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
© 2025 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Jumping in as a lurker. This looks like info I'm going to need soon.
this video by Renomista is a huge help in creating metadata and categorizing and getting the pretty picture into Smart Content :D
Categorizing & Metadata
I can't help thinking that DAZ Studio was more enjoyable before they introduced DAZ Install Manager, Connect, etc. In the old days you bought something, installed it, and Made Art! You could easily decide to setup your own organization scheme, etc. The only time DIM seemed an advantage for me was when I wanted to easily re-install all my content at once.
I still have the original install files for most of my DAZ content. But I finally gave up fighting the trend. Fortunately I don't have the kind of problems described here. Maybe it's just a matter of time?!
DIM isn't the issue in these cases. It's people not setting the paths in either DIM or Studio, or moving content outside of either app w/o changing the path inside the app. Same with Connect. You can move the directory off of the C drive without problems as long as you change the path inside Content manager.
The way I usually do it...download the manual installer for both Studio and Dim...install DIM first. Fire it up, configure the paths I want it use (yes, if it is a first install you may need to create a folder or two). Close it. Install Studio, fire it up configure it to use the same paths I just set in DIM. Shut it down.
Now with Connect, just configure it, in Studio BEFORE you start installing anything, too.
Fire DIM back up and start installing content.
Everything ends up where I wanted it...
And like fastbike1 said, if you decide to change anything...configure BEFORE you do anything else. If you are moving content folders...create the new ones manually, add them to programs. Usually when I change from the default locations, I also change the 'top level' folder name. Then shut down the programs and move everything. Then remove the empties from the content folder lists...
I can't help agreeing with you — I started with Poser 4 and 5, so by the time D|S came along I already knew what I could and couldn't get away with when it came to rearranging stuff. The extra rules for D|S content were easily added to that, so I never had a problem with all the weird and wonderful folders stuff was installed into, I just rearranged everything with a makes-sense-to-me system. By the time the content database came along, I just never bothered with it because I didn't need it. Now, I don't need to understand the database quirks, or worry about Connect deciding I haven't installed something, I just have fun with all the D|S goodies I've bought.
SpottedKitty, I think you're a step ahead of me in that regard. I have a few fleeing moments of clarity, only to lose them in the haze caused by DAZ's attempts to complicate things.