Non è colpa di DAZ Studio ma della versione del pacchetto di G8, per quanto riguarda i tempi di caricamento.

Io ho la versione subito precedente l'uscita di Face Transfer e i miei G8 caricano in quattro secondi con circa duemila morphs installati.

glossedsfm said:

Richard Haseltine said:

1) yes, and make sure that you have preserve vertex order on in the import/export options.

2) you can't delete stuff in a morph

3) as I said, you can't delete the unwated parts but you should be able to create the morph as you want and hide the upper parts.

 

I was going to delete the unwanted faces in Daz studio first.  Then i was going to export to Blender and only move the wanted faces (not delete anything) around to create the morph. I wasn't planning on deleting anything in Blender for creating the morph just moving the verts around.  I asked question #1 to make sure that i remembered the "no delete, only move" rule for verts when creating morphs in Blender. 

 

OR

 

Would it just be better to export the entire set of pants to Blender first move the verts that i need to move to the correct spot then reimport it all into Daz.  Then once the pants are back in Daz, i apply my morph.  THEN i can worry about deleting/hiding the unwanted faces for the upper portion of the pants.  I think this is what i will do instead unless you think this might cause issues.

It would be better not to delete anything - if you select the polygons you want to remove you can use the Geometry Editor to assign them to the selection group for a bone you don't want visible, then just hide that bone and theya re gone with minimal disruption.

A little more speculation on my problem:

It makes sense that Daz Studio will update all the URL’s in all the scene files that use a morph if the location of that morph changes.

But why would it update the URL’s if the morph location did not change?

And, why would it change the URL’s to some path that never existed?

It is conceivable that I accidentally created the path in question, for a minute or two, before realizing my mistake and deleting the path. What I mean is, I may have accidentally pasted a folder full of morphs into my G3F morph directory. And the morphs in this folder have the same names as other morphs already in my G3F morph directory. But anyway, a few seconds later I realized that this folder full of morphs was supposed to go in to my G8F morph directory instead. And, realizing this, I then deleted the folder full of morphs from my G3F morph directory and put it into G8F where it belonged.

Could it be that the presence of this folder full of duplicate-name morphs triggered Daz Studio to make all character preset URL’s for those morphs point to these duplicate-named morphs, even if I removed them a minute later?

Maybe Daz Studio always scans for new versions of morphs in new locations and always updates the URL’s of character preset files using those moprhs. Make one accidental paste in like I did and Daz will mess things up like this.

The trouble is, I don’t even know whether I did this accidental paste-in of duplicate-named morphs. My memory is vague on this. But it is conceivable.

Anyway, if Daz Studo does work as I have speculated – if it does this automatic URL updating in response to duplicate-named morphs getting into the morph directory, can I provoke Daz Studio to reverse the damage? For example, would re-installing the products whose morphs got un-linked make Daz Studio restore the proper URL’s for them?

karl said:

Thanks, I'll make a note of that! Since it doesn't seem t ocover the common setup of Daz (assets on D:, program on C:) I don't know if this will be useful for anyone else who wants to do it that way. As well as D: being larger usually, this means if they reinstall Windows or get a new PC and so do a fresh install of Daz Studio, Daz Studio will be able to find and use those installed assets exactly as before, so they don't have to download and install the assets all over again. Note this is just my procedure!

STEP 1: PREPARATION

If necessary, uninstall all current Daz stuff from the PC to start fresh.

Use Daz Central (DC) or Daz Install Manager (DIM) to uninstall Daz Studio (DS) and content (whichever one you used to install DS in the first place), then uninstall DC/DIM through Windows.

Then do any manual cleanup - see the instructions at https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055963392-How-do-I-uninstall-delete-Daz-Studio- but note that some of the folders names may be different, and the guide misses out a few folders (e.g. I had a Daz 3D folder on the root on my C: that needed deleting).

STEP 2: INSTALL AND RUN DIM

Download DIM from https://www.daz3d.com/install-manager-info/

Install DIM on the C: at its default location.

Run it, tick "Work Offline" (so you can set preferences). This will temporarily disable the password box. Enter your email and click Start.

STEP 3: SET UP DIM

We want to set locations on the D:, so they can be easily backed up and will also survive Windows reinstalls.

In the top right corner is a small Gear icon (Settings). Go to Settings>Advanced Settings.

Go to the Downloads tab – this is where we set the location to save the files you download from your store account.

It has two options. There is a Package Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Downloads and a Thumbnail Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Thumbnails

Package Archive is the zip files downloaded from the Daz store.

Thumbnail Archive is apparently optional, some kind of preview in DS. Nothing is added to it by DIM installing assets, so things are probably only added by DS. However, since it will get downloaded anyway, and they don’t take up much space compared to the main assets, it makes sense to back them up too.

The thumbnails are for DIM, not DS, but they are not downloaded by default - if you want thumbnails in the tool tips when you hover over an entry in DIM then you need to right-clickand choose the option to download the thumbnail for the item under the mouse or for all selected items, or all missing thumnbnails in selected items.

Since I want to back them up, and they are different content types, I will be using a nested folder structure where the downloads and installed files all go under D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\

So I set the Package Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\downloads

and the Thumbnail Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\thumbnails

Leave all other settings alone.

Next go to the Installation tab. This allows you to set and add Content (Runtime) install paths.

Again, there are multiple options.

There is a Manifest Archive at C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/ManifestFiles

There is a Content Database Base of C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms

And there is a Recommended folder of C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library (which has an ellipsis after it but clicking it does nothing).

Manifest Archive is for the files that DS uses to track what it has installed.

The manifests are used by DIM, not Daz Studio. Daz studio (or rather the CMS) cares only about relative location within the content directory - if you move the entire directory and update the location in the directory list then the files will still show in the database-driven views - but DIM needs to know the absolute location of files, for one thing so that it can install content if it isn't in a current content directory (manifests store other information too).

Content Database Base is the database used by the Content Management System. It is accessed and managed by PostgreSQL and has no DS content in it. DS and DIM update it based on product metadata. To avoid losing any metadata it should be on the D: drive and included in back ups. This location will be the same as the ContentCluster path you can set in DS Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings.

So I set the Manifest Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\manifest

and the Content Database Base as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms

However, I had an issue with this step! Every time I changed the Content Database Base to D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms, and Accepted it, then went back in, it had reset to C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms (there were no error messages). This seems to be a bug. One option was to skip this step temporarily, let DIM go online, install DS, then try changing it inside DS (Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings, the ContentCluster location). But I found that once I installed DS and logged in, then came back to DIM, DIM then let me finally change the location of the CMS, so all was good. For some reason it would only let me after I installed DS.

We also need to set a folder (a fifth location) for the actual files that DIM unpacks from downloaded zips and installs, which is the key ones to move to the D:. By default this is the Content Folder, which shows as C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library. First click the + in the bottom left of the window. Give the path a label such as “content” and choose a location on your D: (for me it was on my D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content). Any added locations will be available in the Content Path Shortcuts drop-down selection box above, so change it to the one you want there. You can then delete the original default option so you only have the D: option for content.

You can confirm the path etc in the main interface window “Ready to Install” tab: click on Show Details.

That’s five folders set, so the hard work should be done.

STEP 4: SET UP DAZ STUDIO

We have set up DIM. If you haven’t done it already, let DIM go online and install DS. DIM should have transferred all the correct paths into DS, but we can double check for peace of mind.

Open DS.

Edit>Preferences>Content tab>Content Directory Manager.

(You can also open preferences with F2.)

That lets you expand the path trees for where thinsg will be stored.

The CMS Cluster Directory should be whatever you set in DIM (D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms).

Content (in both DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats) should be whatever you set (mine were both D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content as I expected).

Daz Connect Data isn’t something set by DIM, so will be a C: location. Daz Connect means installing content from within DS rather than via DIM (and doesn’t work for all content). As such, since we are using DIM, it makes sense to ignore that and install everything via DIM. So you can leave that alone.

This hopefully just confirms that DIM correctly set the directories and transferred those locations to DS.

I don’t think there’s a way to set a default for saving your scenes etc in DS, but I created a folder at D:\image creation\Daz 3D\my presets and will manually save scenes and characters there, so they get backed up and can also be transferred to a new PC or survive Windows reinstallation.

icon_png files: see this https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/225611/daz-studio-creates-icon-files
I had that problem, icon files all over my desktop. So need to change
Render Settings>General>Image Path and point it to some folder with no images in (can I set it as none? Chooce C:?). Then when save a render, browse to the desktop.

STEP 5: DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL CONTENT/ASSETS

Now that everything is set up, we can install all the assets we bought.

Open DIM. Make sure you are “Working Online” (enter your password).

The “Ready to Download” tab should be populated with everything you bought on the Daz Store, plus Daz Studio and some freebie starter content.

TIP to save space and time: hide anything that you don’t want to download and install that might be things you don’t need such as Hexagon, or a bridge for Photoshop (if you aren’t going to use that). To the right of each line is a right-facing triangle. Click that for a menu, and you can hide any items you don’t want to install and they’ll disappear (you can view the hidden items at any time by clicking “Display Hidden”, and unhide them in the same way).

My big tip is that many things I’d bought had the same file twice – once with ds at the end, once with ps. According to https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28450/ds-ps they are pretty much the same thing, and the ds version will work better in Daz. Also, the ps (Poser) version would often not work as smart content anyway. So, we want to just download and install the ds versions, and hide the ps. Installing both just doubles the storage, and unfortunately that is the default DIM chooses. So it may be worth filtering it – type ps onto the top right filter box. Ignore false positives (e.g. files where ps are next to each other liks “special ops poses” but identify real ps files and hide them using the right triangle menu I mentioned. For me that prevented DIM downloading and installing 94 items, or 12.3GB of unnecessary files. The downside is that I had to hide all 94 items individually, two clicks for each (and since the button is small and right next to the install button, I accidentally downloaded a few and had to delete them again). The little menu ignores the fact that you may have selected multiple items with the check marks on the left, making you hide each individually. Also be aware that if you hide ps packages in DIM in this way, then if you ever you reinstall DIM (e.g. on a new PC, or reinstalling the OS), you may well find them all back again and offered for install, so will need to hide them again (another 188 clicks …).

If ever you use the filter box, remember to click the x in it when you are finished, to cancel the filter and reveal all the files again. Also, the filter box is handy for finding a particular item.

A big bonus of DIM is multiple downloads. Daz Central (and Daz Connect) only let me download items one at a time (if I tried to download multiple items in DC it cancelled previous ones and only downloaded the last one I clicked on). But DIM lets you download multiple items – or even everything – at once. You can re-sort the packages by size or name and select groups. If you tick “Install After Download” it will do it for you. Because I don’t have superfast Internet, and have to share it with my partner (and use the same network for work), it took me three days to download and install what I currently own. That’s why I don’t want to ever have to do it again if I get a new PC or reinstall Windows – hopefully this method means the content will be there on my D: for future installs of DS!

DIM downloaded and installed everything to the folders I set.

(Also, I did NOT click “Delete Packages Once Installed” on the “Ready To Install” tab; this way, if something goes wrong with my plan, at least I can reinstall the assets from the downloaded files, saving the three day task of downloading them all again. The downside is content appears twice on my D: and takes up twice the space – once as the installer, once as the installed version. Maybe one day, if I find this system works even after reinstalling Windows or getting a new PC, I will then have the confidence to delete the downloaded installers and free up a lot of space – currently the installers alone take up 119GB).

STEP 6: TEST CONTENT IN DAZ STUDIO

Check the items show up fine and work in DS, showing up as Smart Content if applicable, that there are no problems that might require a refund.

Note that in DIM the installation tab shows if a product has installed Metadata. If so, there will be a checkmark underneath the “Smart” column, letting you know it will show under “Smart Content” in DAZ Studio 4 and higher. Most items will have metadata, but some may not have user-facing files (e.g. morph sets may add new sliders to the figure without having any presets to click). Additonal parts of a file that is so big it is in more than one part may not show as having metadata either. If there are properly installed products which don't have the data to appear in database-driven views (Smart Content) but which do have user-facing files you should still be able to find them in the Content Library pane under daz Studio formats (or Poser formats) and then the content directory name. This often applies to older items.

I have noticed one problem: some items I installed via DIM show up in DS, but are greyed out, as if they aren’t installed. I’m not sure what has happened there, or how to fix it. If I right click install within DS then it uses Daz Connect, so would download the item again (when it is already downloaded and stored on my D: by DIM), plus it would store it on the C: unless I change that path too. Using multiple install methods is perhaps asking for trouble, so I want to work out why DIM is not working for some items instead. Is this a known issue? Some of the items it applies to: Genesis 3 Starter Essentials; Rocker Outfit for Geneis 3 Females; Shadow Thief Outfit for Geneis 8 Females; Genesis 8 Starter Essentials; Nyala HD for Genesis 8 Female; Daz Studio Iray HDR Outdoor Environments; and others.

STEP 7: REGULAR BACKUPS

I do a full backup of my D: regularly. So this would now mean I am also backing up the downloaded asset zip files in one folder, the installed Daz assets in another (doubling the storage requirements but meaning I am covered for a few potential scenarios), and things like the cms, thumbnails, manifests, and my presets in other D: folders. I also save one caleld “previews” which lets me browse what I have bought – each product gets a folder within a structure that categorises it (people, hair, lighting, poses etc), with a link to the product page, a txt file with the full description, and all the preview images from the product page. This is really useful to store as products are sometimes withdrawn, and that information is no longer available – there are a few items where I can no longer get the preview images, which si a shame as they give ideas for how to use the content, or illustrate all the options. Ideally all that info would be available in a zip for everything you buy, which would save manually having to save every image via the browser.

NB: do backups only when DS, DIM, and other applications using the cms are all closed and there are no PostgreSQL processes running.

STEP 8: REINSTALLING WINDOWS / GETTING A NEW PC

If I reinstall Windows, or get a new computer (where I'd copy my D: backup contents to the new PC's D:) I would perform steps 2-4 above, choosing the same paths (so they actually now point to installed content on the D:). That should mean DIM and DS see and use all my existing content, so it doesn’t need redownloading or reinstalling again, saving me days.

Worst case scenario is that I reinstall Windows then all the Daz software, as above, but DIM and Daz Studio don't "see" the previously-installed Daz assets. In that case, as long as DIM can see the downloaded zip files, I can manually delete the installed assets from my D:, leaving that folder empty; then point DIM at my previous downloads and reinstall everything from the downloaded zip files. (Which at least saves downloading everything again.)

Thanks, I'll make a note of that! Since it doesn't seem t ocover the common setup of Daz (assets on D:, program on C:) I don't know if this will be useful for anyone else who wants to do it that way. As well as D: being larger usually, this means if they reinstall Windows or get a new PC and so do a fresh install of Daz Studio, Daz Studio will be able to find and use those installed assets exactly as before, so they don't have to download and install the assets all over again. Note this is just my procedure!

STEP 1: PREPARATION

If necessary, uninstall all current Daz stuff from the PC to start fresh.

Use Daz Central (DC) or Daz Install Manager (DIM) to uninstall Daz Studio (DS) and content (whichever one you used to install DS in the first place), then uninstall DC/DIM through Windows.

Then do any manual cleanup - see the instructions at https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055963392-How-do-I-uninstall-delete-Daz-Studio- but note that some of the folders names may be different, and the guide misses out a few folders (e.g. I had a Daz 3D folder on the root on my C: that needed deleting).

STEP 2: INSTALL AND RUN DIM

Download DIM from https://www.daz3d.com/install-manager-info/

Install DIM on the C: at its default location.

Run it, tick "Work Offline" (so you can set preferences). This will temporarily disable the password box. Enter your email and click Start.

STEP 3: SET UP DIM

We want to set locations on the D:, so they can be easily backed up and will also survive Windows reinstalls.

In the top right corner is a small Gear icon (Settings). Go to Settings>Advanced Settings.

Go to the Downloads tab – this is where we set the location to save the files you download from your store account.

It has two options. There is a Package Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Downloads and a Thumbnail Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Thumbnails

Package Archive is the zip files downloaded from the Daz store.

Thumbnail Archive is apparently optional, some kind of preview in DS. Nothing is added to it by DIM installing assets, so things are probably only added by DS. However, since it will get downloaded anyway, and they don’t take up much space compared to the main assets, it makes sense to back them up too.

Since I want to back them up, and they are different content types, I will be using a nested folder structure where the downloads and installed files all go under D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\

So I set the Package Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\downloads

and the Thumbnail Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\thumbnails

Leave all other settings alone.

Next go to the Installation tab. This allows you to set and add Content (Runtime) install paths.

Again, there are multiple options.

There is a Manifest Archive at C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/ManifestFiles

There is a Content Database Base of C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms

And there is a Recommended folder of C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library (which has an ellipsis after it but clicking it does nothing).

Manifest Archive is for the files that DS uses to track what it has installed.

Content Database Base is the database used by the Content Management System. It is accessed and managed by PostgreSQL and has no DS content in it. DS and DIM update it based on product metadata. To avoid losing any metadata it should be on the D: drive and included in back ups. This location will be the same as the ContentCluster path you can set in DS Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings.

So I set the Manifest Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\manifest

and the Content Database Base as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms

However, I had an issue with this step! Every time I changed the Content Database Base to D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms, and Accepted it, then went back in, it had reset to C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms (there were no error messages). This seems to be a bug. One option was to skip this step temporarily, let DIM go online, install DS, then try changing it inside DS (Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings, the ContentCluster location). But I found that once I installed DS and logged in, then came back to DIM, DIM then let me finally change the location of the CMS, so all was good. For some reason it would only let me after I installed DS.

We also need to set a folder (a fifth location) for the actual files that DIM unpacks from downloaded zips and installs, which is the key ones to move to the D:. By default this is the Content Folder, which shows as C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library. First click the + in the bottom left of the window. Give the path a label such as “content” and choose a location on your D: (for me it was on my D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content). Any added locations will be available in the Content Path Shortcuts drop-down selection box above, so change it to the one you want there. You can then delete the original default option so you only have the D: option for content.

You can confirm the path etc in the main interface window “Ready to Install” tab: click on Show Details.

That’s five folders set, so the hard work should be done.

STEP 4: SET UP DAZ STUDIO

We have set up DIM. If you haven’t done it already, let DIM go online and install DS. DIM should have transferred all the correct paths into DS, but we can double check for peace of mind.

Open DS.

Edit>Preferences>Content tab>Content Directory Manager.

(You can also open preferences with F2.)

That lets you expand the path trees for where thinsg will be stored.

The CMS Cluster Directory should be whatever you set in DIM (D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms).

Content (in both DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats) should be whatever you set (mine were both D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content as I expected).

Daz Connect Data isn’t something set by DIM, so will be a C: location. Daz Connect means installing content from within DS rather than via DIM (and doesn’t work for all content). As such, since we are using DIM, it makes sense to ignore that and install everything via DIM. So you can leave that alone.

This hopefully just confirms that DIM correctly set the directories and transferred those locations to DS.

I don’t think there’s a way to set a default for saving your scenes etc in DS, but I created a folder at D:\image creation\Daz 3D\my presets and will manually save scenes and characters there, so they get backed up and can also be transferred to a new PC or survive Windows reinstallation.

icon_png files: see this https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/225611/daz-studio-creates-icon-files
I had that problem, icon files all over my desktop. So need to change
Render Settings>General>Image Path and point it to some folder with no images in (can I set it as none? Chooce C:?). Then when save a render, browse to the desktop.

STEP 5: DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL CONTENT/ASSETS

Now that everything is set up, we can install all the assets we bought.

Open DIM. Make sure you are “Working Online” (enter your password).

The “Ready to Download” tab should be populated with everything you bought on the Daz Store, plus Daz Studio and some freebie starter content.

TIP to save space and time: hide anything that you don’t want to download and install that might be things you don’t need such as Hexagon, or a bridge for Photoshop (if you aren’t going to use that). To the right of each line is a right-facing triangle. Click that for a menu, and you can hide any items you don’t want to install and they’ll disappear (you can view the hidden items at any time by clicking “Display Hidden”, and unhide them in the same way).

My big tip is that many things I’d bought had the same file twice – once with ds at the end, once with ps. According to https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28450/ds-ps they are pretty much the same thing, and the ds version will work better in Daz. Also, the ps (Poser) version would often not work as smart content anyway. So, we want to just download and install the ds versions, and hide the ps. Installing both just doubles the storage, and unfortunately that is the default DIM chooses. So it may be worth filtering it – type ps onto the top right filter box. Ignore false positives (e.g. files where ps are next to each other liks “special ops poses” but identify real ps files and hide them using the right triangle menu I mentioned. For me that prevented DIM downloading and installing 94 items, or 12.3GB of unnecessary files. The downside is that I had to hide all 94 items individually, two clicks for each (and since the button is small and right next to the install button, I accidentally downloaded a few and had to delete them again). The little menu ignores the fact that you may have selected multiple items with the check marks on the left, making you hide each individually. Also be aware that if you hide ps packages in DIM in this way, then if you ever you reinstall DIM (e.g. on a new PC, or reinstalling the OS), you may well find them all back again and offered for install, so will need to hide them again (another 188 clicks …).

If ever you use the filter box, remember to click the x in it when you are finished, to cancel the filter and reveal all the files again. Also, the filter box is handy for finding a particular item.

A big bonus of DIM is multiple downloads. Daz Central (and Daz Connect) only let me download items one at a time (if I tried to download multiple items in DC it cancelled previous ones and only downloaded the last one I clicked on). But DIM lets you download multiple items – or even everything – at once. You can re-sort the packages by size or name and select groups. If you tick “Install After Download” it will do it for you. Because I don’t have superfast Internet, and have to share it with my partner (and use the same network for work), it took me three days to download and install what I currently own. That’s why I don’t want to ever have to do it again if I get a new PC or reinstall Windows – hopefully this method means the content will be there on my D: for future installs of DS!

DIM downloaded and installed everything to the folders I set.

(Also, I did NOT click “Delete Packages Once Installed” on the “Ready To Install” tab; this way, if something goes wrong with my plan, at least I can reinstall the assets from the downloaded files, saving the three day task of downloading them all again. The downside is content appears twice on my D: and takes up twice the space – once as the installer, once as the installed version. Maybe one day, if I find this system works even after reinstalling Windows or getting a new PC, I will then have the confidence to delete the downloaded installers and free up a lot of space – currently the installers alone take up 119GB).

STEP 6: TEST CONTENT IN DAZ STUDIO

Check the items show up fine and work in DS, showing up as Smart Content if applicable, that there are no problems that might require a refund.

Note that in DIM the installation tab shows if a product has installed Metadata. If so, there will be a checkmark underneath the “Smart” column, letting you know it will show under “Smart Content” in DAZ Studio 4 and higher. Most items will have metadata, but some may not have user-facing files (e.g. morph sets may add new sliders to the figure without having any presets to click). Additonal parts of a file that is so big it is in more than one part may not show as having metadata either. If there are properly installed products which don't have the data to appear in database-driven views (Smart Content) but which do have user-facing files you should still be able to find them in the Content Library pane under daz Studio formats (or Poser formats) and then the content directory name. This often applies to older items.

I have noticed one problem: some items I installed via DIM show up in DS, but are greyed out, as if they aren’t installed. I’m not sure what has happened there, or how to fix it. If I right click install within DS then it uses Daz Connect, so would download the item again (when it is already downloaded and stored on my D: by DIM), plus it would store it on the C: unless I change that path too. Using multiple install methods is perhaps asking for trouble, so I want to work out why DIM is not working for some items instead. Is this a known issue? Some of the items it applies to: Genesis 3 Starter Essentials; Rocker Outfit for Geneis 3 Females; Shadow Thief Outfit for Geneis 8 Females; Genesis 8 Starter Essentials; Nyala HD for Genesis 8 Female; Daz Studio Iray HDR Outdoor Environments; and others.

STEP 7: REGULAR BACKUPS

I do a full backup of my D: regularly. So this would now mean I am also backing up the downloaded asset zip files in one folder, the installed Daz assets in another (doubling the storage requirements but meaning I am covered for a few potential scenarios), and things like the cms, thumbnails, manifests, and my presets in other D: folders. I also save one caleld “previews” which lets me browse what I have bought – each product gets a folder within a structure that categorises it (people, hair, lighting, poses etc), with a link to the product page, a txt file with the full description, and all the preview images from the product page. This is really useful to store as products are sometimes withdrawn, and that information is no longer available – there are a few items where I can no longer get the preview images, which si a shame as they give ideas for how to use the content, or illustrate all the options. Ideally all that info would be available in a zip for everything you buy, which would save manually having to save every image via the browser.

NB: do backups only when DS, DIM, and other applications using the cms are all closed and there are no PostgreSQL processes running.

STEP 8: REINSTALLING WINDOWS / GETTING A NEW PC

If I reinstall Windows, or get a new computer (where I'd copy my D: backup contents to the new PC's D:) I would perform steps 2-4 above, choosing the same paths (so they actually now point to installed content on the D:). That should mean DIM and DS see and use all my existing content, so it doesn’t need redownloading or reinstalling again, saving me days.

Worst case scenario is that I reinstall Windows then all the Daz software, as above, but DIM and Daz Studio don't "see" the previously-installed Daz assets. In that case, as long as DIM can see the downloaded zip files, I can manually delete the installed assets from my D:, leaving that folder empty; then point DIM at my previous downloads and reinstall everything from the downloaded zip files. (Which at least saves downloading everything again.)

This may be useful for anyone else who wants to install Daz with assets on the D:; then, if they reinstall Windows or get a new PC and so do a fresh install of Daz Studio, Daz Studio will be able to find and use those installed assets exactly as before, so they don't have to download and install the assets all over again. Note this is just my procedure!

STEP 1: PREPARATION

If necessary, uninstall all current Daz stuff from the PC to start fresh.

Use Daz Central (DC) or Daz Install Manager (DIM) to uninstall Daz Studio (DS) and content (whichever one you used to install DS in the first place), then uninstall DC/DIM through Windows.

Then do any manual cleanup - see the instructions at https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055963392-How-do-I-uninstall-delete-Daz-Studio- but note that some of the folders names may be different, and the guide misses out a few folders (e.g. I had a Daz 3D folder on the root on my C: that needed deleting).

STEP 2: INSTALL AND RUN DIM

Download DIM from https://www.daz3d.com/install-manager-info/

Install DIM on the C: at its default location.

Run it, tick "Work Offline" (so you can set preferences). This will temporarily disable the password box. Enter your email and click Start.

STEP 3: SET UP DIM

We want to set locations on the D:, so they can be easily backed up and will also survive Windows reinstalls.

In the top right corner is a small Gear icon (Settings). Go to Settings>Advanced Settings.

Go to the Downloads tab – this is where we set the location to save the files you download from your store account.

It has two options. There is a Package Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Downloads and a Thumbnail Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Thumbnails

Package Archive is the zip files downloaded from the Daz store.

Thumbnail Archive is apparently optional, some kind of preview in DS. Nothing is added to it by DIM installing assets, so things are probably only added by DS. However, since it will get downloaded anyway, and they don’t take up much space compared to the main assets, it makes sense to back them up too.

Since I want to back them up, and they are different content types, I will be using a nested folder structure where the downloads and installed files all go under D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\

So I set the Package Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\downloads

and the Thumbnail Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\thumbnails

Leave all other settings alone.

Next go to the Installation tab. This allows you to set and add Content (Runtime) install paths.

Again, there are multiple options.

There is a Manifest Archive at C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/ManifestFiles

There is a Content Database Base of C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms

And there is a Recommended folder of C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library (which has an ellipsis after it but clicking it does nothing).

Manifest Archive is for the files that DS uses to track what it has installed.

Content Database Base is the database used by the Content Management System. It is accessed and managed by PostgreSQL and has no DS content in it. DS and DIM update it based on product metadata. To avoid losing any metadata it should be on the D: drive and included in back ups. This location will be the same as the ContentCluster path you can set in DS Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings.

So I set the Manifest Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\manifest

and the Content Database Base as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms

However, I had an issue with this step! Every time I changed the Content Database Base to D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms, and Accepted it, then went back in, it had reset to C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms (there were no error messages). This seems to be a bug. One option was to skip this step temporarily, let DIM go online, install DS, then try changing it inside DS (Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings, the ContentCluster location). But I found that once I installed DS and logged in, then came back to DIM, DIM then let me finally change the location of the CMS, so all was good. For some reason it would only let me after I installed DS.

We also need to set a folder (a fifth location) for the actual files that DIM unpacks from downloaded zips and installs, which is the key ones to move to the D:. By default this is the Content Folder, which shows as C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library. First click the + in the bottom left of the window. Give the path a label such as “content” and choose a location on your D: (for me it was on my D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content). Any added locations will be available in the Content Path Shortcuts drop-down selection box above, so change it to the one you want there. You can then delete the original default option so you only have the D: option for content.

You can confirm the path etc in the main interface window “Ready to Install” tab: click on Show Details.

That’s five folders set, so the hard work should be done.

STEP 4: SET UP DAZ STUDIO

We have set up DIM. If you haven’t done it already, let DIM go online and install DS. DIM should have transferred all the correct paths into DS, but we can double check for peace of mind.

Open DS.

Edit>Preferences>Content tab>Content Directory Manager.

(You can also open preferences with F2.)

That lets you expand the path trees for where thinsg will be stored.

The CMS Cluster Directory should be whatever you set in DIM (D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms).

Content (in both DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats) should be whatever you set (mine were both D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content as I expected).

Daz Connect Data isn’t something set by DIM, so will be a C: location. Daz Connect means installing content from within DS rather than via DIM (and doesn’t work for all content). As such, since we are using DIM, it makes sense to ignore that and install everything via DIM. So you can leave that alone.

This hopefully just confirms that DIM correctly set the directories and transferred those locations to DS.

I don’t think there’s a way to set a default for saving your scenes etc in DS, but I created a folder at D:\image creation\Daz 3D\my presets and will manually save scenes and characters there, so they get backed up and can also be transferred to a new PC or survive Windows reinstallation.

icon_png files: see this https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/225611/daz-studio-creates-icon-files
I had that problem, icon files all over my desktop. So need to change
Render Settings>General>Image Path and point it to some folder with no images in (can I set it as none? Chooce C:?). Then when save a render, browse to the desktop.

STEP 5: DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL CONTENT/ASSETS

Now that everything is set up, we can install all the assets we bought.

Open DIM. Make sure you are “Working Online” (enter your password).

The “Ready to Download” tab should be populated with everything you bought on the Daz Store, plus Daz Studio and some freebie starter content.

TIP to save space and time: hide anything that you don’t want to download and install that might be things you don’t need such as Hexagon, or a bridge for Photoshop (if you aren’t going to use that). To the right of each line is a right-facing triangle. Click that for a menu, and you can hide any items you don’t want to install and they’ll disappear (you can view the hidden items at any time by clicking “Display Hidden”, and unhide them in the same way).

My big tip is that many things I’d bought had the same file twice – once with ds at the end, once with ps. According to https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28450/ds-ps they are pretty much the same thing, and the ds version will work better in Daz. Also, the ps (Poser) version would often not work as smart content anyway. So, we want to just download and install the ds versions, and hide the ps. Installing both just doubles the storage, and unfortunately that is the default DIM chooses. So it may be worth filtering it – type ps onto the top right filter box. Ignore false positives (e.g. files where ps are next to each other liks “special ops poses” but identify real ps files and hide them using the right triangle menu I mentioned. For me that prevented DIM downloading and installing 94 items, or 12.3GB of unnecessary files. The downside is that I had to hide all 94 items individually, two clicks for each (and since the button is small and right next to the install button, I accidentally downloaded a few and had to delete them again). The little menu ignores the fact that you may have selected multiple items with the check marks on the left, making you hide each individually. Also be aware that if you hide ps packages in DIM in this way, then if you ever you reinstall DIM (e.g. on a new PC, or reinstalling the OS), you may well find them all back again and offered for install, so will need to hide them again (another 188 clicks …).

If ever you use the filter box, remember to click the x in it when you are finished, to cancel the filter and reveal all the files again. Also, the filter box is handy for finding a particular item.

A big bonus of DIM is multiple downloads. Daz Central (and Daz Connect) only let me download items one at a time (if I tried to download multiple items in DC it cancelled previous ones and only downloaded the last one I clicked on). But DIM lets you download multiple items – or even everything – at once. You can re-sort the packages by size or name and select groups. If you tick “Install After Download” it will do it for you. Because I don’t have superfast Internet, and have to share it with my partner (and use the same network for work), it took me three days to download and install what I currently own. That’s why I don’t want to ever have to do it again if I get a new PC or reinstall Windows – hopefully this method means the content will be there on my D: for future installs of DS!

DIM downloaded and installed everything to the folders I set.

(Also, I did NOT click “Delete Packages Once Installed” on the “Ready To Install” tab; this way, if something goes wrong with my plan, at least I can reinstall the assets from the downloaded files, saving the three day task of downloading them all again. The downside is content appears twice on my D: and takes up twice the space – once as the installer, once as the installed version. Maybe one day, if I find this system works even after reinstalling Windows or getting a new PC, I will then have the confidence to delete the downloaded installers and free up a lot of space – currently the installers alone take up 119GB).

STEP 6: TEST CONTENT IN DAZ STUDIO

Check the items show up fine and work in DS, showing up as Smart Content if applicable, that there are no problems that might require a refund.

Note that in DIM the installation tab shows if a product has installed Metadata. If so, there will be a checkmark underneath the “Smart” column, letting you know it will show under “Smart Content” in DAZ Studio 4 and higher. Most items will have metadata, but some may not have user-facing files (e.g. morph sets may add new sliders to the figure without having any presets to click). Additonal parts of a file that is so big it is in more than one part may not show as having metadata either. If there are properly installed products which don't have the data to appear in database-driven views (Smart Content) but which do have user-facing files you should still be able to find them in the Content Library pane under daz Studio formats (or Poser formats) and then the content directory name. This often applies to older items.

I have noticed one problem: some items I installed via DIM show up in DS, but are greyed out, as if they aren’t installed. I’m not sure what has happened there, or how to fix it. If I right click install within DS then it uses Daz Connect, so would download the item again (when it is already downloaded and stored on my D: by DIM), plus it would store it on the C: unless I change that path too. Using multiple install methods is perhaps asking for trouble, so I want to work out why DIM is not working for some items instead. Is this a known issue? Some of the items it applies to: Genesis 3 Starter Essentials; Rocker Outfit for Geneis 3 Females; Shadow Thief Outfit for Geneis 8 Females; Genesis 8 Starter Essentials; Nyala HD for Genesis 8 Female; Daz Studio Iray HDR Outdoor Environments; and others.

STEP 7: REGULAR BACKUPS

I do a full backup of my D: regularly. So this would now mean I am also backing up the downloaded asset zip files in one folder, the installed Daz assets in another (doubling the storage requirements but meaning I am covered for a few potential scenarios), and things like the cms, thumbnails, manifests, and my presets in other D: folders. I also save one caleld “previews” which lets me browse what I have bought – each product gets a folder within a structure that categorises it (people, hair, lighting, poses etc), with a link to the product page, a txt file with the full description, and all the preview images from the product page. This is really useful to store as products are sometimes withdrawn, and that information is no longer available – there are a few items where I can no longer get the preview images, which si a shame as they give ideas for how to use the content, or illustrate all the options. Ideally all that info would be available in a zip for everything you buy, which would save manually having to save every image via the browser.

NB: do backups only when DS, DIM, and other applications using the cms are all closed and there are no PostgreSQL processes running.

STEP 8: REINSTALLING WINDOWS / GETTING A NEW PC

If I reinstall Windows, or get a new computer (where I'd copy my D: backup contents to the new PC's D:) I would perform steps 2-4 above, choosing the same paths (so they actually now point to installed content on the D:). That should mean DIM and DS see and use all my existing content, so it doesn’t need redownloading or reinstalling again, saving me days.

Worst case scenario is that I reinstall Windows then all the Daz software, as above, but DIM and Daz Studio don't "see" the previously-installed Daz assets. In that case, as long as DIM can see the downloaded zip files, I can manually delete the installed assets from my D:, leaving that folder empty; then point DIM at my previous downloads and reinstall everything from the downloaded zip files. (Which at least saves downloading everything again.)

Padone said:

@wolf359 By exporting to dbz, the geometry in the viewport will be baked, this includes any morph applied.

@marble Yep, but you have to import the custom morphs yourself in a second step, aka any geograft morph.

steps:

1. import the figure
2. merge rigs
3. import the standard morphs
4. import the custom morphs for geografts
5. transfer the standard morphs to geografts
6. merge geografts

If you use easy import then merge geografts and transfer standard morphs are done for you. Then you can add the custom morphs later to the merged meshes.

https://diffeomorphic.blogspot.com/2021/07/adding-morphs-after-lashes-and.html

https://diffeomorphic.blogspot.com/2021/03/easy-import.html

Thanks again @Padone - I shall bookmark this for future reference. What's in store for 1.7? ;)

@wolf359 By exporting to dbz, the geometry in the viewport will be baked, this includes any morph applied.

@marble Yep, but you have to import the custom morphs yourself in a second step, aka any geograft morph.

steps:

1. import the figure
2. merge rigs
3. import the standard morphs
4. import the custom morphs for geografts
5. transfer the standard morphs to geografts
6. merge geografts

If you use easy import then transfer standard morphs and merge geografts are done for you. Then you can add the custom morphs later to the merged meshes.

https://diffeomorphic.blogspot.com/2021/07/adding-morphs-after-lashes-and.html

https://diffeomorphic.blogspot.com/2021/03/easy-import.html

Richard Haseltine said:

1) yes, and make sure that you have preserve vertex order on in the import/export options.

2) you can't delete stuff in a morph

3) as I said, you can't delete the unwated parts but you should be able to create the morph as you want and hide the upper parts.

I was going to delete the unwanted faces in Daz studio first.  Then i was going to export to Blender and only move the wanted faces (not delete anything) around to create the morph. I wasn't planning on deleting anything in Blender for creating the morph just moving the verts around.  I asked question #1 to make sure that i remembered the "no delete, only move" rule for verts when creating morphs in Blender. 

OR

Would it just be better to export the entire set of pants to Blender first move the verts that i need to move to the correct spot then reimport it all into Daz.  Then once the pants are back in Daz, i apply my morph.  THEN i can worry about deleting/hiding the unwanted faces for the upper portion of the pants.  I think this is what i will do instead unless you think this might cause issues.

I had a difficult time coaxing XTransfer to work. And now I find that when I load some of my G3F character presets, Daz Studio can’t find some of the morphs used on that character preset.

The morphs exist. But the character preset files have been corrupted such that they call the morph at the wrong path. Something changed the morph URL’s to a path that never even existed. I can fix this in notepad by restoring the URL’s to the correct paths to the morphs.

But I don’t know how many of my G3F character presets got corrupted like this.

How do I easily find all the corrupted G3F character files and likewise easily fix them?

I’m considering restoring my G3F morph directory from a backup I made about 3 weeks ago, before my XTransfer fiasco. Do you think that would work fine, without any horrid side effects?

Martirilla said:

mdk1960 said: Daz Studio >save OBJ file > import .obj in Poser > render cartoon w/line > Clip Studio Paint > Photoshop

juvesatriani replied: This DAZ > Poser Cartoon line is something I need to learn, thanks for sharing

There is a free set of helper scripts that work from the Daz Library, which you click one after the other and which basically automate the steps for a Daz - Poser transfer, called Automatic OBJ Exporter. You can also use Atangeo Balancer with these, part way through the process, to get the Genesis mesh reduced as part of the automation.

Also, when you get the figure to Poser the ideal would be to run with the new Comic Book feature, which would give you much more artistic lines to then work on in Clip Studio. Rather than using the ancient Cartoon w/Line display mode. You can see from the bottom two examples how superior Comic Book is.

 

 

Cool Tips about exporter !! Do you have tips how to match camera between DAZ and Poser?   The reason I`m asking because I want to mashup pwToon and Poser outline if possible . It just easier and I`ve already have bunch of preset of it

With Blender freestyle and Diffeo I can get match camera solution and work flawlessly if I need custom outline setup , but still not find wokaround for Poser and DAZ camera

Martirilla said:

mdk1960 said: Daz Studio >save OBJ file > import .obj in Poser > render cartoon w/line > Clip Studio Paint > Photoshop

juvesatriani replied: This DAZ > Poser Cartoon line is something I need to learn, thanks for sharing

There is a free set of helper scripts that work from the Daz Library, which you click one after the other and which basically automate the steps for a Daz - Poser transfer, called Automatic OBJ Exporter. You can also use Atangeo Balancer with these, part way through the process, to get the Genesis mesh reduced as part of the automation.

Also, when you get the figure to Poser the ideal would be to run with the new Comic Book feature, which would give you much more artistic lines to then work on in Clip Studio. Rather than using the ancient Cartoon w/Line display mode. You can see from the bottom two examples how superior Comic Book is.

 

 

Very nice - thanks for the workthru on this -  always like finding out better ways of working! 

mdk1960 said: Daz Studio >save OBJ file > import .obj in Poser > render cartoon w/line > Clip Studio Paint > Photoshop

juvesatriani replied: This DAZ > Poser Cartoon line is something I need to learn, thanks for sharing

There is a free set of helper scripts that work from the Daz Library, which you click one after the other and which basically automate the steps for a Daz - Poser transfer, called Automatic OBJ Exporter. You can also use Atangeo Balancer with these, part way through the process, to get the Genesis mesh reduced as part of the automation.

Also, when you get the figure to Poser the ideal would be to run with the new Comic Book feature, which would give you much more artistic lines to then work on in Clip Studio. Rather than using the ancient Cartoon w/Line display mode. You can see from the bottom two examples how superior Comic Book is.

Daventaki said:

Catherine3678ab said:

roezaka said:

Catherine3678ab

How do you make the morph of dforce?

Okay. I use Hexagon, be sure the bridge option in D/S is for the Advanced bridge. {edit > preferences ...}

I run the simulation. Then using the scene tab I select the simulated garment and send it over the bridge to Hexagon. {don't worry, there's nothing to learn about Hexagon required here} In Daz Studio, "clear the simulation" of the garment, keep that garment selected {it's still posed or whatever, that's fine}, In Hexagon select the garment {scene tree on far right side} and then File ... send it back over the bridge to D/S.  In making the morph, double click on some areas to change options {i.e. name the morph} and right-click to change other options. REVERSE DEFORMATIONS. After the morph is 'made' - in D/S dial it in to be sure it took all right, then dial out that morph and Save it as a morph asset {as always just select the one morph being made}. Then I remove the garment from the scene and load in a fresh one {to clear any attachments with regards to DForce}, dial in the morph ... then pick the next garment that I'm adding DForce to and run the simulation on that garment. Whether or not I make any more morphs depends upon how likely I am to ever want to remake the scene.

Generally speaking it takes less time to make a morph than it does to run the simulations.

Thank you Catherine3678ab! I was having issues with the morph looking wrong when I did the steps through DS (havent been able to pick up dforce2morph yet)  This worked perfectly!  (I have no knowledge with Hexagon)

Happy to hear that it helped somebody :-) 

Yes for many basic "just want to make a morph" all one has to do is throw it back and forth over the bridge. It does all the calculations :-)

Down the road in time, it is in the "UV&Paint" tab that one can use "gently" the smoother, the pincher [I seldom use this, can cause problems] or the inflate tool. Or grab a hold of some dots or lines and move those around. Just for a small amount of morphing though. If one wants to make drastic morph projects one may wish to invest in ZBrush, etc.

Catherine3678ab said:

roezaka said:

Catherine3678ab

How do you make the morph of dforce?

Okay. I use Hexagon, be sure the bridge option in D/S is for the Advanced bridge. {edit > preferences ...}

I run the simulation. Then using the scene tab I select the simulated garment and send it over the bridge to Hexagon. {don't worry, there's nothing to learn about Hexagon required here} In Daz Studio, "clear the simulation" of the garment, keep that garment selected {it's still posed or whatever, that's fine}, In Hexagon select the garment {scene tree on far right side} and then File ... send it back over the bridge to D/S.  In making the morph, double click on some areas to change options {i.e. name the morph} and right-click to change other options. REVERSE DEFORMATIONS. After the morph is 'made' - in D/S dial it in to be sure it took all right, then dial out that morph and Save it as a morph asset {as always just select the one morph being made}. Then I remove the garment from the scene and load in a fresh one {to clear any attachments with regards to DForce}, dial in the morph ... then pick the next garment that I'm adding DForce to and run the simulation on that garment. Whether or not I make any more morphs depends upon how likely I am to ever want to remake the scene.

Generally speaking it takes less time to make a morph than it does to run the simulations.

Thank you Catherine3678ab! I was having issues with the morph looking wrong when I did the steps through DS (havent been able to pick up dforce2morph yet)  This worked perfectly!  (I have no knowledge with Hexagon)

heinzerbrew_f94794efff said:

So in the code below, I would need to change zOrigin to something else, is that correct? What about the label, does that matter?

"id" : "z",

"type" : "float",

"name" : "zOrigin",

"label" : "Z Origin",

"visible" : false,

"value" : 0.1168788,

"current_value" : 0.1168788,

"min" : -10000,

"max" : 10000,

"step_size" : 0.01

}

],

No, don't chnage that - it's part of the basic set up (each bone has a set of origin properties). The issue will be the other end of the formula. If this is soemone who has little experience it is possible that the issue is in the character file, most likely the result of running ERC Freeze twice in succession (in which case you are probably looking fro multiple forumlae linking the main morph to the same property on the same bone). In that case you are either going to want to ditch the second formula (hopefull that is just a minor correction) or try to combine each into one (which may be tricky).

My XTransfer problems and work-around’s

I want to share the problems I had using XTransfer and the things I did to overcome them, to the extent that I COULD overcome them.

First I want to say that to the extent that XTransfer worked, it seemed to work ok. The converted G8 versions of the morphs do look faithful to the original G3 morphs, at least from a distance. I cannot vouch for the precision of the rigging conversion in any case but Teen Josie 7, for which I can definitely say the rigging got converted slightly wrong in the shoulders.

But let me begin with a warning to others: BEWARE THE DUPLICATE/VERSION/COPIES OF YOUR G3 MORPHS.

I found that XTransfer had problems locating the correct G3 morphs to convert. I have multiple versions/copies of the G3 morphs in my “data” folder. XTransfer often converted the wrong version/copy of some G3 morphs, resulting in converted morphs that did not appear in the “Shaping” tab directory structure. They instead appeared in the “Parameters” tab under “Morphs > Morph Loader Pro”, with gray slider control colors and labels that were equal to the names, and with a few other control settings problems.

These other version/copies of the G3 morphs were generated by another morph conversion product that I had used earlier, namely “Character Converter from Genesis 3 Female to Genesis 8 Female”, by “RiverSoft Art”.

I tried 2 things to fix this problem with duplicates. I don’t know how well my two fixes worked. But at present, they seem to fix the problem ENOUGH for me to keep XTransfer (not return it for a refund).

So anyway, my first attempt at fixing this problem was to try finding all of these other version/copies of the G3 morphs generated by that product and temporarily remove them from the Daz library. I figured I could find them all by noting the date of creation for a single confirmed duplicate, and finding everything else with that date of creation or close, as I likely ran the Character Converter on all my figures in just a few days.

By “remove” here I don’t mean to delete. What I mean is to temporarily move them to a folder on my desktop, outside the Daz library. This insures that I can put them back inside the Daz library when I’m done running XTransfer.

This drastically reduced the number of wrong version morphs that XTransfer accidentally converted. But some still remained. Likely I failed to find all the duplicates.

Without a way to guarantee that I can find and move all the duplicates, I had to try something else.

My next fix was to start over and use a different morph selection method. So, first delete every converted morph that XTransfer had produced – the “XTranfer” folder. And then use XTransfer’s directory selection method instead of clicking on the heart symbols of the morph controls to “favoritize” them as a means of selecting the morphs to convert. Apparently, “favoritizing” the morphs does not direct XTransfer to the original morph corresponding to that controller that you favoritized. Favoritizing merely puts that morph on some list of morphs to search for. And once XTransfer searches for and finds the first version/copy of that morph that matches up on some criteria, it converts that one, whether it is the correct version or not.

So I reasoned that selecting the morphs by directory would remove any ambiguity from the selection procedure. And that seemed to work for exactly that reason.

Great! Almost all the original morphs got converted properly. There were a few stragglers. Maybe this had to do with Transfer encountering a high-definition morph and then going haywire after. I have no clue.

But wait, there’s more problems.

I found some cases where XTransfer failed to preserve the “controller / controlled” link between some morphs. My guess is MOST of these links got converted correctly. But a few did not. Here’s what I mean, by way of example:

The “Tamara” character needs the Teen Josie 7 base figure installed to work. The morphs that produce the Tamara character must control the morphs that produce the Teen Josie 7 base figure, as well as do some additional morphing on top of the Teen Josie 7 base figure. But XTransfer produced G8F versions of the Tamara morphs that failed to control (and apply) the Teen Josie 7 base figure morphs.

I had deliberately tried to avoid this kind of thing by converting morph collections in a certain order. I made sure to convert Teen Josie 7 BEFORE converting Tamara. But my attention to order of conversion did not prevent the problem in this case, and in at least one other that I found.

So now I’m worried that there could be several other bad links like this that I have yet to encounter.

As for the bad links that I did find, I managed to restore the links by means of doing the “ERC Freeze” thing.

And it occurs to me that the shoulder rigging problem with Teen Josie 7 could be the result of a bad link to some corrective morph or some other resource that was supposed to adjust the shoulders.

One final note and warning to others:

Don’t bother having XTransfer convert the collection of morphs in the folder “.../Morphs/DAZ 3D/Base Correctives”. Near as I can tell, the presence of these converted morphs in your G8 XTransfer folder will screw up the rigging or joint corrective morphs on all your G8 figures of that gender (or interfere with Daz Studio using the right set of correctives). If you pose a G8 figure and the elbows and kneed are all messed up, try removing the converted morphs on “Base Correctives”. Maybe also the ones in “Base” and “Base Pose”.

And this is where I’m at with XTransfer today. I’ve converted all the morphs I wanted to, but I don’t yet know how many of them are good and to what extent. I’ll have to find out over the coming year or so. Fingers crossed – perhaps MOST of them are good.

I take it on faith that the developers of XTransfer will eventually look into these matters and fix them.

- Select the G8F (load the default Genesis without any morph applied, easier later to check what causes the issue)

- Parameters Tab > Options > Show Hidden Properties

- Parameters Tab > Currently used

- Now you can see all the dialed morphs. Close the eyes and if one of those hidden corrective morphs dials up by itself, you'll know it's the culprit.

- Click on the gear icon of this hidden corrective morph > Parameters Settings > Path. You'll know this way where is the file, how it's called and so on. Enough info to google for it and find out which DAZ bundle installs it.

- Exit DAZ. Uninstall this DAZ bundle. Restart DAZ.

All should be back to normal now.

maikdecker said:

lface8 said:

Here's a quick render using ElSinestroUno's Keanu Reeves morph and Mousso's Asher skin.

 

When dialing in a bit of Asher it makes him looking like a slightly younger Keanu Reeves, I think... 

Oooh, I'll have to try that out. Thanks for the tip.

Wonderland said:

It’s at least 20 minutes, maybe more. I go do something else until it finally loads. How are people getting it to load in seconds? 

Clear out your DSON cache (F2/General tab, hit the clear button), close DAZ Studio.  Launch DAZ Studio; use 4.15.0.30 - the general relesase from yesterday. Then just add the G8F basic character to the scene (search for "basic" in Smart Content), drink coffee, have a shower, read another chapter of War'n'Peace.  When the character appears use Help/Troubleshooting/View log file...; 4.15.0.30 logs the total time, it will almost at the end of the log file:

So if that time doesn't show something around, most like over, 20 minutes the suggestions I'm about to make probably won't help.  All the same I'm pretty sure it will be a big number; over the 140s my load takes with my full content set.  Scroll up from that line past this line (this only exists when the DSON cache has been cleared or is out of date):

and look for these three lines; the lines above the preceding line are required, not the ones below which correspond to the eyelashes, not the figure itself:

If there are warnings between the lines then that might be part of the problem, but just delete any intervening lines.  Check that the third line is "Processing scene data..."; for the eyelashes and other add-ons the third line is different.  Work out the elapsed times for the first two; 1m 4s for the first in this case, less than a second for the second.  So that's about 50% of the total load time and it is all in the "sum stage", not the "multiply stage".  If you see 50% or, more likely, much more then you can almost certainly address the problem by reducing the number of G8F characters DAZ Studio can see.  If you see substantially less than 50% check out the time for the "Scanning for addons..." step above those three lines - that's 1m in my case and, with the time to rebuild the DSON cache "Cache update started: /data/Daz 3D/Genesis 8/Female.cache.dsf" accounts for pretty much all the time.

So assuming you have something that mimics the above breakdown now look at the size of the actual DSON cache file, by default it is "data\Daz 3D\Genesis 8\Female.cache.dsf" in the DSON cache folder displayed in the preferences dialog above.  Mine is something like 360MByte, IRC, but when I reduce my character and morph count substantially it reduces to 68MByte in size and the load time goes down from 140s to under 10s.

I published some detailed timing figures a while back (March?) on the beta thread (IRC) about how much individual package types, e.g. wardrobe vs morph vs character, affect the load time, but the conclusion was that the most important one to look at are the individual G8F-based characters.

So in the "Parameters" tab with "Gensis 8 Female" selected in the scene go to "Genesis 8 Female/Actor/Full Body/People" and select that entry (People).  Guesstimate how many rows there are; in my reduced set I see about 60 character dials but in the full set I was nearer 360.  It's also possible to look at all the morphs in "Genesis 8 Female/Actor", I have to hit "pagedown" 93 times to get to the bottom of the list in my reduced set and each page-down scrolls the list up by 21 items, so that's 1974 (94x21) morph dials.  I dread to think how many there are when my full set of packages are visible.  It's obvious that a lot of the morph dials come from morph packages (the things in "Real World" if you have any of them for example) and others come from wardrobe items; any item that the figure might wear gets its morph dials added.  Nevertheless the big gain seemed to come from reducing the "People" count, possibly because the figure morphs are very large.