SKYLAB CHAT

[skylab]

It was a good thought, and I tried that first, was hoping it would save me the extra effort. But in the long haul, it might be good to have DS 2 on another drive altogether, so it's not loaded down with all the runtimes. I'm just putting the base figures in so that I can grab the poses...the DAZ Gen 2 and 3 models, and Apollo was all I used back then...I never really used P4 because I didnt' start using Poser until version 6, so I missed the P4 thing altogether.

 

[Seliah (Childe of Fyre)]

Ah... you didn't miss a whole lot with the P4 figures, to be honest. I did use them quite a bit back then during the Poser 4-5 years, but they relied very heavily on being able to make your own content (clothing) and the models just weren't as good back then as they are now, either.

I have a sentimental thing for them, and every so often I'll dust them off and play with them a little just for the heck of it. They do make good for background figures in busy scenes or scenes where you need crowds or background passers-by, though.

 

[skylab]

I had forgotten that V4 was already on around with DS 2...and they had gone to the interface change, which at the time I did not like...haha.

 

[skylab]

Oh yeah, I imagine so, being lo res....sorta like the LoRez figures at DAZ...I like those for fillers when I need them. What I like about them is you can opt to use the ones that have the clothing modeled to them, so it's way less mesh involved.

 

[skylab]

Wow, this is the version that was the worst for finding content...no wonder I only had the installation files...haha.

 

[Seliah (Childe of Fyre)]

LOL! I can't say much about that version of DS. It was one of many that I tested out, tried, and hated... and promptly dumped it... So I didn't use it long enough to learn whether or not to hate the content library.

 

[Miss B]

I started with DS 2, because the earlier versions of DS I didn't like at all. I prefer DS 3 Advanced, and with the extra layout/style Darkside, that was first introduced with DS 4.0 Pro, I like it as well, but only use it when I'm working with my Genesis 1 figures.

Since I never got into Genesis 2 or 3, I never upgraded DS past 4.0, and I don't miss it. I guess it's what you get used to, and everyone has their own preferences.

 

[skylab]

This was the version that no matter what you put in it, the only thing you could find was V.4...haha. I am finally seeing Apollo and Amante hair that I used a lot at the time...but I have yet to find M3 or David...I try using a zip to force it in the runtime instead of using the installer, then maybe it will work.

 

[skylab]

This just looks like it's going to be the Vicky Show...and may be useless for what I needed. I'll keep trying.

 

[skylab]

Yep, I think this was the version that I began thinking DS was hopeless...I may have to give up on this tonight and try again tomorrow...good grief. Since it's 32 bit, the limited runtime library is self-contained, and I even went under preferences and selected its own runtime to search and display...and it still can't find its own self with a flashlight....haha.

That's it for me tonight...see you all tomorrow

 

[Seliah (Childe of Fyre)]

Have a good night, Sky. Sleep well, and good luck on it tomorrow.

 

[Terre]

Good morning.
I hope you get that worked out, SKy.

 

[Miss B]

Afternoon Terre.

Sky, when you're back here today, I think I'm a bit confused as to which version of DS you don't like. I thought you and Seliah were discussing DS 2, but now I'm not sure.

As far as using a zip instead of an installer, are you talking about installing through DIM, or the old Bitrock installers DAZ used before DIM was developed. In either case, I always "install" to a dummy folder on my desktop, and then move items manually to my runtime, and I had all my older gen3 and gen4 characters in DS 2 on my previous laptop. This one didn't like DS 2 for some reason, so only got to install DS 3A and DS 4.0P here. I still don't have any problem installing any of my older characters.

That said, since DAZ started creating zips for use with DIM, I just unzip to a dummy folder on my desktop, rather than using DIM to "install" to the dummy folder on my desktop.

 

[skylab]

Hey Miss B I was speaking of DS 2, way before DIM management was an option. Back then, the only option was Bitrock installers, or as you say, installing into a dummy folder, then sliding the runtime folder onto the program. The issue really isn't any of that...you can pound the content in with a hammer, but it simply fails to show in the content library. That version was when DS went through it's first major interface change, and trying it once back then, I gave up on it, so I didn't follow through with any of the updates to DS2 that more than likely resolved some of those issues. Kinda like when Poser 8 first came out...and people were going okay, so where did the library go? Honestly, I think this one is not fixable, and I could re-create the pose and scene altogether in Poser in the time it would take me to work through it, so, after sleeping on it, I think that's what I'll do. I was just curious if there would be a way to use some of the old DS scene files to quickly save the poses, in order to salvage some of my early efforts at pose work. I did do the next best thing...while I had one of the scenes up is DS 1.4, I did screen captures at various angles to use should I decide to manually create the pose in Poser, since the lighting is deliberately set low in The Proposal scene.

Another reason to love old faithful Poser...no matter what version, content can be moved forward to the current version. DS is, however, incapable with even itself in some cases, with not even an import option. "What on earth were they thinking" comes to mind...oh well. So, I just have to accept that the first two years of work using DS is pretty much lost. Free software does have a price after all.

 

[Miss B]

Hey Miss B I was speaking of DS 2, way before DIM management was an option. Back then, the only option was Bitrock installers, or as you say, installing into a dummy folder, then sliding the runtime folder onto the program. The issue really isn't any of that...you can pound the content in with a hammer, but it simply fails to show in the content library.

OK, I don't do it quite that way. I don't slide the whole Runtime folder onto DS's Runtime folder. I manually go from folder to folder and copy/paste files where they belong. Takes longer, but I rarely install more than one or two items at a time, so doesn't bother me that much.

That said, the DS 2 version I first got involved with was the last/latest DS 2 update, and I was able to "refresh or update" my Content tab from within DS. You may have been trying to work with an older (possibly original) DS 2 version.

As far as your Poser 8 comment, the reason I got into DS at all was my absolute hatred of Poser 5's Library. I was thrilled with the later version of the Library I found when I installed Poser 9. I had bought Poser 7, but it was right around the time my old laptop died, so I never got to install it on this laptop, and then with the birth of Dawn, I waited for P9 to go on sale real cheap, and boy was I pleasantly surprised with the new, and to me, improved UI.

 

[skylab]

As it turns out, I learned on the old Poser 6 interface, and Poser 7 was my favorite version since it got rid of the "boxes" on the viewing screen, and posing could be done to the model itself. So I was rather upset by the Poser 8 interface, and docking panels flying all over the place. I still find that irritating, but I've gotten use to it...there's nothing more alarming, while doing very close pose work, to have your tools disappear, docking themselves in a ridiculous place, when all you wanted to do is move it "a little bit" across the screen. On the old interface the tools could just be smoothly slid around the screen anywhere without displacing other things...it was wonderful....oh well, another price of progress.

 

[Terre]

Good afternoon.

 

[skylab]

Hey Terre

 

[skylab]

Part of the purpose of my break time in between pose projects is to archive the previous projects and make room on my drive for the next series of projects. So I'm having a file copying day, and locating a few scene files to save time, in this case Dusk wearing longer hair....getting ready for a Dusk shepherd

 

[Terre]

Sounds good.