[SOLVED] Thumbnail Mystery
jecswp
Posts: 66
I have a couple hundres files that don't have thumbnails. I'll fix them as they pop up in a search and catch my attention. I use the following instructions and it always works perfectly -
1. Select the product, right click and select "Browse to folder location"
2. Drill down to Runtime/Support and select, copy and paste into the folder the icon .jpg file
3. Rename the copied file to 1_.jpg The SKU is already in the name so just add the 1_ in front of the SKU and delete everything else.
4. Move the file to ...My Daz Connect Library\data\cloud\meta I have a shortcut to the meta folder setup and just move the file to the shortcut'ed folder.
Until today . . .
I performed the procedure on this product dForce FE Straight Bangs Long Strand-Based Hair for Genesis 9, 8 and 8.1 and the thumbnail refuses to show. It shouldn't bother me so much, but it really does. Any guidance in regards to what files/settings to look at to fix this would be greatly appreciated.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2026 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
The above steps shows that you do the "trick" via Daz Connect i.e. cloud folder... then you also installed that product via Connect ? or DIM ?
OK. Now I feel dumb. I always install via DIM. I've been doing an extra step, that of copying the .jpeg to the meta folder. I just did a couple and only added the .jpeg to the Support folder and it worked. But the issue remains. This particular product already has the .jpeg in the Support folder, but it still doesn't show in Smart Content. I'm sure there's some mechanism that I don't understand..
Okay, first, Daz Connect installs support files (metadata json + product thumbnail images) into Cloud folder while DIM installs them into runtime\support\ folder. If a product was ever installed or updated via Daz Connect, Smart Content will firstly load the thumbnail images from Cloud folder.
If product have no cloud metadata, Smart Content loads thumbnail images from runtime\support\.
The hair product you named just has a wrong metadata file name specify in DSX file.
If you go to runtime\support folder, locate 117149, you'll find DAZ_3D_117149_dForce_FE_Straight_Bangs_Long_Strand-Based_Hair_for_Genesis_9_8_and_81.dsx
Open it with Notepad++, line 4133, you'll find the file name DAZ_3D_117149_dForce_FE_Straight_Bangs_Long_Strand-Based_Hair_for_Genesis_9,_8_and_8_1.dsx which is different from the above correct one. (see screenshot down below) DIM / DS uses this code line to import metadata.
Change 8_1 to 81, save the DSX file, re-import metadata. Or, replace the DSX file in the product IM package > runtime\support with this corrected DSX file, reinstall in DIM, thumbnail image will be seen.
Then fill a ticket if you'd like to ~
I use a similar process to add thumbnails to 3rd party products that I install manually – mostly from Renderosity or RenderHub. Once I copy the files to my Daz Studio the files stall the files, I then Create a Product from the Content Library files. I make sure that a copy of the desired jpg file has exactly the same name as the dsx file that is created and I place that jpg file in Runtime/Support. My thumbnails are significantly bigger than the too tiny thumbnails that are created from DAZ3D zip files.
On occasion, I have had the issue of a thumbnail not appearing in Smart Content once I’ve created it and placed it in Runtime/Support. I have found in almost every case that the jpg file had an opacity setting. If I reopen the problematic jpg file in Microsoft Paint and then use Save As (not Save) to save it again as a jpg file, I usually get a popup window warning me that if I continue, the opacity setting will be lost. Once I complete the Save As and place the newly saved jpg file in Runtime/Support, the thumbnail appears in Smart Content.
Unfortunately, that by itself did not work. What the issue turned out to be was that the name of the .dsx file in the Support path in the metadata ended in 8_1. Since I couldn't find any way to edit that, I just edited the .dsx and renamed all the Support files to end in 8_1. That finally worked. Thank you for your help in getting me pointed in the right direction.