Aiko 4 in DS 4.6 problem

Taoz

I've just installed Aiko 4 Base in a separate runtime which I use for both DS 4.6 -32 (XP) and Poser, but her head looks weird in DS (no problems in Poser). V4 is installed there too, but she looks OK. Any idea what can be causing this?

JimmyC_2009

I had that problem years ago, and it was caused by having more than one version of V4 installed.

Makes sure that you only have one V4 installed, and it will work OK.

Richard Haseltine

In particular, it's duplicate \Runtime\Libraries\!DAZ\Victoria 4 folders that can cause the issue.

Taoz

Yep, I actually had two V4, one in the DAZ library and one in the runtime shared by DS and Poser. Removing one of them fixed the problem.

Does it have anything to do with that one of them was installed in the DAZ library, or will the problem occur if you have V4 installed more than once, no matter which runtimes it is, if they all are imported into DS?

Richard Haseltine

It can happen in Poser and DAZ Studio, any time there are two sets of folders - especially if they aren't synched, but I'm not sure that's necessary.

Taoz

OK. What does it mean that they're synched?

Richard Haseltine

I meant if they have slightly different contents then problems are very likely.

Taoz

But why would you have two runtimes with the same content?

Richard Haseltine

Aborted installation. Forgetting that a previous installation already existed. Uninstalling by deleting the main library, texture and geometry files and missing the morphs. Having two different directory sets for different purposes but then setting both active at once. Stealth install (at one stage DS 2 or 3 came with a subset of V4, and possibly M4). There are lots of ways it could happen - but it certainly does, or did, from time-to-time.

Taoz

OK - so it's accidental, not intentional. That makes more sense.

Thanks...

SpottedKitty

It's also not necessary to have two of them, even if you do actually need to have the figure installed in more than one place (most of the time you really don't). As long as these invisible-to-the-user folders are in the right place inside a Content folder, the program can find them no matter which Content folder they're in. Another possible cause of having two folders is installing for both Poser and DAZ|Studio, which isn't really necessary — install once, and make sure both programs are pointed to the same Content location.

Taoz

SpottedKitty said:

It's also not necessary to have two of them, even if you do actually need to have the figure installed in more than one place (most of the time you really don't). As long as these invisible-to-the-user folders are in the right place inside a Content folder, the program can find them no matter which Content folder they're in.
So you say Aiko 4 can find the V4 files it needs no matter where they are, at long as the runtime they're in is imported into DS/Poser?

Another possible cause of having two folders is installing for both Poser and DAZ|Studio, which isn't really necessary — install once, and make sure both programs are pointed to the same Content location.

But DS seems to create two different sets of folders, one with DS content and one with Poser content. I find it rather confusing and annoying to have to jump between these two folder sets when creating a scene. Is there a way to get around this?

And when sharing a runtime between DS and Poser, I assume it would be better to install V4 here, rather than in the DS Library (I don't think it's a good idea to import the DS library/runtime into Poser)?

Richard Haseltine

I don't think you can safely spread fourth generation morph expansions across multiple content folders, certainly not if you ar relying on the updater batch file, but it doesn't matter which single content directory they are in so - as long as you are using Poser 7, if you use Poser - you don't need multiple installs for multiple applications.

You can't combine the folders in the ... Formats groups, though you can have the same folder listed in both places. That's at least partly because Poser content is imported, rather than opened, and also probably because if there was a flat view all the Geometries and Textures (and extra library folders like the !DAz one) would be visible. You can, however, use the "companion files" trick to place DS content in the Poser libraries, or simply use categories to make a combined listing of all your content.

Taoz

Well currently I'm using PP2012 and occasionally P8. Can you use Genesis 2 i PP2012 btw, or do you need PP2014?

Generally I'm a bit confused about what you must (as well as what you (for practical reasons) would prefer to) install in respecetively the DS and the Poser format categories in DS.

I prefer to have separate runtimes for V3, M3, K3, V4, M4, K4, Miki 2, Miki 3 and other characters, as well as for Animals, Props, Environment, Toons, Vehicles, etc.. I'm trying to find a way to share all my content between DS and Poser in the most efficient and logical way when it comes to workflow. And I intend to use DIM to install all my DAZ stuff.

So what would be the smartest thing to do here? Are there any tutorials around that can give a clue to this?

Richard Haseltine

I'm not sure if I've tested, but G2F certainly should work in PP2012 (and P9) with the DSON Importer.

I'm not clear what you mean on the way content should be split - Poser format items will appear under Poser Formats, DS under DS Formats. If you are wanting to use the same content in Poser and DS I would use a single folder for each category and place both the Poser and DS files in that, then select them under both headings in DS and in the Poser library panel.

Taoz

Richard Haseltine said:

I'm not sure if I've tested, but G2F certainly should work in PP2012 (and P9) with the DSON Importer.

Sounds good, will give it a try then.

I'm not clear what you mean on the way content should be split - Poser format items will appear under Poser Formats, DS under DS Formats. If you are wanting to use the same content in Poser and DS I would use a single folder for each category and place both the Poser and DS files in that, then select them under both headings in DS and in the Poser library panel.

You mean put everything in external runtimes, and nothing (except for Genesis stuff I suppose) in the DAZ Library?

In any case, why does DS split the content into Poser and DS formats, when they can coexist fine within the same folder structure in an external runtime?

Richard Haseltine

They are split for display purposes in the Content Library pane, but the location on disc (the root folder, that is - obviously the relative path within the folder is different) can be the same for both types.

Taoz

But what is the advantage/purpose of this splitting? Personally I'd prefer to have it all in one place.

fixmypcmike

Taozen said:

But what is the advantage/purpose of this splitting? Personally I'd prefer to have it all in one place.

To a large extent it's historical, being able to use the Poser formats while not being constrained by the Poser runtime structure for native content.

Taoz

fixmypcmike said:

Taozen said:

But what is the advantage/purpose of this splitting? Personally I'd prefer to have it all in one place.

To a large extent it's historical, being able to use the Poser formats while not being constrained by the Poser runtime structure for native content.

So the DS runtime structure is supposed to be better than Poser's in some way?

SpottedKitty

Taozen said:

So the DS runtime structure is supposed to be better than Poser's in some way?

Depends on how you organise your content. Structurally the two runtimes are identical — D|S knows and recognises all Poser files in a runtime (except Python scripts) but doesn't insist on them being in the "correct" Library file. This is a great advantage if you sort your content manually, but irrelevant if you use the CMS and its databases.

Taoz

OK, thanks!