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Selling elsewhere besides DAZ Shop?

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  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    edited June 2017
    TangoAlpha said:

    My working files are all in /Documents/TangoAlpha/ProjectName (I work on a Mac, path names will be slightly different under Windows)

    From there I create two folder structures: Scenes/TangoAlpha (this is where my scene .car files go) and Presets/Textures/TangoAlpha/ProjectInitials (this is where my texture files go). Additionally I might create further folders for props, shaders, tree leaves etc. should I need them.

    When the project is done, I can then copy it wholesale into the Carrara application folder (or zip it up and send it to testers), at which point it'll appear in the various browser locations (hopefully!)

    For testing purposes, you need to rename the working folder (or install onto a different machine), to ensure the project is correctly using the installed textures and not still picking up the working files (full paths to your working files are embedded in the file!)

    So, your structure is:
    /Documents/TangoAlpha/ProjectName/Scenes/TangoAlpha
    /Documents/TangoAlpha/ProjectName/Presets/Textures/ProjectInitials
    ?

    I guess what I was hoping for was just some simple way to set up a folder structure - even following the same naming conventions as DAZ by default, that could simply be something like (as a "for example"):

    ~/ProjectName
         |___ Models
         |___ Textures
         |___ FolderForSomethingelse

    Where the ~ folder would be where ever your installation has your assets located, be it under the default install location, or a custom one. Perhaps there could be subfolders off of Models, or Textures, etc.. but everything would be in a tidy setup where you could just package up the folder with everything under 'ProjectName', and then it could be installed by DIM (or manually) into the correct location on a user's computer, regardless of where their DAZ installation is.

    That would be a very clean and organized setup. But, it seems like DAZ's approach is a lot more complicated than that, or it isn't, but just isn't clicking with me for some reason.

     

    Post edited by WsCG on
  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    Makes sense I think. :)  Just rename ProjectName to ProjectName_WF or anything different and it will no longer find anything in the working files... if install went well.  If the scene file can't find something you know exactly where to find it in it's new location.  Would then just saving the scene file be enough to give props etc the new locations?

    Do you set up your folder structure in both locations at the same time?

    Thanks Folks.  This is very interesting.

  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    edited June 2017
    wgdjohn said:

    Makes sense I think. :)  Just rename ProjectName to ProjectName_WF or anything different and it will no longer find anything in the working files... if install went well.  If the scene file can't find something you know exactly where to find it in it's new location.  Would then just saving the scene file be enough to give props etc the new locations?

    Do you set up your folder structure in both locations at the same time?

    Thanks Folks.  This is very interesting.

    Well I'm glad someone is able to understand all this! lol

    I think I'm going to have to just dig through the folders/structures to get an idea of how things are set up. Written explanations aren't getting the idea across to me for some reason - though I do appreciate folks taking the time to explain it.

    Post edited by WsCG on
  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    TangoAlpha said:

    A tip when it comes to Carrara scenes is, make sure you set up your textures folder in the place you want it to be right from the outset (most common are /Textures or Presets/Textures/Vendor/Project) as changing it after the fact is a royal PITA. You can use DIM to see the installed file structure of already owned products, which can be quite helpful. Attached is a screen grab of the working folders for my current wip. Both Carrara and D|S projects are represented, although not all files are shown (and of course, since it's a wip, it's incomplete). There are also folders that are relevant to my workflow but not part of the final distribution.

    Actually, looking at your screenshot again, I think, is helping. I didn't catch at first that you have one folder structure for Carrara, and another for DAZ. 

    I feel so dumb not being able to go "a ha! I get it!" with this lol. It's not even a matter of not understanding folder hierarchies... and it's probably more to do with my inexperience working with DAZStudio in particular, than anything else. I need to spend more time working with it, I think.

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    As someone mentioned earlier... checking DIM will give you a list of where all the files in either Carrara or DAZ content are installed to and then compare to Tim's example pic.

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311

    The way the "Browsers" work,. is what dictates "How" the files are arranged in folders,.

    Carrara displays Scene files in a different tab to shaders or clips,.. because those are the Folders inside the "presets" folder,.

    SO,. if you had a folder outside of that, where you created your scene and saved all the textures etc./ Carrara wouldn't know about it.

    you, (or the end user) would need to add that "My new product folder",. to the Browser, manually,. which is occasionally the case with some Carrara products.

    it''s not a big deal for some seasoned carrara users, but is an area which can cause new users some frustration when installing and trying to locate a product that isn;t automatically showing up in the browser,.,. and should be avoided.

    If you're making a Carrara scene,. for others,. the easiest method (as Tango Alpha outlined above) is to use the existing "Carrara / Presets", folder,. and either create a new folder for "Your product".  or use the existing folders. depending on what you're making.

    As far as Your Hard Drive names,(C: D: E:)etc,.. those are relative adresses,. meaning that they are relative to the end user installing the product on they're system,. not yours.

    If you have Carrara installed to an external drive,. it doesn;t matter if the user installing the product doesn't

    You only need to make sure that any product for carrara,. is installed into (Program files / Daz3D / Carrara / )

    For Daz Studio,. and Poser,. they're both designed to use premade content, and so they have a very specific "content library" structure of folders,. either a "Runtime" folder for Poser,. or both a "Runtime" and "My Library" structure,. for Daz Studio,. depending on the content you're creating,. since Daz Studio works with both older "Poser" type files (CR2 / PZ2) , and it's own  newer DUF,.. Daz User File format.

     

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,326

    I like Daz3d's insistance on quality. I've heard some folks say that not all marketplaces are like that, so those would have to be checked individually. 

    To sell your models to any of the marketplaces, including Daz3d, you need to 'sell' it - meaning that your promos have everything to do with it. That might sound bad on the outside. But if the promos don't sell it, then they might not even actually open the files and have a look at it.

    People buy content so that they don't have to make (or hire someone to make) it themselves, so your promos should reflect what the customer can expect to see when they render it. If the creating artist can't render a decent image of the product, then how can we expect the average customer to fair well? So getting a good set of renders is key.

    Remember that the folks we're sbmitting our products to are very busy people and they're looking for things to sell in their store. They want it to help to make everything else in the store look nice too... so it has to make an impression while sitting on the shelf.

    But then, once we open the box... it has to then live up to those promos. This usually isn't a problem if one knows how to model and optimize for the target software. 

    Just think of yourself as a customer while putting your product(s) together. Does the promo thumbnail catch your eye? That's (to me) more difficult than it seems! But then, how nicely is it presented in the software when they do buy it. Is it easy to get working as expected? Is it easy to make it look nice/work with in the software?

    Daz3d's guidelines truly helped to give me some ideas on how to proceed through the whole thing. I read them over until it all sank in, but I am also a consumer, so I know what "I" like as a customer, and had that to go by as well.

    Promos can be tough, though. Sure, I can tell when something catches my eye... but how do I ensure to catch someone else's is another thing entirely!

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,144

    It's all of this stuff that means making something to actually sell is ten times harder than making something for your own use. But it can be very rewarding (in all senses) too, so don't let that put you off!

  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    3DAGE said:

    The way the "Browsers" work,. is what dictates "How" the files are arranged in folders,.

    Carrara displays Scene files in a different tab to shaders or clips,.. because those are the Folders inside the "presets" folder,.

    SO,. if you had a folder outside of that, where you created your scene and saved all the textures etc./ Carrara wouldn't know about it.

    you, (or the end user) would need to add that "My new product folder",. to the Browser, manually,. which is occasionally the case with some Carrara products.

    it''s not a big deal for some seasoned carrara users, but is an area which can cause new users some frustration when installing and trying to locate a product that isn;t automatically showing up in the browser,.,. and should be avoided.

    If you're making a Carrara scene,. for others,. the easiest method (as Tango Alpha outlined above) is to use the existing "Carrara / Presets", folder,. and either create a new folder for "Your product".  or use the existing folders. depending on what you're making.

    As far as Your Hard Drive names,(C: D: E:)etc,.. those are relative adresses,. meaning that they are relative to the end user installing the product on they're system,. not yours.

    If you have Carrara installed to an external drive,. it doesn;t matter if the user installing the product doesn't

    You only need to make sure that any product for carrara,. is installed into (Program files / Daz3D / Carrara / )

    For Daz Studio,. and Poser,. they're both designed to use premade content, and so they have a very specific "content library" structure of folders,. either a "Runtime" folder for Poser,. or both a "Runtime" and "My Library" structure,. for Daz Studio,. depending on the content you're creating,. since Daz Studio works with both older "Poser" type files (CR2 / PZ2) , and it's own  newer DUF,.. Daz User File format.

     

     

    So, for Carrara...
    As long as I create a folder, let's call it "MitovoProject" for the sake of example... and then that folder goes into the Carrara/Presets folder - regardless of where Carrara is installed - then anyone loading and using that project should have no problems, as long as they put MitovoProject in their Carrara/Presets folder as well. Is that correct? That would seem to be the intuitive/logical way for it to work; I would think Carrara (or any software, really) would be agnostic to where the program itself lives, just as long as the content paths match up relative to the given content directory - as in, if the textures, models, etc for my example MitovoProject are located in subfolders of MitovoProject, then as long as nothing is moved outside that structure, it'll work just fine.

    DAZ Studio... now that's the really confusing one. I've been looking at the folder structure of various content I've downloaded/purchased, and there doesn't seem to be any consistent setup. There's different folders, with content distributed differently. I havent' been able to find any kind of "base" structure. So that's going to take a bit more wrapping my head around to understand, I think.

    Anyway, I think I understand it better for Carrara, anyway. Maybe I'll put together a small scene sometime, package it up and provide a link here... Anyone who might want to download and check it out can let me know if everything works okay, etc. That would be a great sanity check for me :p.

  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    edited June 2017
    Dartanbeck said:

    I like Daz3d's insistance on quality. I've heard some folks say that not all marketplaces are like that, so those would have to be checked individually. 

    To sell your models to any of the marketplaces, including Daz3d, you need to 'sell' it - meaning that your promos have everything to do with it. That might sound bad on the outside. But if the promos don't sell it, then they might not even actually open the files and have a look at it.

    People buy content so that they don't have to make (or hire someone to make) it themselves, so your promos should reflect what the customer can expect to see when they render it. If the creating artist can't render a decent image of the product, then how can we expect the average customer to fair well? So getting a good set of renders is key.

    Remember that the folks we're sbmitting our products to are very busy people and they're looking for things to sell in their store. They want it to help to make everything else in the store look nice too... so it has to make an impression while sitting on the shelf.

    But then, once we open the box... it has to then live up to those promos. This usually isn't a problem if one knows how to model and optimize for the target software. 

    Just think of yourself as a customer while putting your product(s) together. Does the promo thumbnail catch your eye? That's (to me) more difficult than it seems! But then, how nicely is it presented in the software when they do buy it. Is it easy to get working as expected? Is it easy to make it look nice/work with in the software?

    Daz3d's guidelines truly helped to give me some ideas on how to proceed through the whole thing. I read them over until it all sank in, but I am also a consumer, so I know what "I" like as a customer, and had that to go by as well.

    Promos can be tough, though. Sure, I can tell when something catches my eye... but how do I ensure to catch someone else's is another thing entirely!

    Yeah, it's both daunting and reassuring that DAZ seems to have such stringent standards for what content they accept, and that it goes through such a process. It's mostly daunting at the moment :p. I guess they figure anything they put on their store reflects themsevles as a company, so they want to make sure it's up to their standards. Makes perfect sense. It also forces the artist/creator to improve.

    I've watched some of bluebird3D's videos, whom seems to be a full-time content creator/seller (or at least was at the time of those videos), and she went into some detail about how the process is and how it can be frustrating at first. So... I at least have that expectation for when ever I get to that point :p. 

    As for taking compelling screenshots, etc.. well.. not patting myself on the back here lol... but I tend to have a knack for capturing nice screenshots, largely in 3D RPGs or MMORPGs. It's something I've gotten a lot of compliments on. I suppose I have a natural eye for composition or something.. -shrug-. I don't think about it.. More kind of an intuitive thing, I guess; I just move the camera around 'til it looks "right" to me. I'm also a very "visual thinker", in that I think in pictures, so when I'm imagining a scene I'd like to create (and I've already got a number of them in mind), I'm imagining it at particular angles, with particular lighting, and with a certain "story" playing out in it. 'course, that could all go out the window here and what works for shots from 3D games won't necessarily fly here. I'll find that out in time :p

    Post edited by WsCG on
  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,144

    Your sanity check is a good idea - best way to see if something works for others or not.

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311

    as long as they put MitovoProject in their Carrara/Presets folder as well. Is that correct?

    Yes,. :)

    For some carrara items, such as (leaves),. any plant leaf models you create must be placed into the carrara main application folder, under Data / Plants / Leaves  (you could also add a folder for your Mitovo project leaves).

    for all carrara "products",. they must be insde the users Carrara application folder.,. since carrara doesn't really have a Content Library.

    it's also important to have all your texture maps located in your project folders,. before you create and save any shaders,. since the texture map addreses will be saved in the shaders/scenes.

    Daz Studio's structure was originally based on following the established Poser "runtime" structure,. if you look in your Daz Library,. you should see a Runtime folder,.

    understanding how that works, will help with understanding how the Daz Library structure works.

    essentially the "product" is split into it's components,. (geometry, texture maps, materials (shaders) ,. Poses,. .etc) and those files reside within specifcally named foders.

    when the user loads the product,. all those parts are loaded because they know where they all are,.

    change the name of a folder,. or the folder location relative to the rest of the product,. and it wont.

    This was a recurring issue when it came to installing poser/dazstudio content from different developers or companies, and was a main reason for Daz3D product Installers, and eventually DIM.

    Hope it helps :)

  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    3DAGE said:

     

    Daz Studio's structure was originally based on following the established Poser "runtime" structure,. if you look in your Daz Library,. you should see a Runtime folder,.

    understanding how that works, will help with understanding how the Daz Library structure works.

    essentially the "product" is split into it's components,. (geometry, texture maps, materials (shaders) ,. Poses,. .etc) and those files reside within specifcally named foders.

    when the user loads the product,. all those parts are loaded because they know where they all are,.

    change the name of a folder,. or the folder location relative to the rest of the product,. and it wont.

    This was a recurring issue when it came to installing poser/dazstudio content from different developers or companies, and was a main reason for Daz3D product Installers, and eventually DIM.

    Hope it helps :)

    I see. Thanks for that info.

    So, do I *need* to use the Runtime folder? That's  one of the things confusing me. I've figured out that Runtime is derived from Poser/Poser support, but I don't know what relevance it has if content is being created specifically for DAZStudio. Do I only need to use the Runtime folder if I want the content to be usable with Poser as well?

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,144

    Content for Daz Studio still tends to use the Runtime for texture maps, with the Runtime folder within the DS file structure.

  • wgdjohnwgdjohn Posts: 2,634

    One thing I have noticed is that some texture files, likely older content or 3rd party content and not most, don't or didn't follow the rules that DS uses now.  Most will follow DriveLetter:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library\Runtime\Textures\VendoreName\ etc... see pic.  Note that TangoAlpha has a folder in Textures above as a huge amount of other PAs do.

    I've included this thread in Modeling Objects in Carrara - Q&A - Come One and All since it should concern other future and wanting to be PAs and also anyone wanting to model their own content for Carrara or DS.

     

    DS_textureFolder_example.png
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  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    edited June 2017

    So I decided to go through the folder structure for one of the environment sets I recently purchased (since environments is what I'm most interested in creating)...

    I took screenshots of the file/folder hierarchy for that environment...  

    Attached are the pics I took (hopefully it's okay for me to post this.. I dont' think it'd be a problem)

    I can see what's going on here...
    - It appears that the Data folder leads to the individual scene assets, each organized in their own folder (very tidy... I like :p)
    - The Environments folder provides 3 options.. 3Delight, Iray, and one other I can't recall atm; the Iray folder ultimately leading to what seems to be, basically, a "scene assembly folder" - I'm thinking this is kind of the file/folder version of Carrara 3D's Assembly room... where all the elements are brought together into the final scene(s).
    - I'm not sure what the Support folder is for.
    - The Runtime folder drills down to the actual textures for the scene

    So... what I'm curious of is, if this is basically a good "basic file/folder structure" to follow?  Part of me wonders if I'm over-complicating this for myself lol. 

    Anyway... maybe it's just something I'll have to figure out as I go.

    01_Root.PNG
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    02_DataFolder.PNG
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    03_Environments.PNG
    1168 x 783 - 31K
    04A_Support.PNG
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    04B_Textures.PNG
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    Post edited by WsCG on
  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,144

    This is a pretty standard arrangement - the data folder is where Daz Studio saves the geometry, the actual objects, The Environment folder (or People folder or whatever category is suitable for your product) is what the user will see, and so provides access to a full scene or scene subsets, and the textures are stored in the Runtime/Textures folder. Some of this is automatic - for example the data folders will be populated depending on your artist name and product name that you use when you save objects.

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311

    Note that you're looking at "Daz Connect" items on an online external server (the cloud )

    personally I have no interest in utilizing or leveraging cloud based anything. 

    as an aside : Licenses  rights and understanding them before you give them away.

    as a user of these products,. you should read the Daz3D EULA "end user license agreement" to fully understand what you have purchased,(a license). and the limitations of its use .

    As a Developer of products,. you should fully understand what you're selling, and what rights your allowing the end user.

     

    as I understand it,. the terms of use for "Daz Connect" items are different from those of "normally" purchased and downloaded items. (Not Connect).

    I don't think that the majority of Daz3D's customers pay any attention to what they "imagine" they are "purchasing",  or the difference between conventionally licensed content,. and Daz Connect cloud based services.

    pps : I get this strange message whenever i open DS,. about "the system has changed and the user needs to re-authenticate any Daz connect products,.

    Q: How to get rid of that ?      permanently.

    I have no daz Connect items. and no intention of ever purchasing connect content

    Sorry for the rant,.

     

  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    edited June 2017
    3DAGE said:

    Note that you're looking at "Daz Connect" items on an online external server (the cloud )

    personally I have no interest in utilizing or leveraging cloud based anything. 

    as an aside : Licenses  rights and understanding them before you give them away.

    as a user of these products,. you should read the Daz3D EULA "end user license agreement" to fully understand what you have purchased,(a license). and the limitations of its use .

    As a Developer of products,. you should fully understand what you're selling, and what rights your allowing the end user.

     

    as I understand it,. the terms of use for "Daz Connect" items are different from those of "normally" purchased and downloaded items. (Not Connect).

    I don't think that the majority of Daz3D's customers pay any attention to what they "imagine" they are "purchasing",  or the difference between conventionally licensed content,. and Daz Connect cloud based services.

    pps : I get this strange message whenever i open DS,. about "the system has changed and the user needs to re-authenticate any Daz connect products,.

    Q: How to get rid of that ?      permanently.

    I have no daz Connect items. and no intention of ever purchasing connect content

    Sorry for the rant,.

     

    I'm not giving anything away here. I'm linking to screenshots of a file/folder structure. There's no actual assets being linked. I'm not sure why you posted all that?

    I commented that I hoped it was okay to post stuff like folder structures and such for DS, since it's not really directly related to Carrara, but more DS. 

    Post edited by WsCG on
  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    edited June 2017
    PhilW said:

    This is a pretty standard arrangement - the data folder is where Daz Studio saves the geometry, the actual objects, The Environment folder (or People folder or whatever category is suitable for your product) is what the user will see, and so provides access to a full scene or scene subsets, and the textures are stored in the Runtime/Textures folder. Some of this is automatic - for example the data folders will be populated depending on your artist name and product name that you use when you save objects.

    I just did a test setup, a simple, textured cube. Got it into DS fine. Saved it out with a product name (TestCube). DS placed things outside the 'product' folder anyway. So how do you get everything inside the product folder? How do you distribute it when some of its data is stored outside the product folder it's supposed to be contained in?

    There really, seriously, isn't any kind of actual tutorial on how to do this for new content creators? Nothing at all? DAZ just leaves people to figure it out on their own? I've looked, and I've found plenty of information related to the process. People have linked to information related to it. But, I've found no actual, start-to-finish walk-through of the process itself.

    Is this to discourage people from submitting content, to keep their workload down? Like, "if people can't figure out our convoluted file/folder structure, we'll have fewer submissions to deal with"? Sorry... just becoming frustrated at how needlessly unintuitive and cumbersome this all is. This is the first time I've experienced something this bad. I'd think with as content-driven a platform as DS is, they'd want the process to be straight-forward and well explained. Every time I think I'm taking a step toward understanding it better, it just ends up confusing me more.

    Post edited by WsCG on
  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    DS will save "library" stuff into the first library in its list. So make sure the library for your project is at the top of the list.

    Not made a library? 1. Open the Content Library tab. 2. Click the little square menu at the top of the tab. 3. Select Content Directory Manager. 4 In the list (see pic) select Daz Studio Formats. 5. Add. 6. Browse to your top level folder & select. 7. Highlight the folder in the list and click Move To Top. 8. Accept.

     

     

    Screen Shot 2017-06-21 at 13.39.59.png
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  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311

    Hi Mitovo :)

    I was commenting on the difference between content now,. since there is "Daz Connect" content.

    As a creator/retailer you need to fully understand the licensing (what you're selling) to the end user,.

    I wasn't in any way suggesting that you shouldn't have posted those file / folder structures,. that's not a problem, since those are simply images.

    Sorry for the confusion, and adding to your frustration.

    :)

     

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,144
    edited June 2017

    Have you had a look through this? (I know there is a lot)

    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/publishing/start

    What I have done with content for Daz Studio is create a new Library folder, so rather than using the My Daz 3D Library where you might not be able to see the wood for the trees, as it were, I set up a new clean library under the Public Documents folder, let's call it Product Development Library.  Then you save your product and only your product to that, so it is clear where everything is going.  Assuming you are making an Environment, you will end up with a Runtime/Textures folder for your texture maps, a data folder for your geometries and an Environment folder which contains the user-facing files.  So the structure is the same, but Product Development Library is only holding your new product. Once you are happy and have everything working, this can be simply copied to your actual My Daz 3D Library (or for that matter, anyone else's, which is the point!). This makes it easy to zip up and submit to Daz (or any vendor site), knowing that all the files are there.

    Keep in mind that this is for making content for Daz Studio, not Carrara native stuff.

    Post edited by PhilW on
  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    TangoAlpha said:

     

    3DAGE said:

    Hi Mitovo :)

    I was commenting on the difference between content now,. since there is "Daz Connect" content.

    As a creator/retailer you need to fully understand the licensing (what you're selling) to the end user,.

    I wasn't in any way suggesting that you shouldn't have posted those file / folder structures,. that's not a problem, since those are simply images.

    Sorry for the confusion, and adding to your frustration.

    :)

     

    Ah okay... Since the reply came after me posting the screenshots, I thought you were commenting on that. No biggie. Thanks for clearing that up :)

  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    edited June 2017
    PhilW said:

    Have you had a look through this? (I know there is a lot)

    http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/publishing/start

    What I have done with content for Daz Studio is create a new Library folder, so rather than using the My Daz 3D Library where you might not be able to see the wood for the trees, as it were, I set up a new clean library under the Public Documents folder, let's call it Product Development Library.  Then you save your product and only your product to that, so it is clear where everything is going.  Assuming you are making an Environment, you will end up with a Runtime/Textures folder for your texture maps, a data folder for your geometries and an Environment folder which contains the user-facing files.  So the structure is the same, but Product Development Library is only holding your new product. Once you are happy and have everything working, this can be simply copied to your actual My Daz 3D Library (or for that matter, anyone else's, which is the point!). This makes it easy to zip up and submit to Daz (or any vendor site), knowing that all the files are there.

    Keep in mind that this is for making content for Daz Studio, not Carrara native stuff.

    Hi, Phil...

    Thank you for that explanation.

    Sadly, I'm at a complete loss with this.

    I followed the instructions on the Wiki page, I followed your overall explanation. I followed TangoAlpha's screenshot/explanation above.. Still can't get it to work. I created the folder, set it up in the Content Directory Manager.. imported the model (exported as OBJ, with MTL file included - which worked for me when I tried it earlier today), and it just shows up as a flat white box with no texture on it now.

    Despite what it might seem to some here who are familiar with the process, I'm not an idiot. I've had little trouble figuring out things that were less than intuitive or otherwise complicated before. DS's whole content management/organization system is just a mess, in my opinion. I feel more like I'm having to twist my brain to try and figure out what kind of weird logic was applied when designing this content flow, than following an inuitive or even remotely logical process. It just feels very messy and chaotic to me.

    I think I'm throwing in the towel for now on DS content creation. I'll create characters and such, and use it for that... but only for that. There are other 3D Model markets/resources whose processes are far better defined and explained, and just plain better thought out and implemented. 

    Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to explain and illustrate it. For whatever reason, I just can not get it to work as it, apparently, should. Several days now of trying to figure this out is, I think, more than enough time. It's certainly far more than it's taken me to figure out similar process for numerous other programs/platforms - it's a matter of maybe a couple hours, tops, in those cases. I've run out of patience and interest in pursuing this any further.

    I'll let this thread die off now, and just get back to posting with renders and such of characters/scenes I set up.

    Thanks again, all.

    Post edited by WsCG on
  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584

    I always export without textures. and hand-create them in DS. It helps me know and be in control of what's what and where.

  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496
    edited June 2017
    PhilW said:

    Content for Daz Studio still tends to use the Runtime for texture maps, with the Runtime folder within the DS file structure.

    I don't think this is necessarily true anymore.  I don't think you actually need the Runtime folder anymore unless you are creating products for Poser. I mean, don't delete it or anything for old products, but for your own new products you shouldn't need it.

    I've watched a couple paid tutorials by DAZ PAs lately that have said DAZ3D wants the texture files in the same folder as the preset to load them.  So if, for example, you have a prop called MySword that is part of the product MySwordCollection, it would go in the My Library/Props/MyVendorName/MySwordCollection/MyProps folder. In the MySwordCollection folder you'd have a /Materials folder that contains not just the material presets but also the actual texture files that go with them.

    @Mitovo - it's up to you if you don't want to pursue it further (everyone has their own threshold for how long they want to bang their head on the wall wink ), but I think we can help you get there if you want to give it another go. I've created a couple freebies for DAZ Studio and have a couple more in the "waiting until I have time to do renders of them" stage and I think I can walk you through the process of creating and packaging a product for DS at least in a few relatively painless steps if you want.

    Post edited by MarkIsSleepy on
  • WsCGWsCG Posts: 391
    MDO2010 said:
    PhilW said:

    Content for Daz Studio still tends to use the Runtime for texture maps, with the Runtime folder within the DS file structure.

    I don't think this is necessarily true anymore.  I don't think you actually need the Runtime folder anymore unless you are creating products for Poser. I mean, don't delete it or anything for old products, but for your own new products you shouldn't need it.

    I've watched a couple paid tutorials by DAZ PAs lately that have said DAZ3D wants the texture files in the same folder as the preset to load them.  So if, for example, you have a prop called MySword that is part of the product MySwordCollection, it would go in the My Library/Props/MyVendorName/MySwordCollection/MyProps folder. In the MySwordCollection folder you'd have a /Materials folder that contains not just the material presets but also the actual texture files that go with them.

    @Mitovo - it's up to you if you don't want to pursue it further (everyone has their own threshold for how long they want to bang their head on the wall wink ), but I think we can help you get there if you want to give it another go. I've created a couple freebies for DAZ Studio and have a couple more in the "waiting until I have time to do renders of them" stage and I think I can walk you through the process of creating and packaging a product for DS at least in a few relatively painless steps if you want.

    Thank ya, MDO. I may well come back to it again at some point, maybe once I've had time to get it out of my system lol. I'm cursed with this thing where I hit a point of frustration where I just need to walk away from something, but then it lingers in the back of my head, bugging me 'til I figure it out. So... yeah... I expect I'll try to experiment with it again at some point. Who knows, maybe it'll "click" for me.

    Thanks again!
     

  • 3DAGE3DAGE Posts: 3,311
    edited June 2017

    Hi MDO :)

    If Daz3D want to change the use of Runtime folders,. they need to lead by example,.

    Currently,. all Daz texture maps are placed in...Users/ My Daz Library / Runtime / Textures / Daz / characters /  (and a bunch of other folders

    and those are Daz products in Daz Studio

    everything is there from Vicky to Gen8.

     

     

    Mitovo,. perhaps leaving DS for now,. and focusing on developing a product for Carrara,. would be simpler.

    learn one thing at a time,. it's easier :)

     

     

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    Post edited by 3DAGE on
  • MarkIsSleepyMarkIsSleepy Posts: 1,496
    3DAGE said:

    Hi MDO :)

    If Daz3D want to change the use of Runtime folders,. they need to lead by example,.

    Currently,. all Daz texture maps are placed in...Users/ My Daz Library / Runtime / Textures / Daz / characters /  (and a bunch of other folders

    and those are Daz products in Daz Studio

    everything is there from Vicky to Gen8.

     

     

    Mitovo,. perhaps leaving DS for now,. and focusing on developing a product for Carrara,. would be simpler.

    learn one thing at a time,. it's easier :)

     

     

    I never claimed they were consistent. laugh

    I just watched a couple tutorials from DAZ PAs who said that lately that is what DAZ is asking them to do.  I have to admit it makes a lot more sense to me to keep the textures with the product and not off in a runtime folder that supposedly isn't used for anything else, so that's what I've been doing on my freebies. I have a product almosst ready to try and submit to DAZ so I guess I will see what they say - unfortunately I am stalled at the moment since the last update to DS broke DS Iray on my computer so I can't complete the last two Iray promo renders I had left to do. Talk about frustrating! It worked fine on the last version, but I updated and now Iray just renders to grey - I tried completely reinstalling DS, updating my drivers,switching to just CPU rendering, just rendering a simple cube, all the things people recommend and nothing works- the error log even says it is rendering fine - there are no errors listed, I just get tiny little grey render!

    .Since I do all my own personal rendering in Carrara or Blender it doesn't really bug me too much, but it's annoying.

    Maybe I'll just take the rest of your advice to Mitovo and make something for Carrara - I've got a couple ideas for that too. laugh

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