Digital Art Zone

A bunch of questions on how to package and deliver installable content for Daz Studio :

- Is there any official guidance on how to best package and deliver content for Daz Studio? 

- What installation tool do most content producers use? 

- Which folders and registry keys should I look for when performing an installation?

- For plugins, do I have to create separate 32 and 64-bit installers, or can I just create a single one that delivers the appropriate version?

Thanks
Ivan

For content, most is just zipped, laid out in the folder structure.

Specifically for plugins, yes, you should do 32/64 bit separately…and use an installer.

Now the ‘standard’ and which folders/reg keys…much more item specific.  If it’s a prop/wardrobe/building/etc it will be one set, with a morph or character in a slightly different set.  Textures would go in Runtime:Textures:<vendor>:itemname (or just itemname).  Most content doesn’t need anything done in the registry and most plugins shouldn’t either…except maybe install path.

Moved to DAZ Studio Discussions, Developer Discussions is for scripting rather than content development.

How do I know where Daz is installed on a given system where my installer runs?  I see registry keys on mine under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\DAZ\Studio\ContentDir0/1/2/etc, but these only point to my Daz user content directory.  So far as I understand plugins need to land in the DAZ install folder (C:\program files\daz\plugins\etc).  How do I find out where that is on a given system? 

A bit of documentation on this type of thing would be immensely helpful. 

Thanks

There is a file called dzinstall.ini in appdata/roaming/daz3d, which contains the install path.

if you’re somewhat familiar with msdos batch files

i recently published a script that helps you gather files and folders before zip’ping them for distribution

https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts2/mcjpackager

i used it to package a dress/bustier for genesis and for a script

—
though real installers are more practical than zip files for the paying end users

and probably expected/required by paying end users

While we’re on the subject of packaging content for Daz Studio, does anyone know how to export the necessary Metadata for any given item so it can be easily installed on another machine, or is this something that Daz does themselves after the files are submitted?

I’ve been trying to find ways to get my created props and gadgets to show up in the Smart Content window for easy access, but while it works fine on my own machine there doesn’t seem to be a way of saving that data out in any format.

You make the Folder Tree that Matches the DS folder tree but Empty of course, then you COPY the Files from your PC into the Proper Folder. That way only the needed Data is in your Zip Folders. Remember the File/Folder structure must match 100% as well as all names of files.

Example the Folder tree would start at My Library and then any and all folders and paths under it that had files needed for your items. You do not need folders that are Empty only the ones that have your Files and then only your files are needed in the new folders.

@HeraldOfFire: See here for old forum links to Cridgit’s tutorials on metadata, including packaging. They pointed to ShareCG but seem to have been removed, hence the link to the forum posts which may be of help. The official documentation also has something, but not about redistribution of metadata (link).