richardandtracy said:

Yes, it was fantastic. I re-wired it before we bought it, re-slated the holes in the roof, we had central heating in by the second winter (first winter was chilly, one day the air temp in the warmest room was -6C/21F). A thorough clean got rid of the cat smell. Took us 8 years before all the rooms were made really habitable, then we did a loft conversion, added a conservatory and extended the kitchen into the old coal shed and outside toilet. Had to have new windows throughout and I rebuilt the top 14 courses of the 4 flue chimney (I do hate heights, so that wasn't fun). Regards, Richard.

Wow, you are quite energetic. It sounds like you added tremendous value to the home.

Yes, it was fantastic. I re-wired it before we bought it, re-slated the holes in the roof, we had central heating in by the second winter (first winter was chilly, one day the air temp in the warmest room was -6C/21F). A thorough clean got rid of the cat smell. Took us 8 years before all the rooms were made really habitable, then we did a loft conversion, added a conservatory and extended the kitchen into the old coal shed and outside toilet. Had to have new windows throughout and I rebuilt the top 14 courses of the 4 flue chimney (I do hate heights, so that wasn't fun). Regards, Richard.

barbult said:

Richard Haseltine said:

barbult said:

Nath said:

barbult said:

I The product page doesn't show DIM as an installation option, but I have it installed in DIM

I see DIM as one of the installation options

I see it now, too. Did they change it, or is it like the required items that sometimes disappear and later reappear? I looked twice before, and I'm sure it wasn't there. I didn't take a screenshot, though. It had only Central, Connect, and Manual.

We hadn't reproted it as a possible issue, so I doubt it would have been changed unless someone was doing something on the page and noticed an issue (possibly after having caused it).

Thanks. Maybe I somehow just looked right past it. I wish I had taken a screenshot so I would know.

For me, even the manually downloaded zip didn't work, DIM still just didn't see the file, but didn't give me the option to re-download either. I had to run the zip through Content Package to make it show up. - This morning, I've been installing some more, and I discovered that there were at least two more zips that DIM just couldn't see. But these were some I made myself with Content Package, and I had them installed before nuking everything (I thought), so now I'm thinking that DIM still had a little list of installed items hidden where I didn't find it. On the othet hand, the items should have shown up in 'Installed' then, which they didn't. It's really weird. 

Richard Haseltine said:

barbult said:

Nath said:

barbult said:

I The product page doesn't show DIM as an installation option, but I have it installed in DIM

I see DIM as one of the installation options

I see it now, too. Did they change it, or is it like the required items that sometimes disappear and later reappear? I looked twice before, and I'm sure it wasn't there. I didn't take a screenshot, though. It had only Central, Connect, and Manual.

We hadn't reproted it as a possible issue, so I doubt it would have been changed unless someone was doing something on the page and noticed an issue (possibly after having caused it).

Thanks. Maybe I somehow just looked right past it. I wish I had taken a screenshot so I would know.

barbult said:

Nath said:

barbult said:

I The product page doesn't show DIM as an installation option, but I have it installed in DIM

I see DIM as one of the installation options

I see it now, too. Did they change it, or is it like the required items that sometimes disappear and later reappear? I looked twice before, and I'm sure it wasn't there. I didn't take a screenshot, though. It had only Central, Connect, and Manual.

We hadn't reproted it as a possible issue, so I doubt it would have been changed unless someone was doing something on the page and noticed an issue (possibly after having caused it).

Nath said:

barbult said:

I The product page doesn't show DIM as an installation option, but I have it installed in DIM

I see DIM as one of the installation options

I see it now, too. Did they change it, or is it like the required items that sometimes disappear and later reappear? I looked twice before, and I'm sure it wasn't there. I didn't take a screenshot, though. It had only Central, Connect, and Manual.

DAZ Central was discontinued. I'm not sure if it's even supported for those that used it and kept their old version.

MelanieL said:

Do you mean Connect or did you mean Daz Central?

Connect is installing from inside the Daz Studio program itself so doesn't require a download.

Daz Central is/was the simplified version of DIM which some people preferred to use. I know they were planning to discontinue it, but I'm not sure whether that actually happened or not.

Shhh ... 

MelanieL said:

Do you mean Connect or did you mean Daz Central?

Connect is installing from inside the Daz Studio program itself so doesn't require a download.

Daz Central is/was the simplified version of DIM which some people preferred to use. I know they were planning to discontinue it, but I'm not sure whether that actually happened or not.

Ooops, yes, it was Central, not connect.   Been 6 months without Daz so I got the names muddled! 

Do you mean Connect or did you mean Daz Central?

Connect is installing from inside the Daz Studio program itself so doesn't require a download.

Daz Central is/was the simplified version of DIM which some people preferred to use. I know they were planning to discontinue it, but I'm not sure whether that actually happened or not.

Hi,

I just got a new computer and have installed the latest version of Daz Studio, but only seem to be able to use Install manager to download products.   On my old comp I tended to use Connect to download products, but I can't seem to find it to download anywhere.   Is it still available or do I have to use install manager now?

Thanks for any help.

Lossow

Mattymanx said:

For the record, I have made a feature request to officially have Daz Studio fully support the USD framework

Yeah. There are similar requests sprinkled throughout the ecosystem but the reality is.
USD is a pretty huge library and these closed ecosystem solutions (such as Daz) are likely not super excited about implementing a large library for their niche solution (characters, skeletal meshes, weights). It is a LOT of work to do on an application level because they would want to think about the entire chain (Characters, Clothes, Sets, Props, Lighting, PGC, Effects, etc etc) or none at all… where I (for example) think they are amazing at characters but sets, props, compositions, etc… Nah - other tools for that.

That is why I want to get characters OUT of Daz cleanly and into other tools for creating more from them.

Case in point - for our project, we are using (and contributing to) a TinyUSD open source project staying true to the clean USD spec, but shaping the integration to our own (very simple) needs (compared to the mega USD spec).
Skeletal meshes are in there but tons of other stuff (like specialty physics, PGC, volumes, stuff for simulation, stuff for pixar movie making, etc) are not.

In the end - Creator apps (Daz, Unreal, Unity, Omniverse, Godot, etc, etc) generate highly bespoke file formats that effectively “dead end” the output (and the extended value) of those tools (and in turn the assets generated specifically for them).
I have no clue if they are doing this intentionally as a business practice, just got carried away in their domains to make really cool things work (only for them), or total lack of forward thinking of how the evolution of content creation has worked throughout history.

E.g. In the Audio space you may recall the dark ages when BigMusic thought they could control music distribution with DRM - RealAudio, WMA(withDRM), etc… Then came MP3 and Napster and 10 years of a complete disaster for aspiring artists wanting to be on labels for distro before a reinvention.
It’s all MP3 (or even lossless yumminess) now. Emerging artists use totally open distribution platforms like soundcloud or bandcamp, manage their own distribution rights, and those gatekeeper businesses are gone, replaced with new ones that saw a new economy.
Was "Pro only" / highly technical then became UGC.
That new economy is based on where content is consumed, not the cost of distributing / buying it. A complete shift which is now again being threatened with another renaissance through the emergence of AI music generation - but that is another story. 

But yes - then it then happened with Video (which peeps thought would never happen due to complexity of 640x480, then HD, then 4K). 
“It’s too hard to do video like that!” (said the film/TV industry in 2007 while pointing and laughing at the music industry).
And now mobile phones have simple software that anyone can use to shoot, edit and distro 4K, 360 video, etc.
Was "Pro only" / highly technical then became UGC.

The harsh limelight is finally on 3D now.
And we heard the cry of those who will not be around in 10 years: “Oh, but 3D is harder than those things.” 
Yep - Until it’s not.

USD (and possible complimentary glTF, and pointcloud wrappers) is the mp3 equivalent.
The last 5 years of increased compute power, AI generation, new entertainment paradigms, etc - will force a change in the old 3D siloed business models. 
These new tools are not going to write dead end file formats: .blend, .duf, .pak, .unity, .max, etc
They are not going to like writing to confused, bloated and restrictive file formats: .obj, .fbx, etc
They will want to write to open and scalable file formats: . usd, glTF, etc
If creator tools don’t support them - creators will migrate to the tools that do in order to simplify their creative workflow while providing great results.

Daz is AMAZING at characters (rigs, weights, clothing, hair, etc), it deeply understands the complexity of the need, has a community that cares about this topic and likes to push what is possible while contributing. It is the ideal place to guide and shape this area of the industry.
Daz could OWN the rigged character niche (central casting, costume department, makeup, hair, animals, creature department, etc) but they are never going to be the best realtime render engine (Unreal), most functional animation solution (Maya), simplest narrative solution (RenPy), widely used game engine (Unity), Most robust and “free”  “all-rounder” (Blender) etc.

So far, their approach seems to have been to INJECT Daz into the ecosystem with plugins and connectors (a form of DRM if you will - make it hard to get your thing free of the thing that created it). Not a future proof approach.

All that said - Asking Tafi/Daz to spend the time and energy for a proper USD exporter would be like asking RealAudio back in the day to support MP3 - It’s antithetical to their current model.
Instead - the community who knows what they want to do with the assets they create in the tool would be best served to figure out the export (Like the community figuring out how to rip MP3s from RA streams) and hope our favorite toolsets find a way to pivot to a sustainable business model that can continue to support themselves and creators (of the assets, the morphs, the characters and all the other things we appreciate Daz for).
But I doubt they have an interest / energy to paint that picture for us.

I think Richard has a point about looking into the SDK, and TheMysteryIsThePoint seems to be a few steps ahead here.

I hope we find a way to make it work.
If we do find a way - I’m sure many of you will appreciate the project we are working on.
It is as much for storytellers and artists as it is for creators of assets, characters and worlds.  

richardandtracy said:

I don't use smart content, and do tend to remember who the PA of a clothing style is is rather than the product name, so 'Vanity' folders tend to be useful for me. Generally if I want a dress for my character I go to Arryn/Onnel, for leather wear, Rhiannon and for a bit of skimpwear to turn males into tongue tied lumps, Lilflame, then I search those library subdirectories for what I think will suit my character.

As a creator of freebie props & poses.. almost everyone has their own way of sorting their library, so I have absolutely no idea where will be best for any particular user, and it's almost guaranteed what I system I do use will be wrong for more than half of users. So, I stick it in a 'Vanity' folder because

1. It's what I find useful and
2. It's a convenient point for anyone else to look for it & move it if they desire.

What I'd really like is for DAZ (as a central 'authority' in this) to publish location recommendations and then I'd follow them. In the absense of such recommendations, it's a free-for-all. Unfortunately.

Regards,

Richard

In fact they do - http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/dson_spec/format_description/metadata/categories/start online, it is also in the /resources/RootCategories.txt file in the application folder. The full category tree is also visible under Categories in the Content Library (not necessarily in Smart Content since that shows only categories that contain items with the current filtering options)

I don't use smart content, and do tend to remember who the PA of a clothing style is is rather than the product name, so 'Vanity' folders tend to be useful for me. Generally if I want a dress for my character I go to Arryn/Onnel, for leather wear, Rhiannon and for a bit of skimpwear to turn males into tongue tied lumps, Lilflame, then I search those library subdirectories for what I think will suit my character.

As a creator of freebie props & poses.. almost everyone has their own way of sorting their library, so I have absolutely no idea where will be best for any particular user, and it's almost guaranteed what I system I do use will be wrong for more than half of users. So, I stick it in a 'Vanity' folder because

1. It's what I find useful and
2. It's a convenient point for anyone else to look for it & move it if they desire.

What I'd really like is for DAZ (as a central 'authority' in this) to publish location recommendations and then I'd follow them. In the absense of such recommendations, it's a free-for-all. Unfortunately.

Regards,

Richard

qq_81ee1a28 said:

frank0314 said:

I'm not positive, so could be mistaken (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), but I think it should be installed to the main application folder C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\PostgreSQL CMS. How do you install the app and content?

I set it to that location in the preferences and I'm still getting the error. Also I installed it through Daz central.

The preference ios the location of the database, Frank is looking at the location to which the application installed - but that is correct for a default Daz Central install, which Install Manager will respect.

frank0314 said:

I'm not positive, so could be mistaken (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), but I think it should be installed to the main application folder C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\PostgreSQL CMS. How do you install the app and content?

I set it to that location in the preferences and I'm still getting the error. Also I installed it through Daz central.

joecrash455_a690f3984a said:

So the CONTENT folder is a good bulk of the problem, I will have to make some changes with that. Was reading:  https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/650301/can-t-apply-any-shaping-or-morph-solved,  and it was mentioned that DAZcentral and DIM64, and DAZ studio itself are all capable of installing files purchased from the DAZ shop, and somehow they conflict with each other.

Instaling threough Daz Studio (Daz Connect) uses a diffrent location from Install Manager/Daz central (which share settings, and are indeed the same core code). They don't conflict, but the Connect install takes precedence over any other so if something goes agley with its files (fail to decrypt, moved) then the product will fail to load even if the DFIM/Daz Central files are still correctly in place. There is no conflict between them, however - merely potential waste of disc space.

With every new DAZ studio install, we get two folders:

My Library

My DAZ 3D Library

Yes, those are the defaults for user files and installed content, respectively, though the names and locations are not fucntionally significant - only the relative path within the content directory matters.

I usually drag and Drop/manual install the Data/people/runtime folders right where they need to go (because I Archive all my stuff on an external drive). If not manually installing, then I use  DAZ Install Manager (64-bit).exe

Which will give the same result if done correctly.

So get this, a renderosity product can be copied into My Library, and be able to be loaded no problem. And a product installed by DIM cannot be loaded properly from that folder. A Character purchased through DAZ shop, can be loaded as its own (Actor) figure properly as long as its loaded from My DAZ 3d Library. But trying to load the shape morphs to turn Genesis 9 into the Character does not work no matter which folder I try to load from. 

This suggests that the isntallation to My Library is incorrectly configured - most likely DIM is pointed one folder too deep or too shallow - as there is no functional difference between the two locations.

Just going to have to manually install DAZ shop files to my library, but leave out the CONTENT folder. Seems like the only way I can get it to work properly.

Check the path settings in DIM - I am sure they will not exactly match those in DS.

Thanks for the help anyways. 

 

The sliders in the Shape Editor all have expressions that tie them back to a central controller thats in the outliner, so you shouldnt be trying to control your morphs from there.   

 

Look in your outliner, and you should see a null group called "Morphs".  Select it, and open up the Attribue Editor.   On the Transform tab, scroll to the bottom and open up the Extra Attributes rollout.  Boom, theres all your morph sliders. 

 

 

 

 

 

Daz Central... hmmmm...

UK pub names are often tied to heraldry and were established in an age when many were unable to read or write even basic english. Richard II passed laws that every pub must display signage as early as 1390's and his symbol was a white hart (White deer buck). Today their are over 300 pubs in the UK known as The White Hart. The White Lion is most likely a reference to the Mortimer lion and it's connection to the house of York. (The signs were instituted as part of the regulations around quality assurance. See: Ale conner etc)

As far as building style goes most pubs in the UK tend to be a major historical style such as Tudor or Victorian right through to more modern building styles. Many White Hart pubs are in the Tudor style as Richard the II was a late medieval king, but it is not uncommon to see the name used on new pubs even today.

The white lion pub in the product is a victorian style building(Common in central london) right down to the red pub style bearing a well known pub name related to the House of York. So the pub style and name are unlikely to be any real issue and would be generally considered as generic. (Not legal advice, just personal opinion based on experience)

The only real concern I would have with this product, based on the promos, is one very small detail that I know does require licencing and has some protections in place for certain forms of distribution or commercialisation. But even that would be up for legal debate as to whether the protections extend to this form of product or distribution or images created from it. Photographs bearing the same are generally considered okay for commercial usage.The laws had a very specific usage target in mind but could be considered more generalised across the board. (Bonus points if you can guess what I am referring to here).

What would send major alarm bells is any pub with a name inferring Royal (UK only),historic institutions or trademark breaches. Or any product that copied wetherspoons particular branding or trademarks. And really I cannot see any of that here.