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Products with DJL files but no thumbnails

ColemanRughColemanRugh Posts: 511
in Daz Studio Discussion

I have bought several products that only have DJL files and no thumbnails: poses and hair mainly

Is there a way to turn the DJL files into thumbnails?

Otherwise you have no clue what action the button your clicking on represents.

Thanks

Comments

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,498

    The .djl file is just a pointer to the real asset. Edit one (it is simple text) to see where it is expecting the assets to be, which must be where it should be installed. If you move the originals, or the assets are installed in the wrong location, the .djl files will be useless.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 101,051

    If you want to move the files, don't - but make your own DJLs in the desired location, pointing back to the originals. There is a script to help with this http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/specific_ui/create_asset_links/start or for a few files you can just use the right-click options in the Content Library pane to copy/paste..

  • ColemanRughColemanRugh Posts: 511

    I have a pose set for G8F and G8M. There's no data files in this pose set.

    What purpose does it serve the customer to have djl files for the poses when a pose duf and a png to see what the pose is would be more user freindly?

  • ColemanRughColemanRugh Posts: 511

    Is it a thing where the thumbnails can only be seen if using the smart content pane?

  • RL_MediaRL_Media Posts: 339

    Usually I get rid of those djl files, and just copy paste the real files and thumbnails over, if it even makes sense to have them there in my custom file structure.

  • ColemanRughColemanRugh Posts: 511

    Thanks all who replied with help.

    Maybe I'm a knuckle dragger - ha ha - but I don't see how it helps customers.

    You can't move the djl files, but even where they are they don't help you because you don't see any preview thumbnails.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 101,051

    The thumbnails will show in any content pane, not just Smart Content. if they are not then the files are probably not correctly palced - you can make sure they are, or you can edit the locations in the DJL files with a text editor. In geenral this method avoids duplication, possibly saving a bit of disc space (more so with big files like scenes or characters than with poses) and certaainly making it easier to maintain the product (no danger of having an older version of a file left in one location). If you don't want it at all you can always repalce the DJL files with copies of the target presets and thumbnails.

  • NorthOf45NorthOf45 Posts: 5,498

    You can move the .djl files. In Studio, wherever you can see them, Smart Content, custom categories or Content Library, they will display like the original asset, thumbnail and all. They are used to avoid duplicating dozens of files that might be placed in more than one location. Otherwise, if you had to update files, for whatever reason, you would have to work on each copy. With these links, you only have to work on one file, and you save all the disk space you would need for all the copies. Some users might have terabytes of space and won't care, but there are some who complain of limited space, so, do what you want.

    And you haven't answered my first question. Where is the link expecting the asset to be located, and is it, in fact, where it is supposed to be (i.e., the relative library path in the link)? How did you install? Which product is affected? Maybe someone who has it can provide some insight. If there is a problem with the product, a help ticket will be required to get it corrected for everyone else.

     

  • IceCrMnIceCrMn Posts: 2,130

    I just had a look though my library for these files.

    Doesn't look like they are very popular among PAs because I didn't find many.

    Only 742 of them out of 5600+ installed products.

    All of them are 1k in size on disk, so 70.2KB of disk storage used according to WinDirStat.

    Opening a few of them with notepad++ I see it's a link to another file.

    The linked file is a preset in another folder.

    The preset file is many times larger on disk than the djl file is.

    I can see why these would be used when you have a product that can be used on multiple versions of Genesis characters for example that all use the same materials presets.

    Instead of duplicating a 300KB file, or more, in several places, the 1KB .djl file is a good storage space saver.

     

    Thank you for pointing these out, I didn't know about them until now.

    Using these .djl files will save alot of storage space.

    I hope more PAs start using them where appropriate.

     

  • mjlr2008mjlr2008 Posts: 0
    edited March 2023

    Everyone: this is a very ingenious and convenient solution.  When you have a product that works exactly the same with two or more different Genesis generations (male or female), why would a seller install the same product files again in two or more directories unnecessarily?  Therefore, why would you manually copy all files over from another directory, wasting disk space?  Just use a pointer to tell the Genesis 3 product icons, for example, where to find the same product in the Genesis 8 folder.  You can edit these files by right clicking > Open with > Notepad. Write the correct path (if you installed the product in your own directory) > Save.  Refresh DS and your icons will show.  Then you can click on the icons (in the Genesis 3 folder for instance) as if they had been installed in that folder.  This should be the installation norm when selling a product that is compatible with multiple figures (mostly hairs).

    mod edit: double post created in error was removed

    Post edited by Cris Palomino on
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