Move items - how to update database if possible?
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Posts: 1,294
I've updated my Library, which greatly helps me find stuff, but I've noticed when I search or use product categories I'm left with orphaned icons.
I've left data and runtime alone. I've moved other items, like Environments and clothing.
For example, in Environments, I've moved stuff to folders like:
Architecture\
Apocalyptic
Eastern
Fantasy
Interior
Sci-Fi
Then when a folder gets large, it might get subdivided.
When I look at it under category, or often a search see the picture. Can I have the database clean that up, and find where I moved the files? It's so much easier for me to find stuff doing that.
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Try running the "Scan Known Directories for Files..." in the Content Library context menu. That is that little icon with the three horizontal lines and arrowhead in the top right corner of the Content Library pane. Press that icon and a menu will pop out. Select Scan Known Directories for Files... It may take a long time to run if you have a lot of content.
Thanks, I tried that, didn't work.
What happened when you tried it?
I saw it run with a progress in the library, but didn't watch it. Checked it a while later and was done but looked the same - the screenshot above. Same product.
Sorry if this is "The Hard Way" but it is one way that seems to be acceptable to DAZ and not result in yet another re-install due to data directory damage beyond hope...
Struggling with this for a year, I have found one way that works for me and seems reliable. But you need to be extremely careful. New directories are created down in "Categories" where you find "Default". Ignore Default. You can make a new folder down there and make sub folders inside that. There is even a rename command and If you hold your mouth right you can even sometimes move a directory and reorganize this directory structure though the drag and drop is a bit picky and there is an automatic "pop open" function that can trigger just as you drop and an entire wardrobe directory can appear to vanish (it was really moved into "insert guess" folder) but it can be found and you can try again to drag and drop it in the Categories structure where you want it. It is really rather "plastic" and DAZ seems to be unconcerned about it since this will only every contain references to items in the product directory.
Example, you might make a Wardrobe Gen6 folder. Under that you might make sub folders like Outfits, Intimates, Swimsuits etc.
Take an example the M6 Intimates working from The Product Directory which I have nicknamed "The Well".
Make a folder for that. Now find it in the product library. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CUT OR MOVE ANY OF THESE FILES! What you can do is select them and then select "Copy" that will make a reference to those files where they have to live to keep DAZ catalog happy. The file will not be moved or abused in anyway. Just a pointer to them will be created. But it will look like and work like the same icon in your Products folder.
Then go down to the new M6 intimates folder and "Paste References". Now these you can duplicate and move and mess with a fair amount. One thing you might want to do with lots of things is get all the blasted, I mean wonderful supplied MATs in a sub folder so you can find the actual clothing or prop or whatever items that load something. So you might make a sub folder called Intimate - MAT and select all the material files and now since these are references only now you CAN "cut" them and then paste them into the MAT folder. Now you might have the expansion pack. Very nice but all mats so you might just make a subfolder under M6 intimates for Expansion and find that in your products listing, select all and then COPY always COPY, and go to your new folder and paste reference.
Now you have a top folder called M6 intimates that has just the wardrobe items in it, under that is the Mat file for the original intimates and at the same level is the sub folder for the expansion MATs.
Variations on this theme is possible as long as you follow the gold rule. DO NOT MESS WITH THE PRODUCT LISTING! Copy is OK because it just makes a reference.
Now for lots of things I have a completely separate DAZ content directory where I create and store all sorts of things I work with. From the product directory items are loaded and set up and modified and then saved as Scene Subsets into various folders in this extra directory. DAZ is quite happy with this but moving things even in this directory can be tricky and it is best if you decide you want an entire new directory structure in this folder to make the directory structure folder tree and then cut and paste even the references in here to the subsets. Just drag and drop can seem to get lost or confused. Plus you can always just delete this if it gets hopelessly messed up and DAZ is still fat and happy because that was not an of its business, just a side show.
Summary:
I have found one NEVER messes with the Product directory. But you can "copy" (make a reference) and then put that into any structure you want down in Categories creating an entire structure to find easily the stuff you really like and organize it so that MATs are in sub folder. You can even split up things like pose sets that are for both Genesis and Genesis 2 into separate Pose folders so that if you are working with a Genesis character you can easily find all the poses that work specifically for a Gen4 or Genesis in one structure and those that work for Gen 6 and Genesis 2 in another structure. What a joy to have all your poses in one place instead of scattered all over your Product Catalog which is sacred.
Often it is best to load something like a nice set from the product catalog often just using a preload supplied by the vender and then using your own side DAZ content directory (which you have added with the content catalog manager) under names like Sets perhaps with subcategories like Indoor, Outdoor, Vignettes. And then as you touch those up keep saving them to named subfolders.
Using Product Catalog as "The Well" and only going to The Well to load something or copy and make a reference you can paste somewhere else.
Time spent at this is repaid multifold when you have a lot of poses and you only want all of the ones that work with Gen 6 etc. Or you have a ton of Props or Wardrobe items and you want the Materials and shaders for lRay and 3Delight in separate folders and not all mixed up so you have to hover over the icon and wait for the path name and then try to decode from the path name if an item is for Genesis or Genesis 2 or 3Delight or IRay etc.
Saves a lot of confusion having this all sorted out reliably. And you can apparently do it as long as you sneak up on the Product Library and only take a reference snapshot or load a file from it and never cut or move anything.
Appologies if this does not address your problem or question
And be wary of scan known directories for files! If you have a folder of DAZ stuff from a previous version in a place where it was not overwritten or if you have moved directories and not very carefully tracked down and erased all the old moved ones, they will be found again and DAZ will get confused and then orphan reference appear all over the place and you cannot easily tell which one to delete and you end up clobbering the current one by accident and now have an actual hole in your Product Library. There used to be a handy command to make DAZ forget directories no longer used. That was critical in getting some thing sorted out and finding and erasing any DAZ content that was in directories no longer used after moving main directories to larger disks etc. FINALLY got DAZ 4.9 working and installing correctly.
So this is the only way I make my own sorted content directories, by these two methods.
I would never dare move anything DAZ has placed. Only pointers (references) to them copied from the Product Directory.
I have been through quite a few re-installs learning this stuff the very hard way. So I always work from the Product Directory and never cut or move anything there only copy a reference or load an item. And the DAZ content directory, well it can do whatever it has to do to be happy. I organize in completely separate new directories of references or saved scenes or sub sets. And let us not even mention Smart Content. Though surprisingly S-content now seems to know about this directory structures down in Categories and offer them up as a structure you can click on. OK I admit that is actually "handy" of it.
Thanks for that excellent writeup, MW_HNL!
Ugh. It's a bit of work, but I checked it quick and seems like with your method I can organize things exactly how I want (& find it!!!).
I did re-organize a fair amount. What's the easiest way to fix, re-install that content? I assume it will just write over existing data (for example, I left data & runtime directories alone).
Update - I assume you can do things for your own items, or purchased from other vendors?
For example, I purchased some things from Renderosity, but they don't seem to have any database properties. I can't write tags or anything either.
This was fixed by using the latest beta, right?
Yes, I did check for a few things from Renderosity with the latest beta, I was able to add a tag to them and add them to categories.
Found a bug though - I have a scene with two identical Genesis 3 Females, the camera is very sluggish. Load it with the regular release the camera moves OK. Scene also uses an HDR image for the environment. Do you think flip flopping between versions will cause any issues?
Flipping between versions shouldn't cause any issues as long as they're both 4.9.1 or higher.
Do you have different Draw Settings in the two versions? Maybe one interactive and one photoreal if you are using Iray preview.
Do any scene items have Interactive Update On under Smoothing on the Parameters pane?
I moved my "data" folder, as you can move any folder, if you maintain the same file-structure and point to the "My Daz 3D Stuff" ("Content") folder, as the root.
If you are in windows, you can setup that folder as a virtual folder, and daz will not have any clue that it is in another physical location.
Create it as a /j (junction), and it acts like an actual folder, not a "shortcut"... Daz can't seem to see inside of shortcuts. (This is my "new" method, as anything I install, goes right into the virtual-folder, as if I installed it there, in the other location.)
EG...
First, move your data folder, or other folder. (I suggest the "data" folder, because it will be about 1/10th the size of the "runtime" folder. Less of a task than moving multiple folders.)
Type this, below, in a command-prompt that is set to "run as administrator"... This will create a junction-folder (virtual link), that functions as a real folder, in "E:\My...\data\", which is linked to the real folder in "D:\My...\data\", which you just moved. (NOTE: If you want to be cautious, rename the "data" folder to "datazzz", and you can rename it to "data", once the link is made. (Having the code backwards may delete the "real folder", replacing it with a virtual one, or it may just fail to create the virtual folder, since it has the same name. Better to be safe than sorry.)
mklink /j "E:\My DAZ 3D Library\data" "D:\My DAZ 3D Library\data"
You will be alerted if it worked, by seeing the following reply...
Junction created for E:\My DAZ 3D Library\data <<===>> D:\My DAZ 3D Library\data
However, I have also moved my /data/ folder to another drive, and pointed to "E:\my daz 3d stuff" and "F:\my daz 3d stuff" in the prefs for folder content locations, and daz has nad no issues with loading the "data items", from that other folder, for items installed originally in another location. (Rare instances where someone hard-coded specific oddball paths, instead of virtual paths to content, things would not load.)
More info: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/278262-mklink-create-use-links-windows.html
It's even slow with just wire shaded.
Go back to final build and it's smooth as butter.
I don't think Interactive Update is on. It's object specific, right? I would think it would be the same across versions.
I checked Interface under Preferences. Everything is the same there. Going to try another video driver.
Interesting, but now I'm already 3.5 or 4 hours into using Categories. I had to restore the correct locations for lots of things. Library has already gotten to be a pretty good size.
At least the hard stuff is over with (things I moved around) and what I had the most content. Still more categorization work to do.
Yes, Interactive Update is object specific. It is in the Mesh Smoothing section of the Parameters pane, That is the thing that always slows the viewport for me. It sounds like you have something else going on, though.
I loaded two identical basic Genesis 3 Female characters from Smart Content>Figures>People>Female>Genesis 3 Female into the latest beta 4.9.2.60. The viewport is very responsive. Here are some troubleshooting suggestions.
One scene were no people figures at all, same deal. I set to scene only, but didn't delete the HDRI.
Seems software related - Nvidia released new drivers a few days ago, I just installed them. It's a lot better, but not like final build. Beta with new drivers with one scene I rendered is smooth for like a second, then a hiccup, then smooth again.
That is strange.
Did you do anything in the Nvidia Control Panel to set special settings for the released version or the beta?
Did you check to be sure Draw Settings (Window>Panes (Tabs)>Draw Settings) are identical? Draw settings impact the way the viewport behaves. There are lots of items in that pane to check. Compare everything related to the DrawStyle (top drop down box selection) for the viewport draw style you are using.
Nope, no application specific customization in the Nvidia control panel.
Checked the Draw Settings (thanks!). They are identical too.