Some manually installed freebies aren't showing up in Content Library at all

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Okay, I've lately been accumulating and installing various freebies from sharecg and the like, in addition to buying things from Daz3d (and devoting more money to it than I probably should be, but it is what it is :D ), but now have run into an issue that has me tearing my hair out and cussing the machine.

Typically, the way I handle stuff from sharecg and the like is to unpack the archive, then go into the unpacked folder and look at any install instructions there.  Usually it turns out to be.... cut-and-paste the Runtime folder in that directory into the My DAZ 3D Library folder, sometimes it involves doing cut-and-paste of an enclosed Data, Props, Runtime, Readme's and the like.

Then, once done, I'd need to fire up DS and invoke Scan Known Directories For Files...

I came across one of these freebie packages recently that was split up into two archives, and that was identified specifically as for Daz Studio 4.5, one archive had Data, Props, and Runtime folders, the other just had a Runtime folder.  I dutifully pasted those directly over, such that Data merged with Data, Props merged with Props, and Runtime merged with Runtime. (And of course then fired up DS and did Scan Known Directories For Files...)  I then went exploring around in my Content Library tab and.... no matter how thoroughly I scour through there with a fine toothed comb, no sign at all of that particular package is showing up.  Not under the name of the maker, not under a search for any of the objects in the set (i.e for a toilet or for a wall module), nothing at all comes up.  I can drill down into the actual Data, Props, and Runtime folders, and the relevant subdirs from the archive are right there staring me in the face, and they're clearly of the same sort of files and the same sort of dir paths that Daz Studio clearly uses.... so why is none of it showing up in Daz Studio Pro?

I also noticed that a fancy lamp I'd recently installed from sharecg also isn't showing up anywhere in Content Library, even tho I can drill right down into the folders that one went to in the relevant subdirs of My DAZ 3D Library and its clearly right there in the subdirs.  Also, it's clearly a Daz Studio file, both of these items I'm talking about are specifically tagged on sharecg as Format: Daz Studio 4.5 ( *.duf *.dson)

Did Daz Studio change something since 4.5 that borks some content such that it deliberately pretends its NOT there unless I do some ritualistic Mary May I action, install the dirs in a SPECIFIC sequence, or do some sort of ritualized offering to the gods?  oO  This is driving me utterly BONKERS.

Irony is, I installed several Poser-specific freebies into there, by pasting the archives' enclosed Runtime folder on top of My DAZ 3D Library's Runtime folder, and those all show up fine in my Content Library, though different Poser freebie makers tend to cram similar sorts of content (say, kids toys) into completely different places without any consistency between makers, making FINDING them again in there a nuisance.... but at least I can FIND them again.  LOL!

Anyway, if anyone's curious, and or for diagnostics purposes, the content I'm having trouble with there is:

• The Grand Loo Scene for DAZ Studio Part 1 and 2, by Shifting Images (who also has a shop here, too)
• Living Room Lamp, by Allen Art

 

Richard Haseltine

If you can see the Data and Runtime folders in the Content Library pane then your paths are wrong or the files ended up misplaced.

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What I meant was, I go into the My DAZ 3D Library folder via Windows Explorer, and then look around in the Data and Runtime folders that way, I can find the subdirs that came from those particular archives, whihc verifies to me that they didn't go into a bitbucket or something.  On the other hand, if I fire up DS and go to the Content Library pane, and search through any one of the folders or subfolders shown there, drill down as deep as I can through EVERY folder and subfolder I find... nothing shows up under those names, nothing shows up in the folders of the Content Library pane that matches any of the folders or contents of the folders that I have open that other Windows Explorer window and that came from those three archives.  I.e. in Windows Explorer I am in the path:

C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library\data\AllenArt\Living Room Lamp\

...but if I plug lamp into the search field in DS's Content Library, that lamp doesn't appear at all (though some others do), and I can't find any folders or subfolders on the Content Library pane that have that maker's name no matter how thoroughly I search throughout all the folders and subfolders I can navigate to on the COntent Library pane.  Same sort of thing with Shifting Images' stuff, where, for instance, there is a folder reachable through Windows Explorer that is of the path:

C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library\data\Shifting Images\SI Grand Loo\

...but nothing appears anywhere under the name Shifting Images anywhere in the folders of Content Library, nor do any of the things I see in that Windows Explorer folder, though in WIndows Explorer I can clearly see in that above directory a folder named Bricks, one named Crawling Vines, and others named Floor Ceiling, Pipes, Platform, The Loo, Tiles, etc etc.

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The paths in the AA LRLamp zip file are:

AA LRLamp.zip\AA LRLamp\data\AllenArt\Living Room Lamp\AA_LRLamp
     with a subdir named UV Sets, and a file named AA_LRLamp.dsf
AA LRLamp.zip\AA LRLamp\Documentation\AllenArt\AA LRLamp\AA LRLamp.txt
AA LRLamp.zip\AA LRLamp\Props\AllenArt Props\LR Lamp
     with a subdir named Iray Materials, and files named Living Room Lamp.duf, LivingRoom Lamp.duf.png
AA LRLamp.zip\AA LRLamp\Runtime\Textures\AllenArt\LR Lamp
     with a set of JPGs and PNGs.

The paths in the Grand Loo Part 1 zip file are:

Grand Loo Part 1.zip\data\Shifting Images\SI Grand Loo
     containing the folders Bricks, Crawling Vines, Floor Ceiling, Pipes, PLatform, The Loo, Tiles, Wall Right Left, Wall Up Down, Wall Window, and Window
     each of those have a folder named UV Sets, and a file named, say, Bricks.dsf in the Bricks folder, Crawling Vindes.dsf in the Crawling Vines folder, and so on.
Grand Loo Part 1.zip\Props\Shifting Images\Free Stuff\SI Grand Loo
     which has a bunch of .duf and .png files corresponding to all the stuff like Bricks, Crawling Vines, etc etc from the subsubsubdir of data folder.
Grand Loo Part 1.zip\Runtime\Textures\Shifting Images\Free Stuff\The Grand Loo

And Grand Loo Part 2.zip just has:

Grand Loo Part 2.zip\Runtime\Textures\Shifting Images\Free Stuff\The Grand Loo
     with some more textures in it.

All of these now exist in the relevant dir path in my My DAZ 3D Library as vistable via Windows Explorer, i.e.:

C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library\data\Shifting Images\SI Grand Loo\

On the other hand, if I go into DS and open the Content Library pane, and navigate to, say, DAZ Studio Formats > My Libary,  I don't see anything under Props with those names or words, or under any of the other folders on the rightmost pane there, and no folder named Shifting Images appears there anywhere either.  Same for Poser Format > My Library, I don't see a Shifting Images folder showing up in there, and none of the named props I can see in Windows Explorer show up.  Other Import Formats pane shows blank.  Going into Products > A through Products > W shows no folders with the name Shifting Images, or having any of the names I can see of items in the ...\data\Shifting Images\SI Grand Loo\ folder of the zip file. Drilling down to Categories > Default >  Props doesn't show anything with those names either.  I have also looked through all the subfolders of all those sections, too.  Nothing remotely like anything from those zips are showing up.  This applies to the ones that came from AA LRLamp.zip as well.  I'd have figured they'd have at least been placed into SOME kind of content-related location within Content Library, but its like looking for unicorn droppings.

 

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Okay someone else talked me thru setting up a new, seperate folder for manual-install stuff like this, adding it via Content Dictory Manager under both Daz and Poser formets... and I then installed the three zip content items into there and... now they're all showing up in my Content Library pane.  Seems its easier to troubleshoot these issues when you put third-party manual-install stuff like this in a dedicated folder. :D

Anyway, it looks like now I'm.... the life of the potty!  :D :D  >>ducks<<

Richard Haseltine

As I said, though looking at it from the wrong direction, the Data folder 9and the Runtiem folder) should not be visible in the Content Library. The only thuings you should be able to find (once removed from the extra foldrs from the zip) are

Daz Studio Formats\My Daz 3d Library\Props\AllenArt Props\LR Lamp

and

Daz Studio Formats\My Daz 3d Library\Props\Shifting Images\Free Stuff\SI Grand Loo

(assuming both are in the My Daz 3D Library).

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Well, the thnig I was trying to say with that bit was:  "Here's the dirs where the various parts of that archive placed the items, are these in the right places for the under-the-hood mechanisms of DS to grab them from there and then present them to me in the right places in the Content Library tab?  If not, why not?  Should I move some of that from the archive's folder path to another folder path that DS expects to process them from in order for it to present them to me within the standardized folders shown in Content Library, having then sorted them out into the user-facing folders IT generally presents them in?"  But all that got renderd moot when I simply (re)introduced the files into a new, dedicated staging-area directory, and they all finally showed up over there.