dsf/duf??
zerebrush_04a75c0166
Posts: 0
Hi,
I beg to forgive my ignorance but:
it is all about sharing self made content, static objects like architecture and other props.
What I did:
- I put a folder into the textures sub folder within Runtime, added the textures here.
- I imported the props (obj file format) and textured them, one by one using the textures from the folder that I previously created within the Runtime.
- I saved off the props as scene file in duf file format. I saved them into a folder within content\props.
- I finally added the sub folder from within content\props and the sub folder from within Runtime\textures to a zip file and ordered the zip to remember path names.
Double checking the processed zip showed exactly all the path's and items.
OK, when I first gave one of those zip files to a friend, the items came in white with no texture at all.
My question: did I miss a vital part in what I had done?
Is the duf file format sufficient at all, or should I use another one (dsf)?
Where is the bug hidden - don't see it quite clear?
Thank you!
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Comments
Hmm... If the Runtime was in the content folder all the work was created in it should work. As far as I can tell you did it right. Got a Screen Shot of the ZIP File opened in a Temp folder? So we can see the Folders listed.
Sure, the single files are not shown here, but: they are there - checked more then once :).
And yes: thank you for the fast reply!
You don't need the folders up to and including Content, though it's quite common to include the Content folder in the zip.
Ideally you want toi save the items as prop assets - File>Save as>Support Asset>Figure/prop Asset - and make sure the base folder is set to the folder that contains the Runtime with the textures and the props folder. If you make that a new folder, empty before you add the textures, and add it to DAZ Studio as a DAZ Studio Formats Content Directory then when you are done it should contain all and only the files for your item - just add a readme and zip it up.
Since your zip doesn't include the geometry, I suspect your tester was able to open it only because he'd had a previous version of the OBJ files and had saved those - which would have generated and auto-converted folder - and if that version had lacked UV mapping or if it had had different material names the textures would not have applied.
>>You don’t need the folders up to and including Content, though it’s quite common to include the Content folder in the zip.<<</p>
Prior to applying the textures for each item I created a folder within Runtime\Textures to hold the textures, so I could take them from there instead out of my usual texture folder (wich is unique to me, and D|S remembers where the textures initially came from).
So I thought that adding this folder to the zip would be needed - wrong?
>>Ideally you want toi save the items as prop assets - File>Save as>Support Asset>Figure/prop Asset - and make sure the base folder is set to the folder that contains the Runtime with the textures and the props folder. If you make that a new folder, empty before you add the textures, and add it to DAZ Studio as a DAZ Studio Formats Content Directory then when you are done it should contain all and only the files for your item - just add a readme and zip it up.<<</p>
Prop asset: the items in question are static ones, houses and furniture. Can they be saved as Figure/prop Asset - without any figure (I understand this as something like Mx/Vx, etc.) present?
>>Since your zip doesn’t include the geometry, I suspect your tester was able to open it only because he’d had a previous version of the OBJ files and had saved those - which would have generated and auto-converted folder - and if that version had lacked UV mapping or if it had had different material names the textures would not have applied.<<</p>
This means that - just like I had done with the textures - I should have created a new folder within Content\Props to hold the obj files?
And - all the items had been UVmapped, the textures had been a result from that.
Between posting here I have done some additional reading to know more about the duf file format, about adding own content in general.
Because the Wiki brought more questions then answers - can you, please, recommend any additional source were I can learn more about these things?
Would help me a lot - and keep me from wasting the time of forum members here :).
Thank you!
Please, correct me if I am wrong:
my mistake had been not to copy the obj files into Runtime\Geometries?
Right?
Well, thinking in a logic way seems to be a digital thing >>> 1 0 1 0, meaning it works, then not, then again ....
In spite of this - if anybody can advise some additional reading about getting own stuff (meshes) into D|S it would be a great help.
Books in the first place would be terrific.
Thank you!
This is where the "no included geometry" problem comes from. When you save your objects in D|S format, you also get the converted-into-D|S-format geometry saved to a folder in the /content/data/ folder. This is nothing to do with the Geometries folder — once you've saved a D|S scene file the .obj files are ignored in favour of these /data/ files.
(FWIW, this is one of the most common glitches making a completely D|S-format item completely useless; you must have the scene file, the textures in their /Runtime/Textures/ folder, and the data files in their /content/data/ folder. The scene will not load without the /data/ files, the scene file only contains references pointing to the textures, plus values for all the parameter dials on all the objects in the scene.)
>>>
<<<</p>OK, just to get this right:
when I save my objects in D|S format - means the duf file format? - I should get the converted meshes into a sub folder of the content\data folder?
Means that I do not have to create this folder because D|S does this on it's own?
Asking only because my data folder has nothing like the converted geometry from the items I saved as duf (scene file).
Should I save the imported/textured objects as Figure prop/Asset instead of a D|S scene file?
Well - I can only say that I am not acting dumb on purpose :) - I thought that after building a lot of items using ZBrush and other modelers, that this would have been the hardest part.
To my surprise I see now that this is not entirely true: the normally simple process of bringing something into D|S (had been my opinion, anyway) is filled with nasty surprises and no documentation to speak of.
Not ranting here - I just thought there must be a simple "recipe" of how to bring a static object into D|S.
Still hoping for that.
Anyway - thank you for answering, any help to get this done is very much apreciated! Honestly.
For your Item you have gone a bit far... As noted above Obj files are only needed for Poser format items, for DAZ Studio format items they can be dropped after the item is saved as a Asset. Here is how I set up folders for Prop items in ZIP from DAZ Studio...
Zip File:Prop.
My DAZ 3D Library/
.data/
..MyProp/data files
.Props/
..MyProp/Prop.duf
.Runtime/
..Textures/
...MyPropTextures/File1.jpg File2.jpg
Each sub folder is in the Folder of its name. All items including Houses can be saved as Prop Assets without worry. That is what the command is for.
You DO need to Start with a MESH object just like you did. But that is no longer needed once saved as a DS only item. The Data folder replaces the Obj folder for DAZ Studio only content. To support both DS and Poser you can use the OBJ file and folder.
EDIT: The DATA Folder for your item is created for you when you save the item as a Asset. You just need to include it in the ZIP file.
So
- import the obj (add texture and whatnot)
- save as scene file (duf) >>> gives me the prop file
- save as Figure prop/asset >>> gives me the converted mesh/dsf file
- dump the obj
is this OK?
Again, sorry for getting on a few nerves here, you all have been more then helpful (not to speak of being patient) - thank you!
Looking Back all you missed was the DATA folder and your zip file is TOO deep. The Top folder can be as noted at the Content folder and all below that. Then include the DATA folder once you SAVE the prop as a Asset and your ready to go. As long as the Files are Dropped into the Users Content folder all will work properly.
YES that will work. You got the Idea now.
You KEEP the Runtime Texture Folders but After conversion the OBJ is only needed for a Poser type load.
Thank you VERY much!!
Honestly - been searching this whole day for a documentation. If it is there, somewhere, it is perfectly hidden!
Your help (all that took the time to answer) has made the difference, so again: thanks a ton!
Well most of this info is new to Users of DAZ Studio. The Creation of Items was not Built into DAZ Studio untill DAZ Studio version 4 was released. Before that users had to buy plugins to use and or external or other plugins it make content in DS3 and below.
I did dabble a bit at creating content. I still do from time to time. Here is a Link to my Golden Rules for DS4+ you can look at its file structure and get a perfect idea for DS only zip freebe files...
http://www.sharecg.com/v/67783/gallery/21/DAZ-Studio/Golden-Rules-Camera-Prop-v1?interstitial_displayed=Yes
EDIT The Metadata File was created for me to make it a Smart Item. I do not know the steps for that one.
I see - and then again.... not.
I mean: creating own stuff is 80 % of the whole fun. And, on the way to your own things you have to go through a few tasks that are a bit more complicated then "save this here, save this there, forget about this".
But then you find that - at a time where you start to breathe freely again - you sit before a wall that is neither needed nor breakable :).
But OK - learned a lot in one day, could not ask for more.
EDIT: thank you for the link - had not seen it the first time (I'm in a kind of a hurry, saving duf's, saving dsf's...), downloading right now.
You need to save as an asset before you save the scene, otherwise the scene will be pointing to the auto-converted stuff and not to the asset files.
Create a new folder, not in your current content directories - PropProjects, say.
Place you Runtime\Textures folder with your maps in the PropProjects folder
In DAZ Studio, open the Content Library pane, right-click on DAZ Studio Formats, from the menu that opens seelct Add a Base Directory... and then select the PropProjects folder.
Import your OBJ file. Apply the textures.
Select or create the \Props\Zere folder inside PropProjects and enter the name for the prop file you want users to see
File>Save as>Support Asseta>Figure/Prop Asset. Make sure the Asset Directory at the top is set to PropProjects, enter a name (real name, or pseudonym - whatever you want) for Vendor Name, a Product name and an item name - these set the folder names inside the Data folder.
Save any addition assets, or additional scene or prop files, as required.
Add a readme to the PropProjects folder.
Select everything in the PropProjects folder and zip it up.
Copied and kept as reference - thank you!
And - while you are here :) - the tools in D|S have become part of the everyday work, and I can safely say that my work in/with D|S has become totally different.
When at first D|S had been nothing but a can opener, a helper app for scenes gathered and rendered in Vue, then it has changed now to an incredible part of my tool box. With GoZ present this had become even more so.
That is the good part - now for the bad one:
As much as I (like most of the users, I guess) are in the habit of looking for clues, tutorials, general information OUTSIDE DAZ, it would be great to finally see some more information from DAZ itself.
OK, there is the forum, and if you look at the problem I had >> without the forum I would still be puzzled about the many rituals involved in adding content.
I see that there must be "rules", but I see no reason why anybody should hide these rules (call it "methods") from the people that must follow those methods/rules to get something done.
The way things are I have a 50% chance to do it all right the first time - luck provided (and you certainly know what luck is).
The forum is helpful to the extreme, OK - but it is not my way to trample the nerves of folks who certainly have better things to do then answering boring questions.
So please: at the least the basic methods of integrating D|S to an otherwise working surrounding in form of a pdf >>> is it really too much to ask?
Thank you for listening.
Have you seen this?
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/start
You can actually download a fancy looking .pdf with screen shots and everything. The User Guide is 90 pages, so definitely enough to get you going. While it doesn't cover advanced things like content creation, there is documentation on the wiki that does cover it.
You can find that here: http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/userguide/creating_content/start
Yes, I have seen, I have downloaded, I have noticed that some (maybe all) had been done with a previous version of D|S. So the illustration had been off in as much as actual windows show other things.
Please try to understand: if you think back some time ago, there had been printed hand books with every app. The golden age of the floppy disk, true.
Then, with the CD's, came longer code and the end of the printed manuals.
So actually now it is part of the evolution that the user has to beg for a documentation that deserves the name?
"90 pages that get me going"? Well: thank you, but I know already how to move Vicky from left to right :)!
A WIKI or a handbook that is WIP for pages - if I were DAZ I would find no end of praise for the few people still willing to hand out the information that the developer will not.
End of rant. :)
Yes, I have seen, I have downloaded, I have noticed that some (maybe all) had been done with a previous version of D|S. So the illustration had been off in as much as actual windows show other things.
That is incorrect. The images in the .pdf were taken from DAZ Studio 4.6 (the current version).
Also print is dead. I understand that software used to be delivered with physical manuals, but it also used to be delivered on floppy discs. Times change, providing printed manuals isn't just inefficient, it is a waste of natural resources.
The user guide covers more than just how to move Victoria. There's a lot of good information in there. I recommend reading through it, as well as the content creation docs that I sent you.
Ooops, you're right!
The user handbook does not touch things like content creation, after all - the page I had in mind came from within the WIKI, and this article had been done with another version of D|S.
Print is dead, yes - all the more reason to be as thourough as is possible the first time.
I do see some of the problem with frequent updates. But things like file format change and basic principles do not change like the weather.
Again, I am not here to start a long (and surely fruitless) discussion. I needed help, I found help and then I asked (politely enough, I hope) for a more reliable form of instruction for people that could do something with the newer tools of D|S, and maybe would try to load up own content.
Been a long day - have fun!