Hello!

This is probably a very basic question, but I couldn't find any sample on the official documentation regarding this - I want to automatize the process of:

• Adding a Genesis figure to the scene;
• Import an .obj to the scene (like a shirt);
• Use the "Fit" feature to make the figure use the shirt;
• Render the scene;

The 2nd step I already found on the documentation, however I haven't found a way to add the figure to the scene.
Thanks in advance!

Fixmypcmike said:

Okay, the information on what the Content Type of a file is stored in the PostgreSQL CMS database.  That information tells DS what overlay (tag) to put on the icon.  If you move the file on your hard drive, the CMS is still looking for it in the old location, so it can't tell DS to put the overlay on the icon.

There are 4 ways you can reorganize files so that the CMS still knows where the file is:

1) Use Categories.  In the Content Library pane there are 5 top-level containers:  Daz Studio Formats, Poser Formats, Other Import Formats, Products, and Categories.  The first 3 show the actual files on your hard drive; the last 2 show information from the CMS database, which doesn't have to match the file location on your hard drive.  What I do is organize my files in Categories, so I can rearrange them however I like without moving the files on my hard drive.  If you decide to do things this way, it's easy to create your own categories matching the layout of the files on your hard drive.  Then you can rearrange them or make new categories based on how you want them.

2) Use .djl links.  Daz Studio can make links to files, so you can reorganize the links and leave the real files where they are.  This is a little less flexible, as the real file still shows up in the original location.

3) Move the files inside DS.  If you go to one of those first 3 top-level containers in the Content Library pane, you can move the files to another location and the actual files are moved, but DS and the CMS knows you moved them so it can still match the Content Type to the new location.  This has limitations, because you can break things by moving them to the wrong place, the same way you can if you moved them on disk.

4) There's actually a 4th way I didn't mention before, which is to add the information in the CMS database to match the new location.  This is the most labor-intensive method, because you have to do it manually for every file you move.

1) doesnt seem to work to restore the icon overlay banner, unless I did something wrong.  

4) This process seems most interesting to me, but not sure how to start updating CMS database.  Googling 'Daz Studio CMS Database' does not yield any relevant results about this process.

To be honest, I have no idea how to import a cloth modifier into Daz from Blender. That would be sweet, of course, because the door flap looks good in Blender as designed. Alas...

For simplicity's sake, my Daz version of the door works more like a roll-up garage door and is divided into "slices," each of which can rotate along one axis. I think I mostly like it for what it is.

The latest version includes a separate outer, inner, and middle frame so that it can be narrowed or widened to fit various door thicknesses. All of the parts are also grouped so that they can be scaled up or down as appropriate.

My Marvelous Designer assets are in Clothing/Marvelous Designer/"subfolder" under each figure type (Genesis 8 Female, Genesis 8 Male , Genesis 9, etc.). Their materials are in a Materials subfolder of each. Most already have metadata type, category,etc and used to have compatibility bases, before the reset DB and reimport metadata activity. I already have a Marvelous Designer root Compatibility Base with many sub compatibility bases. What I don't have is a Product. I'll work on that later in the week. I'll be traveling tomorrow. Thanks for your explicit instructions.

Well, I've seen products with lots of assets. How many megabytes are we talking about? I guess that doesn't really matter, there are products over 2 GB out there...

If your MD assets are all in a common folder, it would be easier, but you can add one folder tree at a time if they are scattered about.

If all are under a single folder, right-click on it and "Create a Product From..." and Studio will ask you for a Product name. Make sure it is unique. You'll know it isn't if Studio warns you the product exists, and if you want to add to the existing product. (Maybe later, if not all under the same folder). THis will create the PRoduct in the Product view in the Content Library with all assets below the top folder.

If the products are in several different folders, you will have to add them one folder at a time. The first time, you create the new Product (copy that name so that you can re-use it later, you will need it for every other folder you want to add to the Product). Once you have gathered all your creations into one Product, you can now access it in the Products view. Time to fill in the metadata. The assets might already be out of LOCAL USER, but I am not sure. You can check...

All assets with geometry need to be associated with a Compatibility Base. Creating the Product should have created that entry in the list of Compatibility Bases from which you will choose a matching entry. In the DB Editor, for each scene_subset (individual objects, not sets or scenes, they are made up of the other individual items) click on it and go to the bottom pane, and select Compatibility Base. Right-click on the item at the left side and select "Add Compatibility Base to Selected Item(s)". After a few seconds, a list of all available Compatibility Bases will appear. Navigate to your new Product, and expand the entry. All of your objects should be listed underneath. Select the one you want and Accept. Repeat until all have a Base. Make sure "Sync Product and Local Database" is checked to retain the data. (Unchecking it is handy for exporting metadata files without necessarily saving it in the database, yet.)

To get the Compatibility Base to match an object in the scene, you now need to load each item in the scene (well, maybe a few at a time). From the Scene context menu, select Edit -> Set Default Compatibility Base(s)... and select your Product from that same list of all available. Once you accept, all loaded items will get their SceneID. You can see that when you edit the metadata again. The bottom of the Product tab in the editor will have entries for the items in the scene tab. You can enter other info for the Product, like Store (you can define your own with a script) a Token (SKU from your new Store), Artists, Description. You can see the name of the impending metadata file just below next to Support if you have Auto Fill checked. Export that now to make it permanent, and not lose what you've done so far. Repeat until all items with geometry have been done. This sets the Object Compatibility for each asset that needs it and should lock in the SceneID. You can add the Support Assets by selecting all the folders you included in the Product, along with any data and texture folders. 

Now you can finish off the metadata for Content Type, Default Category, Compatibility, etc. Export your final metadata file, and save a copy somewhere. If you are going to package it in a DIM-compatible zip (like with Content Package Assist), you would add the Runtime/Support folder and place it there so that if and when you want to re-install it, everything will be ready.

If the assets are still in LOCAL USER, try re-importing that metadata file a couple of times to kick them loose (seriously). Hope I didn't miss anything. Break a leg...

NorthOf45 said:

Yes, I remember the extra field. Kind of distressing if LOCAL USER metadata will not restore properly. Personally, I would make a Product for each of my creations and export the completed metadata to be included in a DIM package. This will keep it out of LOCAL USER, and can be installed/re-installed at will.

 

What do you think of making a single product for all my MD clothing creations? There would be dozens in it. Is that too much to manage in one product? How would I get it out of LOCAL USER after I did that? Your advice is appreciated!

Yes, I remember the extra field. Kind of distressing if LOCAL USER metadata will not restore properly. Personally, I would make a Product for each of my creations and export the completed metadata to be included in a DIM package. This will keep it out of LOCAL USER, and can be installed/re-installed at will.

In regard to https://www.daz3d.com/lie-body-bruises-for-genesis-3-and-8-females most of the bruises work, but one keeps popping up a syntax error message.  I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling, including redownloading it, but the error persists. Is there a way to fix this?  I'll include the error log entry below.

2023-03-07 14:22:49.166 [INFO] :: Prepare asset load (merge): /People/Genesis 8 Female/Materials/FenixPhoenix/Body Bruises/Arms/Dark Skin/BBF Wrist Ligament Dark Left.duf
2023-03-07 14:22:49.167 [INFO] :: Locking viewport redraw...
2023-03-07 14:22:49.167 [INFO] :: Viewport redraw locked.
2023-03-07 14:22:49.296 [INFO] :: Native format content directories: 2
2023-03-07 14:22:49.296 [INFO] :: Poser format content directories: 2
2023-03-07 14:22:49.296 [INFO] :: Other import format content directories: 0
2023-03-07 14:22:49.296 [INFO] :: Begin asset load (merge): /People/Genesis 8 Female/Materials/FenixPhoenix/Body Bruises/Arms/Dark Skin/BBF Wrist Ligament Dark Left.duf
2023-03-07 14:22:49.296 [INFO] ::     C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library/people/genesis 8 female/materials/fenixphoenix/body bruises/arms/dark skin/bbf wrist ligament dark left.duf (1,1): Syntax error - expected '{' or '['
2023-03-07 14:22:49.297 [INFO] :: Error loading asset: C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library/people/genesis 8 female/materials/fenixphoenix/body bruises/arms/dark skin/bbf wrist ligament dark left.duf
2023-03-07 14:22:49.297 [INFO] ::     Operation failed
2023-03-07 14:22:49.591 [INFO] :: Unlocking viewport redraw...
2023-03-07 14:22:49.591 [INFO] :: Viewport redraw unlocked.

Hi I have been using the disformic import, but just realised that the bridge import works so much better on textures and hairs. ANy chance you update the bridge to work with genesis 9 soon?
thanks!!!!!!

@NorthOf45 I looked at the LOCAL_USER metadata file with Notepad++. I can see that some of my created Marvelous Designer clothes have CompatibilityBase defined in the LOCAL_USER metadata. However when I load that item in the scene and look at the Scene Identification pane, the Compatibility Base field is <None> and the Compatibility Base value is put into the Auto-Fit Base field instead. That is wrong. None of the created materials will properly associate with the clothing that way. I think it might be a bug in the process to restore the LOCAL USER metadata. There didn't used to be an Auto-Fit Base field in Scene Identification. It is a failry recent (in Daz time) addition.

chris-2599934 said:

Lookingforguds said:

 

anniekicks said:

I tried the renderosity Enterprise. No textures and no UV maps. Requires a lot of extra work.

Lucky you - I am also looking for an aircraft carrier, I also bought the Enterprise... I don't even find it in my library. - and yes, after spending way too much money on Daz-stuff I should know how to install it correctly ^^
Sorry for digging up the old thread 

According to the readme, it consists of half a dozen obj files. So you need to find wherever you stored them (or download them again) and then import them into Daz via File > Import... It'll probably take some trial and error to find the right parameters when importing to get everything the right way up and scaled correctly.

Once you've got it imported, you can save it into your library as a figure/prop asset.

oh dmn, gonna look again into it. thanks for the response :-) 

barbult said:

Richard Haseltine said:

Groups ar not exported with metadata, I found this myself when I needed to do a reset (years ago, so it had faded from memory - sorry). The products should work - eithe as user data or as products of their own, depending on how you created their metadata, so I don't know why that would be AWOL.

Thanks for responding, Richard. Most (but not all) Daz Store product are working OK with Smart Content. Some older products, like Lisa's Botanicals, Loretta LoREZ, Traveler's Naturals, etc.that I added metadata to long ago, show no assets in the Content Library Product section for the product. The files are there in the Content Library Mapped Files section, they are just not associated with the Product anymore, and have no metadata at all. I probably added the metadata and did not Export it from Product view. The metadata should have been in User Data, I would think.

Is the metadata actually in the UserData files? With notepad++ you can Find In Files (if you have several UserData files) a particular asset (it is very fast) and then edit the file (not as fast) to see what metadata was saved with it. Exporting it is good, and when I do that, I add it to the product zip so I don't lose it. I also add it to the manifest so it can get re-installed if needed. User Data like custom categories, which is not integral to the product itself, I add separately, because if it is in the metadata file it is considered Vendor data, and the containing folder is read-only in the category tree, and any folders above it all the way to the root. VERY annoying.

It looks like nothing that I created myself has a proper Scene ID anymore. The assets I created myself are in the LOCAL USER product.

Unless you define a Product and add those assets, LOCAL USER is where they go. The Compatibility Base definition holds the name of the Product and the Assets, but as logical entities only. The actual geometry is tied to the Compatibility Base by the Object Compatibility statements at the end of the metadata files. Not sure if those Object Compatibilities are saved with a UserData export if you haven't saved them. It is done dynamically in the Scene, but if they aren't defined, they are not accessible by Smart Content, since it is not saved in the database. If you still have the Compatibility Bases defined, load one of each object for a particular product into the Scene. You can quickly assign all the SceneIDs by choosing the root Compatibility Base (Scene tab context menu -> Edit -> Set Default Compatibility Base(s)), which should contain all the assets. If you now open the DB Editor in the Product view, the bottom section of the Product tab should be filled with SceneIDs.

Richard Haseltine said:

Groups ar not exported with metadata, I found this myself when I needed to do a reset (years ago, so it had faded from memory - sorry). The products should work - eithe as user data or as products of their own, depending on how you created their metadata, so I don't know why that would be AWOL.

Thanks for responding, Richard. Most (but not all) Daz Store product are working OK with Smart Content. Some older products, like Lisa's Botanicals, Loretta LoREZ, Traveler's Naturals, etc.that I added metadata to long ago, show no assets in the Content Library Product section for the product. The files are there in the Content Library Mapped Files section, they are just not associated with the Product anymore, and have no metadata at all. I probably added the metadata and did not Export it from Product view. The metadata should have been in User Data, I would think.

It looks like nothing that I created myself has a proper Scene ID anymore. The assets I created myself are in the LOCAL USER product.

Groups ar not exported with metadata, I found this myself when I needed to do a reset (years ago, so it had faded from memory - sorry). The products should work - eithe as user data or as products of their own, depending on how you created their metadata, so I don't know why that would be AWOL.

lorraineopua said:

semperequstri said:

lorraineopua said:

Just make sure you leave the data folder and Runtime folder where they install. Otherwise you can do what you like. I install everything into an Installation folder and cut and paste from there into my very well organised library which is a constant work in progress...I sometimes think I spend more time organising than I do using. And because when you have thousands and thousands of items you can forget you own them, I also use Everything to find things. Also, as well as moving things where you want them, you can also rename folders or items to make them searchable.

I do the same.  I never use Smart Content . Instead I organize  and rename everything the way I want it using Windows Explorer. Once back in DS I just do a quick refresh and Voila! the folders are as I want them. 
I do make my own props so I can organize these and related purchased content as sub folders under one main category/ folder. That way if I need a "house" or a "room" I just go to the "House" or "room" folder and find the relevent sub folder.  
I also keep separate backups of my Runtime and Data folders in additon to full backups of my whole library. You never know when something might go astray or when Windows will crash and burn.
 

Hmmm, I only have whole library backup...though when my library drive was filling up I did move a lot of stuff I didn't use often to other smaller drives till I could afford to buy a bigger library drive. It's now half full and I'm already thinking I need a bigger one ;)

I just keep those extra backups maily in case I need to reinstall home made stuff. That way I don't have to go through the whole re-import of the obj process. I just copy it from the back up and make sure I also copy the revelvent data folder enty. Otherwise you just get a blob when you open the prop in DS. If I need to find a lost texture I just copy it over too.
My DS library does "live" on my main C: drive for me to work off of.  BUT I keep backups of EVERYTHING on an external  I TB USB hard drive attached to the PC- Full DS library, separate runtine and folder backups, all my home made stuff AND all my DAZ purchases ( I download the zip files with every purchase). There's a backup of that external HD in my fireproof safe ( done once a week). There's another backup off site in the safe deposit box in the bank ( swapped once a month).
Yes it's paranoid but I learned the HARD way that you can never have too many backups!

Oh damn, I'm sorry :( I admit I don't use the sort by order/install date very often and so didn't think about that. However, that data is not stored in the DSX file it seems and so I guess those dates would all now be set to the same value :(

The compatibility bases I would have thought should have re-imported OK since those would be set in the DSX file and so re-imported as before. Although, that is a bit of a complicated area that I thought I was starting to get to grips with understanding. My own compatibility bases are messed up although I have that down as not configuring/installing some of my third-party products correctly and is on myt list of things to fix at some point.

I am also a bit confused as to why the re-import was able to recreate the custom groups but not re-add the products - since they are only defined in the DSX files as meta-data for assets themselves.

There is a tool that I am beta-testing for someone that would be able to help you fix those products when it's released - although not the dates. But it would still require correcting the products one-by-one unfortunately.

Nothing that I created myself (clothes in Marvelous Designer, for example) works with Filter By Context anymore. The Scene Identifications are not correct anymore. In many cases, the Scene ID shows the Compatibility Base as <None> and has the correct Compatibility Base in the Auto-Fit Base field instead. Maybe this is a bug in the metadata reimport process or the saving process for User Data. Anyway, it has become a big hassle to manually restore all that for everything I have created. Bundled with the problem that my custom groups no longer have any assets assigned to them, I cannot even tell what version of my creations were the final "favorite" versions. I fear that if I ever have to reset the DB and reimport metadata again, it will all be lost again.

(By the way, SofaCitizen, I do not put any of this trouble on your discussion of resetting the DB. Since nobody else offered help, it was the only option I had left.)

Hello. Can anyone tell me how to fix this problem. when I import the dress obj into the scene it looks fine, but as soon as I fit it to Genesis 9 wit the tranfer utility, I get these distortions in the mesh under the breasts and pelvis. I transferred with the settings shown in the pic. Thanks for any help.

I have reset the data base and imported metadata, including my user data. The duplicate categories are gone.
My custom groups still exist, but no files are assigned to them anymore.
Smart Content will no longer sort by Order Date; everything is alphabetical.
Smart Content will no longer sort by Install Date.

Filter by Context doesn't work some things I have tested. I don't know why that is. The compatibility bases and compatibilities in metadata seem OK, but the Scene IDs are no longer set up for those items. I don't know how all that is stored/reloaded in metadata. I can only hope that this resolves itself. A few things I tested have worked. No rhyme or reason that I can see.

I'll let it run for a while and see if it improves.

Well, exporting the metadata first into a UserData.dsx file should mean that when you come to do the re-import it should show up as the first item in the list of products to be re-imported. So you shouldn't lose any manually-set categorisations. If you have created products manually purely via the Daz interface then I am not sure if those are saved. I use Content Wizard to install all my third-party stuff and that tool creates a DSX file which means the re-import includes that.

Yeah, I do think that because no-one else has chimed in that it is probably one of those errors that most people have not encountered and so there is not an obvious route to correct it directly :(