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Is the Runtime folder actually needed?

corazoncorazon Posts: 0
edited December 1969 in New Users

Searching for morphs and materials and poses has become maddening with having to switch back and forth between the DAZ Studio format files and the Poser format files. I noticed that the DAZ Install Manager installed elements of Genesis 2 Female in the Runtime folder and other parts in the DAZ format areas. Is that indicating that the Genesis 2 Female product has some parts is Poser format and some parts in DAZ format? What would happen if I merged all of the content into the Runtime folder or into the DAZ format folders? I picture a folder structure with one master folder for each character series (Victoria 4, Victoria 5, Stephanie, Michael, etc.) with Pose, Clothes, Hair folders within each of those. Would DAZ Studio (4.6) get confused? I understand that I'd probably have to manually install all products, rather than use the Install Manager, but that would be just one time for each product. Whereas now, the Install Manager makes the one time installation easy, but I pay for it by searching relentlessly when I'm trying to find something that I know is there somewhere. Anyone have a solution?

Comments

  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,565
    edited December 1969

    Items in Poser formats have to be in the Runtime structure to be recognized. As for Genesis 2 Female Starter Essentials, the only part of that which is inside the Runtime folder is the raw texture .jpg's, which aren't visible inside DS anyway -- they're referenced by the presets that appear in DAZ Studio Formats.

    I feel the best solution is to use Categories -- I create my own categories for everything I install so I know exactly where to find it, and it doesn't matter if the actual files are in DAZ Studio formats or Poser formats.

  • SpottedKittySpottedKitty Posts: 7,232
    edited December 1969

    The main problem is that some of the content you download is in Poser format. Many of them include D|S materials settings, but some are just all-Poser. And, strictly speaking, every texture file applied to all of your content is a Poser file, since D|S uses the Poser Runtime structure in its content location to store all the texture files. So don't try moving things around; all your content files are in the place D|S will be looking for them, so all you'll succeed in doing is breaking your content.

    Note that there are safe ways to move some content files around, but this will break your Smart Content and Categories and Products content views. Do you use these, or do you only use the D|S and Poser format sections in the Content Library?

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,498
    edited December 1969

    Texture maps are still located in Runtime:Textures

  • SylvanSylvan Posts: 2,683
    edited December 1969

    When I first started with DAZ Studio, I found the hard way ><<br /> I merged all the runtimes thinking:"Ah, that looks much better".
    lol

  • DollyGirlDollyGirl Posts: 2,646
    edited December 1969

    To answer your specific question "Is the Runtime folder actually needed?" the answer is yes. The DAZ Studio 4.6 software requires a predefined file structure so that it can successfully load an object or manipulate the object correctly. You can think of Studio as being blind. It has prior knowledge where things should be but if you change the format of its world, i.e. the file structure, it can no longer be successful and you will get errors from Studio saying that it can not find what you want.

    So with that said your next question "Anyone have a solution?" The answer is yes. There are two ways to set up Studio so that you can find things quickly. There is a tab called Smart Content and there is a tab called Content Library. These two tabs provide you with ways to categorize your content. Using either of these two methods is like a file system where everything is alphabetical and grouped appropriately. Since you use DIM your smart content information is being populated with the default information that comes with the products you have bought here at DAZ. This is not the case for freebies or some content bought from other sites. You can only see them from the content library tab, initially. So below I have linked to some pages in the wiki to help you understand what the two tabs can do for you.

    Smart Content Tab
    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/finding_loading_and_organizing_content/videos/smart_content_overview/start

    Content Library Tab
    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/finding_loading_and_organizing_content/videos/content_library_basics/start

    Comparison of the two Tabs
    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/finding_loading_and_organizing_content/tutorials/smart_content_vs_content_library/start

    General search listing for each type of tab so you can hunt for more information about:
    Smart Content Tab
    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/?do=googlecustomsearch&id=content+library

    Content Library Tab
    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/?do=googlecustomsearch&id=smart+content

    There are a lot more things that we could discuss but I think if you do some research you can come back to this thread and start asking specific questions about managing the content you have in a more productive and less stressful way. Good luck and welcome!

  • frank0314frank0314 Posts: 13,354
    edited December 1969

    if an artist supports Poser then you have to have a runtime cause it will be in the runtime structure

  • corazoncorazon Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Thanks to all for your help, especially DollyGirl. I need to study the material you provided, but it's good to know that there are easier ways to locate things. And thanks for putting up with a rookie.

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