Please help and try not to laugh too much, ok? :-)
First, though it is personal information, this is my 2nd attempt to get started with Daz3D due to medical issues.
I have been careful to try and keep all the emails from Daz3D stating what I have ordered. Some of the emails, as I remembered it, stated that I could not use the install manager, that they needed to be installed manually.
So, where I am now is that I have Daz3D installed, Hexagon installed and a bunch of little content packs that were either free, low cost or a nice jump start in what I want to do with the software. I have no idea what is installed and what is not installed. Every time I would get some time to start comparing the list of products inside Daz3D against my emails I would get ill again and not remember where I was when I try to start again.
I know we have a great product manual but does it have a section on how to make sure you have everything installed, especially the manual stuff. I read somewhere that most of the older content is manual install, not the newer content.
What I really need is a "buddy" of some sort, gender not an issue who would be willing to help me make sure I have Daz3D, Bryce and whatever else I need installed so I can start trying to make at least some simple graphics. My eventual aim is to create an entire Dwarf community with marketplaces, little cities, a nobility district, mining and temples to take care of both the Dwarves and any visitor's spiritual needs.
I think I read that Daz3D has already or is developing an ability to walk through your creations. That would be the ultimate for me.
I am retired having spent 32 years as a professional programmer, the last 12 mostly on midrange boxes working with Java, Visual Studio and a couple of scripting languages. Hopefully this means I am somewhat technically competent which should make life a lot simpler for anyone helping me.
As for compensation, I don't know the rules inside the community and don't want to get myself banned so I don't know if people help people like me out of the goodness of their hearts or if such help has to be purchased.
My only personal restrictions are that I take my meds at 7:30 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.. and I often get sleepy about 45 minutes after taking them. I realize that is somewhat restrictive but 1) I work just fine off emails and screen prints and 2) the meds are very powerful so I really don't have much choice.
If anyone is willing to point me to where I should begin, YouTube videos, forum postings or whatever I will begin working through them immediately and your name will go on the memorial stone in the Room of Remembrance I have planned for those who helped me and folks I lost along the way.
Any help to get me kick started would be wonderful.
Thank you,
Richard L. Morgan
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Comments
Here in the New User Forum we help people just because we like helping people. I will see if I can find someone to guide you through your start up difficulties.
BTW what time zone are you in. We would need to translate your timing schedule to fit, as we are in several different time zones.
Everything should be in your product library in your account
you can also in DIM see what is installed using that and the file locations if that helps
there are several forum stickies on installing content and setting paths, ask lots of questions on the forum and be as specific as you can adding screenshots and you will find many people willing to help freely as we all love doing this stuff :lol:
If you go to your Product Library in your account and type "dim::false" in to the filter box it will show all the files that have an old stand alone installer file.
Edit: You may want to read the following thread
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/37324/
I am EST, I live south of Charlotte, NC in a small town in South Carolina.
Even though I have not so much as drawn a rock yet?
:-)
I have so many plans. Sorry I went away for a bit but old men need their naps! :-)
I am EST, I live south of Charlotte, NC in a small town in South Carolina.
I could send my neighbor to you, he got a summer house over there, but I need to tech him DAZ Studio first ;-)
I know your frustration, I remember when I first started with DAZ Studio, gave up, tried again, then decided I'll have to learn how things are supposed to work (and this was way before the godsend DIM.
Here are som basic hints that might nudge you one step closer to the Aha!-experience.
(a) Content can located in DAX Studio in two different places:
- The Content Library Pane, the old way so to speak, works as Poser (which is what DAZ Studio was written to be compatible with in the first place.
- The Smart Content Pane, the new way, only works for content with Meta data, which is newer content (past 2-3 years) plus older content that has been updated, like many of the Platinum Club Items for example.
(b) You have to be sure that DIM installs to the same location where DA Studio is looking for it, this is often, but not always the case. Check the settings for that.
(c) If you install things using old style installers, you have to tell them to install either to the same content library (directory) as DIM or a separate one, but that has also to be configured in DAZ Studio so Studio knows where to look for content.
(d) Things will hide from you. I spend a lot of time trying tom remember the name of a product, or what the PA is called so I can find it. Here, smart content can help you, or DIM. I often find myself searching for it in DIM, then rightclick it and do Show installed files, it will tell me where it is installed. Pure DAZ Studio stuff is easier to find, Poser (old content) you need to know that Figures is the directory called Runtime/Library/Characters (the others do follow the usual naming convention though.
I hope you find these hints a good start, and welcome to the wonderful and fun world of DAZ Studio!
One place I find myself looking frequently, is the "products" section under the content library tab. That has all your products installed by Dim grouped by first letter of the name.
However, if you just load up dim and let it install everything, then go to your product library on the Daz site with the dim::false option and download everything that shows up (and extract manually) then you should have all your items from this site installed and nothing should be missing.
I am EST, I live south of Charlotte, NC in a small town in South Carolina.
Welcome to DAZ, Richard. I believe we have a member in Charlotte. I sent her a PM so maybe she will visit this thread.
Have you installed DIM yet? It can do wonders with content installation.
Do you still need help?
Thanks, Kulay. You're a doll.
My apologies. Here I ask for help and I get sick again. I am beginning to believe I got the bait and switch when they told me about getting older. :-)
Ok, I did what you said and I see nothing listed. Does this mean that they have all been moved properly? I did go to the thread and with trembling fingers tried cutting and pasting to the indicated directory and everything still seems to run so you think I am ok or is the shoe just out there waiting to drop at 3:00 a.m. EST when nobody is around to beg help from? :-)
Thanks for your patience!
Richard
I used to teach high level Java and C# classes especially to a lot of foreign students and I remember their hesitation to do what I promised them would work to fix their situation. Funny that I find myself in that chair now.
I could send my neighbor to you, he got a summer house over there, but I need to tech him DAZ Studio first ;-)
I know your frustration, I remember when I first started with DAZ Studio, gave up, tried again, then decided I'll have to learn how things are supposed to work (and this was way before the godsend DIM.
Here are som basic hints that might nudge you one step closer to the Aha!-experience.
(a) Content can located in DAX Studio in two different places:
- The Content Library Pane, the old way so to speak, works as Poser (which is what DAZ Studio was written to be compatible with in the first place.
- The Smart Content Pane, the new way, only works for content with Meta data, which is newer content (past 2-3 years) plus older content that has been updated, like many of the Platinum Club Items for example.
(b) You have to be sure that DIM installs to the same location where DA Studio is looking for it, this is often, but not always the case. Check the settings for that.
(c) If you install things using old style installers, you have to tell them to install either to the same content library (directory) as DIM or a separate one, but that has also to be configured in DAZ Studio so Studio knows where to look for content.
(d) Things will hide from you. I spend a lot of time trying tom remember the name of a product, or what the PA is called so I can find it. Here, smart content can help you, or DIM. I often find myself searching for it in DIM, then rightclick it and do Show installed files, it will tell me where it is installed. Pure DAZ Studio stuff is easier to find, Poser (old content) you need to know that Figures is the directory called Runtime/Library/Characters (the others do follow the usual naming convention though.
I hope you find these hints a good start, and welcome to the wonderful and fun world of DAZ Studio!
If I could figure out how to make a bridge across a small stream and then have a camera walk over the bridge or a camera follow a character walking across the bridge I think I would cry. I know old men raised in age aren't supposed to do that but that's how bad I want learn this stuff so I can make some of these pictures in my mind and who knows, leave a small kind of artistic legacy for my grandchildren, 3 boys so far, 17, 3 and 2. I keep hoping I will find something like this is the absolute dummy introduction to Daz3D and Bryce and how you would create say a valley with a river running through it, a bridge, a movable character if such is possible or is that only by animation and anything else needed to do just that simple thing.
Another wonderful person to thank and add to my eventual memorial to folks who helped me. :-) In Dwarvish of course.
Richard
Welcome to DAZ, Richard. I believe we have a member in Charlotte. I sent her a PM so maybe she will visit this thread.
Have you installed DIM yet? It can do wonders with content installation.
Yes, I have DIM and though some of what it says kind of baffles me right now I am starting to really trust it. In fact, I've gotten to the point that even if it is something I might like to have and it is not smart content, I don't buy it. I should be ashamed. I dealt with the directory nightmares of Java when it first came out, I should be fine with this as well.
Thanks!
Richard
PS This really is a very nice group of people who have replied.
Hi, Richard,
Welcome to the forums! One place to look things up is in my signature: the DAZ FAQ thread.
When you talk about the bridge, are you hoping to model it, or find products where you can put together the scene you have in mind?
Cris
Hi, Richard, the case may be that all files were converted to DIM in the meantime. I think most content was. I would be happy to help you. I can check whether my copies of Bryce and Hexagon can be downloaded through DIM. I will be back in a minute.
And remember: forums are to help each other. Don't feel sorry :).
EDIT:
Okay, so Bryce and its contents as well as Hexagon are installers only. Bryce Masters Series Cloud City and Golden Lighting are available through DIM. The same with Golden Rules Composition Helpers, Bryce 5 Content Pack and Bryce 5.5 Content Pack Volume One. Is this helpful? As a rule of thumb, stuff for DS should have DIM zips by now. If you want to tell us what content you want to check, we could look up everytuing we have and return with a report like the one above :).
Richard, just a note when it comes to dealing with Bryce and the Bryce installations.
Bryce is very picky as to where it's content goes.
Our own Horo, who is a PA here and hangs out in the Bryce forum regularly, has made a very handy PDF to guide people through the installation, http://www.horo.ch/docs/mine/pdf/BryceContent_v4.pdf
My great hope is to build every single thing I use. I just wish I could find a simple tutorial for Bryce that shows you how to create some terrain, say add a river to it and then put a bridge over it. Instructions on how to build the bridge would be asking for too much but I am sure I could do it even with primitives. It might look like garbage but I would know how all the steps work. Right now I am trying to send a bridge from daz to bryce to try and put down on the terrain but do you work off the wireframe or do you work off the 3D picture or what do you work off of? Simple things like this I simply can't find in the documentation I have found so far but I am going to keep looking, especially for your items.
Thanks,
Richard
Retired old vets have a lot of time on their hands so once I learn how to make the skin to wrap around a stone and stuff like that I am on my way.
This is one where I imported a bridge (and a load of trees) into Bryce http://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/1174
I save out an obj and then import the obj into Bryce, but that is mostly because I don't use DS. However I have seen that some DS users will do it this was as well, rather than use the bridge from DS to Bryce.
BTW you could look through this list of video tuts including many by another of our Bryce gurus, David Brinnen.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/2839/#59830