If I'm supposed to be annoyed...

wancow

...I'm not.

So, here's the thing. I just made a discovery. IF a figure has no Tri-Ax weight mapping, it cannot be saved as a character preset! That includes V4!

Now, I don't deal with Gen4 anything save to get it converted to Genesis... so I never, ever save Gen4 anything except to export it to Cr2 to get that figure into GenX... so I had no clue till now... and here's how I found out.

I went to Foundation3D and got a bunch of Trek stuff to geek out, as I do sometimes... when I'm not playing with naked girls. Anyway, I get the Chaffee shuttle, lovingly converted by Mattymanx and posted, and I load it up, plop in the Genesis default figure, and find out the scaling is just a tad off... as in tooooooo small...

Oaky, no problem. So I look up the length of the Chaffee, nine point something, scale it to that length... still too small... not good... I upscale it till Genesis actually can sit down without having his legs cut off... and get it to almost eleven meters long... great! I scaled it, now I can save it!

Now, usually, I'll save a scene file. I do this for all my Girls (and boys). But mostly my girls. I have a Camera and a Face Lamp attatched to each of them, and I want that in the file when I call them up. But with the Shuttle, I don't mind, so long as it comes into the world the right size, it's all good... so I go to save it as a Character Preset, thinking it's got parts, so it must be a character, right?

WRONG!

Here comes the annoying part. I'm looking in the Save As menu and struggling to figure out exactly what I'm supposed to do with this item.

Save as Prop? It's not a prop... though I don't know, I haven't tried... could it be a prop?

I ended up saving it as a Scene Subset. That was actually the only option that could possibly be a model of any sort other than a Character Preset. So that's what it is. It's a prop! Okay, it's a prop that has bones! A Boneprop! Why couldn't DAZ just do that: Prop with Bones? It's a BONEPROP! For us geeks, and since it's TREK, it's a BONERPROP.

Anyway, so I saved the durn thing, created a new folder tree, and bam, it's organized the way I want it, saved... and I am once again reminded of why I am sooooooooo glad I'm not using Poser, where, at least in the last version I used, you couldn't just drop a prop anywhere...

By the way, if you download the Chaffee: try scaling it to 142%. That should allow Genesis to sit in the pilot's seat.

larsmidnatt

cant you save as a legacy preset?

EDIT: File >Save as>Deprecated>Character preset

wancow

I guess I can... but what would be the difference between that and saving it as a Scene Subset?

larsmidnatt

I don't know the answer to that. I know if I was trying to save a Gen4 character I would prefer using a character preset simply because thats where I would look for it later.

I use scene subsets for subsets of scenes and I probably wouldn't think to look for a character there. For your example I think a scene subset is perfectly fine and can't see an advantage of a character preset. I was just throwing it out there in case you weren't aware.

Hiro Protagonist

Isn't this actually a figure/prop rather than a preset? A preset to me modifies an existing figure (applying morphs, poses or textures), but in the case of your ship, unless I'm mistaken, you are saving a figure in itself.

I would save as Support Asset...Figure/Prop asset. This gives you the option to define Content Type at the same time as saving it and you can call it what you like—Actor or Prop for example—from within the existing content types (although these are limited). What you define here will appear as a label overlaying the asset's icon (in Studio 4.5).

You can also set Category (for Smart Content) when saving, but it's inconvenient, so I always do this with "Categorize..." in the Content Library. The options for Category are endless, but you could use the standard Transportation root category and it will appear in Smart Content with other vehicles and such (or at least those that have correct metadata, such as recent and updated vehicles from DAZ). Save it where figures or props go, rather than scenes or sub-scenes (because as a single figure/prop it is not a scene).

I only save as a scene subset or scene asset* if there are multiple objects posed or arranged in a certain way that I might want to merge into scenes (e.g. a sofa and chairs, or a clothed character).

* Just thought I'd note that a Scene Subset is labelled "Set" and merges with your existing scene by default, whereas a Scene Asset is labelled "Scene" and is intended as a complete scene which will close your existing scene before loading, unless you use the option to merge it.

Mattymanx

I will double check the Chaffee for scale but in the mean time, please see this bit of info from Doug Drexler - http://drexfiles.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/chaffee-defiants-perky-shuttle/ - The one image which shows it in comparison to a car should help.

kitakoredaz

Hi,, Hiro,,,,, if wancow said about cr2 files?

I thought samething about some sword or accessory cr2 which have bone,, before,,,

(but it is not prop, if they have rig, it is figure, I remember before asked same thing,,and taught from other user so,, ^^;
they seems not figure,, but if the prop has rig, it need to call figure,,,when talk about rig,,,)

then,,, I think,,we can not save cr2 or pp2 as figure or prop in ds ,,untill change them as triax figure..

so best way is save them by poser format exporter,, ,,about cr2 or pp2 files.

and if wancow hope to save preset of legacy figure,,, need to save as legacy preset files,,larsmidnatt said,,and it is right.

preset can apply figure in the scene,, and can change shape or material,, or poze,, but scene subset can not apply
and change figure shape etc,,)

on the other hand, legacy preset can not load the figure,, so I understand wancow may choose scene sub set,,
if wancow need not preset,,, just want to save and load them.

"duf character preset" seems exception for genesis and new daz format,,, I think^^; it can load genesis,, without genesis.
but it can work as preset too.

then,,,
I can not memorize every save option ot top menu,, how they work, ^^;
(so,, daz need release official manual,, when they finish it ><;)</p>

Mattymanx

The Poser Format Exporter will only export body, hand and facial poses. The included CCT in DS will export CR2 files but the figure needs to be rigged the Poser way inorder for it to work. You cannot just export a Genesis outfit as a CR2.

To export a PP2 from DS you need to use the PP2 Exporter Script called OBJ2PP2 which is free here - http://www.mediafire.com/?3m5gbz5f8bjjgjm

Place it anywhere in your DS Content folder to access it.

Bejaymac

Presets don't generally deal with mesh/morph deltas, they normally require the mesh/morphs to already be in the scene before you apply the preset. The character preset(DUF) isn't all that different, where it differs is that it only works with TriAx figures, and will actually load the figure for you before applying the settings stored inside.

Props have two real options for saving them, doesn't matter if it's been loaded as an OBJ or as a PP2, as long as it doesn't have bones you can save it using "Figure/Prop Asset", that way it get's it's own DUF loader file and the asset files(DSF) get stored in their own little area of the data folder. You can do the same with a scene subset, but instead of the asset files being in their own little area, they get dumped in the data/auto_adapted folder with everything else.

Poser figures you can either work with them the same way we always have, using the Poser files and applying DS presets to them, and once your finished save it as a scene, or you can load your figures one at a time, make sure to INJect all of the morphs the figure has channels for, and save it as a scene subset and then use that DUF file from now on instead of the Poser file, a fully injected V4.2 loads a hell of a lot quicker as a subset than the empty base cr2 ever did. Never convert a Poser figure to TriAX just to save it with "Figure/Prop Asset", because doing that will break the morph INJection system, as you can't INJect into a TriAx channel, only add new channels through morphloader or the bridges or from DForms.

A little tip about the subset, Poser users will know what I mean with "saving back to the Library", they tend to build a character, applying morphs, textures, putting on hair, clothing etc, and then save it to the figure library, which saves everything fitted to & parented to the main figure into a big CR2. Well the scene subset is our version of this, and it doesn't just work on Genesis as you can use any figure you want even Posette if you have her.

kitakoredaz

Wao,, I made two big mistake TT;) so sorry wancow, manttymanx (it is serious,, please forgive me)

wancow sorry,, I never hope to confuse you.\ just thought you get trouble about samething what I felt before,,

Cr2 can not exprot by Poser Format Exporter . (my mistake 1)

I installed the mattymanx tool in ds before,, I do not remember name clear,,
then exported and save my rigged cr2 simple figure for test..
after that I find poser exporter ,,, I believed they are same tool,,,.
so uninstalled Mattymanx tool,, now I can not save or export cr2 too ,,;

and you can save pp2 (not rigged) as figure or prop as same as improted obj.(my mistake 2)

I apologize you.