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...I've had similar issues with the new Daz zips. I don't use the DIM as My workstation is a standalone. In spite of what everyone has told me I cannot for the life of me get it to install files that I transfer over via USB stick form the notebook I Download to. So I have to perform manual installs of everything.
No readmes is a real pain. Even Freebies have readmes (well most of the good freebie creators provide them). So I'm supposed to guess what goes in the Poser runtime, what goes in the Daz4 Library and when things don't work right have to delete everything from the folders and start over again. With manual installs of content from Rendo, RDNA, Xurge, etc..., I've had zero issues as everything is nicely spelled out in the readme file.
I know what you are saying about the ReadMe situation. I think somebody has dropped the ball on that. Not three months ago, they were actually really good about having ReadMes included with everything they offered, and those ReadMes were among the best I have seen anywhere on the internet.. Now, the ReadMes I get with free products are better than what I am seeing for certain products at DAZ 3D. DAZ 3D needs to get it together again.
...well what they expect (and want) is for everyone to use the DIM.
I have given up on it because it has been nothing but trouble for me from day one including not reading what I downloaded when I try to use it on the workstation to corrupting my username every time I open it up. I've filed a support ticket on the latter only to be told the issue is on my end. Sorry, I've gone through all my browser settings, cleared cache & whatnot, uninstalled it, ran ccleaner to clear any traces of it from the registry, reinstalled it, and it still fouls up my username every time I open it up. Now the newest release has a separate zip for the filters which, according to the archive's internal setup, are supposed to go into a folder I doesn't even exist on my system (I even did a search for it and came up empty handed) so I have no idea where to install them to as there is no readme.
I'm not being paid to be DB administrator (a nice five digit salary in the private sector). I'm paying for the licence to use these tools and content to create the scenes I envision.
Now with Genesis2 it has become even more of a headache (and apparently, expense) to do what the original Genesis could with a couple clicks.
Reading what I have here and on other threads is becoming more and more discouraging.
The fact they chose to no longer to support the V4 UV or the ability to transfer clothing from the older generation figures (which was supplied with the original Genesis) makes me wonder if this could spell the end of the line for the "Millennium" series of figures. It took a PA with some concern to provide the means to use the V4 UV map (which is central to many figures including a couple of the Gen5 ones), and the ability to autofit her clothing to G2F. However, how far will this go? Will we see the other Iconic figures supported or will Vicky4 be the only one meaning no AIko3, Steph4, or Freak clothing fits or morph transfers?
And what of the Genesis toon characters?
The whole dividing of Genesis2 into separate male/female figures (with no child shape) and restrictions on it's versatility is a step backwards, not forwards, the explanation for which is pretty weak.
It's marketing plain and simple. Limiting what can be done with the base figure means the ability to sell more gender/character/age specific content. In this respect, the original Genesis was both a huge success (for the user) and a disaster (from the sales perspective). One could pretty much fit most clothing, even pre genesis toon clothing, to Genesis (like I did for my pic of my Annika character). Yes there were a few glitches with footwear and long skirts (for which Sickle Yield provided an excellent fix with the Rigging and Morphing System), but yes, I can see where being able to recycle old clothing content could put a crimp in sales. Without a specific body shape (like Aiko3) for G2, autofit and character maps for that particular figure will not work properly. So other than (maybe) Genesis/Gen5, G2 will require one to purchase all new clothing, character morphs and maps to make it useful
In this respect it makes perfect sense why transfer support for the older figures was dropped.
Actually I think you should say several steps back. I bought the Gen 4 Legacy Morphs for Genesis in April, which included Aiko 4, The Girl 4, Hiro 4, and The Freak 4. This added a lot of extra ways to make the genesis figure into mixtures of all the morphs I have for Genesis. When the Genesis figure was released, it was touted as being a revolution in the way things are done. We finally had a figure that could become a lot of different things. I don't even have all the morphs available for the Genesis figure, but what I do have is enough to make nearly endless possibilities available with just the sliding of a few slider dials.
Now they bring their supposed new lady out and call it Genesis 2? And it does not have as much flexibility as the first Genesis by far. So rather than a step backwards, I would say it is many steps backwards. At least as many as there are morph options for the original Genesis.
On top of that, it took me two months to figure out how to use some of my older Morphs for Genesis after my upgrade to DAZ Studio 4.5 Pro, and that was due to the new format - .duf! Other changes have been drastic like that over the past three or four months, making my productivity drop and forcing me to put some of my projects on hold, due to having to learn something new to do what was simple before. Some of those project have languished since that time right up to today, because I have not had time to get back on them, or they are no longer viable to the time of year. My big Easter project was scrapped for this reason. I wound up doing a lesser one for Easter, using a different app.
I know change is a necessary thing, but to bring so many out in rapid succession (what I call the Machine Gun Syndrome) only serves to confuse me and it certainly does not make things any easier when you must learn a lot of new stuff to be able to work with the latest products. "I should have stuck with what I had!" has gone through my mind several times. Some of my friends are still using 3 Advanced, and say they are not planning to upgrade at all. I asked them about missing out on stuff that works only in 4+, and they told me they were satisfied with what they have. I wonder if they are the real smart ones, rather than those of us who upgrade all the time. It seems that with each upgrade, we see more changes that make the old content harder to use.
I think Gen6 might have a rough go of it because of this, many people are just getting their brain around Genesis(1) fully and making that work, so the interest in a Gen6 product that brings incremental improvements will be less then it might otherwise for many. About the time DAZ is ready to come out with Gen7 I think people might be back in swing with the product cycle, especially If DAZ comes out with a true successor to Genesis separately, assuaging people's fears of the direction they are heading. Only time will tell.
The real point is, I don't think you wasted any time in learning Genesis and the associated improvements as they were revolutionary. The road ahead can be safely watched but not taken for a bit for many.
Yes, I agree with you about the road ahead. Much of what is new is included automatically in the Product Library in My Account page at DAZ 3D. To me that is a Perk, but it often comes with a few problems, and in this case the Genesis 2 Female was suffering from two big ones for me. I still do not have it installed properly because I do not know the proper path.
Yes there has been a message to me a few back in this thread from Richard concerning this, and I thank him for that. I have received other messages from friends on other sites I frequent that have posted the supposed correct path, and each appears to be different; so I don't know what to believe. As usual, when something new comes to me without good documentation, I am wont to be cautious, because It could cause other problems if installed incorrectly. So far the info Richard posted has been the best advice, as I was able to find how to change the install path for the DIM. I will keep the .zip file I have handy, in case the DIM does not live up to my expectations.
No one that I know of has answered the question concerning which directory in the Content Library to install it to if I should need to do it manually. At least in the good ReadMes DAZ 3D used to provide, the info on where to find the products could be used to determine what path was used for the installation. So I am assuming that the Genesis 2 Female Starter Essentials should be in the same directory where the Genesis Starter Essentials resides. Would I be correct in that assumption?
You are not really tied down as to where you install things. My own method, I have a few different runtimes, and a few different content area. I made one folder for gen4 content, and install all gen4 content there. I have one for genesis one content, and install all genesis one content there. I made another folder for genesis 2 content now. All of my content for poser and DS are on a seperate external HD, so I don't have to keep installing over and over as windows craps out on me about every 6 months or so. Also keep the database for the content manager on that external as well.
While this is true as a rule, one wants to install generation specific content together. The scenario you laid out works because it does that.
Well it seems the Genesis 2 Female Starter Essentials continues to cause me grief! I have installed it using the DIM to the default path provided. It did not fix the problem I’ve been having with the product. When I try to load the figure into the scene I get the following message:
Missing Files
Some assets needed to load the file were missing. The content may not work as expected.
The following files could not be found:
/data/DAZ 3D/Genesis 2/Female/Genesis 2 Female.dsf
This has led me to believe that the problem is with the product package itself, rather than the DIM or DAZ Studio 4.6 Pro. Apparently, the missing file is actually missing from the pack. If I am correct about this, then the content that is in the pack will never work as it stands. The data file is obviously an integral part needed to allow the product to load correctly. The fact that it cannot be found means it is either in the wrong location or it does not exist anywhere on my computer that is accessible to DAZ Studio.
As it is at this time, I have just one final option to try, which may or may not fix the problem. I have downloaded the Zip file manually and extracted it. Looking in the extracted files, I have found the file that is supposedly missing when the product pack is installed using the DIM.
The path showing in the Windows address bar for the manually downloaded and extracted .zip is where the files are located before installation. If I were to try installing just the data file, I do not think that would fix the problem. I think what I need to do is install the whole package in the normal manual way. I would try this, but I’m still unsure as to which path to navigate for a successful installation. If the path that shows in the DIM is the correct one, then I’m good to go on trying it. I am wary of this, however; since installing with the DIM did not work correctly.
I'm not sure how to post screenshot images here, but I have two that show what I'm talking about. The first one shows the block figure that loads into the scene. The second one shows that the missing file is in the .zip I downloaded manually. it also shows the address path where it is supposed to be according to the Missing Files message.
To TheKD:
That is all well and good if you know how to do that. I personally do not know how. The few times I have tried creating different paths have all been disasters for me. Because of this, I wish to stick with the default path hierarchy. This has been the most difficult problem I have ever experienced with anything from DAZ 3D, and it is still a problem. My patience, of which I normally have a lion's share, is fast reaching its end. Without a satisfactory solution, I think I shall need to abandon the efforts I have been making to get this fixed for a while. I have already wasted far too much time with it. If things do not work out soon, I shall do just that, and come back to it later and try again. Maybe by that time the package will have a viable readme, not that Subsurface Shader Base readme I keep getting directed to.
...this is exactly what I have been dealing with. Not having a readme with clear cut instructions for a manual install makes it a guessing game. For content/plugins that have a complex install path set, they should have continued to provide an .exe installer option.
I emphatically agree! Also I would add that they need to police themselves and make sure that a viable readme in available for each product package before the release. This is where they have dropped the ball down the rabbit hole!
"Alice! Can you see the ball Down there?"
"I see Humpty Dumpty! Is that the ball you;re looking for? Oops, it fell off the wall and busted open!"
"Never mind!"
Hope you can see the similarities in the two situations.
If the .dsf file was missing it wouldn't work for anyone. You are, I trust, installing the main zip and not just the Poser CF (companion files)? And the folder you are installing to is itself selected as a DAZ Studio Content Directory in DS?
I am indeed installing the main zip. I understand about the differences between Poser and DAZ Studio.
I followed your advice and reset my DIM to the default path. I thank you for that. I still do not know why the .dsf file is showing as Missing.
When I downloaded the file manually and extracted it, I looked into the folders to see what was in them and where each item was located. I also paid close attention to the folder hierarchy. The file that is supposedly missing, according to the Missing Files message, is in the correct location, as indicated by that message.
So that you can see what I mean, I'm hoping I can attach an image I created showing two screenshots. Earlier I could not find the Attachments option for this thread.
Please understand that the second screenshot is of the location of the .dsf in the manually downloaded and extracted zip pack. This one has not been installed, mainly because I have not received any instruction on where to install it.
...whether it's related or not, I began getting Duplicate ID errors again.
Would the fix script work on it?
I am indeed installing the main zip. I understand about the differences between Poser and DAZ Studio.
I followed your advice and reset my DIM to the default path. I thank you for that. I still do not know why the .dsf file is showing as Missing.
When I downloaded the file manually and extracted it, I looked into the folders to see what was in them and where each item was located. I also paid close attention to the folder hierarchy. The file that is supposedly missing, according to the Missing Files message, is in the correct location, as indicated by that message.
So that you can see what I mean, I'm hoping I can attach an image I created showing two screenshots. Earlier I could not find the Attachments option for this thread.
Please understand that the second screenshot is of the location of the .dsf in the manually downloaded and extracted zip pack. This one has not been installed, mainly because I have not received any instruction on where to install it.
You install all genesis content to your default DAZ Studio Content folder. And that depends on you when you first installed all your content. For Some it's the OLD DS3 Content folder because that was what they did. For others it's the My Library Folder that DS4.0 made when first installed, and for others it's the new My DAZ 3D Library the DIM defaults to. But one thing must be followed. All Genesis1 must be in one Default Content folder, and all G2 must be in one folder as well, they both work just fine if installed to one default content folder as I have both in my Default DIM install folder My DAZ 3D Library. But the BASE G2F and V6 both must be installed to the one folder.
I am indeed installing the main zip. I understand about the differences between Poser and DAZ Studio.
I followed your advice and reset my DIM to the default path. I thank you for that. I still do not know why the .dsf file is showing as Missing.
When I downloaded the file manually and extracted it, I looked into the folders to see what was in them and where each item was located. I also paid close attention to the folder hierarchy. The file that is supposedly missing, according to the Missing Files message, is in the correct location, as indicated by that message.
So that you can see what I mean, I'm hoping I can attach an image I created showing two screenshots. Earlier I could not find the Attachments option for this thread.
Please understand that the second screenshot is of the location of the .dsf in the manually downloaded and extracted zip pack. This one has not been installed, mainly because I have not received any instruction on where to install it.
Can you, in DS, Edit > Preferences > Content Library > Content Directory Manager, expand the "DAZ Studio Formats" and "Poser Formats", and post a screenshot?