Information of file type based on extension?
Singular3D
Posts: 529
I started to dive back into Daz and disected the IM00013176-42_DefaultResourcesForDAZStudio421.zip and IM00042071-01_Genesis8FemaleStarterEssentials to understand what's inside.
Different files have different extensions and so I wonder, what they contain. I understand what *.duf contains, but I wonder what is the content of the following files.
Some can be displayed by Notepad++
- *.dsf (e.g. used for non-HD morphs)
- *.dsa
- *.dsj (used for clones)
some are encripted or just binary files
- *.dse
- *.dsv
- *.dso
- *.dhdm (these seem to be the HD morphs)
Is there somewhere a documentation or information?
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*.dsf - contains the data of base geometry, UV, nodes definition, rigging, weight, grafts definition for Autohide, various templates, etc. etc.
*.dsa - just a Daz Scritp with Ascii codes (unencrypted). *.dse (encrypted Daz script)
*.dse *.dsv *.dso : Deprecated...
A link in here but a bit out of date and not comprehensive: http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/tech_articles/file_extensions/start
The encryped ones will likely never have file format descriptors, as the contents are intended to remain encrypted from anyone who wants to look at them from outside DS. The .dhdm format is a closely guarded format only capable of being created by DAZ PA's with plugins released to them by DAZ. It can be read by DS, but the info is not accessible through scripting in DS either. It's considered proprietary information. The other encrypted formats are likely to be encrypted to prevent copyright info being spread without authorisation (eg scripting source code).
The remaining ones. Sorry. Documentation is a hoped for add-on to DS4, but in all probability a vain hope. However, on the plus side, they are text files and you should be able to create your own definition of the formats from unzipped versions of the files.
Regards,
Richard
Thanks for the link. This is at least something.
If you say that some files are depricated, I wonder why a huge amount of them is still in the IM00013176-42_DefaultResourcesForDAZStudio421
e.g., IM00013176-42_DefaultResourcesForDAZStudio421\Content\data\3_0
Are they not required and can be deleted?
Thanks to you as well. I did a bit DAZ scripting in the past, but the documentation is not up to date and this makes achiving results really hard. I wrote a figure converter for Cinema 4D some years ago, but this was quite cumbersome and so I gave up after a year or so.
In between, I try to update my workflow between Daz and Blender with Diffeo, but i still want to know, what's inside these packages.
I would say they're legacy non-userfacing assets belong to the time of DS 3.x. There's no link to any userfacing items for being used with DS 4.x. I think Daz people left them there just in case... and I believe technically you can delete them if you don't use DS 3.x.
Thanks. I'll probably leave them in for now, but I do not expect that they are of any use. Working on Daz 4.21.
They are for Omnifreaker's shader systems for use with the 3Delight render engine, so do not delete them.
DAZ - scene file - was used in every version of DS until the launch of DS4.5.
DSO - converted mesh file
DSD - converted morph delta file
DSV - converted UV coordinates file
DS/DSA - ASCII script file mostly used for presets
DSB - binary script file
DSE - encrypted binary script file
Those are the standard files used in DS up until the launch of DS4
Thanks a lot.
I also found DSJ files in the Genesis8MaleStarterEssentials
- CloneGenesis.dsj
- CloneGenesis2Female.dsj
I also found GFA files here IM00042071-01_Genesis8FemaleStarterEssentials\Content\aniBlocks\aniMate\Gestures
These extension has not been listed so far
DSJ file is for the figure with TriAx weight (prior to G2)... *.DSF was started to be used with Clones on the figures with General Weight (beyond G3).
GFA file - GoFigure AniBlock file is a user-facing file format used with aniMate plug-ing which was developed by GoFigure LLC, so normally it would not be listed by Daz3D...
No, the extension does not vary by the rigging type.
They vary, and have different coding in terms of geometry and rigging.
Thanks to all of you. I'm in the process to set up Daz Studio on a new PC and try to understand what is part of the zips that I install, just in case that something isn't working the intended way.
Asset files are .dsf, user-facing files are .duf.