Can someone please re-educate me on how to install 3rd party content?
Knight22179
Posts: 1,195
I don't know where else to put this so I'll ask here. I used to be able to install 3rd party content no problem but now I have forgotten how since I haven't used DS since at least 2015.
1. Some content have a zip file called "Runtime" and I thought I'd place it in Documents/DAZ3D/Studio3/content but it doesn't show up in DS, not even with the search feature. So, obviously I'm installing it wrong and the ReadMe is useless. Something about right clicking the files or some such and it's not really all that in-depth on where to unzip this RUNTIME folder.
2. Then I ran into another problem. Let's say I downloaded a morph for Genesis. The ReadMe tells me I should place it here: All morph files must be placed at
\My Library\data\DAZ 3D\Genesis\Base\Morphs\HellFishStudios\HFS Races. There's just one problem. I don't have a My Library Folder that I can se and installing it in /content wiill not work because it doesn't show up in DS.
3. As I looked through my Daz Studio Content folders, I noticed a lot of stuff is meant to be installed but it doesn't show up in DS. Such as metal shaders I had downloaded from ShareCG, but they don't show up in DS for some reason. And get this, these files are already installed. So, they should show up, but they aren't.
Any help would be appreciated.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
224 S 200 W, Suite #250
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Replace My Library with the content diectory you do use - Documents/DAZ3D/Studio3/content? If that is set as your content directory then the item you isntalled will, if there was only a Runtime in the zip, be in the Content Library pane under Poser Formats>Content>Some library>Some folder.
To detail a bit more, here's what I do to install manually:
HellFishStudios morphs you list in point 2 should be installed to the content directory where you have Genesis installed, merging the "data" folder with the one you already have there. If the zip contains only "data" files it's normal that you don't see anything new in your content library, but you should have new dials available in Genesis parameters.
For point 3, when you say they don't show up, where are you looking for them? There's a good chance they won't have metadata so they would not show up in Smart Content tab.
another option
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/241831/freebie-batch-installer-script-windows-only
Your /content/ folder should already have an existing /Runtime/ folder inside it. Merge the contents of the zip Runtime folder with the contents of your existing content Runtime folder.
And where are you looking for your new content? Remember that anything which only has files in a /Runtime/ folder is in Poser format — you will not find it in Smart Content, you should look in the Content Library pane, under the Poser Formats section.
A lot of people get caught out by this. When an instruction says "your content folder", it doesn't mean "the folder named Content", it means "the folder containing your Content files". The name and location of this folder is whatever the D|S settings say it is.
As for that Readme, it's maybe a bit too specific. If your zip has a folder named /data/ with stuff inside it, that's all you need — when I'm installing non-DAZ content, all I do is merge the contents of the zip /data/ folder into the /data/ folder in my existing content folder.
This might be due to what's called "nested content" — if you don't know that the Content folder and the My Library folder (or vice-versa) are exactly the same, you might end up copying one folder inside the other. Check your existing "Content" folder; if it contains a folder named "My Library" (or something similar) then the contents of that second folder should be moved one folder level up, so that they're in the /Content/ folder, not the /Content/My Library/ folder.
Note that this can happen with Poser-only content as well; check to see if you have a Runtime folder inside your existing Runtime folder.
Same sort of question, only I'm looking to consolidate many years of collecting models and props and whatnot, for Poser and DAZ into one directory.
Sorry Poser fans, I've been faithful, but I'm tired of coming to DAZ to buy content to use in Poser. not to mention the dual installs and etcetera.
So Poser content all the way back to when Victoria was called Victoria, not Vicktoria 2 or Vicky or V...
So anyway, lets just leave it at "lots" of stuff and that I know it's going to take me months to get it all sorted out; HOWEVER, How do I consolidate these folders without "breaking" Studio as it curreently is working fine.
I have DAZ content on C drive in the Public users folders, On C drive under my own folder, On another drive in a backup (that I just haven't gotten to yet.), And older copy I just didn't bother to update from.
and 6, yes 6 Poser runtime folders (all different versions going back in time.)
Now I know the Poser specific content is going to need it's own TLC and folders and files structures, the question is "Where" (I have a terrabyte hard drive just itching to be filled with this stuff.) Can I just copy the runtime to the drive and let DAZ have at it? or do I need to modify path information some place? Same question for the public and private content folders on C drive, I want this stuff OFF C:\, do I move it or Copy it, and tell DAZ where to start looking/writing. Can I merge the two without losing anything?
Anyway, any pointers here would be helpful, I'm just finishing up a 3 week "upgrade to 4.10" download and install of content, and would love to just move this stuff without having to do that all again.
DS uses relative paths - as long as the files are in the same location within the content dierctory it doesn't care* where the content diectory is, or how many there are.
* an exP figure, such as Victoria 4, has to have all its morph expansions in the same content directory.
I tried that, it didn't work.
Thanks Leana, I'll try this out. As for where I'm looking for the other content that should be installed, well, I'm looking at the files outside of Daz Studio and I look in various different folders and I see the content there. For example: Documents/DAZ3D/Stuido3/content/Cori G2. This is a decent morph for G2F, but it doesn't matter which folder I look in, I simply cannot find her. This, along with many other files, I cannot find and I'm literally looking in EVERY folder, spending who knows how long, trying to find one little thing. The search function inside DS is also useless as the list never has the listed item I want. This stuff used to show up in DS and now it doesn't and I never touched the files. Maybe I should try re-installing...
Thanks! I'll give this a whirl. ^_^
SpottedKitty: I've looked in the Poser Content directory in Daz Studio. Guess what is there? My Daz Studfio content. I looked in my Daz Studio Content Directory. Guess what is there? Nothing except for saved scenes. Strange, I know but that's how DAZ Install Manager installed my stuff. As for the rest of what you pointed out, I'll give it a shot and get back to you, and Leana, if this works. Thank you! ^_^
It's strange your "Cori G2" directory is directly inside "content". What kind of files are there in that folder?
I couldn't make a screenshot of all of it, but here is a good portion of what is found in that folder.
I meant "inside the Cori G2 folder" ;) If there's another "Runtime" or "Data" inside the "Cori G2" folder, for example, then it's not installed properly and you should move those to Studio3/content so that they merge with the main Runtime or data folders.
Looking at your screenshot I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other sub-folders included content not installled properly. For example there's a "content" sub-folder inside Studio3/content, which is really likely to include files/folders which should be directly inside Studio3/content. That can happen when you manually install a product zip from DAZ as they include a top-level "content" folder for DIM install that you should remove when installing manually, so if you unzip a DAZ zip directly to Studio3/content you'd end up whith an extra folder.