Loading...
> >

Anyone ever noticed weird stuff in their DS content directories?

mambanegramambanegra Posts: 594
in The Commons

I have an SSD that I use for DS content and...sadly...it's getting full. So, I opened the one that DIM pours stuff into and discovered a bunch of .zip files. They look like they are from RuntimeDNA and when I open DIM up and find the package, the zips are, indeed, a part of the Package. For instance, Harmony for A3 has a zip file that appears to contain DAZ Studio mats. Not sure why DAZ didn't extract that file so that it would actually install correctly. Or, maybe they did and the zip file is just accidentally left behind? No clue. 

Most of them appear to be MAT files for Poser 5 or 6. 

There is also a directory called "content" which appears to have a data directory and a runtime, etc. Obviously a packaging error, which I imagine has resulted in a product that doesn't work since the data contents aren't actually inside the correct data directory. Again, this looks like RuntimeDNA stuff (V3 era), so their packages probably weren't done the same for all vendors, and whatever DAZ did to merge those old content zips into the DAZ format wasn't perfect. 

Comments

  • DaventakiDaventaki Posts: 1,624
    edited August 2021

    In the InstallManager/Downloads folder you will find all the zip files for the Daz3D files you have purchased.  In DIM on the Ready to Install tab at the bottom you can select Delete Package Once Installed.  You can also manually delete those files I would not remove the DSX files. The dsx file here tells DIM what is installed and what it looks for with updates and such.

    The ManifestFiles folder files tell DIM where to install the content in the zip.

    The content folder in the zip is correct.  All DS files have it as the top directory and DIM knows to install the folders/files within that folder.  With the older content I would think that Daz3D updated the packages to be compatible with DIM.

    Post edited by Daventaki on
  • Noah LGPNoah LGP Posts: 2,617

    Some RuntimeDNA products are partially installed by Daz Connect (for example missing textures without error for SolidGear bodysuits for M4) but DIM package have these files.

     

  • TaozTaoz Posts: 10,262
    edited August 2021

    There only seem to be one Harmony zip, so that DS zip inside it looks definitely like a mistake.  It even has a "Content" folder so it looks like it was prepared to be either installed separately or merged with the base zip.  In any case, DIM does not install it, it only installs the Poser files:


     

     

    harmonya3_installed_files.png
    615 x 563 - 76K
    Post edited by Taoz on
  • DollyGirlDollyGirl Posts: 2,700

    It isn't weird stuff just "used to be" stuff. Prior to Studio 4 all Studio content had to reside under a directory called Content and under Content the directory Runtime had to be located. Under the Content directory there was a data directory where Studio created the .dso or object files and the .dsv or UV maps for those products that Studio files were created for like material presets or scene files. In the case of Harmony, the product was a poser product. It came as a set of three zips, all containing poser directories with one of the zips also containing the DS zip you identified. Since the only requirement for Studio was that everything had to be under Content the creator made the file structure you see in the zip to conform to the requirements of Studio 0, 1, 2, and 3. Studio 4 is no longer constrained in that way as were the earlier versions of Studio. I imagine that DIM just cant handle a zip inside a zip so you get these stray compressed files laying about. 

    For the examples with the strange data directory Studio 4 can work with the "used to be" directory structure and read the files. If you look under your Studio 4 data directory you might see a directory called 3_0. That is the "used to be" data format files.

    So things are cool. DIM knows how to deal with pre-Studio 4 content. Studio 4 is not as picky about content locations as earlier versions so can deal with there being an extra layer it you end up with a Content directory under your Studio 4 directories. You can safely remove that layer and merge the underlying directories with the rest of your Studio 4 directories unless you happen to have DAZ Studio 3 installed. I think the only issue is the nested zip files.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 108,104

    DollyGirl said:

    It isn't weird stuff just "used to be" stuff. Prior to Studio 4 all Studio content had to reside under a directory called Content and under Content the directory Runtime had to be located. Under the Content directory there was a data directory where Studio created the .dso or object files and the .dsv or UV maps for those products that Studio files were created for like material presets or scene files. In the case of Harmony, the product was a poser product. It came as a set of three zips, all containing poser directories with one of the zips also containing the DS zip you identified. Since the only requirement for Studio was that everything had to be under Content the creator made the file structure you see in the zip to conform to the requirements of Studio 0, 1, 2, and 3. Studio 4 is no longer constrained in that way as were the earlier versions of Studio. I imagine that DIM just cant handle a zip inside a zip so you get these stray compressed files laying about. 

    For the examples with the strange data directory Studio 4 can work with the "used to be" directory structure and read the files. If you look under your Studio 4 data directory you might see a directory called 3_0. That is the "used to be" data format files.

    The names of the content directories have always been changeable - Content was the old default, but wasn't mandatory any more than My Library or My Daz 3D Library are now..

    So things are cool. DIM knows how to deal with pre-Studio 4 content. Studio 4 is not as picky about content locations as earlier versions so can deal with there being an extra layer it you end up with a Content directory under your Studio 4 directories. You can safely remove that layer and merge the underlying directories with the rest of your Studio 4 directories unless you happen to have DAZ Studio 3 installed. I think the only issue is the nested zip files.

Sign In or Register to comment.