Best Practices for Daz3D torrent Titles & Descriptions

[Morlock]

How to upload Daz3d torrents: non-technical stuff.

TL;DR version:

1. Make a good title that has "Daz3d" at the beginning, the product name, and the figure/product requirements, if any.
2. Write or paste in a description of the product.
3. Paste in the URL (not a hotlink) to the product at the vendor's site.
4. Add an image link (a URL that leads to the image itself, not a web page hosting the image, is best) so we can see what we're downloading.
5. Take a few moments to make sure the content is organized well, and please include at least one image of the product, NEXT TO, not in, the archive). Put all your archives, images, etc., into one top-level folder; set up your archive so that it extracts a single, top-level folder, to minimize the mess of extracting; otherwise, keep nesting of folders and archives to an absolute minimum.
6. Don't bundle multiple products into archives.

Windy Version:

1.) Title: be descriptive! At a minimum, I think it's a good idea to prefix the torrent title with "Daz3d" or "DazPoser" (whichever the community prefers, I just think we should pick one and stick with it, even if that means using it in a way that doesn't make literal sense (like using "Daz3d" for Renderosity content). I also think its a good idea to put a keyword that best describes the content (Figure/Clothing/Hair/Poses/Scene/Prop/Misc or a similar list works for me), the name of the product as sold, and the figure or other product it's meant to be added onto (V4/G1/G2F/G2M/G3F/G3M/etc., or the name of the clothing/hair if it's a texture pack, etc.). Including the SKU/product code can't hurt, either, but if a title is otherwise complete, I can do without it.

IMO, the three must-have elements of a title are the search keyword ("Daz3d" etc.), product name, and the figure/product it requires, if any. DS/Poser content is like comics, there's tons of relatively small files involved (back in the day this is what eMule and the like were for, but I digress), so organization is a much bigger deal than it is for movies and TV shows. If you ever find yourself having to download massive numbers of DS/Poser torrents because you lost a hard drive, you will definitely appreciate descriptive titles that let you filter the stuff you do or don't want (e.g., in my case, V4 skins and poses) into or out of searches.

2.) Description: give us the TL;DR version of what the content is (or just copy and paste the product's description), including the basic content type (Original Figure, Conforming Figure (Clothing, Hair, etc.), Pose, Character (texture and/or shaping morph), Scene, Prop, Shader, Utility, Background Image,  etc.). In the absence of a proper, official product description, a word or two about genre (realistic/real-world, fantasy, sci-fi, fairy tale, BDSM, etc.) is nice, too; you don't have to be precise - just giving your impression is more useful than giving nothing. Some people are far more interested in one genre than another.

If it's designed to work with a figure (V4, Genesis 1, Genesis 2 male, Genesis 2 female, etc.), please TELL US WHICH ONE, preferably in the torrent title, or at the very least, at the top of the description in a prominent place. (I for one am in favor of replacing the long forms with the acronyms: V4, M4, G1, G2F, G2M, G3F, G3M; I also suggest ditching the A4/GND4/v4-subshape-here because only V4 users care, and if they're V4 users, my guess is they probably have all of the requirements installed anyway)

If it's for Iray/3Delight/Whatever only, or otherwise dependent on something we may or may not have or be interested in having, please let us know.

3.) Link to the product page. Personally, I prefer that these be plain text URLs (i.e., no hotlinking), because copying and pasting a URL is very quickly and easily done, but if they are hotlinked, they should work through some kind of link anonymizer.

4.) Images of the product are nice. Uploading them to hosts that allow direct links to the image itself, without having to load the bloated crap web pages typical of image hosting sites, is much appreciated. I would actually rather get a plain-text URL direct to an image on the product vendor's site, that I can paste into a new browser tab, than a hotlink to a bloated image host web page that takes forever to load on my dialup connection (yes, I actually download my torrents somewhere else ).

5.) Content: I for one really appreciate it if a product gets its own folder (naming it with something similar to the names used in the torrent and in the zip/archive file (if any) is a good idea). I also really appreciate it if that folder has at least one image in it (better than zipping it up with the product IMO) so I can quickly see what I've got on my hard drive if the file or folder names aren't ringing any bells.

Organization: I know people who upload to file hosting sites are fond of putting archives inside of archives, for various reasons. Torrents are not meant to be organized this way, please take a few moments to sort out the content so that it's in its own folder (with a sensible name, and a product image), and contained in only ONE zip/rar/etc. archive (with a sensible name), not several, and that when the user performs an "extract here" operation with 7-zip/WinRAR/etc., there is no unnecessary nesting of content. E.g., when the user extracts it, he doesn't get a Russian nesting doll of folders on his drive. That said, I do prefer one extra folder, at the top level (i.e., the folder containing all of the content in the archive, that you right-click on to make your WinRAR/7-Zip/whatever archive). That way, when you extract, things stay nice and tidy. I also personally prefer that stuff like readmes and other non-essentials not be put into the runtime/library folder (I've started deleting all that crap; if I need the readme, I can always check the archive), but now I'm just being picky.

Above I said contained in only one archive, I meant no nesting archives; many products come as sets of 2, 3, or more archives, and that's perfectly fine.

6.) Bundling: please don't ever zip/rar up a bunch of content into a single archive. The greater the number of products you zip into a single archive, the more baby unicorns are sent to Hell to be tortured for eternity. It forces downloaders to download everything, even if they only want 1 of the x products you've zipped together.

For a more detailed guide on how to structure content for uploading, see here:
Best Practices for structuring Daz3d torrents

Examples (the board doesn't like TinyURL type URLs, so replace the DOT with an actual dot; YMMV when actually uploading):

---

Torrent Title:

Daz3D Character Ingrid FR for G3F SKU 23629

Torrent Description:

Ingrid for Genesis 3 Female(s)
Product Page:
tinyurlDOTcom/z5dzyso
Product Image:
tinyurlDOTcom/hbrvku3
Daz SKU:23629

Ingrid is a cute and flirty character for Genesis 3 Female.

Iray & 3Delight material presets included.

https://pirates-forum.org/Forum-DAZ3D

---

Torrent Title:

Daz3D Hair Krayon Hair for G3F SKU 21938

Description:

Krayon Hair for Genesis 3 Female(s)
Product Page:
tinyurlDOTcom/zgmlgpl
Product Image:
tinyurlDOTcom/juy9om2
Daz SKU:21938

Krayon Hair for Genesis 3 Female(s) This beautiful and stylish up-do gives Victoria 7 anything from a casual sexy look to a more sophisticated appeal, all depending on you. This high quality and detailed hair comes in multiple colors to fit any situation.

Iray & 3Delight material presets included.

https://pirates-forum.org/Forum-DAZ3D

---

Torrent Title:

Daz3D Clothing Greenleaf for G3F SKU 22333

Description:

Greenleaf Outfit for Genesis 3 Female(s)
Product Page:
tinyurlDOTcom/h9zxvkc
Product Image:
tinyurlDOTcom/gnejucp
Daz SKU:22333

Greenleaf Outfit for Genesis 3 Female(s) features bold buckles take this pixie outfit from sweet and simple to strong and sophisticated. Give your forest female a fashionable look with this ensemble.

Iray & 3Delight material presets included.

https://pirates-forum.org/Forum-DAZ3D

---

Torrent Title:

Daz3D Character Ayunia for G3F SKU 24257

Description:

Ayunia for Genesis 3 Female(s)
Product Page:
tinyurlDOTcom/jja9hna
Product Image:
tinyurlDOTcom/hxhnqae
Daz SKU:24257

Meet Ayunia, a new female character for Genesis 3 Female(s) character library.

Ayunia is only optimized for Iray Uber Shader.

https://pirates-forum.org/Forum-DAZ3D

---

Torrent Title:

Daz3D Scene Abandoned District SKU 23591

Description:

Abandoned District
Product Page:
tinyurlDOTcom/jdhu3m3
Product Image:
tinyurlDOTcom/hq22fpk
Daz SKU:23591

Explore the abandoned district, with this kit containing nearly 60 accessories you can create your own abandoned district. Add or remove any accessories you want to get the perfect setting for your renders.

(Includes an Iray preset; not sure if this means the default assets as-loaded are 3Delight, or what.)

https://pirates-forum.org/Forum-DAZ3D

---

Torrent Title:

Daz3D Prop+ Sword and Poses for M7 SKU 23261

Description:

Sword and Poses for Michael 7
Product Page:
tinyurlDOTcom/zs8zlkq
Product Image:
tinyurlDOTcom/j4hgax9
Daz SKU:23261

This set contains a stylized modern sword with scabbard for Genesis 3 Male and 18 dynamic action poses designed for Michael 7.

Includes hand poses and material presets for Iray and 3Delight.

https://pirates-forum.org/Forum-DAZ3D

[Sid]

I would like to see a thread made about the non-technical aspects of a good Daz/Poser thread, and pinned at the top of this forum.

Please don't post about threads you would like to see. Create threads you would like to see.

Under the circumstances, splitting this to a new thread seemed appropriate /Admin

Not going to sticky it (at least not for now) because there aren't many threads anyway. And my experience of good practice guidelines is that the only people who read them are the people who don't need to. The ones too stupid/lazy to create "good" threads are the very ones who never notice or take the time to read guidelines.

[Morlock]

It's a thread about creating good Daz/Poser torrents, not about making threads. (Edit: I think I missed your point the first time through, which was that I should have just gone ahead and made my comment into a thread first. I suppose my original intent was to hash out the details of a good torrent; it's not like I'm the god of uploading or anything.)

You have a point about lazy/stupid/hurried people, but with a thread, at least commenters have something to link to when they want to point out to newbs/whatever that they can easily make their uploads more useful. Edit: and pinning this thread will make it easier for people to find and link to in torrent comment threads.

[ThunderHerd]

I pretty much agree with all your points. Definitely start with DAZ3D and/or Poser (and/or other programs like Bryce, VUE, Carrara, etc., depending on applicability, not that there are a lot of those around). Try to avoid just DAZ, or DAZ 3D (with a space), their search results catch a lot of other irrelevant stuff.

The title might get a little long if we always include all the prerequisites, though. Some requirements are extensive, in rare cases, so I would add a note in the description. I will put the product title and usually add figure requirements (like V4 or whatever flavour of Genesis) if there is some ambiguity for different products with the same name (especially hair, there's one for V4, one for Gn1F, one for Gn2F, one for Gn3F). (I use Gn1,2,3 for Genesis myself; something about Poser using G1, G2 for their own figures at some point). Many texture set add-ons have the base item included in the product name, some don't. I'll add a link in the description to the required base item torrent (if not already in the same torrent) if it exists (and it should if uploading an add-on, else, why are you uploading it?)

I scan my archives for SKUs, not names, as there can be differences in naming products (Vera for V4, Vera V4, Vera_V4, Vera-V4, and which one? FR, SV, LF, VH, LY?). The SKU's are unique for a given site, so, combined with the vendor name, they should be the primary key. Adding it to the title or description would be a time saver. A URL to the product (not hotlinked, as you say) makes it easy to get all the info you need about the contents if you want the full monty.

I try to test the items first (in DAZ Studio, I am not a Poser user) before uploading (I recycle a lot of stuff from direct download sites; circle of life, and all that) and will add some notes for Poser products that are "not tested in DAZ Studio" if there are any problems/considerations/showstoppers to know about.

[Sid]

Oops, my bad, sorry about that. Not sure how but I misread "torrents" for "threads". I've updated the title. [You can adjust it yourself it you want, by clicking Edit in the bottom right hand corner of your post.]

Don't worry about not being God. Nobody knows everything. The best way to find out more about something is to share what you know and invite feedback.

--

A couple of things I would add:

- TPB doesn't allow preview or editing of Descriptions so write up your description in NotePad (perhaps even Word; not for the formatting but for the spell/grammer checking) then copypaste it.

- If you do forget something, or make a mistake, just comment on your torrent. Or you can post in the Account Issues section of this forum and a mod will edit the description for you.

- People don't read huge amounts of text so it's generally better to err on the side of brevity than try to be fully comprehensive. I'm not talking extremes--simply repeating the torrent title and nothing else--but try to avoid people having to "Page Down". If they have to page down more than twice you can almost guarantee they won't do so.





EDIT. PS...I've just noticed what threw me--I was speed reading and in point 1 you say "thread" when you mean "torrent".

[Morlock]

Sid, no worries mate, thanks.

The title might get a little long if we always include all the prerequisites, though. Some requirements are extensive, in rare cases, so I would add a note in the description. I will put the product title and usually add figure requirements (like V4 or whatever flavour of Genesis) if there is some ambiguity for different products with the same name (especially hair, there's one for V4, one for Gn1F, one for Gn2F, one for Gn3F). (I use Gn1,2,3 for Genesis myself; something about Poser using G1, G2 for their own figures at some point). Many texture set add-ons have the base item included in the product name, some don't. I'll add a link in the description to the required base item torrent (if not already in the same torrent) if it exists (and it should if uploading an add-on, else, why are you uploading it?)

Yeah, moderation in all things. But for the vast majority of products, a simple V4/G3F/etc. will do. Just think of how many V4 texture + morph ("character") torrents there are. I have zero interest in any of them. Good labeling helps us all save time. You make a good point about hair (and sometimes clothes) that can be for multiple figures. But usually, products like that are just for two figures, so adding another three or four characters to say "V4/G2F" or whatever won't break the bank.

Yes, Poser had G1 and G2 years back, but I can't recall ever seeing a torrent for them.

I think linking to torrents for the required products is very nice, but not necessary. I for one don't mind having to run a site search to find a required product. I just would like to know what's in the tin by looking at the label, as it were.

---

I scan my archives for SKUs, not names, as there can be differences in naming products (Vera for V4, Vera V4, Vera_V4, Vera-V4, and which one? FR, SV, LF, VH, LY?). The SKU's are unique for a given site, so, combined with the vendor name, they should be the primary key. Adding it to the title or description would be a time saver. A URL to the product (not hotlinked, as you say) makes it easy to get all the info you need about the contents if you want the full monty.

I've been using a desktop search tool called "Search Everything" lately. I have it set up to catalog only my GC partitions and folders. It's lightning fast (as long as it isn't in the middle of its daily update, which you can schedule). You can sort results by file size, and I find that's usually the best way to get to the product I want quickly. Just using a couple of words from the product title is always enough for me to find what I want right away. Very general searches, like searching for everything for a character? Man, I have way too much content, way too poorly organized, for that. I'd get the phone book, hehe. We're talking several terabytes, with many redundancies for older (V3/V4 Daz exe installer days) content.

[Sid]

The more like-minded individuals you can attract to a place you can talk, the larger your pool of potential uploaders (and downloaders who seed) will be. So you might want to include a link to https://pirates-forum.org/Forum-DAZ3D along with some enticing text at the top or bottom of your descriptions as standard.

Links don't need to be enclosed in tags but, to be clickable, they need to EITHER be on their own line OR have at least two spaces before and after.

Perhaps someone with an existing or potential torrent could post their description here and others could take a stab at improving upon it? If you guys can agree on a standard it will look more polished and professional and will increase the number of downloads you get. You don't all have to agree but the more the better. Nobody is "the man" here so to get agreement you will have to be willing to compromise to some degree.

[Morlock]

Sid, you mean an example torrent title and description? Yeah, that's a good idea, I'll post one today.

[Sid]

Exactly. There is nothing like trying something "for real" to work out kinks in a theory of what "should be" done in theory.

So you post your best shot. If someone thinks they can do better they reply with a revised version.

[Morlock]

Yeah, I'll post a couple examples soon.

Also, I think posting a link to this forum is a great addition to the standard. You guys set aside a forum just for us, we might as well use it.

(Edit: moved the examples to the OP)