Organizing Daz content: DIM or Manual install? Categories?

[Selek]

Hi all,

I've used Daz Studio off and on for a couple years, and my content grew increasingly hard to manage; products would have all sorts of inconsistent subfolders, for example. For a variety of reasons, I'm now starting over, using Windows 10, so I have a clean install of Daz Studio. So I'm wondering: how best to install content without losing control of how it's organized?

1. First, is it a mistake to use DIM? I used it to download the initial content (Genesis 3 and 8, etc). Would manual installation give me more control over directory structures going forward? Or is DIM the way to go?

2. Second, I've read several tutorials on Categories, but I'm still not entirely sure I understand them. Are they just another alternative way of organizing material that's already been installed in crazy sub-folders with confusing or identical names? Should I think of Categories as tags?

3. Finally, if I want to make new Categories, should I put them under the "default" categories or start a new subfolder of categories?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Saki_Sliz]

Here is what I did:

Have another hard drive, make a daz only folder.
Install daz in said folder.
Also have folders for downloads, projects, What to install, What to copy, Daz3D, and FBX

the Daz3D folder is the one that would have been in your My Documents. This holds the stuff for the Daz Install Mannager, such as its own download folder. I also moved the My Library stuff in the Daz3D folder as well. So the daz 3D folder has all the daz files, the directory for stuff downloaded using the DIM and the installed daz assets used by Daz. I recommend using the settings or gear icons in the DIM to find most of where everything is hidden on your computer, this was the key to success for me when migrating everything after installing everything into the default location.

Not all assets bought can be downloaded through the DIM, so I use another download folder for that. in there I may separate those that I have bought and have receipts for, but most of the time I have many sub folders that are just collections of batches of assets, that need to be unzipped and handled.

What to install is a folder that houses all copies of any IMG file that I can simply copy and paste into the DIM downloads folder and install into daz normally, this folder acts as a backup incase the DIM gets wiped.

What to Copy, is a folder that I copy and paste things into. some daz assets are not pocketed nicely for downloading and installing, instead you just copy and paste their stuff into the daz installed folder (My library), rather than having to recopy everything or reinstall everything, I made this folder as a backup incase I had to reinstall daz. so I can copy everything in the folder and just paste it into the daz folder and I can be up and running almost immediately.

 

[Selek]

Thanks for your reply. So yes, I'm going to move Daz assets off my c: drive to my storage drives. I know I can move the MyDaz3DLibrary folder and tell Daz where to find it. It sounds like I can move the DIM folder too, which is good news.

But I'm also wondering about organizing stuff within Daz. I found after just a few days that I had a maddening array of subfolders that made no sense in my Daz3DLibrary folder within Daz. I think this is because third-party developers don't use consistent folder structures, so some would have extra layers of subfolders while others wouldn't.

Anyway, would categories help me address this? Do you use them?

 

[Saki_Sliz]

You could use them, but I find the issue is, its not so much about file structure or categories, as it is the fact that often simple assets could be described using multiple labels (G8F, Footwear, Boot) however I have never seen such a mechanic ever used in file organization. so I can't say I have anything that would help.
I often find that if I could have multiple labels it would help out a lot, but categories can limit you to only one.

 

[Deleted member 1121028]

I get why people want to use DIM and tried to follow that path at first but in the end couldn't keep it up (as I install and test way too much things).

I mostly use categories to arrange my assets with plenty of sub folders (to answer your question you don't need to use the default one, create as much as you need) and keep with the Daz folder structure library (the one show in content library pane).

Not sure how I can explain .

Let's say I downloaded 30 randoms assets, unzipped everything (and corrected file structure), it should looks like this :



I copy/paste to "my library" (or whatever folder you choose for your assets) but keep that download folder alive as a way :
1. Know what I installed and where (and find them into the content library)
2. Fill my own categories and subfolders

Once done I just delete my download folder and wait for the next assets

 

[Selek]

Thanks for your replies. Okay, I'm getting a better sense of how to do things. I appreciate the help!

 

[polywog]

Daz makes no effort to cleanup assets before they put them in the store, so you get vendors on there with the old phonebook mentality... putting their files in crazy folder names, and naming their files aaaallaboutwafflemakers so they appear first in your list. MANY have complained to Daz about the mess this makes, but they just don't give a shit, and refuse to make an kind of standard.

Another problem is that Daz went with their stupid encryption (useless waste of time) that dumps all the files into a duf (doof)
If you use Poser your files are easy to organize, the assets aren't all doofs. It's easy to tell what's what, and organize them how you want.
A .CR file (cranium) is a head
A .FC file is a face
A .PP file is a prop
A .HR file is hair.
A .LT file is a light
and so on.
naming all your files doof.... not a good idea
but don't even think about trying to put heads in a head folder on Daz Studio...
the program doesn't know it's a head or a face, it needs a whole nother set of instructions to tell it what a file is, and where it's supposed to be stored on your drive. If you were to move the files to a different location, the program will throw a tantrum, spitting a list at you of all the files that it can't find.

InB4 someone replies to this post saying that AI is the work of the devil, and that programs shouldn't be given such power. That's hogwash. A program should be smart enough to know that this is a prop, and this is a light, without having to be told.

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[lancelotdulak]

I use content cataloger occasionally. Basically gives you screen after screen of thumbnails of what you have but not organised. The way daz does things is bizarre. they dont apparently have info on wht things are in the file format. As far as i can tell there isnt a way to add a good searchable tag system? Thought i saw one once but it didnt seem to work. Whats worst is .. its content manager is literally arranged around a database.. but they dont bother apparently actually USING it.. adding tags, requiring tags, making them easily changeable and i havent used the clunkyass thing in so long i dont think it even really catalogues the stuff you didnt install through dim. IT's nuts and pretty incompetant programming

 

[mickydoo]

I manually install a lot of things, I don't get carried away with file structures and subfolders, but if I download a file called Sun lounge room, I click through the ipex, environments, architecture, xmaker2000, and get the actual Sun lounge room file and put that in the daz environments folder. So when I go into daz, in environments I see Sun lounge room, not ipex and wondering what the fuck it is, and then click 37 times just to find it. I don't use the smart content tab for anything, I use the content library, even for DIM products. Just make sure all the other folders are in the correct order, the actual item itself can be put anywhere.

 

[Selek]

if I download a file called Sun lounge room, I click through the ipex, environments, architecture, xmaker2000, and get the actual Sun lounge room file and put that in the daz environments folder. So when I go into daz, in environments I see Sun lounge room, not ipex

Thanks for this comment. This aspect of Daz drives me bats, and this time around I'll follow your lead and cut out all the extraneous subfolders that just clutter the UI.

 

[lancelotdulak]

I manually install a lot of things, I don't get carried away with file structures and subfolders, but if I download a file called Sun lounge room, I click through the ipex, environments, architecture, xmaker2000, and get the actual Sun lounge room file and put that in the daz environments folder. So when I go into daz, in environments I see Sun lounge room, not ipex and wondering what the fuck it is, and then click 37 times just to find it. I don't use the smart content tab for anything, I use the content library, even for DIM products. Just make sure all the other folders are in the correct order, the actual item itself can be put anywhere.

You may be a genius. i have so much shit thats perfect for what i want but you cant find it without 30 minutes of clicking through idiots bizarre file architectures you just find something else