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DAZ Productions, Inc.
224 S 200 W, Suite #250
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
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© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Glad you like the New system. As there is already a thread about it I am going to merge your comments with it to keep all feedback in one place.
Not getting about the file labeled DIM. I know what it is (the install manager) that you can use even if you dont use DIM, but what the heck? Am I supposed to download that AND the exe files for the PC? Or not download the DIM and just do the exe? If I switch over and use DIM will I NEED those DIM files for the DIM to work?
ARGH.
Novica, pretend it doesn't say DIM, that DIM just means 'click this one' and install the same way you would otherwise. And don't feel bad, it's confusing at first, but it actually seems to be a move towards simplicity once one gets a handle on it.
Btw, would like to say to all of the DAZ people that worked on this, very nice work :)
Of course there might be issues people would like to be tweaked.. that's always the case with a revamp of something people are already using no matter how much better the revamp might be overall. I know myself it can be discouraging to do a lot of work on something thinking 'everyone's going to love this, then get negative feedback, so while there might be some tweaks to do, congratulations from my end :)
Totally agree with you Gedd :) Everyone wanted a search feature and this one is really zippy- and I LOVE the photos as I can't remember most of what I've bought just by the title!
So re the DIM- I'll grab it and the exe files then. Thanks for the fast answer! :)
Cathie
You shouldn't need the exe files, just the DIM ones. They are basically the zips, just the most up-to-date. They replace the exes.
I have been downloading the ones marked DIM and using them as standard generic zips, the same zjps that we were getting for the older products. Wroks fine for me, I unzip it to a temp folder, pull the runtime out of the content folder and drop it into whichever runtime I wish to merge it with. ( I do have quite a few to choose from :roll:)
My one request is that the documentation for what changes in a product version to version is maintained in the Readme's so we can decide if we need to update the product and exactly what in the product we might need to update. Since many of us rename everything (a lot of work) just having to swap out a particular file or set of files to bring an item up to current spec would be important. It would also help people who are working under a deadline to decide if they need to update an item or not at that particular point in time. The only way the update details will be maintained probably is if there is an interface at that end to make it easy/quick for whoever is handling that function and a workflow from the original PA to the end Readme that simplifies the process all along the way. Good luck with this :)
Love the more readable naming of things... welcome to the 21st century ;)
Thanks for clarifying Gedd! So I'll just DIM. (sounds like my IQ at the moment, lol)
Re updates- I know there's a thread somewhere about what products are updated- how is this new setup going to affect the folks trying to keep track of when new changes are made? (As I'm not in-the-know about how they do that to begin with) Is there a date or something on the files that lets you know when something is newer?
That's a good point. It looks like they are missing a critical piece of information, a version#. It would help if they had a link to the product's Readme also, so one could easily see what's been updated (assuming they added the version# ofc.)
Well, if I made a good point, it was definitely accidental! But yes, now that you mention it, that thread had version numbers.
Another question real quick- does the DIM specify MAC or PC- or does it work with both as a zip file? I am PC. (Just in case others might need to know about that issue too) And it doesn't matter whether you are 32 or 64 bit anymore?
Most items it doesn't matter 64bit vs 32bit. For items that do, like plugins I would assume they would offer a choice. As for the mac/pc issue... I wasn't clear on that myself from the other peoples posts (don't use my mac for DS.) But it looked like they used the same zip and were responsible for merging it to their library same as on pc.
Hmmm, good to know I'm not the only one :) How about this for a DIM file? "StudioCF"
Atardecer StudioCF is an example. It has one DIM, and this one.
EDIT: Maybe it means "Can't Find..." LOL. (For all the newbies who keep asking where the products are in DS. Been there, done that.)
By the look of it:
Windows installers are something.exe
Mac installers are something.zip
Plain zips are just aomething, with no extension
I'm experienced enough to go with that, however, to minimize confusion for Newbies, perhaps some WIN and MAC labels would be nice.
I just noticed DM's Abraxis has two DIM download, one named 'Abraxis' and one named 'Abraxis StudioCF.' The first is the same size as the previous zip, while the second is significantly smaller, perhaps the metadata?
The StudioCF format appears to have been introduced to complement the PoserCF file format. So basically it is old products where the main download was for Poser (.dpc) and these was a separate smaller file for DS, usually MATs (.ds). This smaller file is now a StudioCF.
So, if the main file is DAZ with extra Poser content - PoserCF, if it is a Poser format with extra DAZ files - StudioCF.
Sometimes the entire files were recreated hence the same file size. So in this case the StudioCF is probably the full DAZ version.
Hope this helps.
Yes, ty... that helps a lot :)
No worries, it might help to know that CF stands for Companion File in case there are any others, RealityCF, CarraraCF?
I'm sure people would like to see that. It's also a good way to deliver the product imo, a base install with cf files for product specific items. Definitely a step in the right direction :)
The DIM files are just ZIPs, but they are set up in the way that the Install Manager wants them and are the files you would get if you used that. You can however unzip them normally.
The DIM files are just ZIPs, but they are set up in the way that the Install Manager wants them and are the files you would get if you used that. You can however unzip them normally.
Thanks Richard, i do use DIM so i don't understand why i have files that have not and will not download via DIM but have the DIM zip next to them (see BIG 5 Toon Lion...part of a bundle he never downloaded with the rest) still learning but i am alot slower than most people.
When I use Filter/Search bar in Product Library or browsing through my pages, the list goes all way back to default every time I click on a product.
It is a very annoying to start the filter/seach/browsing over and over again in case if I want to go through all Forests in my products, for example.
Is that the known issue? Will it be fixed?
Supposedly the DIM keeps track of things you've downloaded with it, so notifies you if it's been updated.
There's no real visible way to know without it if something's been updated short of someone telling you, which is one thing DAZ has always lacked. At Rendo, the artists notify the people who've purchased or received as a gift their product, at RuntimeDNA the store notifies you if a product was updated and gives you new download links. Rendo also lets you know when you look at your purchased item history which ones have been updated.
I also would like to see something to let us know if things have been updated, not just in the Readme though, perhaps something in the product library. Like a date beside the item in the list to say when it was last updated, if it was.
This is a known bug that we have duplicated only in certain older versions of IE (we duplicated it with IE 8). Basically, instead of doing just an ajax call and just updating the address bar so the back button functionality still works, it does a full page reload. If you use the site in a different browser, or possibly a later version of IE (might be broken in 9, it works properly in 10) you'll see how it is supposed to function and that you don't lose your filtering and sorting when navigating.
The fix for this is as well as some additional bug fixes will be coming early next week as well as a lot more enhancements to the interface will be coming soon with the next version of DIM that should be nice enhancements for both users of DIM and those that prefer to download through the web interface (not even getting into the big updates to DIM itself) that should make for even less time spent in just getting your content so that you can spend more time creating with it.
I'm not sure why that is happening, but might have something to do with either Windows version, screen resolution or graphics card. At work, mine does the same thing, the PC there runs on Windows 7 and has a much smaller screen resolution then my home PC and has squat for a graphics card, just enough to do our work. My home PC runs on Windows 8, a souped up graphics card and much higher resolution and it stays on whichever page I'm on.
Edited: NM, I see a much better post came while I was typing.
If an update is released to a product you already installed with DIM, it should be listed again in your available downloads as an update.
That doesn't help those of us who don't use DIM due to managing the files a certain way. And that's not me, btw! :)
The StudioCF format appears to have been introduced to complement the PoserCF file format. So basically it is old products where the main download was for Poser (.dpc) and these was a separate smaller file for DS, usually MATs (.ds). This smaller file is now a StudioCF.
So, if the main file is DAZ with extra Poser content - PoserCF, if it is a Poser format with extra DAZ files - StudioCF.
Sometimes the entire files were recreated hence the same file size. So in this case the StudioCF is probably the full DAZ version.
Hope this helps.
It helps, but I'm clear as mud on this- do I then need the DIM and DIM CF if I dont have Poser? I do know DAZ can use Poser files (as some products only have Poser) so for all the other newbies too- do we use both those DIM's?
And thanks for the explanation, much appreciated!
Cathie
true.