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Installing products not purchased through the Daz store

crashworshipcrashworship Posts: 235
edited February 2021 in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

The background: I'm one of those people who've been shut out of Studio because of incompatibility with the latest Mac OS Big Sur. I've created a Windows installation through bootcamp in the meantime. I've used the Daz Connect installation for those products purchased from the Daz store but that library seems to be encrypted and doesn't seem to allow any process to manually install items by following the traditional non Connect file hierarchy.

The problem: I have several products purchased from sources other than the Daz store and Daz Central or Daz Connect doesn't seem to allow for manual installation of these files by following the paths created when the zip files are uncompressed. There's a bullet point in the Daz Connect FAQ which says that files may be manually added to the Connect library

  • Can I still custom sort my files?

    Yes, you can still customize how your files are categorized by adding your own categories.

    Note: We have added the ability to create stand-in shortcut files for users who prefer to use folders and files to organize content instead of categories. This allows the source files to remain in place and benefit from product updates, while also allowing users to keep a workflow that is similar to those they have already established.

However I can find no easily accessible documentation about how to do this in such a way as to be able to add products not purchased from the store to the Connect library.

An example: I have numerous products created by Arryn_Onnel in my library which were purchased through the Daz store but a few other items by these artists purchased from Renderosity which were not available from the Daz store. I can find no way based on my Connect library structure to add these products to my library. This is just one example but I have roughly fifty or so items that I would like to add to my library purchased from various sources other than the Daz store which were downloaded as zip files and uncompressed to the older non-Connect file hierarchy.

How can I install and use these non Daz store files?

Post edited by crashworship on

Comments

  • jestmartjestmart Posts: 4,449

    Connect installs  products to individual folders in a special folder named "cloud" that is in the equally special "data" folder, furthermore Connect relies on the CMS database.  In Studio open the Content Library pan and right click on either DAZ Studio Formats or Poser Formats.  I don't have Studio and I can't remember what exact wording but you get something about adding a library, just go with as this will open the Content Directory Manager.  Once in the Manager expand DAZ Formats and take note the library path or pathes.

  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 109,342

    crashworship said:

    The background: I'm one of those people who've been shut out of Studio because of incompatibility with the latest Mac OS Big Sur. I've created a Windows installation through bootcamp in the meantime. I've used the Daz Connect installation for those products purchased from the Daz store but that library seems to be encrypted and doesn't seem to allow any process to manually install items by following the traditional non Connect file hierarchy.

    Not encrypted, though the files are compressed, but the paths are different from the manual/DIM type (/data/cloud/1_SKU/).

    The problem: I have several products purchased from sources other than the Daz store and Daz Central or Daz Connect doesn't seem to allow for manual installation of these files by following the paths created when the zip files are uncompressed. There's a bullet point in the Daz Connect FAQ which says that files may be manually added to the Connect library

    • Can I still custom sort my files?

      Yes, you can still customize how your files are categorized by adding your own categories.

      Note: We have added the ability to create stand-in shortcut files for users who prefer to use folders and files to organize content instead of categories. This allows the source files to remain in place and benefit from product updates, while also allowing users to keep a workflow that is similar to those they have already established.

    However I can find no easily accessible documentation about how to do this in such a way as to be able to add products not purchased from the store to the Connect library.

    An example: I have numerous products created by Arryn_Onnel in my library which were purchased through the Daz store but a few other items by these artists purchased from Renderosity which were not available from the Daz store. I can find no way based on my Connect library structure to add these products to my library. This is just one example but I have roughly fifty or so items that I would like to add to my library purchased from various sources other than the Daz store which were downloaded as zip files and uncompressed to the older non-Connect file hierarchy.

    How can I install and use these non Daz store files?

    You should have at least one non-Connect directory (e.g. /Docuemnts/Daz 3D/Studio/My Library/) - take the /data/, /Runtime/, and any other folders at the same level of the zip and place them in that. The probably won't have metadata but they should be accessible through the Content Library pane under Daz Studio Formats, and if they have metadata you can import it by going to the Content Library options menu (the line/hamburger button in the top corner, orr right-click the tab)>Content DB Maintenance and checking the reimport metadata option. You can also manually catgorise and set comnpatibility for the files even if they lack metadata.

  • crashworshipcrashworship Posts: 235

    Richard Haseltine said:

    crashworship said:

    The background: I'm one of those people who've been shut out of Studio because of incompatibility with the latest Mac OS Big Sur. I've created a Windows installation through bootcamp in the meantime. I've used the Daz Connect installation for those products purchased from the Daz store but that library seems to be encrypted and doesn't seem to allow any process to manually install items by following the traditional non Connect file hierarchy.

    Not encrypted, though the files are compressed, but the paths are different from the manual/DIM type (/data/cloud/1_SKU/).

    The problem: I have several products purchased from sources other than the Daz store and Daz Central or Daz Connect doesn't seem to allow for manual installation of these files by following the paths created when the zip files are uncompressed. There's a bullet point in the Daz Connect FAQ which says that files may be manually added to the Connect library

    • Can I still custom sort my files?

      Yes, you can still customize how your files are categorized by adding your own categories.

      Note: We have added the ability to create stand-in shortcut files for users who prefer to use folders and files to organize content instead of categories. This allows the source files to remain in place and benefit from product updates, while also allowing users to keep a workflow that is similar to those they have already established.

    However I can find no easily accessible documentation about how to do this in such a way as to be able to add products not purchased from the store to the Connect library.

    An example: I have numerous products created by Arryn_Onnel in my library which were purchased through the Daz store but a few other items by these artists purchased from Renderosity which were not available from the Daz store. I can find no way based on my Connect library structure to add these products to my library. This is just one example but I have roughly fifty or so items that I would like to add to my library purchased from various sources other than the Daz store which were downloaded as zip files and uncompressed to the older non-Connect file hierarchy.

    How can I install and use these non Daz store files?

    You should have at least one non-Connect directory (e.g. /Docuemnts/Daz 3D/Studio/My Library/) - take the /data/, /Runtime/, and any other folders at the same level of the zip and place them in that. The probably won't have metadata but they should be accessible through the Content Library pane under Daz Studio Formats, and if they have metadata you can import it by going to the Content Library options menu (the line/hamburger button in the top corner, orr right-click the tab)>Content DB Maintenance and checking the reimport metadata option. You can also manually catgorise and set comnpatibility for the files even if they lack metadata.

    I tried that. It doesn't work. I'm using an external SSD drive for my content and when I try to create a folder to put these files, that folder remains invisible to Studio from my content pane.

    daz library pane.png
    916 x 1386 - 56K
    drive d daz content files.png
    1158 x 730 - 74K
  • Richard HaseltineRichard Haseltine Posts: 109,342

    You appear to have removed all your Daz Studio Format content directories, presumably when moving the files to the external SSD, and not added the new location(s) back in. You cabn add a new content directory (the folder that contains the Runtiem and data folders) by right-click on Daz Studio formats.

  • crashworshipcrashworship Posts: 235

    Richard Haseltine said:

    You appear to have removed all your Daz Studio Format content directories, presumably when moving the files to the external SSD, and not added the new location(s) back in. You cabn add a new content directory (the folder that contains the Runtiem and data folders) by right-click on Daz Studio formats.

    Yes, thanks. This worked (sort of) after some monumental flips and twists.

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