking about with the one-thumbed typist.
Here's a cock-eyed way of looking at your problem: how about going to where you had you presets stored, creating an empty .txt file there, rename it to <your-now-deleted-preset-name>.duf then using the methods suggested above to remove it cleanly through DAZ Studio?
Well, whaddya know? That worked :)
Good thinking.
Well I'm glad it did work.
I've been thinking of doing a clean-up of old presets/scenes/etc myself and thinking the quick way was just to delete them in Win Explorer - but now I know to avoid that!
Rob says that soem options are not showing when they should, so keep an eye on the Change Log for it to be fixed as future updates are released.
In principle, if the preset shows in a database-driven view (such as the Presets page of Render Settings) then it will appear in the Files tab of Smart Content (subject to the max number of files shown) and in the Content Library under Products>first letter of product (probably L for Local user) and in its place under Categories, if it has a category. The Content Library pane shows all entries in the database, since it is intended for managing the database - Smart Content and presets tabs are filtered and may not show things that are in Content Library, but not the reverse.
Thanks although I'm not sure how this information applies to me. I don't use Smart Content and probably never will - I just don't see the point as I have my content organised the way I like it in the Content pane. I guess that I see Smart Content as something that assumes I'm not smart enough and therefore wants to tell me how to organise my content. While the majority of my products are purchased from the DAZ store and installed via DIM, I do buy elsewhere and manually install those products along-side the DIM installed content.
I create my own presets and likewise create my own versions of characters and these are shown in the Content Tab exactly where I put them in the Windows Folder view. The Render Presets Tab seems to be a one-off with different rules.
Smart content and the presets tabs, and the Categories and products lists in the Content Library, are all examples of database-driven views - you are using one of those (the presets tab in Render Settings).