I've attached a screenshot of the Content folder located in the first of two zip files that come with the starter essentials.  Which of these folders do I need to load Genesis 2 without the fluff taking up space in my Library?

My suggestion is to keep it there. Unless you know exactly what files does what, you're going to make a mess of your install. 

My only suggestion if you must is to buy a tool from Dimension3D which is used for packaging up products, but it gives a listing of what's related so you know what to remove... but it's not guaranteed to be perfect.

The two that matter, currently, are the Data and Runtime folders - the Runtime merges with the current Runtime in the content directory, if it's in use already, and the Data folder sits alongside. The others are DS library files which you don't need, though you can access them with Dimension3Ds Python script that launches the DSON Importer from a file browser (can be useful for sets that don't have PoserCFs).

Quote - My suggestion is to keep it there.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen, not if I can help it... I prefer keeping my Library well-organized and fluff-free.

Quote - The two that matter, currently, are the Data and Runtime folders...

Thank you.

To clarify the thread title for anyone reading this, the screenshot I posted is from the Genesis 2 Female Starter Essentials.

There are four folders in the data folder:

Bobbie25
DAZ 3D
FWDesign
SWAM

The only one that appears to have anything directly to do with the G2 base female mesh is DAZ 3D.  I presume I'm ok deleting the other three.

Incidently, I noticed a similar folder structure in the G2 Male Starter Essentials, and the original Genesis Starter Essentials that I grabbed last October.

Am I correct to understand that all I need to use any of the Genesis figures are their data and Runtime folders?

Yes. Only the 'data' and 'Runtime' folder. But start to read the manual before you ask the next question about installing DSON:

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dson_importer/poser/userguide/dson_installation_requirements/tutorials/dson_installation/start

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dson_importer/poser/userguide/dson_importer_usage/tutorials/using_dson_importer/start

And keep in mind that you need DAZ Studio for creating your own Poser companion files! Because you can and will convert clothes from M3/V3 or M4/V4 to Genesis (M5/V5) or Genesis 2 (M6/V6) in a few easy steps. But you don't need DS's 'Camera Presets' etc. for that. :-)

Discalimer:  Its not my fault if it goes boom!

You will have to look over this carefully before doing it but it can be done.  The DAZ Studio library listed under Content can be organized any way you see fit.  The overall file folder structure is done the way it is so there is a standard for all PAs to follow but as the end user its not required to adhere to it.

1. In the Data folder, go to the DAZ3D folder and remove the folder for the basic wear.  Remove also the other 3 folders as you are aware of.

2. In the Runtime folder, find and remove the textures you dont need.  Keep the support folder only if you want to.

3. In the People folder, delete only what is not related to the figure.  There is a character in there so dont delete that.

Quote - > Quote - My suggestion is to keep it there.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen, not if I can help it... I prefer keeping my Library well-organized and fluff-free.

Yes, but the comments you've gotten so far are the simplified ones.

Even though the main folders to remain are the runtime and the data directory, those files are interfaced from the other directories using DAZ user facing files... the .dufs, which access information found in the data and runtime files. So removing just those directories, leaves files that you may need if you do do decide to load up characters and textures. This leaves orphaned files, things that may not run, and a cluttered library. My suggestion about the Dimension3D tool is if you really wanted to clean up the files this will show files that are part of a particular product, because you just haphazardly delete directories, you will not have an organized file system as you want.  So you may think just simply deleting directories will clean up content, you're actually doing the opposite.

Quote - Even though the main folders to remain are the runtime and the data directory, those files are interfaced from the other directories using DAZ user facing files...

My suggestion about the Dimension3D tool is if you really wanted to clean up the files this will show files that are part of a particular product...

All I want is the base mesh, and whatever files are required for character morphs.  You're saying the D3D tool will help me identify only the files I need?

Quote - > Quote - Even though the main folders to remain are the runtime and the data directory, those files are interfaced from the other directories using DAZ user facing files...

My suggestion about the Dimension3D tool is if you really wanted to clean up the files this will show files that are part of a particular product...

All I want is the base mesh, and whatever files are required for character morphs.  You're saying the D3D tool will help me identify only the files I need?

The tool will help identify what files goes with which product so you can delete all the related files, but it's still a bit of work to get the determine all the products are in the install and the related files to go with it, hence my original comment. 

Somebody should go to DAZ and teach them the true meaning of : "End user friendly."

The only valuable excuse would be if they are in France.

All Frensh companies are specialists on how to make simple things super complicated.

Quote - The tool will help identify what files goes with which product so you can delete all the related files, but it's still a bit of work to get the determine all the products are in the install and the related files to go with it, hence my original comment. 

sigh...

Alright, thanks...

Quote - Somebody should go to DAZ and teach them the true meaning of : "End user friendly."

I agree.

Quote - Somebody should go to DAZ and teach them the true meaning of : "End user friendly."

The only valuable excuse would be if they are in France.

All Frensh companies are specialists on how to make simple things super complicated.

Actually the rigging and setting up characters is pretty easy. The thing I'm stressing is you need to understand how things set up before you just delete items since it is a shift from what you may be used to.

This is the similar tool for poser:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/runtime-zip-repair/50759/

The concepts of what i'm speaking of is no different, but knowing which files to delete for a product is the shift I'm speaking of.

I appreciate these exchanges because they are at the heart of my difficulties with Poser.  It is saying a lot for me to say that Poser is even more difficult to learn than Blender. THe file structure for Poser has always been my biggest nightmare with it, and I have screwed it up several times. Once you drop this Humpty Dumpty, it is really hard to put it back together.

Joey

Quote - I appreciate these exchanges because they are at the heart of my difficulties with Poser.

Poser's Runtime structure is actually quite easy to understand once you have a firm grasp of the basics.  By stark contrast, DAZ Studio's Content Library is much less strict, allowing users to arrange folders however they please.

The real trick is understanding how each system works.

That's a large part of why it took me three years to feel comfortable enough to create my first series of renders.  After reading horror stories about enormous, disorganized libraries, I wanted to make absolutely sure I knew where my content was and how to find it.

Here's a simplified tutorial for Poser's Runtime structure for anyone new to Poser who's reading this thread.  There are only three basic rules to follow.

There are three sub-folders under the main Runtime folder:

Geometries
Libraries
Textures

Rule #1 - Never touch anything in the Geometries or Textures folders.

Depending on what your content comes with, there are up to 9 sub-folders under the Libraries folder, which correspond with the categories in Poser's Library:

Camera
Character
Face
Hair
Hand
Light
Materials
Pose
Props

Rule #2 - Never touch any special sub-folders your content may add to the list above.

Rule #3 - How you organize your content within each of the sub-folders above is entirely up to you.

Thanks, but:

1. Are all of the subfolders under one of the top three folders or on the same level?

2. What do you mean by 'organize your content'? Anything in the Props folder must stay in the props folder, so what would I be organizing?

Thx,

Joey

Quote - 1. Are all of the subfolders under one of the top three folders or on the same level?

The hierarchy looks like this:

Runtime

• Geometries
• Libraries
  -- Camera
  -- Character
  -- Face
  -- Hair
  -- Hand
  -- Light
  -- Materials
  -- Pose
  -- Props
• Textures

Quote - 2. What do you mean by 'organize your content'? Anything in the Props folder must stay in the props folder, so what would I be organizing?

Quite right.  Props belong in the Props folder, morphs belong in the Pose folder, and so on.

However...

One thing vendors like to do is put the files for their products in a folder named after themselves.  These "ego" folders add an unnecessary - and often unwanted - layer of depth to the Library.  As your Library grows, you're not likely to remember whom you bought what from anyway, so you end up randomly clicking on vendor folders to find whatever item you want to use in your next project.  I experienced this first-hand when I started out and began adding content to my Library, and it drove me nuts.  You might also be inclined to develop your own method for organizing your content that isn't limited to whatever structure the vendor came up with. 

I always install new content in a temporary Runtime where I re-organize the files before moving them to my main Runtime.

For example, this is what the folder structure for Danae's Dublin character looks like (my comments in paranthesis):

Runtime

• Libraries
  -- Pose
  --- Danae (the vendor's name)
  ---- Dublin V4 (the character's name and which figure it's for)
  ----- Dublin (MAT files that don't use Sub-Surface Scattering)*
  ----- DublinSSS (MAT files that do use Sub-Surface Scattering)*
• Textures
  -- Danae (the vendor's name)
  --- Danae_DublinV4

I already know I can't touch the Textures folder, so I'm going to ignore it.  As for the Libraries folder, there are four things I'm going to do with it:

1 - I don't need or want any reference to the vendor's name when drilling down to the MATs in my Library, so I'm going to move the Dublin V4 folder up under the Pose folder, and delete the Danae folder.

2 - I have no use for the non-SSS MATs, so I'm going to delete the Dublin folder.  That leaves the DublinSSS folder.

3 - Since I already know the MATs I kept use SSS, I don't need the folder name to remind me, so I'm going to rename the DublinSSS folder to simply Dublin.

4 - Since I only have one set of MATs now, I don't need the Dublin V4 folder.  However, I do keep character morphs and skin shaders organized by the figure they were designed for, in their own Runtime, labeled Characters.  I use Victoria 4 as my primary base female figure, and have a Runtime folder with the same name, so I'm going to rename Dublin V4 to Victoria 4.

This is what my modified Runtime for Dublin looks like:

Runtime

• Libraries
  -- Pose
  --- Victoria 4
  ---- Dublin
• Textures
  -- Danae
  --- Danae_Dublin

I can now move that entire Runtime folder to my main Characters Runtime, and this is how the Pose category will look in Poser:

Victoria 4

• Dublin

This is what it would've looked like without my modifications:

Danae

• Dublin V4
  -- Dublin
  -- DublinSSS

Understanding how Runtimes work gives you the freedom to experiment and make finding your content a breeze.

• Sub-Surface Scattering (SSS) is a mechanism in which light penetrates the surface of a translucent object, is scattered by interacting with the material, and exits the surface at a different point. The Dublin character can use SSS to make her skin appear more lifelike.  It also comes with MATs that don't use SSS, which is what I deleted.