Thank you, Melanie, Totte. I am thoroughly enjoying this one!
And now, for my 'Last Hurrah'....
The final pull (#4):
531 - DMs Mixed Fantasy
665 - Everyday Groceries
491 - Diamonds
416 - Dark Moods for Genesis
579 - Dream Stalker
1931 - Tales of Adventure for Stephanie Petite
1939 - Tears Hair for Genesis
1181 - Lycan Critter Poses
I have an idea already. And yes, Martin and Alexis will be back for this one, too...!
Ack. I've been avoiding this thread because I don't want to write more poetry, lol! Backed myself into a corner with the Grinch thing -- one more part to go, lol. The render is the easy part!
Must catch up with the amazing stories here, too... Happy new year, all!
Ken, your stories are amazing. I would love to see a movie out of these.
Thanks Melanie and Luci, I had fun with this! Pity life is going to interfere and keep me from doing another one this round. But the story aspect was fun.
Happy New Year, everyone, hopefully I'll be able to check in for voting!
Tag: karibousboutique #2, Picture 3 My Pull: 5902 Soulmate Poses DAZ - USED
6658 Tootsie Hair DAZ 1877 Dystopia Destinations: Landing Pad DAZ - USED
1968 Eliza for K4 DAZ 5661 SG Steam Queens DAZ -- USED
4727 PH’s Swinging Cages RO
6641 Tithe Barn DS DAZ
912 Carnival Picnic Tables DAZ
Rendered inPoser Pro 2014, Postwork in Photoshop CS6
It's FINALLY DONE!!! And the story was waaaaaaaaaaaaay more work than the renders, lol. I now have a whole new appreciation for Dr. Seuss. If I had to spend my career creating stories that rhymed, I'd throw myself off the top of Mount Crumpit. Anyway, I hope I've done a fitting tribute to How The Grinch Stole Christmas. (The fantastic original can be found here if you want to enjoy the real thing.)
Story title: How Karibou Stole Christmas
Image Title: To Dystopia's Top!
It was quarter-past dawn,
All the Daz-es still sleeping,
When Karibou left,
Her greedy heart leaping!
She took all the content to her zeppelin of steel
And began to imagine how those Daz-es would feel
As they woke in the morning,
Expecting content galore
But then finding, in horror,
That they were now... content-poor.
Three thousand feet up!
To Dystopia's top!
Kari steered her steel zeppelin
And then pulled to a stop.
With heartless delight, she carefully placed it
On the landing pad's edge...
Where she prepared to ERASE IT!
Her checkbook, so shriveled from the twins' childhood...
Well, if she couldn't buy content, then NOBODY COULD!
She snickered as she thought of the Daz-es reaction
To the nefarious plan she'd just put into action.
"They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!
"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two
"Then those Daz-es in Dazville will all cry BOO-HOO!"
"Defeated and grieving o'er the content they missed
"Those Daz-es will give up! There'll be no more wishlists!
"I will never again feel that mean Christmas taunting
"From the people who write what NEXT YEAR they'll be wanting!"
"That BOO-HOO," Kari said,
"Is a sound I must hear!"
So she paused. And she put a hand up to her ear.
And she did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow...
But the sound wasn't sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn't be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY!
Every Daz down in Daz-ville, the tall and the small,
Was smiling! They were SMILING! With no content at all!
A merry Christmas had dawned!
Christmas morning-- it came!
Somehow or another
It came just the same!
And Karibou stood, staring off into space,
Quite unsure how to process what had just taken place.
"It came without Vickies! It came without Freaks!
"It came without creatures with talons or beaks!
"It came without Poses! It came without Bryce!
"It came without fastgrabs or discounts on price!
And she puzzled for hours, `till her puzzler was sore.
Then Karibou thought of something she hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," she thought, "can't be bought and downloaded.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps.. isn't so quickly eroded."
And she suddenly knew why no Daz-es were nervous.
For tomorrow, back at work, would be
Customer Service.
And what happened then...?
Well...in Daz-ville they say
That Kari threw out her budget
Then said, "Meh. What the hey..."
And the minute she didn't care about being so broke,
She returned all the content with a single keystroke.
She grabbed an M4 and then gave him a kiss,
And then she...
I'm struggling to finish my first and probably only story this month. Too many relatives visiting for the holiday season to get much rendering done. I'd say this month goes to the K's - Ken and Kari. Both have really outstanding entries that blew me away!
Well, I'm with the rest of you slow pokes. I am working on my first story, STILL, on render 2, with drafts of 3 and 4 sketchily put together. Fine tuning. I'm enjoying working on it (still giggling) and if I don't finish, I'll just do it elsewhere. Don't want to rush the details. But I'm trying to get it done. Enjoying the stories VERY much- the poetry rocks!
Ken has the whole 007 vibe going -- fight scenes, dashing hero, high drama... whereas my vibe is, well, just 7. As in AGE 7. Lol. Can you tell I have children??
I'm just now getting caught up with the other stories. Finally have a few moments to breathe!
I'm stuck folks.
No matter what I do, I can NOT load up Jet Bike (I pulled the Jet Bike Textures.)
It is not in DIM.
Went to orders and checked, not DIM compatible.
Went to Product Library, downloaded.
Problems started. Could not manually install. I did it with the tried and true "extract" and pulling it over to My Library. No go.
Then created a new folder under MyLibrary so I could manually check each and every component of Content. Checked each one with the subfolders, they are all there. NO, Content Folder is not nested under CONTENT folder. No nesting.
Still will not show up in the studio. I have refreshed. I have shut down. I have "searched" (THAT'S a joke, as we all know.)
There is no README.
If you have Jet Bike, can you load it (will have to do the zip manually as no DIM, trust me) and tell me where it shows up for you? It is not going to be Smart Content either. (product 2680)
I even repurchased the stupid thing to see if it was different/ screwing up. ($1.99 bike, $1.99 textures. Filing a ticket.) http://www.daz3d.com/jet-bike
If I can't get this going after all last night and this morning for two hours, will have to do something else or trash the entire thing. I'm not redoing my current render whose setting is based on this stupid thing that I've worked on for over a week.
Going on 12 hours, no assistance, so I am stuck. Tried all day to get it to install. So am substituting in the most similar item I can find that is a watercraft (which is what it was being used for.) Looks almost identical.
Going on 12 hours, no assistance, so I am stuck. Tried all day to get it to install. So am substituting in the most similar item I can find that is a watercraft (which is what it was being used for.) Looks almost identical.
We're not ignoring you, Novica; you just caught me at work, and....
Anyway, I've seen a number of items that I've installed into my DAZ Studio Content directory (and that's the actual name of my content folder, which I created when I first installed DS4.0 -- or, as we in the software biz used to call it, "Four-dot-uh-oh"), that ended up being placed in the 'data' folder, as opposed to the 'content' or the 'My Library' directories. So you might want to look there for anything that has apparently gone AWOL. (And you don't even want to get me started on where texture files sometimes end up!)
I raised this issue -- misplaced content -- in another thread a while ago, and there was this one supercilious twit who instantly intoned, "This is a user error," along with the thing you mentioned, nested 'content' folders. As in your case, there were no 'nested' directories; the content was placed in the wrong directory. And it happened when the package was created in the first place.
This is just another of the many reasons why I prefer to use Poser: the libraries are sanely organized, that organization is well-known..., and it's simple. The directory hierarchy of DAZ Studio, by contrast, is positively Byzantine!
And, since you mentioned it, memo to DAZ: Bring back the Readme's!! Some of us -- myself, for example -- actually use those things! And not just to locate our stuff, either. I use them to inventory my libraries for..., well, for the RRRR, among other purposes.
:) I didn't think I was being ignored :) just wanted everyone to know I seriously tried to remedy the situation (the previous night for three hours off and on, had to give it a break, I was so ticked) then all day yesterday off and on. I would walk away and think about what else I could do (and to cool off. REALLY mad.) I spent hours going through every category. I looked at where the items were in the C folders and they don't match with the folders structure (aka, one says libraries/poses if I recall, could be wrong, am headed out the door to unblanket the horse and HAVE to do it at a certain temperature.)
When I get back, I'll tell ya'll where the files are located. :)
...I keep getting an error message when I try to load V4 that says it cannot find a certain delta or something. When I click on the "Locate" button, a folder for Aiko5 comes up (?)
When I load her into 3.1A, everything works fine.
Yeah, really annoying. I uninstalled and reinstalled all my V4 base content (save for the Power Loader which I never used anyway even on my old system) and it still occurs.
Reminder: there is no DIM files. Must be done manually. Done thousands of these stupid things.
Jet Bike Textures
When Content folder brought over, it had this which was placed:
Content>
Readmes> Pics
Readmes> Product Lists
Both are there.
Also from the Content folder>
Runtime>
Libraries>Pose>MAT Jet Bike I don't see images, am I supposed to? The file examples are JetBike1_P4.pz2 and others ending .rsr
Textures>Ravnheart>Jet Bike which I can tell has BOTH the Jet Bike and add-ons (there's more in there than just the add ons, which I am discussing first. So we know the textures went to the textures in the Runtime.
Web Links (not a problem)
For the Jet Bike-
the Readmes are correct. Both there, showing original jet bike.
Content>
Readmes>Pics
Readmes>Product lists.
Runtime>
Geometries>S Studio>SciFi Figures>Jet Bike (WHERE IS THIS AT IN CONTENT LIBRARY????) The Jet Bike file does have jet-bike.obj
Libraries>Character>DAZ Vehicles (doesn't show in Content Library) and has jet bike CR2 file and jet bike.rsr
Libraries>Pose>MAT Jet Bike (with more of those pz2 and rsr files.) What is the MAT doing in Pose?
Textures>Ravnheart>Jet Bike (with the images)
Weblinks (not a problem)
Can't spend anymore time on this (took 30 minutes to type all this crap) so if the answer isn't obvious I'll just use a vehicle that looks just like it. Can't change the story at this point.
Reminder: there is no DIM files. Must be done manually. Done thousands of these stupid things.
Jet Bike Textures
When Content folder brought over, it had this which was placed:
Content>
Readmes> Pics
Readmes> Product Lists
Both are there.
Also from the Content folder>
Runtime>
Libraries>Pose>MAT Jet Bike I don't see images, am I supposed to? The file examples are JetBike1_P4.pz2 and others ending .rsr
Textures>Ravnheart>Jet Bike which I can tell has BOTH the Jet Bike and add-ons (there's more in there than just the add ons, which I am discussing first. So we know the textures went to the textures in the Runtime.
Web Links (not a problem)
For the Jet Bike-
the Readmes are correct. Both there, showing original jet bike.
Content>
Readmes>Pics
Readmes>Product lists.
Runtime>
Geometries>S Studio>SciFi Figures>Jet Bike (WHERE IS THIS AT IN CONTENT LIBRARY????) The Jet Bike file does have jet-bike.obj
Libraries>Character>DAZ Vehicles (doesn't show in Content Library) and has jet bike CR2 file and jet bike.rsr
Libraries>Pose>MAT Jet Bike (with more of those pz2 and rsr files.) What is the MAT doing in Pose?
Textures>Ravnheart>Jet Bike (with the images)
Weblinks (not a problem)
Can't spend anymore time on this (took 30 minutes to type all this crap) so if the answer isn't obvious I'll just use a vehicle that looks just like it. Can't change the story at this point.
OK so this is a really old product and to load it you'll need to look under Poser Formats in the Content Library panel, then select your content library (I'm presuming you have set it up in "Edit Preferences..." as a Poser Format library already) and look under Figures, then DAZ Vehicles, and the Jet Bike should appear (the .rsr files are "old-fashioned" image files which Windows can't show but DS can).
Most of the older products have MATs in the Pose library. Almost certainly the MAT files are made for Poser not DS, so you may have to tweak the surfaces to get them to look OK.
I think I'm messing up because I started using DIM and the Edit>Preferences for Content Directory Manager-Content Sets- is set up to go to C/Users/Public/Documents/MyDaz3DLibrary. (Both DAZ and Poser)
I installed to the old manual location (C>Users>(Me)>My Documents>DAZ3d>Studio>MyLibrary
So I need to manually do it to the MyDaz3DLibrary? Right now, there is no DAZ Vehicles in the Poser library. (And I had already checked both the DAZ and Poser, and when I saw the DAZ Vehicles, went looking for it :)
Thanks for the screenshot and the help (Melanie and Jaderail) I'll go drag it to the DIM location- thats the only thing I can do. All the rest of the files are there, this was the only manual download and I put it where I used to. I'll leave it where it's at and just make a copy, as I don't have it set up in preferences to go to the old location (C>Users>MyDocuments>(Me)> etc etc MyLibrary
That's what I did- used the old file path (I think that's what you call it) instead of the new one that is linked to the studio. Had to manually drag all the stuff as when I did an extract to the newer path, it still didn't take. Argh.
The final pull (#4):
531 - DMs Mixed Fantasy
665 - Everyday Groceries
491 - Diamonds
416 - Dark Moods for Genesis
579 - Dream Stalker
1931 - Tales of Adventure for Stephanie Petite
1939 - Tears Hair for Genesis
1181 - Lycan Critter Poses
I have an idea already. And yes, Martin and Alexis will be back for this one, too...!
This one didn't so much "evolve", as much as it kind of "congealed". I did the third image first, then started the first, switched to the second and wrapped that one up, then went back to the first.... Which I finally finished, just a few minutes ago. (And there will be a fourth, to wrap up the story, and although the actual story is complete, I have yet even to start that one!)
Anyway..., here it is, my final entry. I call it:
TAG: obanion#04 Story Title: ...And No Lycans Were Harmed in the Making of This Adventure
-- Image #1 -- Image Title: Downtime, Take Two
Used from the pull:
Everyday Groceries
Dark Moods for Genesis (Yeah, David's back for a return engagement!)
Also used:
A Bright Loft
Boyfriend Sweater (Dynamic freebie from Optitex)
David 5
Punk Hair
Sofia texture for V4
Amaya Hair
Boudoir Secrets for V4 (because..., ahem, the sweater didn't drape the way it was supposed to, and left her 'naughty bits' exposed!)
Nico texture for M4
M4 Pajamas
Rock Star hair
The story...
After returning the girls to the bosom of their respective families, Martin and Alexis snuck off to Martin's beachfront bungalow on the island of St. Croix (USVI). They arrived late Friday evening and promptly crashed. (Long flight, crap-loads of delays, TSA full-body-cavity search, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.) And slept in Saturday morning. And Sunday. But inevitably, Martin got hungry. It was too late for a proper breakfast, so..., brunch was the order of the day: Eggs Benedict, Potatoes au Gratin, German pancakes liberally dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with lemon juice, and toasted, buttered croissants with lime marmalade, freshly-ground coffee, an assortment of freshly-squeezed fruit juices, and a sparkling Blanc-de-Blanc.
As Martin busied himself in the kitchen, Alexis simply enjoyed the show. Not for the first time, she marveled at just how complex a man Martin was: he worked with a practiced ease, obviously born of an intimate familiarity with the kitchen and all of its tools, accessories and appliances, as well as the activities that typically take place there.
In short, Martin was demonstrating himself to be a highly competent chef. Not to mention, a bit of a show-off. But then, she already knew that about him!
"How do you do it?" she finally asked him.
"Do what?"
"You obviously know your way around a kitchen," Alexis said. "Which, all by itself, surprises me. I mean, most guys I know barely know where the kitchen is, let alone what to do in one. To them, the kitchen is where the refrigerator is, and they only know that because that's where the beer is. But you...."
Martin paused in his preparations. "Why are so many people just flat-out surprised that I can cook? It really shouldn't surprise anyone. Come on, think about it: any single male, who lives alone, will, if he wants to eat, learn to cook. Okay, I obviously took it to an almost pathological extreme." He gave her a quick grin. "But hey, you know me: 'Nothing in moderation', that's my motto!"
"By the way," Alexis said, "I really like this sweater."
"You do?" Martin responded. "It's yours."
"Really? That's sweet, thank you."
"Not a problem. I found out after I bought it that I'm allergic to mohair."
"Really? Sucks to be you, don't it?"
"You have no idea."
Their playful banter was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. Martin went to the door and opened it, to find none other than David, the Paladin's 'minion', standing on the porch.
"We need to talk," David said without preamble.
"Okay," Martin responded. He stepped back, to allow David to enter. "Please come in."
David stepped through the door, but stopped just inside the threshold. He pushed the door closed, then turned his attention to Martin. "You are no doubt wondering why I'm here," he said wryly.
"I am understandably curious," Martin said. "I'm also curious as to how you found out where I live."
"Google," David said simply.
"Ah. Of course." Martin returned to the kitchen, and continued to prepare his and Alexis' brunch. He did not invite David to join them. "But back to the first question: why are you here?"
"Well," David said, "I suppose you might say that I'm..., atoning for my sins. Well, one of them, at least." He took a few steps further into the room. "Are you familiar with the Order of the Silver Moon?"
Martin shook his head. "Can't say that I am," he said. "Why? Should I be?"
David shrugged slightly. "I just thought," he said, "as much as you seem to get around, that you might have heard of them. They are a sort of quasi-religious group, kind of a pagan convent, as it were. Anyway," he continued, approaching a barstool near the kitchen counter. He gestured toward it with an open hand. "May I?" Martin nodded his assent, and David took a seat. "One thing about the late, probably not-very-lamented Paladin that you may not know is that, before he turned into a power-hungry megalomaniac, he was a common thief. But, if nothing else, the man had aspirations. He graduated from being a common thief, to being a very uncommon one. He stole some extremely obscure, arcane, and by virtue of those qualifications, extremely valuable, artifacts. One of those artifacts was a little trinket known -- by the few people who know about it at all -- as the Necklace of Dammerung. The Paladin stole it several years ago, from the afore-mentioned Order of the Silver Moon.
"Since the Paladin's demise," David continued, "and don't ask me how they found out about that, because I haven't the foggiest; but apparently, the Order has sources of intelligence that would put the NSA to shame -- the Order would very much like to have their necklace back. In fact, the Order's High Priestess, a most fetching young woman who calls herself Neri, informed me of that desire herself. Because in addition to being almost obscenely valuable, the necklace is reputed to possess certain 'mystical powers'." He even added the 'air-quotes'.
"What kind of powers?" Alexis asked.
David spread his hands in an expanisve shrug. "I have no clue," he said. "And I probably wouldn't believe any of it if I did." He smiled. "I'm what you would call a 'hard-core skeptic' when it comes to things like that."
"Yeah, yeah," Martin said impatiently, "this is all fascinating as all get-out, but it isn't getting us any closer to the answer to my question: Why are you here?"
"Oh, but it is," David said with a smirk. "You see, I have recommended you to the High Priestess as the best person to recover her precious necklace."
"Watch how you use that word, 'precious'," Martin chided. "Haven't you ever read The Hobbit?"
"Whatever," David said, waving a hand dismissively. He stood, and reached into his pocket, extracting a slip of paper. He handed it to Martin. "Anyway, if you're interested," David said, walking slowly toward the door, "call that number."
"One more question," Alexis interjected. "What's in this for you?"
"As I said at the beginning," David responded, "I am attempting to atone for some of my many sins. But, in addition, if you decide to take the job, all I ask is the usual agent's fee: fifteen percent of your fee. Which, if the Wikipedia article about you is anywhere close to accurate, is ten precent of the appraised value of the item recovered. And this particular item," he added, "is worth a lot."
"There's a Wikipedia article about me?" Martin asked.
"You didn't know?" David asked. "Hell, when I read it, I thought you had written it!" Martin's only response to that was a blank, uncomprehending stare. "You're familiar with the term 'hagiography', I presume." Martin nodded. "Check it out," David suggested. "It'll positively embarrass you." He went to the door, opened it, and stepped outside. He glanced over his shoulder and said, "Your buns are burning." Closing the door behind him, he left.
Alexis jumped up from the sofa and headed for the kitchen. "Deja vu all over again," she muttered to herself.
Random Items:
Yamaki FDR2 Fusion DS
Ron's Atmospheric Bundle
Steam Truck Red Bizon
M4 Tuxedo
LB Summer Sunrise Cyclorama Textures
Memories for Arcadia Colonnade
Evilson M4 Unimesh Fits
Parkside Cargo
Get Me To The Church On Time
Picture 1
Lee was on the way to his wedding, when his rented truck had a flat tire on the deserted country road at sunrise. Lee was getting panicky. He was going to miss his own wedding! Just then a motorcycle drove up. “What’s the trouble, kid?”, the biker asked. “I’m supposed to get married at noon, and my truck has a flat with a spare that doesn’t even fit. And oh, great, now it’s starting to rain.” “Hop on kid.”, the biker said, “I’ll get you to the church on time!”
Also Used:
Michael 4
Beach Hair
BWC Country Road
Stepney from Pickup Dred
Freak 5
Streetwear Jeans
Chaos Boots
Biker Helmet
Leather Jacket
Space Age Behemoth Goggles
Advanced Spot Light
AoA Atmospheric Camera
Picture 2
They roared through the countryside and entered the city. The rain subsided, but the city streets were still flooded. As they approached the railroad crossing they heard the train horn. It sounded close! “Hang on, kid!”, yelled the biker,“We can beat this train. It’s the only way to make it in time.” Sparks flew as the Parkside Cargo engineer hit the brakes hard, trying not to strike the motorcycle directly in his path.
Also Used:
Michael 4
Beach Hair
Freak 5
Streetwear Jeans
Chaos Boots
Biker Helmet
Leather Jacket
Space Age Behemoth Goggles
Ron's Splashes
BWC City Street
HDR Monterey Gnarled
Picture 3
Lee’s bride waited nervously outside the church, under the colonnade, with the officiant. Where could Lee be? It’s almost noon. Just then a motorcycle roared around the corner. Soaked with rain and coated with mud, Lee thanked his rescue biker and ran up the sidewalk to his bride. “I made it!”, he exclaimed.
Random Items Used:
Memories for Arcadia Colonnade
Evilson M4 Unimesh Fits
Yamaki FDR2 Fusion DS
M4 Tuxedo
Also Used:
HDR Monterey City Hall
DAZ Squirrel
Genesis
Genesis MFD
Gia Hair
Michael 4
Beach Hair
Elite texture Lee
Addison texture
Freak 5
Streetwear Jeans
Chaos Boots
Biker Helmet
Leather Jacket
Space Age Behemoth Goggles
Tyrese texture freebie from ShareCG
Advanced Ambient Light
Bridal Jewelry
Has been updated. Will have to discuss it later with all the products involved, and do a breakdown for you. SeaNautica has made herself known!
(EDIT: Yes, I hope you noticed Scott-L has been saved from SereneNight and Tjohn, the sea gulls.)
Comments
Agree, Ken is a born storyteller!
Thank you, Melanie, Totte. I am thoroughly enjoying this one!
And now, for my 'Last Hurrah'....
The final pull (#4):
531 - DMs Mixed Fantasy
665 - Everyday Groceries
491 - Diamonds
416 - Dark Moods for Genesis
579 - Dream Stalker
1931 - Tales of Adventure for Stephanie Petite
1939 - Tears Hair for Genesis
1181 - Lycan Critter Poses
I have an idea already. And yes, Martin and Alexis will be back for this one, too...!
Ack. I've been avoiding this thread because I don't want to write more poetry, lol! Backed myself into a corner with the Grinch thing -- one more part to go, lol. The render is the easy part!
Must catch up with the amazing stories here, too... Happy new year, all!
Wow, I keep missing a lot.
Ken, your stories are amazing. I would love to see a movie out of these.
Thanks Melanie and Luci, I had fun with this! Pity life is going to interfere and keep me from doing another one this round. But the story aspect was fun.
Happy New Year, everyone, hopefully I'll be able to check in for voting!
Contest duration!
It stats now, and will go on until Sunday January 12, 2014 at 23:59:59 DAZ time.
We still got some time folks. I'm way behind But then I'm always way behind. I'm lucky if I ever get to play. Still working on #2 from me.
Tag: karibousboutique #2, Picture 3
My Pull:
5902 Soulmate Poses DAZ - USED
6658 Tootsie Hair DAZ
1877 Dystopia Destinations: Landing Pad DAZ - USED
1968 Eliza for K4 DAZ
5661 SG Steam Queens DAZ -- USED
4727 PH’s Swinging Cages RO
6641 Tithe Barn DS DAZ
912 Carnival Picnic Tables DAZ
Rendered inPoser Pro 2014, Postwork in Photoshop CS6
It's FINALLY DONE!!! And the story was waaaaaaaaaaaaay more work than the renders, lol. I now have a whole new appreciation for Dr. Seuss. If I had to spend my career creating stories that rhymed, I'd throw myself off the top of Mount Crumpit. Anyway, I hope I've done a fitting tribute to How The Grinch Stole Christmas. (The fantastic original can be found here if you want to enjoy the real thing.)
Story title: How Karibou Stole Christmas
Image Title: To Dystopia's Top!
It was quarter-past dawn,
All the Daz-es still sleeping,
When Karibou left,
Her greedy heart leaping!
She took all the content to her zeppelin of steel
And began to imagine how those Daz-es would feel
As they woke in the morning,
Expecting content galore
But then finding, in horror,
That they were now... content-poor.
Three thousand feet up!
To Dystopia's top!
Kari steered her steel zeppelin
And then pulled to a stop.
With heartless delight, she carefully placed it
On the landing pad's edge...
Where she prepared to ERASE IT!
Her checkbook, so shriveled from the twins' childhood...
Well, if she couldn't buy content, then NOBODY COULD!
She snickered as she thought of the Daz-es reaction
To the nefarious plan she'd just put into action.
"They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!
"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two
"Then those Daz-es in Dazville will all cry BOO-HOO!"
"Defeated and grieving o'er the content they missed
"Those Daz-es will give up! There'll be no more wishlists!
"I will never again feel that mean Christmas taunting
"From the people who write what NEXT YEAR they'll be wanting!"
"That BOO-HOO," Kari said,
"Is a sound I must hear!"
So she paused. And she put a hand up to her ear.
And she did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow...
But the sound wasn't sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn't be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY!
Every Daz down in Daz-ville, the tall and the small,
Was smiling! They were SMILING! With no content at all!
A merry Christmas had dawned!
Christmas morning-- it came!
Somehow or another
It came just the same!
And Karibou stood, staring off into space,
Quite unsure how to process what had just taken place.
"It came without Vickies! It came without Freaks!
"It came without creatures with talons or beaks!
"It came without Poses! It came without Bryce!
"It came without fastgrabs or discounts on price!
And she puzzled for hours, `till her puzzler was sore.
Then Karibou thought of something she hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," she thought, "can't be bought and downloaded.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps.. isn't so quickly eroded."
And she suddenly knew why no Daz-es were nervous.
For tomorrow, back at work, would be
Customer Service.
And what happened then...?
Well...in Daz-ville they say
That Kari threw out her budget
Then said, "Meh. What the hey..."
And the minute she didn't care about being so broke,
She returned all the content with a single keystroke.
She grabbed an M4 and then gave him a kiss,
And then she...
...SHE HERSELF...!
Made her own, new wishlist.
Happy Holidays, all!
I'm struggling to finish my first and probably only story this month. Too many relatives visiting for the holiday season to get much rendering done. I'd say this month goes to the K's - Ken and Kari. Both have really outstanding entries that blew me away!
...Kari and Ken, excellent ends to both of your stories.
Nice finish there, KaribousBoutique - well done getting all that verse finished!
Well, I'm with the rest of you slow pokes. I am working on my first story, STILL, on render 2, with drafts of 3 and 4 sketchily put together. Fine tuning. I'm enjoying working on it (still giggling) and if I don't finish, I'll just do it elsewhere. Don't want to rush the details. But I'm trying to get it done. Enjoying the stories VERY much- the poetry rocks!
I'm going to throw in my five cents' worth (inflation, you know), and add my own kudos to Kari.
That was just plain freakin' AWESOME!
Bravissimo!
Thank you, guys. Yet, I can't help notice...
Ken has the whole 007 vibe going -- fight scenes, dashing hero, high drama... whereas my vibe is, well, just 7. As in AGE 7. Lol. Can you tell I have children??
I'm just now getting caught up with the other stories. Finally have a few moments to breathe!
I'm stuck folks.
No matter what I do, I can NOT load up Jet Bike (I pulled the Jet Bike Textures.)
It is not in DIM.
Went to orders and checked, not DIM compatible.
Went to Product Library, downloaded.
Problems started. Could not manually install. I did it with the tried and true "extract" and pulling it over to My Library. No go.
Then created a new folder under MyLibrary so I could manually check each and every component of Content. Checked each one with the subfolders, they are all there. NO, Content Folder is not nested under CONTENT folder. No nesting.
Still will not show up in the studio. I have refreshed. I have shut down. I have "searched" (THAT'S a joke, as we all know.)
There is no README.
If you have Jet Bike, can you load it (will have to do the zip manually as no DIM, trust me) and tell me where it shows up for you? It is not going to be Smart Content either. (product 2680)
I even repurchased the stupid thing to see if it was different/ screwing up. ($1.99 bike, $1.99 textures. Filing a ticket.)
http://www.daz3d.com/jet-bike
If I can't get this going after all last night and this morning for two hours, will have to do something else or trash the entire thing. I'm not redoing my current render whose setting is based on this stupid thing that I've worked on for over a week.
Going on 12 hours, no assistance, so I am stuck. Tried all day to get it to install. So am substituting in the most similar item I can find that is a watercraft (which is what it was being used for.) Looks almost identical.
I have It, will fill you in when this render ends. Can not check folders in DS while I render Novica.
We're not ignoring you, Novica; you just caught me at work, and....
Anyway, I've seen a number of items that I've installed into my DAZ Studio Content directory (and that's the actual name of my content folder, which I created when I first installed DS4.0 -- or, as we in the software biz used to call it, "Four-dot-uh-oh"), that ended up being placed in the 'data' folder, as opposed to the 'content' or the 'My Library' directories. So you might want to look there for anything that has apparently gone AWOL. (And you don't even want to get me started on where texture files sometimes end up!)
I raised this issue -- misplaced content -- in another thread a while ago, and there was this one supercilious twit who instantly intoned, "This is a user error," along with the thing you mentioned, nested 'content' folders. As in your case, there were no 'nested' directories; the content was placed in the wrong directory. And it happened when the package was created in the first place.
This is just another of the many reasons why I prefer to use Poser: the libraries are sanely organized, that organization is well-known..., and it's simple. The directory hierarchy of DAZ Studio, by contrast, is positively Byzantine!
And, since you mentioned it, memo to DAZ: Bring back the Readme's!! Some of us -- myself, for example -- actually use those things! And not just to locate our stuff, either. I use them to inventory my libraries for..., well, for the RRRR, among other purposes.
:) I didn't think I was being ignored :) just wanted everyone to know I seriously tried to remedy the situation (the previous night for three hours off and on, had to give it a break, I was so ticked) then all day yesterday off and on. I would walk away and think about what else I could do (and to cool off. REALLY mad.) I spent hours going through every category. I looked at where the items were in the C folders and they don't match with the folders structure (aka, one says libraries/poses if I recall, could be wrong, am headed out the door to unblanket the horse and HAVE to do it at a certain temperature.)
When I get back, I'll tell ya'll where the files are located. :)
...I keep getting an error message when I try to load V4 that says it cannot find a certain delta or something. When I click on the "Locate" button, a folder for Aiko5 comes up (?)
When I load her into 3.1A, everything works fine.
Yeah, really annoying. I uninstalled and reinstalled all my V4 base content (save for the Power Loader which I never used anyway even on my old system) and it still occurs.
Reminder: there is no DIM files. Must be done manually. Done thousands of these stupid things.
Jet Bike Textures
When Content folder brought over, it had this which was placed:
Content>
Readmes> Pics
Readmes> Product Lists
Both are there.
Also from the Content folder>
Runtime>
Libraries>Pose>MAT Jet Bike I don't see images, am I supposed to? The file examples are JetBike1_P4.pz2 and others ending .rsr
Textures>Ravnheart>Jet Bike which I can tell has BOTH the Jet Bike and add-ons (there's more in there than just the add ons, which I am discussing first. So we know the textures went to the textures in the Runtime.
Web Links (not a problem)
For the Jet Bike-
the Readmes are correct. Both there, showing original jet bike.
Content>
Readmes>Pics
Readmes>Product lists.
Runtime>
Geometries>S Studio>SciFi Figures>Jet Bike (WHERE IS THIS AT IN CONTENT LIBRARY????) The Jet Bike file does have jet-bike.obj
Libraries>Character>DAZ Vehicles (doesn't show in Content Library) and has jet bike CR2 file and jet bike.rsr
Libraries>Pose>MAT Jet Bike (with more of those pz2 and rsr files.) What is the MAT doing in Pose?
Textures>Ravnheart>Jet Bike (with the images)
Weblinks (not a problem)
Can't spend anymore time on this (took 30 minutes to type all this crap) so if the answer isn't obvious I'll just use a vehicle that looks just like it. Can't change the story at this point.
LOL :) Your DELTA TOOK OFF ON MY JET BIKE!
OK so this is a really old product and to load it you'll need to look under Poser Formats in the Content Library panel, then select your content library (I'm presuming you have set it up in "Edit Preferences..." as a Poser Format library already) and look under Figures, then DAZ Vehicles, and the Jet Bike should appear (the .rsr files are "old-fashioned" image files which Windows can't show but DS can).
Most of the older products have MATs in the Pose library. Almost certainly the MAT files are made for Poser not DS, so you may have to tweak the surfaces to get them to look OK.
For Novica if installed properly here it is....
I think I'm messing up because I started using DIM and the Edit>Preferences for Content Directory Manager-Content Sets- is set up to go to C/Users/Public/Documents/MyDaz3DLibrary. (Both DAZ and Poser)
I installed to the old manual location (C>Users>(Me)>My Documents>DAZ3d>Studio>MyLibrary
So I need to manually do it to the MyDaz3DLibrary? Right now, there is no DAZ Vehicles in the Poser library. (And I had already checked both the DAZ and Poser, and when I saw the DAZ Vehicles, went looking for it :)
Thanks for the screenshot and the help (Melanie and Jaderail) I'll go drag it to the DIM location- thats the only thing I can do. All the rest of the files are there, this was the only manual download and I put it where I used to. I'll leave it where it's at and just make a copy, as I don't have it set up in preferences to go to the old location (C>Users>MyDocuments>(Me)> etc etc MyLibrary
That's what I did- used the old file path (I think that's what you call it) instead of the new one that is linked to the studio. Had to manually drag all the stuff as when I did an extract to the newer path, it still didn't take. Argh.
Finally got it to work. Thanks everyone!
This one didn't so much "evolve", as much as it kind of "congealed". I did the third image first, then started the first, switched to the second and wrapped that one up, then went back to the first.... Which I finally finished, just a few minutes ago. (And there will be a fourth, to wrap up the story, and although the actual story is complete, I have yet even to start that one!)
Anyway..., here it is, my final entry. I call it:
TAG: obanion#04
Story Title: ...And No Lycans Were Harmed in the Making of This Adventure
-- Image #1 --
Image Title: Downtime, Take Two
Used from the pull:
Everyday Groceries
Dark Moods for Genesis (Yeah, David's back for a return engagement!)
Also used:
A Bright Loft
Boyfriend Sweater (Dynamic freebie from Optitex)
David 5
Punk Hair
Sofia texture for V4
Amaya Hair
Boudoir Secrets for V4 (because..., ahem, the sweater didn't drape the way it was supposed to, and left her 'naughty bits' exposed!)
Nico texture for M4
M4 Pajamas
Rock Star hair
The story...
After returning the girls to the bosom of their respective families, Martin and Alexis snuck off to Martin's beachfront bungalow on the island of St. Croix (USVI). They arrived late Friday evening and promptly crashed. (Long flight, crap-loads of delays, TSA full-body-cavity search, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.) And slept in Saturday morning. And Sunday. But inevitably, Martin got hungry. It was too late for a proper breakfast, so..., brunch was the order of the day: Eggs Benedict, Potatoes au Gratin, German pancakes liberally dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with lemon juice, and toasted, buttered croissants with lime marmalade, freshly-ground coffee, an assortment of freshly-squeezed fruit juices, and a sparkling Blanc-de-Blanc.
As Martin busied himself in the kitchen, Alexis simply enjoyed the show. Not for the first time, she marveled at just how complex a man Martin was: he worked with a practiced ease, obviously born of an intimate familiarity with the kitchen and all of its tools, accessories and appliances, as well as the activities that typically take place there.
In short, Martin was demonstrating himself to be a highly competent chef. Not to mention, a bit of a show-off. But then, she already knew that about him!
"How do you do it?" she finally asked him.
"Do what?"
"You obviously know your way around a kitchen," Alexis said. "Which, all by itself, surprises me. I mean, most guys I know barely know where the kitchen is, let alone what to do in one. To them, the kitchen is where the refrigerator is, and they only know that because that's where the beer is. But you...."
Martin paused in his preparations. "Why are so many people just flat-out surprised that I can cook? It really shouldn't surprise anyone. Come on, think about it: any single male, who lives alone, will, if he wants to eat, learn to cook. Okay, I obviously took it to an almost pathological extreme." He gave her a quick grin. "But hey, you know me: 'Nothing in moderation', that's my motto!"
"By the way," Alexis said, "I really like this sweater."
"You do?" Martin responded. "It's yours."
"Really? That's sweet, thank you."
"Not a problem. I found out after I bought it that I'm allergic to mohair."
"Really? Sucks to be you, don't it?"
"You have no idea."
Their playful banter was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. Martin went to the door and opened it, to find none other than David, the Paladin's 'minion', standing on the porch.
"We need to talk," David said without preamble.
"Okay," Martin responded. He stepped back, to allow David to enter. "Please come in."
David stepped through the door, but stopped just inside the threshold. He pushed the door closed, then turned his attention to Martin. "You are no doubt wondering why I'm here," he said wryly.
"I am understandably curious," Martin said. "I'm also curious as to how you found out where I live."
"Google," David said simply.
"Ah. Of course." Martin returned to the kitchen, and continued to prepare his and Alexis' brunch. He did not invite David to join them. "But back to the first question: why are you here?"
"Well," David said, "I suppose you might say that I'm..., atoning for my sins. Well, one of them, at least." He took a few steps further into the room. "Are you familiar with the Order of the Silver Moon?"
Martin shook his head. "Can't say that I am," he said. "Why? Should I be?"
David shrugged slightly. "I just thought," he said, "as much as you seem to get around, that you might have heard of them. They are a sort of quasi-religious group, kind of a pagan convent, as it were. Anyway," he continued, approaching a barstool near the kitchen counter. He gestured toward it with an open hand. "May I?" Martin nodded his assent, and David took a seat. "One thing about the late, probably not-very-lamented Paladin that you may not know is that, before he turned into a power-hungry megalomaniac, he was a common thief. But, if nothing else, the man had aspirations. He graduated from being a common thief, to being a very uncommon one. He stole some extremely obscure, arcane, and by virtue of those qualifications, extremely valuable, artifacts. One of those artifacts was a little trinket known -- by the few people who know about it at all -- as the Necklace of Dammerung. The Paladin stole it several years ago, from the afore-mentioned Order of the Silver Moon.
"Since the Paladin's demise," David continued, "and don't ask me how they found out about that, because I haven't the foggiest; but apparently, the Order has sources of intelligence that would put the NSA to shame -- the Order would very much like to have their necklace back. In fact, the Order's High Priestess, a most fetching young woman who calls herself Neri, informed me of that desire herself. Because in addition to being almost obscenely valuable, the necklace is reputed to possess certain 'mystical powers'." He even added the 'air-quotes'.
"What kind of powers?" Alexis asked.
David spread his hands in an expanisve shrug. "I have no clue," he said. "And I probably wouldn't believe any of it if I did." He smiled. "I'm what you would call a 'hard-core skeptic' when it comes to things like that."
"Yeah, yeah," Martin said impatiently, "this is all fascinating as all get-out, but it isn't getting us any closer to the answer to my question: Why are you here?"
"Oh, but it is," David said with a smirk. "You see, I have recommended you to the High Priestess as the best person to recover her precious necklace."
"Watch how you use that word, 'precious'," Martin chided. "Haven't you ever read The Hobbit?"
"Whatever," David said, waving a hand dismissively. He stood, and reached into his pocket, extracting a slip of paper. He handed it to Martin. "Anyway, if you're interested," David said, walking slowly toward the door, "call that number."
"One more question," Alexis interjected. "What's in this for you?"
"As I said at the beginning," David responded, "I am attempting to atone for some of my many sins. But, in addition, if you decide to take the job, all I ask is the usual agent's fee: fifteen percent of your fee. Which, if the Wikipedia article about you is anywhere close to accurate, is ten precent of the appraised value of the item recovered. And this particular item," he added, "is worth a lot."
"There's a Wikipedia article about me?" Martin asked.
"You didn't know?" David asked. "Hell, when I read it, I thought you had written it!" Martin's only response to that was a blank, uncomprehending stare. "You're familiar with the term 'hagiography', I presume." Martin nodded. "Check it out," David suggested. "It'll positively embarrass you." He went to the door, opened it, and stepped outside. He glanced over his shoulder and said, "Your buns are burning." Closing the door behind him, he left.
Alexis jumped up from the sofa and headed for the kitchen. "Deja vu all over again," she muttered to herself.
Tag: barbult #1
Random Items:
Yamaki FDR2 Fusion DS
Ron's Atmospheric Bundle
Steam Truck Red Bizon
M4 Tuxedo
LB Summer Sunrise Cyclorama Textures
Memories for Arcadia Colonnade
Evilson M4 Unimesh Fits
Parkside Cargo
Get Me To The Church On Time
Picture 1
Lee was on the way to his wedding, when his rented truck had a flat tire on the deserted country road at sunrise. Lee was getting panicky. He was going to miss his own wedding! Just then a motorcycle drove up. “What’s the trouble, kid?”, the biker asked. “I’m supposed to get married at noon, and my truck has a flat with a spare that doesn’t even fit. And oh, great, now it’s starting to rain.” “Hop on kid.”, the biker said, “I’ll get you to the church on time!”
Random Items Used:
Steam Truck Red Bizon
Ron's Atmospheric Bundle
Yamaki FDR2 Fusion DS
LB Summer Sunrise Cyclorama Textures
M4 Tuxedo
Also Used:
Michael 4
Beach Hair
BWC Country Road
Stepney from Pickup Dred
Freak 5
Streetwear Jeans
Chaos Boots
Biker Helmet
Leather Jacket
Space Age Behemoth Goggles
Advanced Spot Light
AoA Atmospheric Camera
Picture 2
They roared through the countryside and entered the city. The rain subsided, but the city streets were still flooded. As they approached the railroad crossing they heard the train horn. It sounded close! “Hang on, kid!”, yelled the biker,“We can beat this train. It’s the only way to make it in time.” Sparks flew as the Parkside Cargo engineer hit the brakes hard, trying not to strike the motorcycle directly in his path.
Random Items Used:
Parkside Cargo
Yamaki FDR2 Fusion DS
M4 Tuxedo
Ron's Atmospheric Bundle
Also Used:
Michael 4
Beach Hair
Freak 5
Streetwear Jeans
Chaos Boots
Biker Helmet
Leather Jacket
Space Age Behemoth Goggles
Ron's Splashes
BWC City Street
HDR Monterey Gnarled
Picture 3
Lee’s bride waited nervously outside the church, under the colonnade, with the officiant. Where could Lee be? It’s almost noon. Just then a motorcycle roared around the corner. Soaked with rain and coated with mud, Lee thanked his rescue biker and ran up the sidewalk to his bride. “I made it!”, he exclaimed.
Random Items Used:
Memories for Arcadia Colonnade
Evilson M4 Unimesh Fits
Yamaki FDR2 Fusion DS
M4 Tuxedo
Also Used:
HDR Monterey City Hall
DAZ Squirrel
Genesis
Genesis MFD
Gia Hair
Michael 4
Beach Hair
Elite texture Lee
Addison texture
Freak 5
Streetwear Jeans
Chaos Boots
Biker Helmet
Leather Jacket
Space Age Behemoth Goggles
Tyrese texture freebie from ShareCG
Advanced Ambient Light
Bridal Jewelry
Love that Barbult! Every bride's dream, to have her groom arrive looking like THAT. :)
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/33478/#505977
Has been updated. Will have to discuss it later with all the products involved, and do a breakdown for you. SeaNautica has made herself known!
(EDIT: Yes, I hope you noticed Scott-L has been saved from SereneNight and Tjohn, the sea gulls.)