However, I had odd results when trying to merge the sub-scene back into the original scene - often the simulation was completely reset and I had to start over within the scene.

Which raises another question: is it possible to save a scene and retain the simulation so that it is still draped when the scene is re-loaded?

Yes, but remember that it represents a large chunk of data that is embedded in the file, so the scene will take mroe disc space.

I frequently set up elements of a scene in separate files, and then merge them into the final scene. Sometimes the files include dForced items as well. I almost always use the Animated Timeline for draping, and if there are multiple files with dForce items, I set the total frame count to the same in all files.

However, there is a better way, and I've started using it all the time. Once you have completed your simulation and are happy with the drape, create a morph of the drape and save the file. When you merge the file into the main scene, the morph will merge with it. And because the drape is now a morph, you don't have to worry about losing the drape. You can also save those morphs as Morph Assets, if they are something you may want to use again.

Here are instructions I posted, modified from the step-by-step Richard posted for me: Turning Your Perfect Simulation Into A Morph  (I still refer to this post often.)

I have no idea how much the morphs add to the file size, but I suspect it is less than the "chunk of data" Richard mentions above.

---

Like others, I find autofit to be unpredictable, to say the least! I have several V4 items I purchased when I was first getting started, naively believing they would look the same on G2F as they did on V4 with autofit, having purchased a product for that purpose. I was wrong. This was years before dForce.

I appreciate Daz's requirement that dForce clothing sold at Daz must include rigging, at least to the extend the same clothing type would have rigging without dForce. I have several long dresses that are pre-dForce that do not use rigging on the skirt, relying on morphs instead. It sounds like some PAs are still doing that with dForce dresses, with fewer morphs, perhaps.

If you purchase a dress like that, and find the skirt is useless without using dForce due to a lack of movement morphs, return the item for a refund and be sure to state it's because of the lack of morphs, making the dress unusable as rigged clothing. PAs will never know this is a problem if you don't return their products and state this is why.

---

I think - though I may be corrected - that compitibility only works G3 -> G8 with clothing, not G8 -> G3.

For autofit to work from G8 to G3, you'll need G8 clones for G3. You can create your own using instructions from Redz. The link is posted in the Mprphs from G3 to G8 thread, but here's the link copied from Singular Blues signature: Redz's Tutorial for Adding Clones to G8F

I've used this to create clones both directions, and prefer my own clones created using this tutorial to those provided by the G8 Starter Essentials. (There is one typo in my copy. If it hasn't been fixed, it will be where you're asked to delete a figure from the scene, but it's the wrong figure. It should be obvious as it's asking you to delete the figure you need to create the clone.)

That said, I prefer using Sy's tutorial, linked earlier in this thread, to convert clothing from G8 to G3, or G3 to G8, with no need for autofit.

Wait, I thought we could freeze a simulation? Wouldn't that keep it from re-simulating when something else is being simulated? It's a one-click button on the parameters tab of the simulated item. No hoop-jumping ;)

Laurie

It'd be easier to use with Lagoon Living than the The Pool House but you could both if you did enough set up work and camera positioning. You could tile the ocean blocks and use it's morph capabilities to make a sort of reasonable shore line or distant ocean view or a close up very wavy ocean if the ocean was supposed to be near enough.

This product, right here.

https://www.daz3d.com/generator-and-lighting-rig

HOW DO YOU TURN THE LIGHS ON?

It says:

• • Morph List (remove Figures that have not been released)
• Material Options: (.DUF, .PZ2, .MC6)
  • Lighting Rig Lights ON/OFF
  • Generator Lights ON/OFF
  • Generator and Lighting Rig Full MAT

----

Looks like the included the PAs notes in the description.

There SHOULD be a morph for lights on/off.

* all swear words removed to hide frustration.

 However, I had odd results when trying to merge the sub-scene back into the original scene - often the simulation was completely reset and I had to start over within the scene.

Which raises another question: is it possible to save a scene and retain the simulation so that it is still draped when the scene is re-loaded?

Yes, but remember that it represents a large chunk of data that is embedded in the file, so the scene will take mroe disc space.

I frequently set up elements of a scene in separate files, and then merge them into the final scene. Sometimes the files include dForced items as well. I almost always use the Animated Timeline for draping, and if there are multiple files with dForce items, I set the total frame count to the same in all files.

However, there is a better way, and I've started using it all the time. Once you have completed your simulation and are happy with the drape, create a morph of the drape and save the file. When you merge the file into the main scene, the morph will merge with it. And because the drape is now a morph, you don't have to worry about losing the drape. You can also save those morphs as Morph Assets, if they are something you may want to use again.

Here are instructions I posted, modified from the step-by-step Richard posted for me: Turning Your Perfect Simulation Into A Morph  (I still refer to this post often.)

I have no idea how much the morphs add to the file size, but I suspect it is less than the "chunk of data" Richard mentions above.

---

Like others, I find autofit to be unpredictable, to say the least! I have several V4 items I purchased when I was first getting started, naively believing they would look the same on G2F as they did on V4 with autofit, having purchased a product for that purpose. I was wrong. This was years before dForce.

I appreciate Daz's requirement that dForce clothing sold at Daz must include rigging, at least to the extend the same clothing type would have rigging without dForce. I have several long dresses that are pre-dForce that do not use rigging on the skirt, relying on morphs instead. It sounds like some PAs are still doing that with dForce dresses, with fewer morphs, perhaps.

If you purchase a dress like that, and find the skirt is useless without using dForce due to a lack of movement morphs, return the item for a refund and be sure to state it's because of the lack of morphs, making the dress unusable as rigged clothing. PAs will never know this is a problem if you don't return their products and state this is why.

---

I think - though I may be corrected - that compitibility only works G3 -> G8 with clothing, not G8 -> G3.

For autofit to work from G8 to G3, you'll need G8 clones for G3. You can create your own using instructions from Redz. The link is posted in the Mprphs from G3 to G8 thread, but here's the link copied from Singular Blues signature: Redz's Tutorial for Adding Clones to G8F

I've used this to create clones both directions, and prefer my own clones created using this tutorial to those provided by the G8 Starter Essentials. (There is one typo in my copy. If it hasn't been fixed, it will be where you're asked to delete a figure from the scene, but it's the wrong figure. It should be obvious as it's asking you to delete the figure you need to create the clone.)

That said, I prefer using Sy's tutorial, linked earlier in this thread, to convert clothing from G8 to G3, or G3 to G8, with no need for autofit.

Thanks to both you and Odaa for such informative replies.

Odaa: "(please note: I do not believe in using the Iray Preview function while I'm posing, running dforce simulations, etc. Even when I'm designing a character's look, I only turn on the Iray Preview briefly to make sure everything looks good, or to test the results of different shaders. I don't have the computer horsepower to leave it on all the time)."

I do exactly the same - I can't work at the slow speed of the IRay preview so I use it only sparingly. Clearly, Odaa, you put a lot of work into a single scene whereas I create scenes at the rate of 10 or 15 per day. Of course, some are just iterations of the same scene with changes to the pose and position of the characters but often the background, props and characters change completely. I rearely have more than 3 characters in a scene - my GPU memory is already streched at that for an IRay render. But I'm encouraged to find that you do save out figures separately for dForce draping though I'm not sure what the difference is between saving as a scene and as a sub-scene.

L'Adair: "However, there is a better way, and I've started using it all the time. Once you have completed your simulation and are happy with the drape, create a morph of the drape and save the file. When you merge the file into the main scene, the morph will merge with it. And because the drape is now a morph, you don't have to worry about losing the drape. You can also save those morphs as Morph Assets, if they are something you may want to use again.

Here are instructions I posted, modified from the step-by-step Richard posted for me: Turning Your Perfect Simulation Into A Morph  (I still refer to this post often.)"

This was the idea I had for saving drapes when dForce first appeared. I had tried VWD and, for some unremembered reason, saving out a drape as a clothing morph is not possible (maybe something to do with the fact that VWD creates a second version of the clothing). I now wonder whether the use of that exact pose in other scenes will be required often enough to save it. Still, I'm increasingly encoraged that other people also merge scenes when using dForce. I have no idea what I did wrong when the simulation data was reset after the merge, however. I've since tried with a scene (not sub-scene) and the drape came back intact.

As for clones, I had not attempted to create my own but maybe it is worthwhile following that tutorial. Thanks. I have, however, tried the other way - changing the scene identification - and that has worked even without the transfer rigging step described in the tutorial.

Aaand now that all that's wrapped up, a couple of the 3D's I've been working on:

 

First up another venture into zBrush where I tried to make some silly carnivorous plant with my limited knowledge of things.

 

Then a little scene that's half my own modeling, and half stuff from elsewhere (People models included in Cinema 4D, and ofc the Mantiraptor from here at DAZ)

Then finally just me messing around because whatever.  Our very own Sea Dragon,  and then two vehicle models I got off a free models website. Included two diff views because I was having fun.

 

 

The mantiraptor scene was rendered in Cinema 4D's physical render, but I'm trying to transfer it over into Vray the past couple days. The Sea Dragon scene was started and finished in Vray.

And uh, I'll try and not forget about the forum and wander off again ><;

..welcome back.  Looks like the "Batcopter" is in real trouble this time. (I wonder if Batman has Sea Dragon Repellent Bat Spray).

 However, I had odd results when trying to merge the sub-scene back into the original scene - often the simulation was completely reset and I had to start over within the scene.

Which raises another question: is it possible to save a scene and retain the simulation so that it is still draped when the scene is re-loaded?

Yes, but remember that it represents a large chunk of data that is embedded in the file, so the scene will take mroe disc space.

I frequently set up elements of a scene in separate files, and then merge them into the final scene. Sometimes the files include dForced items as well. I almost always use the Animated Timeline for draping, and if there are multiple files with dForce items, I set the total frame count to the same in all files.

However, there is a better way, and I've started using it all the time. Once you have completed your simulation and are happy with the drape, create a morph of the drape and save the file. When you merge the file into the main scene, the morph will merge with it. And because the drape is now a morph, you don't have to worry about losing the drape. You can also save those morphs as Morph Assets, if they are something you may want to use again.

Here are instructions I posted, modified from the step-by-step Richard posted for me: Turning Your Perfect Simulation Into A Morph  (I still refer to this post often.)

I have no idea how much the morphs add to the file size, but I suspect it is less than the "chunk of data" Richard mentions above.

Like others, I find autofit to be unpredictable, to say the least! I have several V4 items I purchased when I was first getting started, naively believing they would look the same on G2F as they did on V4 with autofit, having purchased a product for that purpose. I was wrong. This was years before dForce.

I appreciate Daz's requirement that dForce clothing sold at Daz must include rigging, at least to the extend the same clothing type would have rigging without dForce. I have several long dresses that are pre-dForce that do not use rigging on the skirt, relying on morphs instead. It sounds like some PAs are still doing that with dForce dresses, with fewer morphs, perhaps.

If you purchase a dress like that, and find the skirt is useless without using dForce due to a lack of movement morphs, return the item for a refund and be sure to state it's because of the lack of morphs, making the dress unusable as rigged clothing. PAs will never know this is a problem if you don't return their products and state this is why.

I think - though I may be corrected - that compitibility only works G3 -> G8 with clothing, not G8 -> G3.

For autofit to work from G8 to G3, you'll need G8 clones for G3. You can create your own using instructions from Redz. The link is posted in the Mprphs from G3 to G8 thread, but here's the link copied from Singular Blues signature: Redz's Tutorial for Adding Clones to G8F

I've used this to create clones both directions, and prefer my own clones created using this tutorial to those provided by the G8 Starter Essentials. (There is one typo in my copy. If it hasn't been fixed, it will be where you're asked to delete a figure from the scene, but it's the wrong figure. It should be obvious as it's asking you to delete the figure you need to create the clone.)

That said, I prefer using Sy's tutorial, linked earlier in this thread, to convert clothing from G8 to G3, or G3 to G8, with no need for autofit.

So I have this idea of putting a idle chest movement from mixamo on a posed Genesis 8 figure. 

I tried to make it so by making a morph out of a pose and then applying the animation but I only got a very dismorphed mess.

Does anyone know a better way to go about it?

I have actually bought two outfits that while they were rigged, they did not have a Single movement morph and the adjustment morphs that existed were not of any help. So when the figure were posed, I found out I either had to use dForce or the clothing would look bad with the pose. Since using dForce tend to make me crash 9 times out of 10 I am not too happy with using it, no matter how good it make the clothes look *sad smile* I badly need a better computer

Good thing for the Daz Return! At least when you return the clothing if it doesn't work in the Daz world, they are still brand new and smell terrific.

...

Dforce is a tricky thing, it all depends on what processor wether Gpu ro Cpu. I have had some issues with it erroring on some clothing half way through. It's still a in progress system. When it works, it's awesome. To see actual weight of the garmet fitting the figure is quite cool, I can't weight to see what the future brings for this system. hehe!

...I have an old system with limited CPU/Memory resources.  The last time I tried something that required running an animation sequence (motion blur only 5 frames) it took 16.5 hours to render.  Granted a Dforce sim would not take that long but longer than I wish to wait particularly if I find I need to repose the character after he/she is placed in the scene. I may be doing more clothes shopping at the "other store" as they also still sell clothing for older generations (like G2/G3)

You can actually change the pose after using dForce to drap an item, and the clothing will follow the pose, since the rigging is still there. Generally the more extreme the pose is adjusted, the less realistic the drape will look, and so re-drapes are sometimes necessary, but certainly not for minor tweaks, which are often what is needed, when you spot a hand passing through a table, or some other issue.

With Optitex drapes, and also Poser ones, absolutely no post-drape pose adjustment could be done at all, except for parts of the body that do not touch the draped item. The final drape is a static item, and will not move at all with any pose changes. I do not know about VWD regarding this, as I do not own it. 

Heya!

I've just made an Morph and wanted to import it within Daz, but every time I use Morph Loader Pro and click on the button "Choose Morph Files" it freezes up Daz and I can't do anything anymore.

Hope somebody can help me.

Greetings

So I got it figured out. Here's how you get Mixamo animations work with Genesis 8.

1) Download the desired animation as FBX from mixamo (I used Aiko 6 as fbx avatar)

2) Open up Daz3D

3) Import the FBX from mixamo

4) load up Genesis 1 figure

5) select the fbx imported avatar and create aniblock from imported fbx animation.

6) Copy it to genesis 1

7) delete the fbx import

8) Bake genesis 1 aniblock to timeline

9) Save as Pose Preset (make sure to chose Animation Range)

10) Open a new scene in Daz

11) Load up Genesis 8

12) Make sure you have this installed: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/176806/g3f-to-g8f-pose-helper

13) Apply G3F Pose Helper morph to 100%

14) Drag the .duf file on top of Genesis 8.

15) Be happy that you found an easy way to make G8 work with mixamo.

Load both the orignal clothing and the OBJ, then go to Edit>Figure>Transfer utility. Set the Source to be the original  outfit and the Target to be the OBJ, then click Accept. That should at least give a starting point.

Aaand now that all that's wrapped up, a couple of the 3D's I've been working on:

First up another venture into zBrush where I tried to make some silly carnivorous plant with my limited knowledge of things.

Then a little scene that's half my own modeling, and half stuff from elsewhere (People models included in Cinema 4D, and ofc the Mantiraptor from here at DAZ)

Then finally just me messing around because whatever.  Our very own Sea Dragon,  and then two vehicle models I got off a free models website. Included two diff views because I was having fun.

The mantiraptor scene was rendered in Cinema 4D's physical render, but I'm trying to transfer it over into Vray the past couple days. The Sea Dragon scene was started and finished in Vray.

And uh, I'll try and not forget about the forum and wander off again ><;

You can hide everything but the character and the collition still gets calculated then set the genesis figure to base mesh resolution in the Parmeters pane and export the OBJ file, while also make shure you have set Ignore Invisible Nodes in the export dialogue.

Before using the Morph Loader Pro to load the OBJ morph shape, set off the Smoothing Modifier - and dont forget you propably have exported the figure with a character morph and in some pose, therfore you have to set Reverse Deformation to Yes in the Morph Loader Pro dialogue.

This will make shure only the difference in shape of the current figure in your scene - compared to the shape saved in the OBJ file - will get imported as the new morph.

What about that gender morph that lets you switch up the body shapes and such?

Now sure where it came from (I think it's a new thing?) but I've used it a fair bit.

I have actually bought two outfits that while they were rigged, they did not have a Single movement morph and the adjustment morphs that existed were not of any help. So when the figure were posed, I found out I either had to use dForce or the clothing would look bad with the pose. Since using dForce tend to make me crash 9 times out of 10 I am not too happy with using it, no matter how good it make the clothes look *sad smile* I badly need a better computer

Yeah, the "flowier" clothing could use more bones or movement morphs, that's true. 

That's the problem Diva.. I wouldn't call either of these "flowy" so to say, sure the coat could be but there's been coats with movement morps before so.. *shrugs* https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-casual-suit-outfit-for-genesis-8-males and https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-long-coat-outfit-for-genesis-8-males  So unless there is some morphs hidden where I can't find them (and I have been looking for them) I can't help being rather disapointed, the product page also don't actually mention movement morphs so I assume they aren't there. *sad*

Diva: great work, looks really good.

FSMCDesigns: under the paramaters tan there is an option to freeze simulation but it seems to just make it not sim, it doesn’t make a morph out of it as far as I can tell.  Probably have to export and use morph loader to make a morph.  If anyone knows an easier way to do it, I’d love to know too.

Nice work Diva!

Anyone know of a way to freeze the dforce hair after it is draped? I know with dynamics you can freeze simulation and it creates a morph for the final shape and it can be parented and moved around. Any control like this for dforce hair?

Beautiful work 3DAGE!
Would rigging the petals with bones work? Just thinking out loud.
Thanks for sharing 

Edited to add:

I tried a quick test with a leaf with several sections, added bones and an IK chain which went from end to end.
I also tried a series of morphs...I think in general 3D lingo that may called a 'non linear morph'?...and that worked as well but it's a total 'brute force' approach. Maybe take screen grabs from an isometric view and load those into the vertex room and adjust the vertices for each morph to create a smooth morph?

I'm tired now, lol.

Okay, I'm a longtime Poser user and trying to learn DAZ. I've been working with some very old Poser World files and going by the little .txt help files to put some content that isn't in a Runtime into a Runtime so it will work. Here's what I know and questions about what I don't know. Anyone, feel free to jump in if I misunderstood this stuff at any point!

1. Will old Poser 4 stuff work in DAZ?

2. How many runtimes [actual directory folders for vendors and artists] can DAZ handle?

3. How do I point DAZ to my actual directory folders? Content Manager? Categories?

4. I moved away from storing my 3rd party items by vendor and now store them by artist, because many artists sell on multiple sites. Will this work, or do I need to reinstall by vendor? What if I have more than ten vendors?

Here's what I learned so far:

In Poser

From https://support.smithmicro.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1982171-poser-file-types

.obj or .obz     Goes into the Geometries folder. .obz is compressed. The creator of the file type will specify a particular folder, and it has to go in there or it won't load. The location is coded into the corresponding .pz3 file [or .pp2, cr2, etc].

Some .obj files have a corresponding .mtl or Material file. It goes with the .obj in the same folder.

If you want to change the shape of the object or add a morph manually, you use a program like Hexagon or Blender, if it's more than changing it within Poser or DAZ. If you want to try this, make a copy of whatever you want to modify. Don't ever, ever use your original file that you bought or downloaded! Play with primitives [simple cubes, pyramids, cylinders, etc that you can load into Hexagon] first and watch tutorials. Don't risk making your original file unuseable. But check the licensing of your model first if you want to sell it. More about licensing in another post.

.cr2                 A Poser Character file. Goes in Libraries/Character. You may add directories under Character for People, Hair, Textures, etc.

.hr2                A Poser Hair file. Goes in Libraries/Hair or Libraries/Character/Hair if you're keeping it there.

.pp2               A Poser Prop file. Goes in Libraries/Props and shows where the corresponding geometry file is in Geometries. It matters where the .obj file goes. If you want to change where the .obj file goes in Geometries, you have to edit the file path in the .pp2 or it won't find the .obj file that gives it its shape.

.pz2               A Poser Pose file. Goes in Libraries/Poses

.mc5 and .mc6   Poser materials files. Old models will have these, new models will use Shaders. Goes in Runtime/Materials

MAT poses, a file with a name that has MAT in it and the .pz2 extension. MC files are used in the Material Room, MAT poses are more limited and used in the Pose Room.

.lt2                Poser light files go in Libraries/Light

.cm2             Poser camera sets, in Libraries/Camera

.fc2               Poser face poses, or expressions go in Libraries/Face

.hd2              Poser hand poses go in Libraries/Hand

.pz3              Poser scene file [not to be confused with .pz2, which is a Pose file] goes in Libraries/Scene

.rsr or .png files might be with any of these file types, and these are the thumbnails that show you the product.

.pmd            Poser Morph Data files, might be with the other file types and should be kept with them. Morphs can be in the Libraries/Morphs folder, too, or might have an accompanying .obj file in the Geometries folder.

Confused yet? Bottom line, if you have a ReadMe file, that little text file, you will know where the files need to be. Some scene files have .cr2 and need to be in Characters. Some scenes are in the Props folder.

1. You can rearrange files in your Characters folder. Other folders, maybe not.

2. You can only have 10 content directories in DAZ. This is where I get very confused. I would like very much for someone who knows DAZ to post! Is it, folders on your drive? Is it, Content Manager paths?

3. I've found a lot of 3rd party content that didn't work stuffed in the Content directory. Do you always need to clean out the Content folder and put the stuff in other folders? I know not to touch Data and not to move People and other folders into Runtime. What's in the top of the vendor folder is for DAZ and what's in the Runtime is for Poser.

If you try to reorganize these files in Poser, you will mess up your files. I've done it and had to reinstall. Having worked in a library and loved it, I hate the mess, but if it works, don't fix it. The problem comes when you have these old models and maybe the artist was learning to package stuff so it works.

Enter Third Party packages, the ones that your DAZDIM doesn't install.

A lot of these come with both DAZ and Poser formats in the same package. So you'll have any one of these situations:

1. Just the .obj, no readme, no nothing. This is often the case with ShareCG sharecg.com, and the licensing info is on the page you download from.

2. A list of files, no folders.

3. A Libraries folder.

4. A Runtime folder, with or without both Libraries and Geometries.

5. A folder which names the object but not the artist.

6. A folder within the Libraries [Pose, Light, Character, etc] containing the files

7. Folders Content, People, [or Materials, etc] with a subdirectory Runtime.

8. Folders Data, People, etc with a Runtime.

9. Folder My Library and folders within it.

10. Just a Content folder.

So, it pays to unzip the folder in your Downloads folder and use a utility that gives you a Folder Name the same as the file you downloaded.

Examples:

I downloaded a .zip file from ShareCG called Man.zip. I unzipped it into my D:\Downloads\ShareCG directory and got:

ShareCG/Man

ShareCG/Man/My Library

ShareCG/Man/My Library/Data

ShareCG/Man/My Library/Content

ShareCG/Man/My Library/Man

ShareCG/Man/My Library/Man/Libraries

ShareCG/Man/My Library/Man/Libraries/Character

In the /Character folder is one file named Man.cr2

In the /Content folder is /Data and /People

• The problem with this archive is, there is no artist name. So, I fix it. I look in the ReadMe and the artist's name is NoCanDo.
• I make my own /Runtime folder and under Libraries, I put Characters/NoCanDo/Man, so at least in Characters, I can see who did the Man.cr2, but I can't fix the other directories without changing each file unless I want to edit them all, and I don't have the time for that. 

I go to my /ShareCG folder and copy the contents of /Content to it

• Then I copy the /Data directory to ShareCG in case there is something diff in there. If it finds duplicate files and they are the same, I tell it to Skip Files. If it finds duplicate files and they are more recent, I overwrite them.
• I repeat for /People
• I copy my made /Runtime file in.
• Then I check all the directories in the Zip for loose files, files that are not in a folder. I find Man.txt and copy it to the /Man folder. I delete all the now-empty directories and put the /Man folder in my /ReadMe's folder in ShareCG.
• Now I can trace the permissions later in my /ReadMe's file.

Example 2

        I download a file from a site new to me called mynewsite.com and download the Cute File [note this is totally made up!]

        I get CuteFile.zip, which has

My Library/cute.obj

       Obviously, I can't just use an .obj in Poser or DAZ...or can I? Sure, I can! I can simply import it. Both softwares can import many file formats.

       On the page I downloaded it from, the model is public domain, so I can modify and sell it, or do whatever I please with it. So, I right-click the page and choose Print. When the print dialog comes up, I choose Print To File. It offers to save Print.pdf but I want to know what I downloaded, so I change the name to Cute File.pdf and save it to my Downloads/MyNewSite folder that I just created off my download folder. If you're like me and download a LOT of freebies looking for something, anything similar to what I need so I won't have to create it, I like to make a folder for each vendor site and download it that way. Then I save all the original .zip or .7z or whatever archive files in my 3D/Bkp/ folder under the vendor name. It makes reinstalls easy. I keep my .pdf with the file so I know exactly what permissions I have since I do commercial book covers.

       But, what do you do with .obj files? You can't just stick them in your Geometries file because there's no file to point to them. I suggest that, under your MyNewSite file [substitute name of vendor like Renderosity, ShareCG, etc] make a directory for Object or what-have-you and keep the .pdf or readme.txt with it. Under Object make a directory for Cute File and keep all files you got with it together. Or, to avoid Runtime clutter, make a new directory for your objects, textures, brushes and things you use in other programs and make a folder for each vendor. It's a little work to set up, but you can use these files in your DAZ and Poser! Or maybe, store your prop files in Hexagon in your content folders and have a separate directory for all the 2D stuff like brushes for GIMP or Photoshop or Clip Studio, textures, etc. outside of your DAZ and Poser content.

      There are many sites for free textures. These can be .jpg, .png, .tiff, a lot of diff picture formats. You can load a texture in Poser and DAZ in several places. So, if you don't want to make a shader, or you want a bump map to use in your shader, you can load up a texture file. The usual caveat is that you can't use a texture so somebody could make a screenshot of your final render and use part of it as a texture file, so you want to avoid large areas with that texture. Again, texture sites will spell out the licensing.

       So, you could keep .obj, .fbx [game-ready files], graphics files like .jpg etc, even your photographs for backgrounds. I take lots of pictures of grass, parking areas, gravel, asphalt, etc for this use. Be sure you read up on what permissions you need to use photos of famous buildings, etc. Sometimes you have to contact the property owner for a release. If you go to a site like shutterstock.com, they have articles on legal stuff for photographers. It's worth reading to save yourself a lot of legal hassles! If you are selling the output of your work, you have to read every readme.txt and read up on what you can and can't photograph for commercial use. If it's from a movie, cartoon series, book [for distinctive characters and alien races, etc], or comic strip, you can't sell the work, generally. Don't assume if it's ok to use a 2D picture for a screensaver that you can use it as a background.

       Don't think they don't come after small outfits. I used to frequent a small troupe of talented actors in a major city. They did a hilarious play with references to a lot of science fiction movies. They happened to have some Star Trek references. I didn't think the set art or costumes were very similar to Paramount at all! But Paramount sued them. This group of actors had gone in together to buy an old theatre and this production finally put them in the black, until Paramount. They were not rich or making incredible amounts of money. This lawsuit nearly put them out of business! All us loyal customers were mad, but that didn't help them at all. Don't risk it. Check and follow any and all licensing! It is a lot easier to avoid trouble than to find it and try to get out of it. There's a lot of fan art out there and a lot of these folks don't care about the legal stuff, so they don't warn you that this model is based off a movie. Do a Google image search on the item. Beware of pirated stuff, too.

       So, now you know what I know, and I hope I haven't confused anybody! I just figured I'd share some of what I've found out since 2009, and I'm eager to bridge this with what I don't know. Where to put files is a recurring subject for all us new to DAZ folks, and I need to learn a lot more. I also need to know if my understanding of where to put Poser files is wrong anywhere because I plan to continue using it as well. I'm constantly trying to figure out the best ways to keep my files so I can find them in Poser, in Vue, in DAZ now, and in GIMP and Blender! Any ideas welcome!

       Oh, I am working on a PC, a Microsoft Surface [loving it!] with x64 architecture [which means it's more efficient than an x32], an i7 Intel processor with 2 cores and 4 processors [it's got horsepower], 2.5 gigahertz speed [moderately fast], 16 gigabytes of RAM [lots of memory for number-crunching during renders], my graphics card is an NVIDEA GeForce GPU with 1 gigabyte of RAM on it [I would prefer more RAM on the card itself, but it has a pretty good processing time on my renders despite that] and it also has the Intel Graphics 520 chip with 1 GB of RAM but I don't use it. As I understand it, my GeForce GPU is kind of a hybrid for gaming and rendering. I sacrificed a little processing power I had on my MSI machine with the NVIDEA Quadro card, but I had major problems with MSI and will not buy another of their workstations, so I am priced out of Quadro-class machines, unfortunately. Since I'm disabled the lighter weight on the Surface and the fact that it runs all of my graphics software makes me a fan. Not to mention I can take it with me when I'm waiting forever in the doctor's office....

Am I correct in thinking that dForce clothing will work with G3 characters but only when dForce is applied, not when used as rigged clothing? Just for clarity because this is the reason I don't buy dFroce clothing - it is always promoted as being for G8 and I don't buy G8 (exept for Edie but she's a special case).

If you change the Scene Identification of the clothing item it should preserve all the movement morphs and such. I use that trick anytime I'm working with G3 and want G8 clothing or hair on them. SickleYield has a quick tutorial on how to do it:

https://sickleyield.deviantart.com/journal/Tutorial-Convert-Clothing-G3-to-G8-G8-to-G3-686682065

The part you'll want is toward the bottom under "Reversing the Process (Genesis 8 Clothing to Genesis 3)".

She recommends posing G3 to be more in the "A pose" that G8 has, but I find that most of the time that step isn't needed. :) I also find that the last part the "transfer rigging" usually isn't needed either.

Thank you ... I'm tempted to risk buying some G8 clothes for my G3 wardrobe now. :)