Installing Assets in DazStudio

[alastres]

Hi, I don't know if its this place the correct place to ask this question, but in the developement forum I can't see any place to ask questions.

When I download a asset from this web and I install it with the Install manager, I can see it in Daz Studio under the "Smart content"-"products" place.
But when I download a asset that has the four folders, (Data, Documentation, People, Runtime), I copy them in the same folder where all the stuff is, and I cannot manage to make them appear in the "product" place (or whatever).

Do I have to convert the files in a "IM00..." file with any tool? Or inside the DazStudio software, make this asset visible or able to work?

Thanks

 

[Porcus Dev]

Go to the menu "window" > "Panes (Tabs)" and click on "Content Library".
In this tab you will find the manually installed content.

 

[Rich]

Hi, I don't know if its this place the correct place to ask this question, but in the developement forum I can't see any place to ask questions.

When I download a asset from this web and I install it with the Install manager, I can see it in Daz Studio under the "Smart content"-"products" place.
But when I download a asset that has the four folders, (Data, Documentation, People, Runtime), I copy them in the same folder where all the stuff is, and I cannot manage to make them appear in the "product" place (or whatever).

Do I have to convert the files in a "IM00..." file with any tool? Or inside the DazStudio software, make this asset visible or able to work?

Thanks

The "Smart Content" part of Daz Studio relies on "product metadata" and an underlying PostgreSQL database. (Commonly referred to as the "CMS" for "Content Management System.") Products distributed through Daz3d.com all have such metadata - most of the products distributed through places like Renderosity and Renderotica do not. The Daz Install Manager (DIM) actually does two things when you install a product - it copies the files from the IM***.zip file into your content area, but it also copies the metadata from those files into the CMS. When you manually copy files in they way you're describing, the metadata doesn't get added to the CMS, so the products don't show up in "Smart Content." (And there may not have been any metadata in them to begin with.)

It is possible to get Daz to rebuild the CMS data from scratch by scanning through all of the content files it has. In theory, if you manually copied in files that actually do have metadata in them, then this would cause them to appear in the Smart Content area. To do this, from the Smart Content Pane:

1. Press the "hamburger menu" (the triple dash) and select "Content Database Maintenance"
2. Put a check in the Reset Database.
3. Press "OK"
4. Repeat Step #1
5. Put a check in the "Re-Import Metadata..." box
6. Press "OK"

The process can take a while, so be patient. All that being said, if the data didn't come from Daz originally, then the odds are there isn't any metadata to be imported anyway.

 

[RHQuinn]

Although Rich pretty much said it all, I'll still add this link: [Tutorial] How to Install Content to Daz w/ w/o Install Manager.

 

[alastres]

The "Smart Content" part of Daz Studio relies on "product metadata" and an underlying PostgreSQL database. (Commonly referred to as the "CMS" for "Content Management System.") Products distributed through Daz3d.com all have such metadata - most of the products distributed through places like Renderosity and Renderotica do not. The Daz Install Manager (DIM) actually does two things when you install a product - it copies the files from the IM***.zip file into your content area, but it also copies the metadata from those files into the CMS. When you manually copy files in they way you're describing, the metadata doesn't get added to the CMS, so the products don't show up in "Smart Content." (And there may not have been any metadata in them to begin with.)

It is possible to get Daz to rebuild the CMS data from scratch by scanning through all of the content files it has. In theory, if you manually copied in files that actually do have metadata in them, then this would cause them to appear in the Smart Content area. To do this, from the Smart Content Pane:

1. Press the "hamburger menu" (the triple dash) and select "Content Database Maintenance"
2. Put a check in the Reset Database.
3. Press "OK"
4. Repeat Step #1
5. Put a check in the "Re-Import Metadata..." box
6. Press "OK"

The process can take a while, so be patient. All that being said, if the data didn't come from Daz originally, then the odds are there isn't any metadata to be imported anyway.

This answer is far better than I expected. Thanks a lot for the explanation and solution.
I will try it, and now that I understand why this files don't appear in the smart content, i will look for them in the other places.

Thanks to all!