I never use the smart content tab, even smart content files I install manually at times because I get sick of installing say a hair and can never find it because the "Sheri Bun Hair" is not in hairs, instead it's in oot/hair or something. Environments are worse, they all get installed manually so my "Lonely Park" actually shows in Environments/Lonely Park not Environments/Architecture/Polish/Lonely Park. Basically I just put the Park folder itself in Environments, then sometimes rename them in Daz.
One of the things you can do is to re-arrange the "user-facing" files into an organization that makes sense to you. It does mean that DIM might not be able to update it correctly if an update comes out, of course, but usually updates published by the Daz folks aren't in the "user-facing" files anyway.
Partly true, but not 100% true. If it's content that contains "Smart Content metadata" (as virtually all of the Daz3d.com content does) if you don't install it using DIM, you won't be able to find the product in the "Smart Content" tab or the "Products" area in the "Content" tab, because those entries are managed in the PostgreSQL database that Daz Studio refers to as the "Content Management System" (CMS), and the installation process through DIM is what updates the CMS database.
That's the part you failed to comprehend from the OP. OP asked can I put assets in their own subdirectories in one folder.
OK, you and I interpreted the meaning of the OP's post slightly differently. I interpreted it as "using the folder structure that Daz wants/needs, but with that content structure, the executables, the downloads, etc., all underneath one master folder, as opposed to spread out across multiple top-level folders on the C: drive the way that Daz defaults to." If the OP really meant that EVERYthing was going to be in a single folder with no subfolders, etc., then you're absolutely correct that Daz Studio would be VERY unhappy.
The folder hierarchy inside the "data" and "Runtime" folders is absolutely necessary if you want DS to be in any way usable.
For going on 30 years I've created a "Runtime" for each project that I work on. Long before Daz Studio existed. Every asset that I will use in "project x" goes into the "project x folder" (along the lines of what OP is asking for) Daz worked this way originally, following the industry standard, but one day Daz went off the reservation, made Daz models proprietary (incompatable with other 3D software). I think they believed the industry would follow them, but instead it lead to no one in Hollywood using Daz. Daz realized that they had made a huge mistake, but still haven't corrected it.OK, you and I interpreted the meaning of the OP's post slightly differently. I interpreted it as "using the folder structure that Daz wants/needs, but with that content structure, the executables, the downloads, etc., all underneath one master folder, as opposed to spread out across multiple top-level folders on the C: drive the way that Daz defaults to." If the OP really meant that EVERYthing was going to be in a single folder with no subfolders, etc., then you're absolutely correct that Daz Studio would be VERY unhappy.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting what you're saying, but Daz Studio can have multiple, independent trees of content. Maybe it couldn't in the past, but now if you go into Edit >> Preferences, click on the Content Tab and click on Content Manager, you can add additional folders that Daz Studio will look at for both Daz and Poser formats. (They don't even have to be on the same drive.) The additional folders show up in your Content pane, allowing you to find the ".duf" files in each of those trees, and Daz will locate resources in the "data" and "Runtime" sub-folders of each of those trees without any problem. I have one folder hierarchy for DIM-installed items, another entirely separate one for content from Renderosity, a third for Renderotica, a fourth for stuff I've built for myself, etc., etc., etc. I think I have about 8 or 9 different independent folder hierarchies on different spots in my computer.
No. You have to manually look for them and add them one by one. If you had 17,000 assets, each installed in a separate folder, this process could take a while. Daz does not magically search all your hard drives and find content for you.
.duf files are encrypted, and cannot be edited manually. If the scene data stored in the .duf points to location (a) and you installed the data in location (b) then you may as well deleted that .duf because it is worthless.
There is a cracked "offline portable" version of Daz Studio 4.10 that does not need to be installed in program files.
Basically, you can install any of Daz pretty much anywhere you want. In particular, the executables do NOT have to be under C:\Program Files. (All of my Daz stuff is installed on my D: drive under D:\DAZ3D - that was why I used that in my examples.)
Sorry to bum the thread but here is where the search function took me.
Sure. Here you go:
