What is the purpose in having to "initialize" some of the DAZ figures after installing them? I'm guessing that it's a form of copy protection. Is that correct?

Thank you in advance,
Dkal

Initializing will make the models ready to accept morph packages. 

The real question is why are they not statically able to accept morph packages? What is it about the installation that requires the final step?

For example, I installed V4 long ago in a V4 runtime. I have copied that runtime from one computer to another as I've retired each and replaced with a newer model.

When setting up my new machines I have not preserved the absolute paths. I have changed my mind about where I keep my runtimes repeatedly.

Since I was perfectly able to zip up the whole V4 kit and "install" it on a new computer, in a completely differently named folder, without running the Daz initialization script, I fail to see what needs to be initialized after unpacking the files from the installer.

I understand that the installer is not finishing the job and you are instructed to run the batch script. What I don't understand is why it is done this way.

Intializing only apply to figures using ExP technology.  The script rewrites new morph channels in CR2 in default location only.  Saved figure in other location not affected.  It is helpful to avoid some 3rd application overwriting channels supposed to be reserved.

I understand that the add-ons using exp basically add new morph channels so that they do not have to be pre-defined. So a morph package add-on needs to hack the cr2.

But why does the base V4, without any add-ons, need hacking?

Quote - But why does the base V4, without any add-ons, need hacking?

I get V4 when first coming out and it not need such.  I think some happens during V4 to V4.2 to make necessary.

I'm not even sure if init script bother version below 4.1

Quote - I understand that the add-ons using exp basically add new morph channels so that they do not have to be pre-defined. So a morph package add-on needs to hack the cr2.

But why does the base V4, without any add-ons, need hacking?

Technically there is no reason that I can see why DAZ should require this for the base V4 without any add-ons. Perhaps it's just laziness on the part of DAZ. Personally I prefer to take a kinder view. Perhaps DAZ just wants to get us used to using the updater, so it does not come as a surprise when we purchase new content.

Strictly speaking the updater does not "hack the cr2". Let's take V4 as an example. The cr2 contains two readScript lines for each actor. One line points to a pz2 that contains a list (as readScript calls) of all channel groups for that actor, and the other line to a pz2 that contains a list of all the channels for that actor. These first level pz2 files are in the "libraries!DAZVictoria 4 folder. The the updater bat (eg "DzCreateExPFiles-V4.bat") starts a process that writes these first level pz2 files on the basis of what second level pz2 files are available in the  sub-folders of the Victoria 4 folder.

Any rate dkal, that's also the answer to your original post. The initialization is there so V4 can use add-on packages (that use ExP technology) without the need to to apply the packages each time you load V4.

By the way, Cage has a script "morph_slot_maker1g.py" that can add new targetGeom (morph) channels to a figure in Poser. You select the figure, run nthe script, select the pz2, and the script adds any missing channels to the figure. In my opinion this is a superior method to both ExP and PMD technologies.

Thanks, lesbentley, and all. Boy, was I wrong!

:-)

Dkal

Thanks, LB.

Well my feelings on it are that it's clever and all, but at a price that it can and does create problems.

That's my polite way of saying  it's stupid as f***.

I had a bitch of a time installing it the first time, and the same thing with M4 later on.

Like BB, I installed V4 (and since then M4) and all that Morph ++ crap a few years ago and just copy it and move it as I see fit. I'm using it on the 4th PC now since I originally bought it, and it's been on I don't know how many different drives since then, or how many different paths. In the end, all Poser cares about is the runtime structure.

DAZ could just as easily create a zip or rar file for the entire thing, but I guess they just prefer taking the overly complex route that has no benefits and creates problems. As far as I know, an .exe installer has no advantage over a compressed archive file, except in the case of  complex installation needs such as registry entries. The only reason I can see for it is because with a .exe, it can be added to the computer's uninstall list.

I suspect that's actually the reason they do it, so they have some semblance of a means for an agreement for people who want refunds - to supply an uninstaller in the event they want their money back.

Even so, it's a waste of time and effort IMO.

One major problem is you can't have any other !DAZ folders or other Victoria 4 cr2s on your machine as it messes up the initialization process. I found that out the hard way.

Everything was working perfectly until I decided to install an EXP fix for V4's armpits. Went and re-initialized V4 as per the instructions and broke her. I loaded V4 and it only showed up as a Base figure. I added her morphs and nothing, I couldn't even add any of the A4,S4,G4 morphs!

Okay, started a new scene and Loaded everything again. This time they took. What the heck!!!!! Okay, now I closed Poser 7 and tried again...... same outcome. By now I'm slightly ticked and I decide to save a new cr2 with all the morphs and closed Poser. Restarted Poser and loaded my new cr2.... Yay it worked, but I'm still not happy. The worst part is all the advice I got was that you have to reinstall V4. Huh??? She worked fine before, why now?

Skipping forward 1 week and 3 reinstalls, I began to wonder what was causing this erratic behavor and dug through my hard drive and couldn't find anything amiss. Finally, it dawned on me that I had installed Carrara 6 Pro on my system which has its own Runtime with a base Victoria 4.1 cr2 which is supposedly optimised for Carrara. Also there was another !DAZ folder for EXP morphs. I deleted both and low and behold V4 loads the way she used to.

For some stupid reason whenever I loaded V4 in Poser it would refer to the !Daz folder in Carrara and not where I had installed her, picking up just the base figure. Now surely someone somewhere knew this. But why isn't anyone told, DON'T HAVE 2 Victoria 4 CR2S OR 2 "!DAZ" FOLDERS ON YOU SYSTEM? I didn"t know that the Carrara installer was going to install another V4 on my system.

You can save her out with a different name though, just not Victoria 4.

One Quick note.... I didn't have any problems with M4 and morphs++ as there was only one instance of his cr2 is installed on my machine.

I just installed M4 yesterday and was wondering the same thing.

Mind you, my previous experience was with Poser4, so ALL of this was overwhelming and frustrating. Hundreds of files and strange apps wanting to do things that had no explanation.

So should I keep this ExP application on the Hard Drive?

My m4 wont take any morphs..I load m4, then morph++, look in the charecter morphs menu and nothing. Luckily I have previous ver. of M4 saved with various morphs and they work fine. But now I cannot create a new m4 and add the morphs I want. Any suggestions?

Quote - My m4 wont take any morphs..I load m4, then morph++, look in the charecter morphs menu and nothing. Luckily I have previous ver. of M4 saved with various morphs and they work fine. But now I cannot create a new m4 and add the morphs I want. Any suggestions?

Write a nasty letter to DAZ? ;-)

No ideas here. I remember I had major problems getting M4's ++ morphs to load the first time, and in the end, after many tries, it finally took and I just saved the figure and never worried about it since.

So I have a base V4 and a base M4, both with the ++ morphs loaded completely, as well as their normal base morphs. All the figures I've made from them since then have been based off those two originals, so that's the only suggestion I would have for you.

Since you already have one fully loaded M4, you can use the "Zero Figure" option in the Poser Figure menu to zero all joint bends and morph dials and then save that zeroed figure and just use it as a base for future characters. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you have or what you want to do, you shouldn't need to ever have to load those morphs again once you have a cr2 saved that has all of them loaded.

thanks..I just wanted to create one with morphs I needed..My old ones have all these extra crap I dont use often.

Quote - thanks..I just wanted to create one with morphs I needed..My old ones have all these extra crap I dont use often.

There's a way to remove all the morphs you don't want, but it involves editing the cr2. I'm not sure how though. You might want to ask around here about that.

There are also utilities for doing that with a GUI, such as Morph Manager. I think that's what it's called.

Why you do it simple if you can complicate and DAZ is the master in complication.

Exe installers, bat activation and runscripts, a perfect combination with Windows 64 ProgramFiles folders redirection.

DAZ figures now comes with an almost empty cr2 without joint parameters, JCM channels and morphs, deformers and without any morph channel. You have to initialize the empty cr2, so it will have the required channels that without them all the runscripts don`t work.

You only need to do it once, once you have the base figure, save it somewhere, you can add or remove morphs.

The other alternative is to mount your cr2 by hand with a text editor, all you need is in the !DAZ folder. Is a lot of work and patience, but you can add or remove any update or expansion without any problem and without Windows error message.

The only drawback is if you add new Exp morphs, the saved cr2 won't accept them. Only the original Victoria 4 cr2 will, making you go through the process all over again.

Elfwine, I know what you mean. I was using Poser 4 up until a few month ago when they were selling Poser 7 for $39. I'm still figuring thing out. You don't know how many times I was totally confused with all the new features. But thanks to people like BagginsBill, Les Bentley and the rest of the gurus, things are really coming together now.

One thing I found interesting is that, while I was having trouble with V4 in Poser, she would load perfectly in Daz Studio using the morphloader. Hmmmm... I'm not pointing fingers but, if something is advertised to work a certain way, it should. I understand Daz is in business and makes it money on add-ons for its base figures and software that are given away for free. But purchased content should work in the programs specified. I don't want a refund, I want it to work as promised. I happen to prefer Poser over Daz Studio. I like prefer Posers renders over Daz Studio and I can save scenes in Poser that port over to Daz fairly easilly (except material room shaders). But Daz to Poser isn't possible without other utilities and scripts.

I'm sure Daz is aware of the problem... Try googling morph++ won't work. It's probably too late to fix the problem now anyway. Let's just hope for better next time or of course we could just use one of the other figures. Unfortunatly if you a content creator and want to make any money, you have to go with the current star and right now it's Victoria 4.

I'm done ranting now

As soon as you get your custom V4/M4 character all set up with all the morphs you want, a brand new pack will come out and you'll have the joy of starting all over again.

It's horrible.

If you have a custom character you can add the new morphs with a text editor, you only need to create channels with the name of the new morph and the injection poses will work.

targetGeom NewMorphName

{

}

targetGeom NewMorphName2

(

)

and so on

It is weird, most people I kno whave never had any problem with the set up but I do see lots of issues. For me it is install, run the script. Done.

That's why I became so confused. Everything installed and worked perfectly for me. I only ran into problems after running the initialization script to register the new EXP morphs. As I said before, inbetween the time I installed V4 and morphs++ to my machine and the shoulder fix, I installed Carrara. That installed a second v4 to my system. Funny thing is, I don't remember having a popup reminding me to initialize that one. Since I really never used Carrara's built in library, I never knew it was in there.

Things were running happily along for months and I was blissfully unaware of what was going to happen after I ran the script again. I for one do read the readmes to insure everything is installed as its supposed to be. There isn't anything in there about a conflict with other versions of Victoria 4. Of course it could be a Win7 problem too. All my runtimes are in My Documents except the Carrara runtime which I never knew existed until recently. I hardly even use Carrara. I think the last time I used it, my daughter wanted me to make her an award for learning her bike and was just playing with it to see how well it rendered. I really haven't done much else with it.

I'll give Daz credit for thier support crew. They have always been quick to respond to me if I have a problem. But with different computer configs and and OSs, it can be hard to pinpoint a problem. At that point all you can do is listen to the advice and eliminate the possibilities one by one.

How did run the updater after installing the morphs? If you used the desktop shortcut it's possible that that's pointing to the file in the Carrara content rather than the one in the Poser content. If you go to Runtimelibraries!DAZ in the folder you installed the full v4 to and double-click the DzCreateExPFiles-v4.bat file there does that help? How about if you remove the Runtimelibraries!DAZVictoria 4 folder in the Carrara folder (don't delete at this stage, just rename it or move it elsewhere)?

Thank you for the reply Richard.

Actually I ran the DzCreateExPFilesv4.bat in my Daz Studio runtime, located in My Documents. That's where I keep all y generation 4 figures and accessories. I ran the one on my desktop, which was pointed at the correct bat file and that didn't solve the problem. So I ran the script directly from the !Daz folder and that didn't fix it either. So for some reason on my machine neither were working properly. First I renamed the !Daz folder in my then and the cr2. Finally that cured my problem. I decided to delete those files since I really wasn't using them anyway. V4 has been back to normal for over a month.

As I said before, what was really puzzling me was that the first time I loaded V4 in Poser, she would load as Victoria 4 Base without morph channels. I would start a new scene and she would load with the morph channels showing. I couldn't even add A4,G4 or Stephanie since V4 loaded without morph channels.

Another point, if I loaded any of the add on figures directly from their cr2s, I would end up with something that looked as if I was combining figures such as V4's body with A4 head and V4 eyes. Thats's what lead me to believe I had a conflict somewhere on my machine. Somehow Poser was reading the Carrara cr2 and not the Studio cr2 since the Carrara cr2 was a base figure. For some explicable reason on the second try, it would read the correct one.

I'm almost sure it was a Poser problem, but everything from the bat file links to the cr2 were pointing to the correct files. All I know is after I rename those files everything went back to normal. It had to be the way Poser reads relative runtimes compared to Daz Studio. I've read some where that if a file isn't referenced correctly Poser will look for the next closest one with that name. And since Carrara's runtime is in Program files, it may have grabbed that one. I still have my Poser 4 runtime on my machine and if I look at the file properties in P3dO, P4 woman uses the p4nudewoman.obz file from Poser 7 rather the p4nudewoman.obj file in my Poser 4 runtime. Seems strange doen't it? I'm just so used to absolute file paths that I just automaticaly think that way.

Poser doe seem a little more prone to grabbing the wrong version, though I have seen reports of DS doing it (at least when the wrong version is in a mapped directory).

Oh joy ... my two purchased actors are V4.2++ with Akio on top .. and they will only load rigging ... I have a nice view of rigging bones, nothing esle shows.   parameters have visible checked ..

I have Rebelmommy's Harmony and Verde from Renderosity, and am trying to put them into Powerage's Fantasy Cult clothing package .. but one can only see the bone rigging ... 

This is Poser Pro 2012 which our crazy budget finally allowed me to buy!

... and I am eager to get started (am reading the manual .. page  by page --almost).

But why is my purchased stuff to run over DAZ figures ...  "Invisible" (actually the texture maps show in the side pannel, but no actors are in the room which I can see?

Casual from P-8 loaded with no issues at all -- and did all the tuts without incident!!

I have the colorful "Props for Egypt" (Black Rain's Artifacts) and the same thing happens .. only bones.  Am I missing some essentail newbie thing, like a make visible param which I did not find?  Must I back up the overhead camera --- half way to the moon?

I did run the DAZ initializer when prompted, and I did run the shortcut placed on the desktop.

Someone called the Readmes "annoying" instead of "pertinent", soooo ...  I have not read them.

Any help appreciated.

1. .. Oh, I should add, I put a "bogus" Poser.exe text file in a folder in My Docs and unzipped all the DAZ items there, and then asked the Library to load them ...

2. .. I then deleted a bunch of dot DAT files from the machine, and I have many "?" and "(0)" in the library now, and no files? ..

There are not any files in Poser named DAT are there? .. this is an old issue and the machine will likly have to get a new HD.  It is on schedule for maintenace in Jan --when I can get a house call.

1. .. And how does one delete a bogus folder from the new Library? ... I aimed incorrectly and have an empty folder which is just my error. 

Thanks in advance.

WC, can you actually post a screencap of your problem?

Sure!

A few screen captures coming right up!!  They will be over on DA, in Scraps, but that is about the best place to put them that I have.

1. empty library?

2. only rigged  bones?

3 empty room seen from 400X overhead?

1. Daz unzip-here folder?

.... I should ask .. is there anything in particular you want me to take a capture of

that is .. is there some area/space/place which would be more helpful to see?

... ...

Thanks!

Ok ... you can start here .. first 13 images are "Poser issue"

[Please note .. I don't yet know even a small smattering of the bells, whistles and menus in PP2010 ... I have no idea what is there ... but it seems like the actor should load to the Pose Room  ...?]

And I did not get any  "ungrouped to bones polygons" warning messages when working with Casual female from Poser 8 for the tuts.

http://wcsallysally.deviantart.com/gallery/#_browse/scraps

So ... start in this folder and you can open and save any you like, "the download button" will launch a new window with the full size image in it ... for a good look!

You can close the window without downloading -- it is not automatic -- just a perk, because they now limit viewing size, otherwise.

Thanks!!

The Setup Room is only for rigging models, it is not the area for actual posing and model manipulation.  The Pose Room is where you want to be.  However, it looks like your main camera is pulled back too far.  I suggest to restore it either through Edit>Restore>Camera or resetting your factory preferences under General Preferences.

This may seem like a silly question, but are you loading v4 in the setup up room? That's what I gather from the pics. You will only get the bones if the cr2 is loaded in there.

The Setup room is for creating new Poser figures from scratch from an imported mesh. Say you made an article of clothing in a modeling progam for v4 then import it into Poser and then into th Setup room to add v4's bones by clicking v4's cr2. Usually you want to be in the Pose room when you load stuff from the library.

Opps. Hborre answered while I was typing.

Awesome .. it is just an import actor error .. whew, relief!!

I did pull the cameras back, because I thought maybe there was something on the sides of the room ... go and read every menu time ...

I searched through both the manual and the turorial documents for import actor or add actor, or add character (maybe?) ... and could not find anything about how you put the first character in .. of course the tutorial should have been a dead give away ... trying to over-think, maybe? blush  ... Nuts and bolts room only for nuts and bolts work!

Thanks ... I will no doubt be right back with more silly questions, but for now .. I will go and try again!!

Oh, about those .dat files.... were they in the figures folder?

If so I believe they are joint data for the universal poses. They are sets of poses that are supposed to work on almost all of the figures availiable. There are a few other .dat files for uninstallation. so I would be a little warey of deleting stuff. Since I'm still too poor for Poser Pro 2010, I'm stuck with Poser 7. But I have 230 .dat files in my Poser folder and they may be needed if I wanted to convert a v4 pose to work with Sydney or any other figure, because their joints are different. That's what most of those .dat files are for.

I have had .dat files since 1999, but they were a Trojan byproduct! The -ExpDel- DAT files have been big trouble for me!  I just toss them, but you sometimes have to put a semicolon in front to kill them --they come back.  These were mostly AV utility "install" files --without valid icons!! .. Utilites get targeted something terrible these days!  My DAT file issue is left over from an Old Trojan and sometimes it gets a quick breath of life ('white listed bad things' from dot net?), and the AV must kill it all over again.

Have you opened those DAT files and looked to see if they are "really" Poser files?

(... buying stuff, stick $20 in your sock drawer every pay day, or more if you can --slow but steady!  I learned to love rice and tahini; and rice and scrambled eggs!) 

I have now spent several hours in PP2010 .. some nice, some very tedious, and some spooky .. I seemed to lose control of the cameras somehow, and things got very dicy ... more work, more practice, **more focus!! **

**
**

If I close a scene without saving, I lose the Pose room interface??? .. odd?

Two quick question groups:

1.  How do I delete a folder from the library?  And does the library "only" work if I am on-line? ...

When I spend hours playing in the modeler, or PS or now Poser, ... etc, I turn off web access so I don't have to worry about it ('cause I just do)  -- then how am I going to load my stuff? -- if the Library dies?

Could not load Fabiana's beautiful reflective floors (mat files?) .. but the camera was driving me crazy, I could not get a perspective, and the main was under the table, and would not come out ... ?Which dials? ... much practice, I need much practice. 

Floors would not apply from the overhead camera angle in the Materials room ... Should things apply from there? or must I find a way to find them from the Pose room? .. they do not show in the library except in the Materials Room.

Question #2:

What is the easy way to move something across the scene? ...

None of the tools  seem to do this!!

The free option with the circles also seems to LACK a "travel with the mouse if you please" option as well!!  ARGH .. they did anything and everything except move over to the figure!!

...

I had a lot of floating clothing pieces which would not go back to the figure!  ... ["I'm sorry your clothes are floating over there, and your shoes simply will not get on your feet!"]  ... this is normal for newbies, right? 

Front, right, back, left, and around again ... trying to fit the metals.

... oh, and I could not find the drop down to parent the clothes to the figure .. that might have helped a bit.  I know about it, but could not find it. Even parenting the veils to the metal would have been OK!!

How about a help file which searches from voice requests?

The metal swirlies for the Priestess Outfits seem to fall inside the bod sometimes .. they translate out, if you are very, very careful ... and do not distort them. 

....Parent them how many pixels away from the skin? ... I read it, I forgot part of it. Only Akio is thin enough to wear them, anyway .. but still they slide into no clothes land.

All and all it is a very much better program than the Poser ? I tried in '99 (ages ago), or the Poser 5 I bought which would not run on the last 2 machines.  Poser 7 which I also have would not run on those machines either ... that is why I did not do anything until now.

But this version is very nice! 

I have much to learn, but it is a nice place to learn in.

WC, it is apparent that you haven't grasped the basic concepts using Poser.  I would strongly recommend that you read the reference and tutorial manuals which come with PP2010.  This is located on your HD where the Poser folder is residing.  Although, it may be a tedious read, the volumes will give you a comprehensive overview how to approach a meaningful and successful Poser workflow.

Also, be aware, some of the newbie questions you are asking have been answered before in separate, dated posts in the forum.  Use the search engine.  It is not the greatest, but it is functional. 

Another recommendation, until you become more proficient with PP2010, turn off Gamma Correction under your render settings.  Currently, you do not have complete understanding of it's function and how it influences your firefly renders.  Until such times, you are better off without it and it's frustrations.

To the questions, the easiest way to remove unwanted folders from the library is to use the icons on the bottom.  Highlight the folder and click on the '-' folder below.  If it is a runtime folder, then the removal icon can be found towards the upper right hand corner of the library.

No, you do not need to be online for the library to work.  You must allow internet access through any firewall or antivirus programs for the library to work, but it does not require an active internet connection.

To move models within your scene, first uncheck IK for both feet, and hands, if applicable, select the model, hold shift, and subsequently move the mouse.  IIRC, IK is found under Figure on your taskbar above.  Props do not have associated IK. 

Clothing come in 2 flavors, conforming and dynamic.  Conforming clothes are fully rigged for specific models and will assume the pose and morph shape when applied.  If you have problems with this concept, please respond in a separate post.  Dynamic clothing is best applied through animation within the cloth room.  Again, the clothing is modeled for specific figures, however this type is easier to dress a broader range of characters than conforming.  These versions are convered in the manual.

And just a matter of information, Acadia has put together a sticky post at the top of the forum which addresses most common tutorials, issues and instructions for Poser.  Peruse it's content, it may shed more understanding about how to done things better in Poser.

Parts of your response was very helpful to me too, hborre. Thanks!

I bought the very first version of Poser many, many years ago and upgraded probably to version 3 or 4 before losing interest because it was far too buggy and unstable and kept crashing. I hadn't really learned that much about using Poser back then. Was just playing with it and not serious. So now I'm back. Bought Poser 2010 which seems about 99% stable (on the Mac) but does obviously have a few bugs which I've learned to work around.

Any way, WCSALLY, I'm determined to fully learn Poser this time. There are plenty of free tutorials that can be found by doing a Google search. However, there is one very thorough and excellent set of video tutorials that I'm going to highly recommend to you. It's not inexpensive but I guarantee that it is very, very good. It's distributed by a company called Infinite Skills. Here's a link...

http://www.infiniteskills.com/training/learning-poser8-poser-pro-2010.html

There's also these tutorials for sale by a company called VTC...
http://www.vtc.com/products/Poser-8-Tutorials.htm

And there is another set of tutorials that are half the price of VTC's and Infinite Skills tutorials but they don't really appear to go into too much detail. Might be good as a basic introduction. They're by PhotoshopCafe and the running time is 2.5 hours (23 lessons). The running time of VTC's tutorials is 7.5 hours (117 lessons) and Infinite Skills tutorials run even 5.5 hours longer at 13 hours (240 lessons).

Here's a link to PhotoshopCafe's tutorials... 
http://www.photoshopcafe.com/video/products/poser8Intro.htm

All three products are downloadable or you can purchase them on disc. I didn't buy the VTC or PhotoshopCafe tutorials. I bought the Infinite Skills tutorials and so I can only really vouch for them and the Infinite Skills set of tutorials is excellent!

Good luck!
Dkal 

HBorre, I know, I am really new to the entire thing. I found the forum search, I will give it a try.

If these issues come up again and agian ... why are they not all together in one place?  Did Arcadia put up a new sticky?  I went through a couple of those stickies  last time here, and most of the links were very dead.  But if there is a new one .... great!!

I saw tutorial pages on SmithMicro also .. I have not plumbed those.

Sometimes people who have had a lot of experience give instructions which are very enlightening ... like when someone builds a tutorial with "intention" to show 3, 4 or 5 basic principles in one run through a project -- but does not say what they are, just leads you to discovery. --- We had such tuts for PSP many years back, and perhaps the tuts mentioned above will be similar.  I may invest in them, I may print out the manual as well.  (I am sort of a paper book person .. I am not sure why.)

I hope the shift key item works on other props and clothes in the scene (?if they are on free form tool?) ... that would be great! I keep having to close the file, which takes the Pose room away, and then I have to restart the program.  I mean the Pose Room  is "there" but it has no boundaries within it or tabs, as it does when you first open it.  If this is abnormal, let me know, I will Screencap it for you.

Gamma correction will be past tense as soon as I start again, thank you.

Dkal, thank you, too.  I do learn lots easier with tuts for some reason.  The one on Lynda.com could use an update.  But I think vendors now are supplying tuts with products ... which is wonderful.  I just have not read much, only done a few, and my basic instincts seem to be very wrong for using the interface ... but I will get past that.

Thanks gys, it is nice you are here. 

I will try not to be a pest, but if I get stuck, and search fails, I will bother you again ... ;-)