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Welcome to Fantasy3D product support. This page provides you with information and tips on how to install the Fantasy3D Font Machine.

If you saw an error message installing the Font Machine, select that message from one of the links here.

Already Installed - You'll see this error message if you run the python installation script "F3DFontMachineInstall.py" (found in your Poser home directory) again after it has already run successfully to completion.

What has happened here is that since you've already run the install script once there is already a button on your Poser python toolbar for 'F3D Scripts'. Rather than installing a duplicate button or overwriting the one that's already there, the script chooses to exit with this message.

If you need to reinstall the whole F3D Font Machine package, you may edit the file "Runtime/Python/poserScripts/mainButtons.py" and clear out the button labelled "F3D Scripts" (be sure to back up the file first before changing it!). Note: do not simply delete the line containing "F3D Scripts", but rather you must remove the text inside both of the quoted strings. If button #8 was the one set to "F3D Scripts", it will look like this before you change it..
poser.DefineScriptButton(8, ":Runtime:Python:PoserScripts:F3D:F3DScripts.py", "F3D Scripts")
You want to change it back so that it looks like this...
poser.DefineScriptButton(8, "", "...")
If you need more information about this, you will find a good tutorial on how to edit the file "mainButtons.py" over at the DAZ3D Poser Tutorial pages (link opens in a new window).

If you are uncomfortable using a text editor to modify the file "mainButtons.py", you may may want to contact us instead and we will be happy to provide you with further assistance.

Missing Directory - This error message will show up if the installation script can't find either of these two directories:
Runtime/Python/poserScripts/F3D
Runtime/Python/poserScripts/F3D/F3DText
These directories (and their contents) are probably missing because the ZIP archive was not installed correctly in the Poser home directory.

To install the archive, open up windows explorer and change to the folder where you have Poser installed. For many folks that will be something like "C:\Program Files\Curious Labs\Poser 5" (or another version number)... Copy the ZIP file, F3DFontMachine.zip, to this location. Then unzip the archive (typically by double clicking on the ZIP file).

When extracting the contents of the archive be sure that the folder structure is recreated as it exists in the archive. Otherwise you will end up with all of the new files in your Poser home directory, which is not what you want at all!

No Empty Buttons - This message is printed when the installation script isn't able to find any empty buttons in the file "mainButtons.py". This means that you have already installed some other python scripts in Poser, and it also probably means that you know how to edit the aforementioned file to add new scripts. If you want to add the "F3D Scripts" button yourself, you can find a good tutorial on how to do this on the DAZ3D tutorial pages (link opens in a new window).

If you are uncomfortable using a text editor to modify the file "mainButtons.py", you may may want to contact us instead and we will be happy to provide you with further assistance.

Can't Open File - You'll see this error if the installation script can't open one of these two files. There is additional information about whether it was trying to open it for reading or for writing.
Runtime/Python/poserScripts/mainButtons.py (reading/writing)
Runtime/Python/poserScripts/mainButtons.py.f3dbak (writing)
1. Error when reading "mainButtons.py"...

If the script is failing to open the mainButtons.py for reading, it means that either the file is missing from your Poser directory or something else is seriously wrong. Your best bet is to contact us and we will help you determine what's causing this problem.

2. Error when writing "mainButtons.py"...

If the script is failing to open the mainButtons.py for writing, it probably means that the "read only" attribute has been set on the file. You will need to make this file writable in order to install the Font Machine.

To make the "mainButtons.py" writable, open up Windows Explorer and change to the Poser home directory. From there enter the "Runtime" folder, then the "Python" folder and finally the "poserScripts" folder. Now click once on the "mainButtons.py" file to select it. Select "Properties" from the Windows Explorer "File" menu and you will see a dialog box that looks like this one (link opens in a new window). Make sure that the "Read-Only" checkbox is cleared and then click on "OK". If that wasn't the problem, once again you'd better contact us and we will try to determine what else may be causing the problem.

2. Error when writing "mainButtons.py.f3dbak"...

This error happened when the script was in the process of making a backup copy of "mainButtons.py" before adding the "F3D Scripts" button to it. It was unable to create the file "mainButtons.py.f3dbak". Here are some of the possible reasons:
1. The "Runtime/Python/poserScripts" folder is read only... While this is pretty unlikely, you should make sure that you can create other new files or folders inside this folder. If it turns out that this folder really is set to read-only, you need to clear that checkbox using the strategy described above for when "mainButtons.py" is read only (see: Error when writing "mainButtons.py"), but instead set the properties for the "poserScripts" folder instead of for the file "mainButtons.py".

2. You have run out of disk space... This is another unlikely situation but one that needs to be ruled out. If you are out of disk space, you'll need to resolve that by freeing up some space before continuing.

3. The file "mainButtons.py.f3dbak" already exists and is read-only... Now this one really should never happen, but if somehow it does, you should rename the file "mainButtons.py.f3dbak" to something like "mainButtons.py.f3dbak.bak" and try running the installation script again.

4. The product archive was not installed properly... While none of these four scenarios are likely, perhaps this is the most likely one. Be sure you have read the installation notes. Check the instructions above about what to do for the "missing directory" error.

And of course, if all else fails, please contact us and we will get to the bottom of this problem somehow. Our goal is to make this and all of our future product installations as simple as possible. While there are admittedly a lot of unknown variables when trying to write a good Poser Python installation script, the closer that we can get to a 100% smooth installation process, the happier both we and our customers will be!
Other Error Message or Unsure - If we didn't cover the problem you are experiencing, we want to hear from you so we can try to make it right. We've said it a lot already, but please contact us if with any unanswered questions or concerns.

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