Exporting all content of a scene to a folder

3DMinh

Hi,

I'm looking for a commercial product or a method to export all content of a scene (figures, clothings, environment etc) to a local folder. This way when I'm working at a new computer on the project, I can copy everything without to reinstall all content on that computer. It will also help with the loading time.

Is there a way to do that? Thank you very much.

Best regards,

M

3DMinh

Hi,

I should have searched more carefully before posting. Seems like the content gatherer (https://www.daz3d.com/content-gatherer) would do what I want nicely.

I'm still open to other product recommendation, especially when the content gatherer is not on sales :D. 

thenoobducky

Nice find, didnt know content gatherer existed. I made something similar recently but on a per package basis. It create file link rather than copy the actual file, but the functionality should be very similar. Link in my signature.

 

You could write your own script, Daz scene file is basically gzipfile that contain json that you can parse to find the files it references. Then you can scan all base directories to find the absolute path to the file. Maybe recurse it to find other files that are referenced.

 

almahiedra

The PA of Content Gatherer pass away.  

Jason Galterio

GiGi_7 said:

The PA of Content Gatherer pass away.  

I heard that, but I wasn't positive. So didn't want to say.

Jason Galterio

Keep in mind that Content Gatherer does not work with DAZ Connect items and may not work with DAZ Central.

If you are going to buy it, try it out immediately after purchase to make sure it works. It was released in 2013 and may not keep pace with current DS releases.

Richard Haseltine

Bear in mind that if DS has been allowed to connect it will know which items from Daz you own(ed at the time) and, as long as they are Connect compatible, it will offer to download and isntall any missing items.

Jason Galterio

Jason Galterio said:

Richard Haseltine said:

Bear in mind that if DS has been allowed to connect it will know which items from Daz you own(ed at the time) and, as long as they are Connect compatible, it will offer to download and isntall any missing items.

Incorrect.

Content Gatherer will not archive or list any files that are DAZ Connect, presumably because of either the encrypted status or the location of the files. I'm not clear on which is the issue.

However, I do know that CG will only work with products that were installed through DIM or manually installed. It ignores all others.

Unless you are referring to the ease at which to resume archive projects, which I presume DAZ Connect could handle. Though my main issue with resuming archived projects was the missing auto adapted geometry files. I do not know if Connect can restore those. Or if you need to load each item in individually to recreate the geometry files.

Jason Galterio

A couple of other things that I only remembered after the fact...

The beauty of CG was it is able to locate all files used in a DAZ Studio project file; the auto adapted data files, custom textures, imported models, and 3rd party models.

When you create a ZIP archive of the used files, CG will recreate the directory structure, even if it spans multiple install locations / drives. This way when you unzip the archive, all the files will be in the right place and DS will see 99% of them automatically. So no "unable to find file, locate?" messages.

If you unzip to a place that is recognized in the Content Manager then this is even more foul proof as all the Data and Runtime files unzip to where DS expects to see them.

The problem is that CG was designed for 2013 era DS save files; so it doesn't know how to handle DAZ Connect or (most likely) DAZ Central files. There is also the potential that future DS versions will change the way Save files are written, which would most likely break CG. With the developer deceased, it's unlikely to be updated.

The product description really should be updated to reflect the lack of DAZ Connect compatibility, but it is what it is.

Richard Haseltine

Jason Galterio said:

Jason Galterio said:

Richard Haseltine said:

Bear in mind that if DS has been allowed to connect it will know which items from Daz you own(ed at the time) and, as long as they are Connect compatible, it will offer to download and isntall any missing items.

Incorrect.

Content Gatherer will not archive or list any files that are DAZ Connect, presumably because of either the encrypted status or the location of the files. I'm not clear on which is the issue.

However, I do know that CG will only work with products that were installed through DIM or manually installed. It ignores all others.

Unless you are referring to the ease at which to resume archive projects, which I presume DAZ Connect could handle. Though my main issue with resuming archived projects was the missing auto adapted geometry files. I do not know if Connect can restore those. Or if you need to load each item in individually to recreate the geometry files.

I was talking about what DS will do on its own, without the need for copying bundles of content over.

Jason Galterio

Richard Haseltine said:

I was talking about what DS will do on its own, without the need for copying bundles of content over.

Yes, DS automatic functions in this regard is problematic at best.

To avoid some of this, the first Content Directory in my configuration is empty. That way any time DS decides to create data files, they end up isolated there. Makes it easier to back them up periodically because its almost impossible to recreate them.

Richard Haseltine

Jason Galterio said:

Richard Haseltine said:

I was talking about what DS will do on its own, without the need for copying bundles of content over.

Yes, DS automatic functions in this regard is problematic at best.

To avoid some of this, the first Content Directory in my configuration is empty. That way any time DS decides to create data files, they end up isolated there. Makes it easier to back them up periodically because its almost impossible to recreate them.

No, I was saying that if you load a scene (or preset) that requires Daz content that the system knows you own (because you connected after the purchase) then DS will offer to install it for you, which reduces the need to worry about collecting and transferring the content or trying to remember which products to install.

3DMinh

thenoobducky said:

Nice find, didnt know content gatherer existed. I made something similar recently but on a per package basis. It create file link rather than copy the actual file, but the functionality should be very similar. Link in my signature.

 

You could write your own script, Daz scene file is basically gzipfile that contain json that you can parse to find the files it references. Then you can scan all base directories to find the absolute path to the file. Maybe recurse it to find other files that are referenced.

 

I'll definitely check this out. Thank you so much.

Thanks all for the reply.