Making image cards for expression sliders

TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

I am planning on making icon cards for all the expression sliders that are lacking them. Do I have to go through and link them one by one with the property panel, or will just putting them in the same folder and named the same as the morph do it?

 

A workflow tip for anyone that gets here VIA Google:
Adding cards to a pose slider set:

1)Create your slider cards at 147 x 185 px in .png format

2)Place all the cards in the same folder as the morph files, and name them so you know which card is for which morph

3)Click on the gear icon by the slider you wish to add a card to, and go to parameter settings. Click on the the dropdown next to card and go to browse.

4)On the first card you place, browse to the proper location

5)Once at the location, double click on the browser address bar, copy the path

6)Select the proper card for the slider and hit accept

7)For all the rest of those cards, instead of having to click through a bajillion folders again(some reson DS don't remember last directory in this context), double click address in browser and paste, it should bring you back to the right folder so you can select the card you want to link. You can resize the window to fit all of the cards, DS should remember that change and keep opening up big windows. Also, if you have to copy something else in the middle of the process, you can go to the previously done slider, and click on browse there to recopy the proper location.

8)When set is done, go to File > save as > support asset > save modified assets to lock in the save

9)Navigate to the folder the morphs are kept in inside the data folder. Copy the "icon_large" line from the morph to the alias and save the alias. If you can't open the morph and or the alias, you have to use the batch convert tool found in the windows > panes menu in DS.

A quicker and easier way is to use DSF toolbox to just edit the icon into the alias and bypass the part about editing the parameter in daz studio. It will fill the icon out correctly for you, it seems it only needs to be in the alias to show up.

Post edited by TheKD on
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Comments

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

    Hmm, seems neither does it. I can get the cards to show up by linking it in the property menu, but once I close studio and reopen, they all vanish on me

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,183

    I think you have to Save As -> Support Asset -> Save Modified Assets after adding the icon. This will update the original, I believe. I always break a little cold sweat messing with resources like that. (Never tried it, but looks like it falls under that "Modified Asset" umbrella).

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666
    edited December 2019

    Thanks, will try it after I finish the set, if I ruin something, it will give me the excuse to start installing from scratch and eliminating the stuff I never use or is too old that I been contemplating lately lol.

    So far so good, kind of a pain, it's too bad it can't automatically link the cards to files if they are named the same in the same folder the way the load icons and tool tips do. Oh well, it will probably take a few more days lol.

    Post edited by TheKD on
  • TDBAGZTDBAGZ Posts: 163

    Thanks for this thread. Ive been boggled as to why my modified cards haven't been saving for a while now.

  • LindseyLindsey Posts: 1,983
    edited December 2019

    I've added the parameter icons by loading the morph dsf file in a text editor and add the path to the icon in the "icon_large" property.  If there is no icon set it looks like this:  "icon_large" : ""

    Just insert the path to the icon between the " and ". 

    Look at parameter dials that have a parameter icon set for examples.

    Post edited by Lindsey on
  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

    I had that idea first, but the ones I opened were just gibberish in notepad++

  • TheKD said:

    I had that idea first, but the ones I opened were just gibberish in notepad++

    You need to extract them with winzip or the equivalent first. Then you will be able to open them with Notepad++.
  • macleanmaclean Posts: 2,438

    You don't need winzip or any other software. DAZ Studio has a Batch Convert pane (Menu> Window> Panes> Batch Convert) which allows you to compress/uncompress any file - .duf, .dsa, etc.

  • maclean said:

    You don't need winzip or any other software. DAZ Studio has a Batch Convert pane (Menu> Window> Panes> Batch Convert) which allows you to compress/uncompress any file - .duf, .dsa, etc.

    Oh, I didn't know this and tended to extract them with winrar before I could tweak them. This should prove valuable for the future!

     

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

    I updated the OP for the best method I found to do inside DS.

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666
    edited December 2019

    Damn, seems I spoke too soon. All my cards have vanished again on me, even after saving the modification. The window popped up showing that the files would be saved, but they must not have :(   I must be missing something here

    Tried to uncompress, and then do the link card and save, still not sticking. Any ideas?

    Post edited by TheKD on
  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666
    edited December 2019

    "id" : "A Lady - Angry 01 Alexandra 8",
                "name" : "A Lady - Angry 01 Alexandra 8",
                "parent" : "/data/DAZ%203D/Genesis%208/Female/Genesis8Female.dsf#Genesis8Female",
                "presentation" : {
                    "type" : "Modifier/Pose",
                    "label" : "",
                    "description" : "",
                    "icon_large" : "/data/DAZ%203D/Genesis%208/Female/Morphs/JWolf/A%20Lady%20-%20Expressions%20for%20Alexandra%208/A%20Lady%20-%20Angry%2001%20Alexandra%208.png",
                    "colors" : [ [ 0.3803922, 0.4784314, 0.4941176 ], [ 1, 1, 1 ] ]

    This looks like it should be working, not showing up in the DS though for some reason

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    Post edited by TheKD on
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 23,049
    Did you install those expressions with Daz Connect? Daz Studio will IGNORE any files you add to any Cloud subfolders.
  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666
    edited December 2019

    No, I drag drop install all my content. Oh, I should mention, it does work, when I first add them. But once I close and reopen studio, the cards don't show again.

    Post edited by TheKD on
  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,183

    Could it be related to metadata? For those controllers that have cards, they are decalred as SupportAssets along with the controller script. You say you install manually, do you import the metadata at all?

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

    I don't mess with smart content/metadata stuff at all, just use the regular content library.

  • SixDsSixDs Posts: 2,384

    It sounds as though the updated .dsf files are not actually saving for some reason. Try this: add your card to one of your sliders and save it as you have described. Now, without closing Daz Studio, browse to the location of your .dsf file under the data folder and check the date and time for the file (you'll need to use "show details" rather than an icon view for this). Is the time shown for the file roughly equivalent to the current time, indicating the file has actually been updated?

  • LindseyLindsey Posts: 1,983

    With DSF Toolbox, you can drag and drop a morph file onto the Channel tab where you can add an icon file via a "File Button" that opens a file dialog box to select an icon file.

    Get it the next time it goes on sale!

    DSF_Toolbox.JPG
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  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

    Yeah, I really dont understand the problem at all. Date modified, at least on this one set I did is yesterday. In dsf toolbox it looks correct, the path for the image is correct in the box. I see no reason why it's not showing lol.

    toolbox.jpg
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  • SixDsSixDs Posts: 2,384

    Okay, then, something else is obviously going on. Have you tried ditching your step 8 and saving the slider using the normal Morph Asset(s) instead of save modified assets? I'm wondering if the problem lies with the latter - I'm leary of using it because there are other things that it wants to "update", such as my G8F that I haven't changed, without any option to select what is affected. It just seems a little riskier since the user has little control over what it does. I realize that using the Morph Asset(s) route means that you have no batch processing, but at least it works. I would suggest that you submit a bug report on the issue and see what develops.

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

    I see what you mean, oh well, will try it, not like I don't got backup, and contemplating an install from scratch anyways lol. Welp, even saving as morph asset is not getting it to show again after closing and reopening, this is not my week apparently lol

  • SixDsSixDs Posts: 2,384

    If saving it as a morph asset doesn't stick, then there really is some ghost in the machine that is causing the issue. When you open Daz Studio do you have it open to the default (empty) scene, or a saved scene? There is obviously something that isn't looking for, or isn't finding your revised .dsf file and/or the required thumbnail. I have never had the issue, so I can only guess at what is going on. Maybe Chris Palomino or Richard can answer this: is it possible that the brickyard is interferring with Studio accessing the revised file?

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

    Last few tries I was starting empty, then loading a new g8f from library. At first I was trying with the saved scene I made to make the card renders, but I thought the same, maybe it was only saving for that scene for some weird reason. I examined some that came with a card, can't notice any glaring reason why it shouldn't work.

  • Did you install the products you are trying via connect as well? (Installing it from the Daz Smart content). If so, that will create a copy in a connect library which takes preference over your manual library. So any changes you do, won't appear until you un-install the product from connect.
  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

    No way, I do way too much customizing to mess with connect lol. I only use dim for the beta, because there is no choice, everything else I customize load icons, adapd the directory structure if need be(only moving the user facing items, not the data or runtime ones), then manually move it over to my library.

  • BejaymacBejaymac Posts: 1,835

    Been a long time since I tried this (early DS4.5 iirc), back then the only "type" that would allow icons was "modifier/shape", you could add them but DS just ignored them the next time you loaded the figure.

    Might want to check the type on the sliders that show icons, just in case it's still the same.

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

    I know Zeddicuss and some other vendors are somehow able to get the expression icon to stick, maybe this is why a lot of the expressions don't come with it, vendors had the same issue I am and just gave up lol.

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,183

    Been following this for a while, and I think I know how some PA's get the cards to stick: they use aliases for the morphs. All the expressions that have images on the controllers have an alias in addition to the morph itself. Don't ask me how to make one, not sure what is needed to link it to the original .dsf file. In the Property Hierarchy tab, you can see that an alias is linked to a particular bone (best to filter on one keyword, there's so many entries). Now to figure out how to do it...

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,666

    Oh wow, I think I have it figured out, thanks to you. First, every expression set I have randomly opened, also have alias files. I took a look at one of the alias files for a zeddicus one that has the icon. Indeed, the card icon is in the alias as well. I plugged one of my cards into the icon of the matching alias, opened up ds 4.10, and that one card is now there. So it seems the trick is to have the card plugged into either both, or maybe it only needs to be in the alias. I would have never thought to even try putting it in the alias, you kick ass.

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,183

    Actually, I see that all expressions have aliases to go with them. I started at the top of the list, and alphabtically sorted, "alias" comes after "A Famous Woman", just didn't scroll down far enough... So, the aliases have to be manually edited, then? That DSF Toolbox will come in handy.

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