Since no one else has posted about it, be extremely careful in how you use this product.
Make sure that you only convert a small number of files at a time. I would say no more than a dozen individual items depending on your RAM.
Then make sure you shut DS down and reboot before attempting to convert any other files.
There is a memory leak incurred in the process that will quickly run through your available RAM and then start hitting the page file. That will in turn begin a serious Hard Fault situation with your hard drives.
This isn't a problem for short term processes, but it can be if left on going for a long period of time.
I've found the DAZ application itself has memory leak issues - it isn't the script. But yes, it will eat up some memory, which is why I only do one character at a time. And just shutting DAZ down doesn't free the memory, there is a background process left running you have to kill. Or just reboot. I tried to batch about 20 figures at once - and blew through 72 GB of memory. I watched it with the process monitor, it was kind of funny to see. I killed the DAZ process then rebooted when it reached 70.
Just as a note for anyone reading, a "hard fault" is just a type of page fault - it means the OS is having to do more work to get the information it needs from the virtual memory it has shuffled to the hard drive, and so whatever it is doing will be slower. It isn't a hardware fault and doesn't mean anything is grievously wrong with the system.
Since no one else has posted about it, be extremely careful in how you use this product.
Make sure that you only convert a small number of files at a time. I would say no more than a dozen individual items depending on your RAM.
Then make sure you shut DS down and reboot before attempting to convert any other files.
There is a memory leak incurred in the process that will quickly run through your available RAM and then start hitting the page file. That will in turn begin a serious Hard Fault situation with your hard drives.
This isn't a problem for short term processes, but it can be if left on going for a long period of time.
I've found the DAZ application itself has memory leak issues - it isn't the script. But yes, it will eat up some memory, which is why I only do one character at a time. And just shutting DAZ down doesn't free the memory, there is a background process left running you have to kill. Or just reboot. I tried to batch about 20 figures at once - and blew through 72 GB of memory. I watched it with the process monitor, it was kind of funny to see. I killed the DAZ process then rebooted when it reached 70.
...think I was running into the same last night with switching between scenes/scene subsets, Mentioned in on the 4.7 sticky. Thiis has been going on since ver.1.8.
Just as a note for anyone reading, a "hard fault" is just a type of page fault - it means the OS is having to do more work to get the information it needs from the virtual memory it has shuffled to the hard drive, and so whatever it is doing will be slower. It isn't a hardware fault and doesn't mean anything is grievously wrong with the system.
That's correct, but they still aren't good. And admittedly the batch product isn't at fault, its a victim of it.
The Hard Faults are definitely not good when DAZ crawls to a complete stop because all RAM is used and it's hitting the page file for everything.
What has me the most irritated is that I thought it was a problem with the files I was choosing to convert. And so I left it going over night, two nights, on my laptop. With the hard drive thrashing away trying to process the conversions.
My sympathies, working with "large data sets" will do this as well. Processing more data then the computer has ram. A Seymour Cray quote regarding Ram comes to mind, lol. "It's a lot better if you don't have to fake it".
I chuckle a tad, because some people were cynical, when I mention I wanted 128GB of RAM in my work station years ago. Now I see that may be to small, if the one process is chewing threw 72GB and counting.
Unfortunately, they don't make RAM kits big enough yet to do that with only four memory slots, assuming your even that lucky. I am a tad perplexed, as I don't recall IrfanView ever using that much ram on a map image. 3600x3600 uses about 40MB uncompressed in ram. So I'm quite curious.
Was that a batch conversion of allot of figures, or just one figure?
My sympathies, working with "large data sets" will do this as well. Processing more data then the computer has ram. A Seymour Cray quote regarding Ram comes to mind, lol. "It's a lot better if you don't have to fake it".
I chuckle a tad, because some people were cynical, when I mention I wanted 128GB of RAM in my work station years ago. Now I see that may be to small, if the one process is chewing threw 72GB and counting.
Unfortunately, they don't make RAM kits big enough yet to do that with only four memory slots, assuming your even that lucky. I am a tad perplexed, as I don't recall IrfanView ever using that much ram on a map image. 3600x3600 uses about 40MB uncompressed in ram. So I'm quite curious.
Was that a batch conversion of allot of figure mats, or just one figure?
It was 20 characters, I have no idea how many files it processed doing them. I was floored when I maxed it out too, I figured it would take all night to do, I didn't figure on running out of RAM.
The machine is a Dell Precision T5500 with dual CPU's, (Xeon quad core i7) That monster has 9 RAM slots and I filled them all with 8GB sticks of DDR3. That wasn't as expensive as it sounds, I spent about $1,200 total (bought the machine used on e-bay, memory ran around $600, I got some deals at the time), and had some parts to fill it out (hard drives, video cards, DVD writer)
My sympathies, working with "large data sets" will do this as well. Processing more data then the computer has ram. A Seymour Cray quote regarding Ram comes to mind, lol. "It's a lot better if you don't have to fake it".
I chuckle a tad, because some people were cynical, when I mention I wanted 128GB of RAM in my work station years ago. Now I see that may be to small, if the one process is chewing threw 72GB and counting.
Unfortunately, they don't make RAM kits big enough yet to do that with only four memory slots, assuming your even that lucky..
And for the less fortunate (me included), We must do without. This MoBo maxes out at 8GB per slot (ASUS M5A97), and others are using laptops (there lucky to have two slots in some laptops).
I was worried That I would have issues converting the One figure texture, Thanks for the answers. I should be safe then with only 16GB of RAM (Yet to get the other 16GB kit).
I didn't have any problems doing the majority of the conversions; It was a Surreality set where I hit the memory ceiling. LOL. Cos they are HUGE.
But I was only doing one character at a time - there's only a few V4's that I want to convert over, not my entire collection.
I figured to get round the memory problem, I could split a Surreality character up. Move half the mat files into one folder and do those. Then do the others. That shouldn't cause any problems with texture paths etc, should it?
I didn't have any problems doing the majority of the conversions; It was a Surreality set where I hit the memory ceiling. LOL. Cos they are HUGE.
But I was only doing one character at a time - there's only a few V4's that I want to convert over, not my entire collection.
I figured to get round the memory problem, I could split a Surreality character up. Move half the mat files into one folder and do those. Then do the others. That shouldn't cause any problems with texture paths etc, should it?
No, I move stuff around all the time. If the vender has not done anything funky it shouldn't matter where you put them, the paths are relative from the root. The only things you can't move are the textures themselves and the geometry.
EDIT: Unless you are using the smart content library and the item is in it. Then move it back to where it was when you are done. I don't use it so I don't worry about that.
I didn't have any problems doing the majority of the conversions; It was a Surreality set where I hit the memory ceiling. LOL. Cos they are HUGE.
But I was only doing one character at a time - there's only a few V4's that I want to convert over, not my entire collection.
I figured to get round the memory problem, I could split a Surreality character up. Move half the mat files into one folder and do those. Then do the others. That shouldn't cause any problems with texture paths etc, should it?
No, I move stuff around all the time. If the vender has not done anything funky it shouldn't matter where you put them, the paths are relative from the root. The only things you can't move are the textures themselves and the geometry.
Excellent, that's what I figured.
I always rename and move about my folders (obviously i never touch geometries,textures, data). I was just curious about the conversion process itself - whether it was taking the file paths from the ORIGINAL V4 mats.
As in, I have libraries/pose/V4 Julie with all the mat poses in that....if I change that to libraries/pose/V4 Julie/Do these first and then convert, and then move the mats BACK to libraries/pose/V4 Julie...using the converted g2 mats won't suddenly have them wanting to point towards ...../do these first.
If you get what I mean? I'm fairly sure that it's taking it from the Textures folder, not the character mat files folder, but was just unsure.
I did my Surreality sets that way.
I just broke them down into sets of 15 and moved them to a temporary folder , converted them and moved them and the new dufs all back to the folder they came from.
Not quite the one click solution I was hoping for.
But Surreality is worth it! :)
OK first this is a great script, there is definitely a memory leak somewhere (DAZ or whatever). Understand the processing power memory, and hardware discussions. I have converted ~20 skins and they are just great! So I am very satisfied with the product. I am running DAZ 4.7 and Windows 7 Ultimate.
My questions are:
1. When converting some skins the texture folder can not be found so DAZ requests the user to locate the required file manually. Then the script processes the conversion for that area of the model. When it starts the next area I have to point the script to the same/right folder in some cases 20 to 80 times! Is there a work around to this? I understand that the file folder structure for various skins may vary but in most cases pointing it once or three times would be acceptable, it just slows down the process.
2. Is there a way to halt the script without having to stop/halt the software without using the windows "task Manager" I have found no other way. After a few times I crashed DAZ 4.7 and had to completely reinstall it, this may be also due to a memory leak and saturation of my page file or a million other things maybe not even related to this handy script. I have 48GB of RAM and a 6 core LGA2011 CPU.
I just downloaded the manual and have not tried to use the Select Material Files(s) To Convert option but I will shortly. This may solve some of my questions.
Thanks, ahead of time I really like the content that you(or your team) develops thanks.
1. When converting some skins the texture folder can not be found so DAZ requests the user to locate the required file manually. Then the script processes the conversion for that area of the model. When it starts the next area I have to point the script to the same/right folder in some cases 20 to 80 times! Is there a work around to this? I understand that the file folder structure for various skins may vary but in most cases pointing it once or three times would be acceptable, it just slows down the process.
if you have to point DS towards the texture folder, then the file path must be incorrect in the MAT files. Either open up the mat files in a text file and correct the file paths (if only a few of the files are incorrect) OR if there are a heap of files that are incorrect (as in, the same product) then the easiest may be to correct the texture folder it's looking for itself. For instance, if the file path is Runtime/Textures/Vendor Name/Vendor Product, but the texture folder is actually Runtime/Textures/Vendor Name/Vendor Product/GreenGrass, then change teh folder to there. But if there are only a few of the mat files doing it, then open up the files (Notepad++ can open up multiple files at once, and you can use the "search and replace" function to correct the file path across the board all at once) and correct the file path.
Once you've converted the textures you want, in the interest of space, are you able to delete the original w/ the conversion self-sufficient? I ask because saving textures as materials still meant you needed the original as a critical reference point.
Once you've converted the textures you want, in the interest of space, are you able to delete the original w/ the conversion self-sufficient? I ask because saving textures as materials still meant you needed the original as a critical reference point.
You still need the texture jpg's. You can delete the old material presets if you wish, but the jpg's take up most of the space.
I usually hit the "select folder and it's subfolders to convert" and that works - but I'm wondering what that second one is. When I select it, it only seems to want to show .png's.
I usually hit the "select folder and it's subfolders to convert" and that works - but I'm wondering what that second one is. When I select it, it only seems to want to show .png's.
That's if you don't want to convert every Material Preset in the folder... You can select which Material Presets you want to convert.
OK, I'm a tad confused. I thought the script needed a DUF file to work with. I spent the better part of the morning trying to find Natasha on the poser side of the labyrinth, and convincing the mats to load onto V4.2, and then save them as a DUF file. Ignore the map-border-mess, that was from the last step of another tutorial... "Just load the file onto G2F, and your done", really!?, lol.
:shut:
Yet, when I tried to select just the duf, the script refused to select anything that was not a "png" file??? Selecting the folder path, did nothing at all. Instant complete, and nothing produced.
:ohh:
Now, For the hell of it, I go back to that Poser path, and tell the script to 'Try it' with the "PZ2" files... Where the hell did the "DSA" files come from!? those are PZ2 files, not DSA files in that folder???
:coolhmm:
Because I know PA's like seeing there stuff at work. The former mentioned confusion aside, and not understood at all.
I clicked Go after that odd list of "DSA" files in the "PZ2" folder, and it worked. Took about five to ten minutes, not that long for the single V4 Elite mat. FW Eve at the DraagonStorm Tanning Salon.
Eve Left; You've been spending to much time in that new “V4 Elite” tanning bed, haven’t you.
Eve Right; Yeah, and you've been trying out “Poser-Only” V4 hair styles again, haven’t you.
Eve Left; How did you know, tho this style was sold as Studio compatible. They even used it in some promos here at Daz. I thought it would be fine if I spiced it up with some "DG Shader Essentials" Silver-Purple-2.
Eve Right; It shows on the neck. The polygons are all folded over like hell. Worse then my “Natasha” tan will go over at the ball tonight.
Eve Left; That “Natasha” tan looks good, how much was it?
zarcondeegrissom I think you may have got confused with all the only .duf files conversion for PoseBuilder... This is a completely different situation.
This script is looking for file formats in .ds, .dsa and .pz2.. If the original file formats are in .duf, then DAZ Studio will do the conversion needed itself.
Also.. back in the day ;) ... Most products where originally made for Poser (.pz2), and then a DAZ Studio version was created. (.ds or .dsa) and both files would be put in the same folder with one .png file. Poser ignores the .ds or .dsa files, where DAZ Studio checks to see if .ds or .dsa file exists in the Poser Library first and if not then looks for the Poser file.
And because the "Content Library" only shows the files associated with that side of the Labyrinth, that's what I had seen there. I was under the impression that the file type was more broad in the limited types per path (what would load or not), then just what was shown. Thus it was pointless to put daz files in the Poser path, and even if they existed there, they would not show or function.
:blank:
So the only reason Poser stuff dose not render in studio anything close to the promos, is that it was never adjusted in the DSA files, if they exist at all? Like Natasha, a tad on the dark side, and way to much blue in every surface tab box, hmm. I was just fussing with that.
Skin, Lips, and fingernails;
Diffuse, 240 red, 212 green, 180 blue.
Both Specular, 196 red, 209 green, 212 blue.
good enough for now. Thanks DraagonStorm.
Comments
I've found the DAZ application itself has memory leak issues - it isn't the script. But yes, it will eat up some memory, which is why I only do one character at a time. And just shutting DAZ down doesn't free the memory, there is a background process left running you have to kill. Or just reboot. I tried to batch about 20 figures at once - and blew through 72 GB of memory. I watched it with the process monitor, it was kind of funny to see. I killed the DAZ process then rebooted when it reached 70.
Just as a note for anyone reading, a "hard fault" is just a type of page fault - it means the OS is having to do more work to get the information it needs from the virtual memory it has shuffled to the hard drive, and so whatever it is doing will be slower. It isn't a hardware fault and doesn't mean anything is grievously wrong with the system.
I've found the DAZ application itself has memory leak issues - it isn't the script. But yes, it will eat up some memory, which is why I only do one character at a time. And just shutting DAZ down doesn't free the memory, there is a background process left running you have to kill. Or just reboot. I tried to batch about 20 figures at once - and blew through 72 GB of memory. I watched it with the process monitor, it was kind of funny to see. I killed the DAZ process then rebooted when it reached 70.
...think I was running into the same last night with switching between scenes/scene subsets, Mentioned in on the 4.7 sticky. Thiis has been going on since ver.1.8.
That's correct, but they still aren't good. And admittedly the batch product isn't at fault, its a victim of it.
The Hard Faults are definitely not good when DAZ crawls to a complete stop because all RAM is used and it's hitting the page file for everything.
What has me the most irritated is that I thought it was a problem with the files I was choosing to convert. And so I left it going over night, two nights, on my laptop. With the hard drive thrashing away trying to process the conversions.
My sympathies, working with "large data sets" will do this as well. Processing more data then the computer has ram. A Seymour Cray quote regarding Ram comes to mind, lol. "It's a lot better if you don't have to fake it".
I chuckle a tad, because some people were cynical, when I mention I wanted 128GB of RAM in my work station years ago. Now I see that may be to small, if the one process is chewing threw 72GB and counting.
Unfortunately, they don't make RAM kits big enough yet to do that with only four memory slots, assuming your even that lucky. I am a tad perplexed, as I don't recall IrfanView ever using that much ram on a map image. 3600x3600 uses about 40MB uncompressed in ram. So I'm quite curious.
Was that a batch conversion of allot of figures, or just one figure?
It was 20 characters, I have no idea how many files it processed doing them. I was floored when I maxed it out too, I figured it would take all night to do, I didn't figure on running out of RAM.
The machine is a Dell Precision T5500 with dual CPU's, (Xeon quad core i7) That monster has 9 RAM slots and I filled them all with 8GB sticks of DDR3. That wasn't as expensive as it sounds, I spent about $1,200 total (bought the machine used on e-bay, memory ran around $600, I got some deals at the time), and had some parts to fill it out (hard drives, video cards, DVD writer)
...actually they do now.
4 stick 128GB Memory Kit
Though you need an MB with 288 pin slots.which will support DDR4.
...hmmm came down a bit in price, was over 3,100$ the other week.
Durn it, time to upgrade already ;)
And for the less fortunate (me included), We must do without. This MoBo maxes out at 8GB per slot (ASUS M5A97), and others are using laptops (there lucky to have two slots in some laptops).
I was worried That I would have issues converting the One figure texture, Thanks for the answers. I should be safe then with only 16GB of RAM (Yet to get the other 16GB kit).
I didn't have any problems doing the majority of the conversions; It was a Surreality set where I hit the memory ceiling. LOL. Cos they are HUGE.
But I was only doing one character at a time - there's only a few V4's that I want to convert over, not my entire collection.
I figured to get round the memory problem, I could split a Surreality character up. Move half the mat files into one folder and do those. Then do the others. That shouldn't cause any problems with texture paths etc, should it?
No, I move stuff around all the time. If the vender has not done anything funky it shouldn't matter where you put them, the paths are relative from the root. The only things you can't move are the textures themselves and the geometry.
EDIT: Unless you are using the smart content library and the item is in it. Then move it back to where it was when you are done. I don't use it so I don't worry about that.
No, I move stuff around all the time. If the vender has not done anything funky it shouldn't matter where you put them, the paths are relative from the root. The only things you can't move are the textures themselves and the geometry.
Excellent, that's what I figured.
I always rename and move about my folders (obviously i never touch geometries,textures, data). I was just curious about the conversion process itself - whether it was taking the file paths from the ORIGINAL V4 mats.
As in, I have libraries/pose/V4 Julie with all the mat poses in that....if I change that to libraries/pose/V4 Julie/Do these first and then convert, and then move the mats BACK to libraries/pose/V4 Julie...using the converted g2 mats won't suddenly have them wanting to point towards ...../do these first.
If you get what I mean? I'm fairly sure that it's taking it from the Textures folder, not the character mat files folder, but was just unsure.
Yes, the converted files point to the textures, not the MAT files. Those just load the textures, the DUF files you are creating replace them.
That should be fine, the paths to the textures are the same, doesn't matter where the material presets are.
Excellent!!! Thank you! :D
I'm off to retry a Surreality set :D :D
I did my Surreality sets that way.
I just broke them down into sets of 15 and moved them to a temporary folder , converted them and moved them and the new dufs all back to the folder they came from.
Not quite the one click solution I was hoping for.
But Surreality is worth it! :)
OK first this is a great script, there is definitely a memory leak somewhere (DAZ or whatever). Understand the processing power memory, and hardware discussions. I have converted ~20 skins and they are just great! So I am very satisfied with the product. I am running DAZ 4.7 and Windows 7 Ultimate.
My questions are:
1. When converting some skins the texture folder can not be found so DAZ requests the user to locate the required file manually. Then the script processes the conversion for that area of the model. When it starts the next area I have to point the script to the same/right folder in some cases 20 to 80 times! Is there a work around to this? I understand that the file folder structure for various skins may vary but in most cases pointing it once or three times would be acceptable, it just slows down the process.
2. Is there a way to halt the script without having to stop/halt the software without using the windows "task Manager" I have found no other way. After a few times I crashed DAZ 4.7 and had to completely reinstall it, this may be also due to a memory leak and saturation of my page file or a million other things maybe not even related to this handy script. I have 48GB of RAM and a 6 core LGA2011 CPU.
I just downloaded the manual and have not tried to use the Select Material Files(s) To Convert option but I will shortly. This may solve some of my questions.
Thanks, ahead of time I really like the content that you(or your team) develops thanks.
Ralph
if you have to point DS towards the texture folder, then the file path must be incorrect in the MAT files. Either open up the mat files in a text file and correct the file paths (if only a few of the files are incorrect) OR if there are a heap of files that are incorrect (as in, the same product) then the easiest may be to correct the texture folder it's looking for itself. For instance, if the file path is Runtime/Textures/Vendor Name/Vendor Product, but the texture folder is actually Runtime/Textures/Vendor Name/Vendor Product/GreenGrass, then change teh folder to there. But if there are only a few of the mat files doing it, then open up the files (Notepad++ can open up multiple files at once, and you can use the "search and replace" function to correct the file path across the board all at once) and correct the file path.
Quick question:
Once you've converted the textures you want, in the interest of space, are you able to delete the original w/ the conversion self-sufficient? I ask because saving textures as materials still meant you needed the original as a critical reference point.
You still need the texture jpg's. You can delete the old material presets if you wish, but the jpg's take up most of the space.
It does not convert the textures, it creates a material preset in the new .duf format that can be applied to the Genesis 2 figures.
What does that second line mean....
"Select Material File(s) to convert"....
I usually hit the "select folder and it's subfolders to convert" and that works - but I'm wondering what that second one is. When I select it, it only seems to want to show .png's.
That's if you don't want to convert every Material Preset in the folder... You can select which Material Presets you want to convert.
OK, I'm a tad confused. I thought the script needed a DUF file to work with. I spent the better part of the morning trying to find Natasha on the poser side of the labyrinth, and convincing the mats to load onto V4.2, and then save them as a DUF file. Ignore the map-border-mess, that was from the last step of another tutorial... "Just load the file onto G2F, and your done", really!?, lol.
:shut:
Yet, when I tried to select just the duf, the script refused to select anything that was not a "png" file??? Selecting the folder path, did nothing at all. Instant complete, and nothing produced.
:ohh:
Now, For the hell of it, I go back to that Poser path, and tell the script to 'Try it' with the "PZ2" files... Where the hell did the "DSA" files come from!? those are PZ2 files, not DSA files in that folder???
:coolhmm:
Because I know PA's like seeing there stuff at work. The former mentioned confusion aside, and not understood at all.
I clicked Go after that odd list of "DSA" files in the "PZ2" folder, and it worked. Took about five to ten minutes, not that long for the single V4 Elite mat.
FW Eve at the DraagonStorm Tanning Salon.
Eve Left; You've been spending to much time in that new “V4 Elite” tanning bed, haven’t you.
Eve Right; Yeah, and you've been trying out “Poser-Only” V4 hair styles again, haven’t you.
Eve Left; How did you know, tho this style was sold as Studio compatible. They even used it in some promos here at Daz. I thought it would be fine if I spiced it up with some "DG Shader Essentials" Silver-Purple-2.
Eve Right; It shows on the neck. The polygons are all folded over like hell. Worse then my “Natasha” tan will go over at the ball tonight.
Eve Left; That “Natasha” tan looks good, how much was it?
zarcondeegrissom I think you may have got confused with all the only .duf files conversion for PoseBuilder... This is a completely different situation.
This script is looking for file formats in .ds, .dsa and .pz2.. If the original file formats are in .duf, then DAZ Studio will do the conversion needed itself.
Also.. back in the day ;) ... Most products where originally made for Poser (.pz2), and then a DAZ Studio version was created. (.ds or .dsa) and both files would be put in the same folder with one .png file. Poser ignores the .ds or .dsa files, where DAZ Studio checks to see if .ds or .dsa file exists in the Poser Library first and if not then looks for the Poser file.
And because the "Content Library" only shows the files associated with that side of the Labyrinth, that's what I had seen there. I was under the impression that the file type was more broad in the limited types per path (what would load or not), then just what was shown. Thus it was pointless to put daz files in the Poser path, and even if they existed there, they would not show or function.
:blank:
So the only reason Poser stuff dose not render in studio anything close to the promos, is that it was never adjusted in the DSA files, if they exist at all? Like Natasha, a tad on the dark side, and way to much blue in every surface tab box, hmm. I was just fussing with that.
Skin, Lips, and fingernails;
Diffuse, 240 red, 212 green, 180 blue.
Both Specular, 196 red, 209 green, 212 blue.
good enough for now. Thanks DraagonStorm.
Please, where is the difference between the V4 Skins auto converter and the V4 Skins batch converter?
http://www.daz3d.com/v4-skins-batch-converter-to-genesis-2-female-s
http://www.daz3d.com/v4-skins-auto-converter-for-genesis-2-female-s
The auto converter will take a V4 material preset and apply it to G2F. It does not save a .duf file, you would need to do that yourself...
Where the batch converter will convert multiple presets, and then save them as .duf files...
Thank you very much for answering!
Wishlisting the Batch converter ...