Metadata how I loathe thee.
ghastlycomic
Posts: 2,528
I find the content library becomes such a mess once you start acquiring a lot of content and the Smart Content window is much easier to work from. Unfortunately most of the free downloadable content doesn't have any metadata for it. I've been trying to organize my content and it's absolutely insane the amount of hoops you have to jump through to add metadata to something.
I've never worked with a product that has such convoluted content management as Daz Studio. Please Daz, in future releases of this product look at ways to quick automate the content management. Exporting a product is so tedious copying everything necessary to the zip file manually. There should really just be a simple "Export Product" and "Import Product" that automatically puts things where they need to go.
Once you Categorize something it should at least show up in the Smart Content library under that category. When a new category is created that category should also show up in the Smart Content Library. It shouldn't be that hard for Daz Studio to figure out "Oh a pose has been catagorized as People>Genesis>Poses>Funky Dance Moves, okee dokee, then that's obviously a Genesis pose so let's have that catagory show up in the Smart Content library when a Genesis figure is selected in the pose window".
It shouldn't be more complicated than that.
And the worst is when things I create in Daz show up in the Smart Content library then the next time I boot Daz they're not there anymore. I re-categorize them and they show up. Next time I load Daz they're gone again.
This is so frustrating. The whole procedure is far more complex than it needs to be.
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Comments
And that's why I use Content Library.
The problem with the content library is it just becomes such a convoluted mess of directory after directory and you have to remember where everything is.
Smart content is great. You click on Wardrobe>Pants it shows you all the pants, it doesn't matter what directory they're in, you don't have to hunt them down they're just there. Or at least they would be if it wasn't for the convoluted content management system.
Smart content also gives you a nice big, easy to see icon as opposed to the tiny little speck that shows up in the content library.
It just makes no sense to me that when you categorize something it doesn't actually show up in that category in the smart content library. I mean it should be a no brainer.
And it's so frustrating to have to hunt down something in the content library when I have to remember the exact name of the item and the person who made it instead of just clicking the item's category in the smart content window.
If my audio and video software had such a convoluted content management system I'd still be using tape.
It makes no sense to me why once something is categorized it doesn't show up in Smart Content. If I create a default>people>fantasy sci fi>robots category for my robot why would that category not automatically appear in the Smart Content? What logical reason would there be for not having it appear?
I catagorize my Content Library, I know where it all is. I would use Metadata if I could Quick Edit my own but as you say....
I'm with Jaderai. I only use the Content tab, but then I've been using DS since version 2, so that's what I'm used to. Also, I install to my desk top and move stuff from that folder to the appropriate folder(s) in DS. That way I know exactly where everything is.
I don't even download the metadata installers.
I have this intense love/hate relationship with Smart Content. I love how it works and i hate how many steps you have to take to create it. For the Content Library, i have no love at all. Who ever came up with that nonsense ? Files are all over the place.
Hmm wait, no, that's not true. There's figures, a few props and everything else is a pose.
But wether you like one or the other, categorizing is the way to stay organized in both.
Ghastlycomic, sounds like your CMS is not working properly.
Grrrrrrr..... Now I've suddenly got categories showing up in my Smart Content that I don't even want there.
*sigh* Why must this be so complicated? It shouldn't be this complicated.
Well, finally got the poses I downloaded into the Smart Content window. Definitely not an intuitive process. It's further exacerbated by the way Daz doesn't display them in their categories until you exit and restart the program again.
Now on to the next product.
I find that most things are ok if I categorise them, but things like materials/texture sets for clothing are a nightmare. Nothing is installed anywhere near the folders that the clothing's original textures are.
Thinking of redoing my clothing library and manually putting the mat folders where I want them.