Tutorial How to Install Content to Daz w/ w/o Install Manager

[FranceToast]

I'm not an expert with Daz Studio but I've learned a few things (the hard way) that some others new to Daz may be able to use to help find their content. As others have said it takes a little time to get used to how Daz stores data in the Library. I also pretty much only use the "Content Library" in Daz and not "Smart Content".

I just started playing with Daz3D, and am just dragging the 3-4 folders from the zips/rars into the My Daz3D folder*. So far, they seem to show up fine-custom characters seem to have their hierarchy, etc., and hair and clothes seem to attach ok (I just started though). I am curious what the benefits Smart Content can offer, to go through the slightly more involved DIM process. I'm pretty much a 3D dilettante though, maybe Pro-users with thousands of assets really see a benefit to the advanced organization tree.

*Coming from the Mac world, one of the most basic differences in file structure in Windows is the "Folders don't replace Folders, they merge the contents" concept. I never understood it until now-it makes copying over these data files a lot simpler

 

[Lednah]

I am curious what the benefits Smart Content can offer, to go through the slightly more involved DIM process.

Besides missing a lot of content?

 

[GhostTeller]

• If you see "library", Runtime, "data", "content" or something else without any "Manifest", it's not DIM compatible and you need to open it and copy files into "my DAz 3D library". If Daz Studio is installed on c:/ the path should be C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library.

Some times it asks for " Replace the files in destination " .... In the first Multiple Times chose " OK and REPLACE " >>> But it leads to make other assets disappear .
How to Make right ??? !!
And some times .. in the read me file it asks to be installed in C:\Users\UserProf\Documents

 

[Lednah]

Some times it asks for " Replace the files in destination " .... In the first Multiple Times chose " OK and REPLACE " >>> But it leads to make other assets disappear .
How to Make right ??? !!
And some times .. in the read me file it asks to be installed in C:\Users\UserProf\Documents

No, no - nothing disappears, but the different artists have different views how to name their folder and under which tab it to appear; AND some of the content is visible in smart content but some - only in Content Library tab. The best way to find a "missing" content is to go to the bottom of Content Library and expand the "Products" category. You should be able to find everything installed in alphabet order.
Also - you can install anything on any folder - but you need to add to Daz content manager the path to this folder - press F2 and click on Content tab then at the bottom click on Content directory Management. You need to do this only if you create new main folders on other place.
And the rule of thumb - when you extract the archives you often will see folder Content and insides folder like Data, Runtime, Documentation etc. But sometimes the archive will directly extract the Data, Runtime etc folders. You need to be careful and to overwrite exactly those folders (and to get a question about overwriting, which means you are going OK); do not copy the whole Content folder.
After several months of using Daz you will get accustomed to it and will start to organize your folders to be comfortable to you, but do not just move the folder - this will break internal content links.

 

[CreepyGhost]

Ok, I found some stuff in here, put them in folder but manager didn't find anything... Any help?

 

[Lednah]

Ok, I found some stuff in here, put them in folder but manager didn't find anything... Any help?

Grrrr... did you read the instructions in the very 1st post? To be able to use the install manager the format of the asset must be something like this: IM00020825-01_NatureLakeandForestDS.zip (and it is not always guaranteed - there may be a mistake inside it). So then the only other way is to read the instructions and to install the asset manually.

 

[CreepyGhost]

Grrrr... did you read the instructions in the very 1st post? To be able to use the install manager the format of the asset must be something like this: IM00020825-01_NatureLakeandForestDS.zip (and it is not always guaranteed - there may be a mistake inside it). So then the only other way is to read the instructions and to install the asset manually.

Yup, tried both. But both failed xD Anyway, I will just search for a video tutorial. Thanks for response.

 

[Lednah]

Yup, tried both. But both failed XD Anyway, I will just search for a video tutorial. Thanks for response.

I installed (and deleted) a lot of assets and manual install never fails. Actually how you understood the manual install "failed"?

 

[Elementario]

Yup, tried both. But both failed XD Anyway, I will just search for a video tutorial. Thanks for response.

I hope this helps you

Spoiler: Creating DIM asset

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If it is still confusing to you and you can't get it to work, just send me a link to the file
I will repair it and give it to you
Or if you have any doubts feel free to ask

 

[CreepyGhost]

I installed (and deleted) a lot of assets and manual install never fails. Actually how you understood the manual install "failed"?

They were not showing up in content library. I will try what Elementario suggested.

I hope this helps you

Spoiler: Creating DIM asset

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If it is still confusing to you and you can't get it to work, just send me a link to the file
I will repair it and give it to you
Or if you have any doubts feel free to ask

I will try it tomorrow. Thanks for your time mate!

 

[Lednah]

They were not showing up in content library. I will try what Elementario suggested.
I will try it tomorrow. Thanks for your time mate!

There are 2 content libraries - just "Content library" and "Smart content".

Go to "Content library", look in the left for "Products" and click on the triangle in left to it. You will see all the installed products in alphabet order. If it is not there then you probably copied the asset in a wrong folder. Sometimes when you open the archive you will see a folder "Content" and inside the real folders like "Data", "Runtime" etc. You need to copy only those folders and to merge those folders with the existing folders; and sometimes the archive just have the folders "Data", "Runtime" etc - in this case just copy them and again merge the folders. Important - if you don't see a question to merge them this means you are coping them to a wrong place. Your problem is either this or you simply didn't look carefully - the artists use their name to store certain stuff so if you are looking for content named Just Josh it will be inside a folder \Slosh\ like this \Runtime\Textures\Slosh\JustJosh

 

[Elementario]

They were not showing up in content library. I will try what Elementario suggested.

I will try it tomorrow. Thanks for your time mate!

No worries, happy to help
I would recommend installing all assets through DIM, its nice, fast and easy to install and uninstall
Just follow what i have written if you still have any doubts feel free to ask
If you need have installed an asset and are having trouble finding it just look at the name of the assets you installed and use search bar at the top of Content Library to find it
If its still not there, it might not have been installed correctly or simply must be broken
If so just rebuild it using the Content Package Assist

 

[CreepyGhost]

There are 2 content libraries - just "Content library" and "Smart content".

Go to "Content library", look in the left for "Products" and click on the triangle in left to it. You will see all the installed products in alphabet order. If it is not there then you probably copied the asset in a wrong folder. Sometimes when you open the archive you will see a folder "Content" and inside the real folders like "Data", "Runtime" etc. You need to copy only those folders and to merge those folders with the existing folders; and sometimes the archive just have the folders "Data", "Runtime" etc - in this case just copy them and again merge the folders. Important - if you don't see a question to merge them this means you are coping them to a wrong place. Your problem is either this or you simply didn't look carefully - the artists use their name to store certain stuff so if you are looking for content named Just Josh it will be inside a folder \Slosh\ like this \Runtime\Textures\Slosh\JustJosh

No worries, happy to help
I would recommend installing all assets through DIM, its nice, fast and easy to install and uninstall
Just follow what i have written if you still have any doubts feel free to ask
If you need have installed an asset and are having trouble finding it just look at the name of the assets you installed and use search bar at the top of Content Library to find it
If its still not there, it might not have been installed correctly or simply must be broken
If so just rebuild it using the Content Package Assist

Thanks for support and your time guys! I will try it as soon as I can. If I destroy my pc, don't worry, I will reply through my phone xD

 

[Elementario]

Thanks for support and your time guys! I will try it as soon as I can. If I destroy my pc, don't worry, I will reply through my phone XD

x'D
Sure, let us know how it goes
Hope it Works

 

[xht_002]

if you manually extract packages into the My Library directory and alot of assets do not show up, you need to go to the content library tab, and up in the top right corner on the window, click on the button with a arrow in the top left, and some lines on

on the menu goto "ciontent DB maintenance" and check the Process Metadata Queue and Re-Import Metadata checkboxes, then after you press the accept button all assets should be available either under Categories or DAZ Studio Formats

 

[Nomec104]

Guys i've read the main thread and now i have a noob question, where do i place Poses? i mean i have a file .zip with poses inside but have no folder structure just the files.

 

[Lednah]

Guys i've read the main thread and now i have a noob question, where do i place Poses? i mean i have a file .zip with poses inside but have no folder structure just the files.

Unzip it and and put them in a folder with a name which you choose (better to be something meaningful). Basically you actually can put this folder where you like, providing it is inside your library - but you will find most of the purchased poses in ...\People\Genesis 3 Female\Poses\ (of course use folder with the correct genesis number and sex). So better put it there - but again - do not forget to make separate folder and to give it some recognizable name.

Edit: the truth is after a while you will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of the installed products but after some time you will start to reorganize folders at your liking. Unfortunately DAZ still don't offer the possibility of custom tabs.

 

[Nomec104]

Unzip it and and put them in a folder with a name which you choose (better to be something meaningful). Basically you actually can put this folder where you like, providing it is inside your library - but you will find most of the purchased poses in ...\People\Genesis 3 Female\Poses\ (of course use folder with the correct genesis number and sex). So better put it there - but again - do not forget to make separate folder and to give it some recognizable name.

Edit: the truth is after a while you will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of the installed products but after some time you will start to reorganize folders at your liking. Unfortunately DAZ still don't offer the possibility of custom tabs.

Hey thx man, but i already found how to install them by myself. I installed them in a custom folder and then using the content library menager i added the path of this new folder manually, so now daz recognize the all the pose and props i've placed there.

 

[xht_002]

Edit: the truth is after a while you will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of the installed products but after some time you will start to reorganize folders at your liking. Unfortunately DAZ still don't offer the possibility of custom tabs.

you can right click on items, and select [ create custom action ], and the item in the content library will be added to the scripts tool bar menu

 

[Aemilia]

So I have been on an off Daz for a little while now, Installed a fair amount of stuff through both the recommended means at the start of this thread.
I have came across one single item which just doesn't seem to work for either install route. I know I can list the DAZ3D's shop link here, so I will do that here:

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Basically, I try the usual route via DIM but it does not show up in the install list like everything else does, it has the right name of the winrar to place in the download folder too: IM00054599-01_AyaforGenesis8Female.

Even with searching for this piece in the asset release section of the forum I could not find it to try it from a different source, but it can be found at 3D load if you search its name "Aya", second page, as I do not know if I am allowed to link it here or not, not seen anything for/against doing so but rather not break any rules here.

But I am pondering is there any reason for this happening? or another means apart from the two here to try and get the content to work?

If I am allowed to link the mega source I got it from so it can be tested out, let me know, if not I can do so through a PM instead if someone else is pondering this.