Daz Possibly a really stupid question - Asset metadata

[w111]

I'm hoping this is the right place to post this.

So I'm aware if you buy assets in the Daz shop you get that sweet sweet scene builder tool and a nice smart content system, from reading around this seems to be based off metadata included in the download from the store.

I've been grabbing asset packs from here and elsewhere and just dumping them in the right folders, can access them fine from the content library but no luck getting anything to show in the smart content tab,. Is this just something to accept when I'm not using the legit store or is there a way around this?

 

[Rich]

In most cases, assets that are published through Renderotica and Renderosity simply don't have the metadata to show up in Smart Content. If you get assets that are originally published through the Daz store, and if someone hasn't altered the IM000XXXXX-NN_Title.zip file name, you can install it through the Daz Install Manager in "Offline" mode - just drop the file into the directory that DIM downloads into, start DIM in Offline mode, and it will install the asset and the metadata.

If you've manually installed assets that were originally published through the Daz store, you can get Daz to install the metadata. Open the Smart Content pane, click on the "Hamburger menu" at the top corner and select "Content DB Maintenance." Check the box for "Re-Import Metadata" and press OK. Daz will walk through all the files in your content, and will make sure the metadata is in the Smart Content database. Depending on how much content you have, this can take a while.

 

[w111]

In most cases, assets that are published through Renderotica and Renderosity simply don't have the metadata to show up in Smart Content. If you get assets that are originally published through the Daz store, and if someone hasn't altered the IM000XXXXX-NN_Title.zip file name, you can install it through the Daz Install Manager in "Offline" mode - just drop the file into the directory that DIM downloads into, start DIM in Offline mode, and it will install the asset and the metadata.

If you've manually installed assets that were originally published through the Daz store, you can get Daz to install the metadata. Open the Smart Content pane, click on the "Hamburger menu" at the top corner and select "Content DB Maintenance." Check the box for "Re-Import Metadata" and press OK. Daz will walk through all the files in your content, and will make sure the metadata is in the Smart Content database. Depending on how much content you have, this can take a while.

Thank you so much! That's made a huge difference.

 

[Roman DeVil]

...normally metadata, in the files downloaded from the DAZ store, are included in the "Manifest.dsf" file. That means, if you can create that file on your own, you can install file through the Daz Install Manager and let the product show in the Smart Content tab.
Unfortunately it is not that easy to make a Manifest file. But there's a little app that can make it for you, and you can find it on this post:
https://f95zone.to/threads/how-to-install-content-to-daz-w-w-o-install-manager.6045/post-1844346
There's also a little user guide in the same post, but i can assure you that's really easy to use.
Happy renders...