This Program Absolutely Sucks & I'm Not Spending Another Minute with It
TrainGy2010
Posts: 0
I've spent money & all kind of time trying to get this thing to work. The instructions are so vague & I can't get any assitance to get the new product I bought for this program to work, so I am going to kill this program.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
What trouble are you having?
I know it can be a little frustrating.
Can you be specific about the problem? I'm sure someone can help.
That's odd. Your first post here was asking how to install stuff from Renderotica. Wendy helped you with that and you gave no indication that there were any further problems. You thanked her with your second post and now here we are with you claiming you're not getting any assistance in your third post which is also your total number of posts on these forums at the time of me posting this.
.
I fail to see the logic.
.
If you ask for help and describe your problem people are always willing to help. Semantics like these won't get you anywhere. I do suggest posting in the New User section as there's always nice folks hanging out there to help. It might take a while sometimes as people might not have the time or knowledge to give immediate answers but just be patient and help will come.
Sometimes I feel that way about my wife! :lol:
No but seriously folks, if you want to get *assistance*, just ask, and try to be a little more specific.
Any type of 3D software program is bound to have a learning curve, even the ever popular Sketch-Up takes a little time to learn.
But if you're having problems with Daz Studio, I definitely don't recommend moving onto 3D Studio Max!
:lol: What an positive atitude!
Yeah, sorry folks. I apologise for my outburst. I reached the point of total frustration, because I couldn't get this thing to recognise the product I purchased.
I thought Wendy's response was going to do the trick & it might yet, but I just don't see the folder that she discribed.
Where exactly did you place the folder in which you unzipped the product?
When I unzipped the file, I placed it on my local drive - the C drive in a folder I created for it.
I copied each of the runtimes for each product into the DAZ Studio4 folders under both Program Files folders (Program Files & Program Files (x86).
I was adviced to paste the runtimes in the "content folder under library in documents usually", but I never saw a particular folder called that. SO, I just put it in the DAZ Studio4 folder. Is that wrong?
Yes, that´s wrong. It should be under My Documents / Daz3D / Studio / My Library. That is for DAZ Studio 4. People who have older version of the software (DAZ Studio 3) have it in Documents as well, but in a folder called "Content". When you have DS4, you should not have that Content folder, just My Library.
sorry, I have a content folder because I have DS3 as well, was unaware of it's absence in 4
the runtime folder is the one that needs to be merged as I did say, (regardless of where it is, ie my documents or in my case an external drive)
but NOT under program files.
Windows Vista and 7 do not by default let you read or see files placed there (though it could work if you enable seeing hidden files and folders in your settings)
it is not advisable to put any additional content/asset etc files for any program there.
my documents, anywhere under users or a seperate drive is the usual practice for ANY program's content, projects, renders etc.
that said, while not ideal, if you enable hidden files and folders to be seen in your Windows explorer folder options, it should still find it there if you run a content search.
It will still find it in the folder you unzipped it to as well but you will have multiple and confusing lots of content directories in your menu.
in fact if you browse to and drag and drop a character file. cr2, pose file. pz2 etc from an open window into your open scene it will load!
I actually do this often with studio when I use windows explorer search to find something! or just unzip something and want to look at what it is
even. obj files will from other programs bring up the import options if you do this.
Yes, that´s wrong. It should be under My Documents / Daz3D / Studio / My Library. That is for DAZ Studio 4. People who have older version of the software (DAZ Studio 3) have it in Documents as well, but in a folder called "Content". When you have DS4, you should not have that Content folder, just My Library.
I just went intEdit/Preferences/Content Library & I clicked on Content Directory Manage. Under Current Directories, under DAZ Studio Formats I have listed one directory: c:/Kens Stuff/New Folder (2)/New Folder
Does this tell me anything useful? I don't see a My Library in My Documents. I created one, out of advice from another person on here, but will that be recognised?
I just went intEdit/Preferences/Content Library & I clicked on Content Directory Manage. Under Current Directories, under DAZ Studio Formats I have listed one directory: c:/Kens Stuff/New Folder (2)/New Folder
Does this tell me anything useful? I don't see a My Library in My Documents. I created one, out of advice from another person on here, but will that be recognised?
Yes, that's the path you should give when installing content.
You should not have to be creating folders for your content. The installer for Studio also installs some content and therefore creates a folder for it. If you rerun the installer you will be able to see where it installed the content. Once you get to the point where the directories are shown you can cancel the installer. Here is an example of what that section looks like. Ignore the path you see in my image as I didn't choose the default locations.
I'll admit, I clicked because of the very strong thread title. =D
To add to this, another very simple way to find your Runtime is to simply start up Studio, right-click on any of the pre-installed items (such as Genesis), and hit "Browse to file location". It will put you right into your Runtime folder, albeit a few extra levels in. In the off-chance that you installed the Runtime to a non-standard location, or it somehow got moved afterwards, this should put you in the right spot.
In your Preferences, you can add and remove directories as well, if you happen to have, say, a Poser content folder, or a DS3 folder that isn't already detected by DS4 (I forget if my copy of DS4 added DS3's directory by default, I think I had to add it myself). If you really wanted to, you could of course make a fresh folder and map it as a directory for DS4, through DS4's preferences menu. I believe this was mentioned already, though, and it's not something you should ever NEED to do (though in the interests of organizing, it's occasionally something you may want to do).
One more thing to add; Wendy's instructions were pretty clear, but just to be absolutely sure, make sure that you're dragging your fresh content's Runtime into the same location as your directory's Runtime (merging the two), and not putting a Runtime into a Runtime! This is a mistake I made a few times when I was first starting out, and surprise surprise, it couldn't find my content. DS looks for specific folders within the Runtime, such as Pose, Geometries, and so on; if there's a second Runtime in the Runtime, it just ignores it entirely. The reason your downloaded content is packed in a .zip file with a Runtime is because of these sorted subfolders; it's a simple process for a content creator to sort things into folders for you, then just zip it all up. Fancier content creators, or products released on DAZ3D, use .exe files, but for the most part it's going to be .zip files you find online. (Some people like to sort their content directories even further, the .exe installers make this less efficient.)
I browsed this thread also because I saw TrainGy2010's other thread about difficulties installing new content designed for older Daz Studio versions into Daz 4.
I have been away from Daz for awhile ( last version was 2.3.3) and caught Daz4 pro as a freebie. I had removed the older Daz products but had saved the content library elsewhere. I have a lot invested in the older Daz and third party characters, scenes, props, etc. (a lot of freebies too!)
I tried installing Victoria 4 to the 'My Library' folder and I can see it there through Windows Explorer (WinXP) but have not been able to get Daz 4 to see V4. I would like to copy my old content library somewhere where Daz 4 can see it but there is no real understandable docs on how to connect with old stuff. Most of my content is in the V3 era.
Daz 4 with genesis is pretty cool but I don't want to start over with everything else (characters, scenes, mats, props, etc).
There has been a lot of advice from a number of people but nothing really that coherent. Put your 'Snagit' to work and show what you are talking about with screenshots. Daz has never been intuitive and takes work to get used to. But it is worth the effort. Coordinate your answers and be detailed.
TrainGy2010 - it looks like you may have to do some registry cleanup after uninstalling Daz before starting over or Daz will just reinstall like it was before. I have been down that path before and it won't revert to the standard default paths until you do that.
Sorry for any sloppyness - working from iPad.
The first new user should do is to change the workspace layout to something more useful. Go to Window_Workspace_Select Layout. Try either Self Serve or City Limits. You can also change the Style (just below Workspace) if you wish. Once you have changed the workspace you will now have a Content Library tab, all mapped content will appear where as the Smart Library tab only showed content with metadata. You can map new content folders by right-clicking of either DAZ Studio Formats or Poser Formats entries in the Content Library tab. One last thing, I feel I may be creating more confusion about the whole 'Content' folder issue. When I refer to a content folder I am using the word content in its generic form meaning a group of similar stuff. I in no way mean to imply that you need a folder actually named "Content".
I haven't followed this thread all the way through but I feel compelled to add my two cents.
Yes, the structure of Poser & DAZ model file heirarchy is complicated. Made worse by evolutionary changes within Poser and compounded further by evolutionary changes within DAZ Studio too.
I've tried to write a complete tutorial identifying all the issues but my brain short-circuited and battery acid leaked into my shorts. Needless to say, the tutorial remains unfinished and only scatterings of my wisdom(sic) are found in the old DAZ forums.
To add grit into the watchworks it must be realized that some 3rd-party models (and even a couple of DAZ models) don't unpack into exactly the right spots.
I used to have multiple "runtime" folders (for Poser stuff) and multiple "content" folders for various types of Studio stuff but I'm sure that led to my eventual cranial explosion, and was the root cause of my decision to completely re-install my entire library from scratch. I now have only one "content" folder with one "runtime" folder within it for my Studio3 library. I also have an installation of Studio4 on a separate machine and it has a completely separate, but much smaller selection of my models installed into the "/Documents/.../MyLibrary" folder. (I'm still experimenting with Studio4 and don't trust it completely yet.)
My current approach when installing models is to weed out the odd-ball models that are incomplete or hard to install, and simply not deal with them. The installation of "zip"ed files is done by unzipping them into an easily located folder (i.e. c:/DAZtmp) to see how they were structured, then if the structure looks OK I simply cut & paste the structure into the appropriate folder (i.e. "My Library" or "content" or "runtime"). The installation of DAZ "exe" files is done by making sure that I actually observe the installation path and determine that it is the right spot before I blindly say "OK" to the installation. THEN after it's installed I go back into my model hierarchy and see if the installer inadvertently gave me a "content" within my "content" or similar boo-boo. If so, then I simply cut & paste the errant sub-folder and put it where it belongs. THEN I actually test the loading of the models and its major textures or associated props.
All this, of course, assumes that one knows what the "correct" hierarchy structure is supposed to look like and that only comes with experience. %-P
However, to get back to what I was originally going to say...
I have found that Studio4 installed on Windows7 in a "STANDARD" user login account (rather than an "ADMINISTRATOR" account), simply doesn't do the right thing regarding the choice of default installation path! (*grrr). It asks for the Administrator password and then proceeds to define the DEFAULT installation path as the ".../users/Administator/Documents/..." branch NOT the ".../users//Documents/..." branch. >:( Subsequently when one executes DAZ Studio and tries to point the preferences to the model tree in the Administrator's account it doesn't work because a STANDARD user can't view the ADMINISTRATOR's files. (oy!) I guess one could disable all sorts of permissions protections or start running DAZ Studio in the Administrator's account but that's cheating.
I have found that if you manually set the model installer's installation path to your personal Documents/... path instead of letting it default to the Administator's Documents/... path, then the models install just fine and Studio can find them.
So, in summary (yeah, I know, I talk too much) If you are running Studio4 as a STANDARD user in Windows7 be cognizant of where your models are being installed. As a side note, the problem with the default path arises because when you try to install DAZ Studio it needs administrator privileges to install the applications so it asks for the Administrator's password then assumes that the Administrator is the user who is going to be running the system and sets the default paths to point to the Administrator. Point being, if you like the security of running as a STANDARD user, please be aware that DAZ Studio4 gets confused unless you hold it's hand while installing models. :ohh:
TrainGy2010, I have reconsidered.
To start, I thought I had Daz 4 Pro but did not. I re-downloaded and reinstalled. And I now have the 'Pro' version. It also will recognize only genesis libraries. I can go to File - Import an navigate to an obj file from older models and it will import them. Of course that still leaves mats and stuff to be handled.
Daz 4 is so genesis focused that old models are left by the wayside so you have to start over. Daz 4 is free because that is what it's worth.
Find an older version (I'm going back to 2.3.3 or maybe 1.8.) They are quite versatile versions. I could get angry but, no, I am disappointed, Daz has put out good stuff before. They are not doing that now.
I may check back and see if there are improvements later on. If Daz is monitoring they can check my account. I have in the past purchased a number characters, props, and poses. yes, I took advantage of free stuff too. Maybe this downward direction started with V4 as V3 and earlier was quite good.
When you first run DS4 it should ask you if you want to "Import Mapped Folders" and if you want to "Migrate the Content Database". You can access these options from the Content Library options menu if it doesn't prompt you automatically.
First "Import Mapped Folders". If you then look at the Content Library tab you can click on "DAZ Studio Content Folders" or "Poser Content Folders" and see the folders as they are on disk, equivalent to the Folder view in DS3.
Then "Migrate the Content Database" to import the Content Database used in the Category view in DS3. After you do this, clicking on "Categories" in the Content Library tab in DS4 will give you the equivalent of the Category view in DS3, plus an extra top-level category "Default" for the DS4 content. You can now categorize the DS4 content from Default > Unassigned into your own categories.
[Note: Migrating will skip items which have non-English characters, such as diacritical marks.]
I'm quite happy with 3.1.2.32, tbh. I've had 4 Pro for several months, and ... I'm finding it bloody unusable. Thankfully, I can keep my install of 3 alongside it, so I've not gotten too much trouble from installing 4, as well. If you'd like to try 3, you can get it here: http://download.cnet.com/DAZ-Studio/3000-6677_4-11750934.html
You should really try this on the latest published version before writing. The names have changed and operation is different. But it doesn't matter. It still does not work. Maybe I'll try to look for the 'log' file sometime to see what the errors are. i.e. It fails to import so there is no content in any mapped folders.
At least in the older versions you could install stuff and actually use them to do 3D art.
I have a huge library very nicely categorized that I use on my primary WIn7 machine with Studio3. I have another Win7 machine that I have Studio4 installed onto. It only has the default Studio contents and about a dozen Genesis products. I have not tried to categorize the contents yet. I just use the raw folder view. I'm confused and afraid of the new categorization tools. :red:
On the Studio4 machine I also provide access to my content library from my Studio3 machine. It is accessed as read-only so I'm not going to accidentally booger things up if Studio4 sneezes. I can load objects from my raw folder view of my Studio3 content but because it's not categorized, I have a hell of a time finding things. :down:
I haven't gathered enough courage to try to do the importing of categorized information into Studio4. I have very little faith that it will work. And I refuse to again go through the long painful process of categorizing my entire library. I just spent over 6 weeks manually re-loading and categorizing my entire libary on my Studio3 machine in which I had confidence that it was doing things properly. :ohh:
You should really try this on the latest published version before writing. The names have changed and operation is different. But it doesn't matter. It still does not work. Maybe I'll try to look for the 'log' file sometime to see what the errors are. i.e. It fails to import so there is no content in any mapped folders.
At least in the older versions you could install stuff and actually use them to do 3D art.
I see they are currently called "Import Mapped Directories" and "Migrate Old Content Database" in 4.0.3.47, but the operation seems the same. Can you go to Edit > Preferences > Content Library > Content Directory Manager, expand the 3 types, and post a screenshot?
The log is at Help > Troubleshooting > View Log File,
Migrating the old Categories works quite well now, it's been fixed for a long time now. I use it every time I add content -- I categorize in DS3, then migrate to DS4 so they match.
Migrating the old Categories works quite well now, it's been fixed for a long time now. I use it every time I add content -- I categorize in DS3, then migrate to DS4 so they match.
Hmmm... thank you.
As described above, I have my primary library installed & categorized on one machine running Studio3. I don't want to copy 67GB of "content" folders over to my other computer. I would much rather simply have it "mounted" as a read-only folder. That would allow me to do all my non-genesis installations on the Studio3 machine. My question are: Does the importing of content categorization require that the original category definitions be on the Studio4 machine? And it seems to me that the categorization definitions are in the "C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\Studio3\Content" index file located on my Studio3 machine. How does this relate to the importation and conversion of content definitions into the Studio4 environment? It seems that that file and possibly other information in the "...\AppData\..." folder would need to be available to Studio4 in order to know how to import/convert the categorization data.
Hmmm... thank you.
As described above, I have my primary library installed & categorized on one machine running Studio3. I don't want to copy 67GB of "content" folders over to my other computer. I would much rather simply have it "mounted" as a read-only folder. That would allow me to do all my non-genesis installations on the Studio3 machine. My question are: Does the importing of content categorization require that the original category definitions be on the Studio4 machine? And it seems to me that the categorization definitions are in the "C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\Studio3\Content" index file located on my Studio3 machine. How does this relate to the importation and conversion of content definitions into the Studio4 environment? It seems that that file and possibly other information in the "...\AppData\..." folder would need to be available to Studio4 in order to know how to import/convert the categorization data.
The original categories do not have to be set up in DS4, but I would imagine DS4 does need to access the Content file in the Appdata folder.