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A few questions about creating PCFs in DAZ

Dakorillon (IMArts)

Dances with Bees
Contributing Artist
Hi! I found the tutorial on how to create PCFs in DAZ to use with the DSON importer for Poser. So, I can make files that will supposedly work in Poser.

But, the tutorial leaves out a few vital steps, expecting I guess that the reader will already have an idea about what they are talking about, and how to do it.

So, I followed part of the tutorial, but can't figure out how to do the rest of the things it's asking.
Here is the link:
Creating DSON Poser Companion Files [Documentation Center]

1. It says to update the Metafile info by, "removing the old files from the product and adding the new ones" I have no clue where or how to do this.

2. Any other wise words on the process (such as how to set where the output path is going, since I can't find any of the converted files.) lol.

Thanks
 

Jay Versluis

Admirable
I remember working through that super awkward tutorial last year. You can probably ignore the step about removing old files. I believe they're referring to content that is not in DUF format (from before DAZ Studio 4.5). In Step 1 they're going on at length that it needs to be converted to DUF, so once that's done, all non-DUF files can be removed. It's very likely that you don't even have any of those to begin with.

Much of the article focusses on creating metadata, but that's something we currently can't export and share with other users. It's not needed to create the Poser Companion (DSON) Files, so again, ignore all those overcomplicated steps and skip ahead to Step 4.

Here's how to create DSON / Poser Companion Files:

Assuming you have both a Poser and a DAZ runtime for your product setup, navigate to your DUF files in the Content Library. Select the files you want to convert and find the context menu at the top right of the Content Library (the three little lines icon). It should bring up a window like this:

Screen Shot 2016-09-08 at 08.23.58.png


Now choose "Create Poser Companion Files", and another scary window pops up:

Screen Shot 2016-09-08 at 08.39.22.png


Some of the info in this window will be pre-populated, such as the Base Path and the Relative Path at the top (under Source). Those are paths to your current runtime folder. I'm using a dedicated runtime for my product.

You need to set the parameters in the Destination section though. Here, the Base Path will have a dropdown menu for runtimes you have setup in DAZ Studio. Pick the runtime in which you'l like to save your DSON files. Now choose the type of content you're converting. If we had setup the metadata, DAZ Studio could determine this by itself, but because we haven't it needs a little bit of help. I'm converting Material Presets, so I'll choose Materials from the dropdown menu (choose as appropriate for your content). The Supplemental Path is optional, but I'll leave it at its default (makes finding the files a little easier).

Hit Accept and DAZ Studio will go to work. If all goes well, you'll see no error message (and no "success" message either, just a bit of log output while the tool is working).

You should now find your converted files in your runtime, in the section you have chosen. I converted Material Presets, so my files will be in Runtime/Libraries/Materials/DSON Conversions. Each item will have four generated files:
  • a PNG Thumbnail
  • the original DUF file
  • a Python Script File (PY ending)
  • and the actual Poser readable file (MC6 in my case, but this will differ depending on what content you've converted)
Hope this helps!
 

Dakorillon (IMArts)

Dances with Bees
Contributing Artist
Thank you for the great explanation! I do have a further question. You said, assuming that you had both a Poser and DAZ Setup. So, I think I have this part down, but for further clarification is this the way to do it?

Take the Hivewire3d folder set up and make a copy of it and place copy in "My Library" folder
Save the DAZ new files/conversions into those folders as I go

Do I then do another set of folders for the Poser files? or put them into the same new DAZ folder system that I was just using? ie, so that all new files are in the same folder system.

Then when it's time to package, I should be able to just take the new folder system, zip it and it's done? Or will I have to go in and edit something in order to take the "C:/User/somebody/DAZ 3D/My Daz 3d Library/My Library/new folder set/
off somehow? Or will it not save that stuff in the material/uf/cr2/whatever files?

Thank you for taking your time to answer the above question and if you do, these too!
 

Jay Versluis

Admirable
You're very welcome!

Yes the folder setup can be a bit of a nightmare. You're on the right track indeed, but to avoid unnecessary duplication I would probably setup a brand new folder somewhere outside your existing My Library. Say create "New Product" on your desktop.

Inside that folder, create a Poser Runtime structure. It consists of a new folder called "runtime", and three subfolders inside runtime called "Geometries", "libraries" and "textures" (note the capitalisation, it once was important to Poser).

DAZ Studio files can technically be saved anywhere, but to make it consistent with the folks at DAZ, create a "People" subfolder in your "New Product" folder. Let's assume you're making clothing for Dawn, then create "People - Dawn - Clothing - YourProduct" and save all your DAZ Studio files there. If you're making something for Genesis 2 Female, create "People - Genesis 2 Female - Clothing - YourProduct" respectively. Some vendors create their own subfolder before the actual product, like "People - Genesis 2 Female - Clothing - YourVendorName - YourProduct".

Now you can add your New Product as both a Poser Format and DAZ Format folder in DAZ Studio under Preferences - Content Library - Content Directory Manager. In Poser, add it as a new library to test your conversions.

The advantage of doing it this way is that you'll have a new isolated folder for each of your products. ZIP the whole thing up for distribution.

Let me know if this makes sense.
 

Dakorillon (IMArts)

Dances with Bees
Contributing Artist
You're very welcome!

Yes the folder setup can be a bit of a nightmare. You're on the right track indeed, but to avoid unnecessary duplication I would probably setup a brand new folder somewhere outside your existing My Library. Say create "New Product" on your desktop.

So it doesn't have to be inside the "My Library" folder? Won't that cause it to not find items? For example, sometimes, even though I did a drag and drop to install 3rd party content, it can't find textures (the most common) because the cr2 is "looking" in the wrong place. Then you have to edit the cr2 to find it, or go searching everytime you load it up.


Inside that folder, create a Poser Runtime structure. It consists of a new folder called "runtime", and three subfolders inside runtime called "Geometries", "libraries" and "textures" (note the capitalisation, it once was important to Poser).

DAZ Studio files can technically be saved anywhere, but to make it consistent with the folks at DAZ, create a "People" subfolder in your "New Product" folder. Let's assume you're making clothing for Dawn, then create "People - Dawn - Clothing - YourProduct" and save all your DAZ Studio files there. If you're making something for Genesis 2 Female, create "People - Genesis 2 Female - Clothing - YourProduct" respectively. Some vendors create their own subfolder before the actual product, like "People - Genesis 2 Female - Clothing - YourVendorName - YourProduct".

This all makes sense. I've been trying to use the Hivewire structure that they provide in the creator kit. It is set up this way. I just wasn't sure where to put it. I do have some questions there, too, but I will address them to LisaB or Alisa when the time comes.

Now you can add your New Product as both a Poser Format and DAZ Format folder in DAZ Studio under Preferences - Content Library - Content Directory Manager. In Poser, add it as a new library to test your conversions.

Okay, this part I didn't know. Can you add it from the context menu, too? Or is that a different thing?

The advantage of doing it this way is that you'll have a new isolated folder for each of your products. ZIP the whole thing up for distribution.

That is exactly what I'm looking for! I know when I tried the first time, all kinds of things got lost, I've been doing better, but it is a really slow process to gather stuff, i think if I can get this down that it will really help things!

Let me know if this makes sense.

I really appreciate it! And I think it will help other new people who are as lost as I was!

Now if I can just find a couple of Poser testers!

PS. - my replies ended up inside your quote, please expand to see them.
 

Jay Versluis

Admirable
That's great to hear! I may compile this as a blog post on my website too, just in case anything every happens to this thread :)

And indeed, you can add those directories via the context menu too - it brings up the same Content Directory Manager as the Preferences menu.
 

Dakorillon (IMArts)

Dances with Bees
Contributing Artist
That's a great idea. So it's more coherent, than someone coming in on the end of a conversation!

okay, thanks! I might hit you up later if I run into snags.
 

quietrob

Extraordinary
Will this create PMD and Geometry files? I had converted a product before and I switched external drives. Now it's asking for a PMD file that doesn't exist. Where would I even find the OBJ files. Sometimes it asks for those too.
 
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