Content isn't loading properly

shaydenia_60aed03589

I've been using Daz Studio off and on for a number of years now so I'm fully aware of just how much of a piece of crap it tends to be, but they've really screwed a person this time.  I downloaded this again a few days ago.  Version 4.9 is new to me so I'm not sure if that's what is causing this but nothing is loading as it should be.  It can't seem to locate the data folder, and possibly even the texture folder either, and so it doesn't matter what I try to load, all it does is pop up a bunch of errors for missing files and all I get is a blocky object.  The content directories are all pointing where they should be.  I've installed everything manually just like I've always done in the past, which means downloading the files and manually placing them into the directories.  I don't like any of the automated stuff they've tried to do so I don't want nothing to do with the install manager and this new connect thing.

I'm getting errors such as:

Could not resolve : "/data/DAZ 3D/Genesis 2/Female/Genesis2Female.dsf"

WARNING: fileinput\dzassetdaz.cpp(1858): Could not find geometry definition: /data/DAZ%203D/Genesis%202/Female/Genesis2Female.dsf#GenesisFemale-1.

WARNING: fileinput\dzassetdaz.cpp(4698): Could not find geometry for the material instance.m_uri.

WARNING: fileinput\dzassetdaz.cpp(1322): Failed to create material!

WARNING: libpng warning: iCCP: known incorrect sRGB profile

I'm not doing a single thing different compared to the countless other times I've done this.  I've tried to find information about this but I haven't come across anything.  I've looked throughout the program for any sort of settings that might be off and I'm not seeing anything.  I opened up the files to see if maybe the file path it was looking for was wrong but everything there is correct.  I don't know what is going on here.  And don't tell me it's because I'm not using Daz Connect.  I saw something on the download pages about some kind of offline authorization or something.  If that's the case then I'm going back to an older version of Studio.

shaydenia_60aed03589

Alright, well ignore this thread.  I just figured out what the problem was.  I would delete this topic but I may as well post what happened in case someone else has the same issue.

So I'm not sure when Daz decided to screw with their file structure, but they changed the root directory.  The root used to be "Content" and then having all the folders and stuff within that.  Now they got rid of that and the stuff simply goes into the "My Library" folder now.

So in case you come across this kind of issue, your file structure in previous versions may have looked like:

C:\Users\(your user name)\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library\Content\...then all your files

Now in this new version it should look like:

C:\Users\(your user name)\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library\...then all your files

jestmart

If you had used DIM it would have removed the "Content" folder when installing.

mjc1016

The change from Content to My Library happened about 4 yrs ago...

And My Library has always been equal to Content.  In other words, having a My Library/ Content/files structure has always been incorrect.

Richard Haseltine

Content was the default, My Library is the default for user files with My DAZ 3D Library the default fro DIM. None of these are "part of the folder structure" - they are the default locations, if you wish you can use other folders in other locations.

mjc1016

Richard Haseltine said:

Content was the default, My Library is the default for user files with My DAZ 3D Library the default fro DIM. None of these are "part of the folder structure" - they are the default locations, if you wish you can use other folders in other locations.

If changed, then the changes will need to be made in both DIM and the Content Directory manager...

SpottedKitty

mjc1016 said:

And My Library has always been equal to Content.  In other words, having a My Library/ Content/files structure has always been incorrect.

Yes, this is something that's always caused confusion since DAZ first decided to change the default location and/or name of the content folder, which has happened at least three times so far since the very first D|S version.

Part of the problem is just that, calling it "the Content folder". This doesn't and never has meant "the folder named Content", it means "the folder defined in the Content Directory Manager that contains all your content files". If you come across problems like this, the first thing you should do is check the CDM folder settings to make sure they are what you think they are.

The other half of the problem is that, if you first installed D|S years ago when it used an older content location, that old location is still in the CDM and D|S will still look there for content. If you later begin using the DIM installer, it will use the current default content location.

And guess what — the two programs don't talk to each other. DIM installs to its set installation location, D|S reads files from its set CDM location. The two ought to be, and most times are, the same, but there's nothing to force them to be the same.

mjc1016

SpottedKitty said:

 The two ought to be, and most times are, the same, but there's nothing to force them to be the same.

There is...it's on the 'real world' side of the screen.  But it can't if it doesn't know that the potential for problems exists.

As a side note, one can roughly judge when a content item was released based on what the folder names are in the zip file (more true of other than Daz store/freebie items...because some of the Store items have been updated to newer formats).