Content Package Assist..... looking for more info on what it does.
Bendinggrass
Posts: 1,380
in The Commons
Could you direct me to a more informative page than its catalogue price info.
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How about the vendor's Commercial Thread You can ask him directly, and he doesn't bite, honest. http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/80336/released-content-package-assist-commercial
Did you read the details section of its store page? That seems pretty informative to me.
Yes, I did.
I am wondering about the options in using this.
For example, can I redownload all my DAZ items to a different location.
DIM already handles downloading to whatever directory you wish; this is a product that builds DIM-compatible/installable packages of products you've acquired elsewhere - rendo, sharecg, pre-merger rdna, and others.
Just so it is clear, Bendinggrass, if you want a new location for your stuff, in DIM, click on the gear on th upper right, go to installation and tell DIM where you want it to install. Next, in Daz Studio, go to Preferences, Content, Content Manager, and tell Daz Studio where to find your stuff. With this product, you can take stuff you make or stuff you bought from another store, make an installation package, place the package in the location that DIM donloads to, and DIM wil install it and put it in Smart Content.
Yeah but as I understand it we still have to build the metadata the hard way. The good thing about this is that stuff bundled in this tool will appear in the smart content/products tab. But without metadata it will not work so well.
Building Metadata isn't an easy 'one button' process. There are quite a few things to set up in the background. Content Package Assist will allow DIM to make a Product entry in the Content Liberary >Products though, which has been a major PLUS factor for me. I have been using this product for sometime now. (Beta tester delux) :) I can tell you nothing I have bought other places, freebies etc...not one thing installed on my machine, hasn't been run through this packer and installed via DIM. And since you can easily categorize things in DS now, between that and this packager....I have been in 7th heaven for awile now. I also use it to install Poser only products via DIM into my Poser content directories. It can also take those 2+ zip products and package them into one single zip. It is all drag and drop. Very easy to use and I'd be totally lost without it. :)
Thanks for a sincere opinion. The product sits in my cart now. I'll see later how I can build the metadata for certain products I bought mostly at renderosity.
Metadata the hard way? What step in the process is giving you trouble?
The one thing that CPA (Content Package Assist) can do is combine multiple DIM packages into one package using the Batch Maker. So say you want to make a package that only has medieval weapons from all the different medieval weapon packages that you have you can do so. If no changes are needed in any file it is just drag and drop into the Batch Maker, Select the zip file from the list to be your "main" file, click the "Combine" checkbox under the zip files list, fill in the details and click one of the two Make options at the top of the screen and you have a combined package you can use with DIM. If enough requests are mad to help generate metadata I'd bet DoctorJellyBean could get it figured out and include it with this app or a seperate one as it could get complex.
*raising my hand and waving it about*
Yes please!!
I used to categorize every product I bought in the content manager before Studio 4.9 and that was a rather simple process. I read several tutorials on how to build metadata for a product.This process is not as simple as what I used to do with the content manager categories. I'll try to do it this WE and see what is involved and then find out how you get metadata and product to work together. What bothers me is that for me the way smart content organizes things is not very logical. Studio 4.9+ leaves me no real choice as to switch to smart content and I am willing to give it a try.
The way you formulate your question lets me think you already did it and that it may be easier than I foresee.
I'm sorry it came off that way. Was trying to figure out if help was needed with a step or if the tutorials out there had scared ya lol. I find the time to create vs the steps involved to be more annoying lol. Before 4.9 I had issues with the database getting wiped or my categories getting recorded even when removing them before exporting the file - now it's more of the database not updating fast enough for me. I may need a refresher on how it was done pre 4.9 because I thought the process was the same :/
In terms of the way smart content is organized - it really comes down to there not being an overall (and enforced) standard on how the metadata is being setup.
Hmmmmm. I'm wondering if DIM would object if you handed it a zip file that had everything (ie, cr2, pz2, mtl, pp2, etc) in folders under a single named folder in characters library? I'm thinking of actually re-arranging content inside zip files or creating my own and archiving the original for some types of content--like Robots for example. IOW doing the organization before install instead of after which I don't actually do when I've installed with DIM.
I can suppose that it allow install and uninstall non-DAZ and/or custom content by DIM? I want to know if this tool can be useful in conversion between figures process, because the task to package content generated in the conversion is important too and I want summarize this.
That should work fine, rearrange things before using the CPA to package them for DIM.
Yes, CPA creates packages from any content, whether it is Daz or non-Daz. I'm not too sure what you mean by conversion process.
Thanks, Mike!! I see another project coming up but I have to get this big pile of stuff installed. I've already sorted into 'categories' which will make it easier.
I bought CPA and have been doing this all day. I can vouche for it working. I've been making packages by Vendor then rearranging or deleting the files on the files tab before creating the new package. DIM has been installing them all and I can open them in DS just fine.
NOTE: you will want to check that file tab BEFIRE you create the new packages because you'll have to delete files at some point. Some packages have the breakdown in a 'My Library' folder. Those need to be moved to the normal content heriarchy then delete the my library folder for it to install correctly. The vendor notes this is the readme but it can be missed.
Why to you feel forced to switch to smart content? I use 4.9 and I don't go anywhere near Smart Content unless I have to download and encrypted only item. Eveyrthing works just as it should in content library as it did before. Especially since the custom category bug seems to be fixed.
Since Daz 4.9 the scan for new content doesn't do anything anymore, so you can't single out a product you just installed. But that is not the main reason I feel compelled to move to smart content.
Over the recent years I lost partly or totally the categorization work I did in the content manager categories. Every time this occurred I tried using smart content because it is genuinely more stable as it is based on Products and metadata. But I wasn't pleased and went back to content manager categories. Then came Studio 4.9 with connect..
I use and like connect. Stuff installed with Connect won't show up in the content manager tab but will show in the smart content tab. That is precisely what pushes me to switch to smart content. As it stands with studio's 4.9 full potential the content manager categories won't suffice anymore. I will use DIM only for particular needs, not that I hate it, but simply because I really like connect. Why do I have the feeling that DAZ doomed the content manager categories :) As a matter of fact I guess one good reason why they did this move.
This being said that's where Content Package Assist will tremendously help. We still have to build the metadata though (user defined content manager categories allowed to ignore that tedious step).
That is exactly what I meant :) In the content manager categories you could work on a folder base and create a link for that folder and its subfolders and then attach it to a user defined category = 1 right click + 2 selections. Way more things to do to build metadata. I guess I'll need between 10 to 20 minutes per product when I'll master the process. On Rendo I mostly buy batches of 5 - 8 products. I foresee some hair pulling (won't be easy though, mine is cropped). lol
Maybe at work I can persuade one of my coworkers to program something that would smooth this process.
Is the possible to set up a thread here, or some other kind of facility, so that when a person is able to construct the "smart content" for an item it can be shared here at the DAZ forums?
Then others can download that data and use it.
Or would it have to be added to the item directly in the DAZ compant item library, and re-downloaded as smart content.....?
Musings from a "not-so-smart" item...... :)
Smart Content gets the info from the metadata files, which can be imported through DS if the item is already installed.
Thank you for the confirmation and info!
You could try DAZ Database Tamer v2 to help out on your category problems. It also allows you to back up and restore a database also. It has not been updated in a bit but should still work with the current version.
For example, I have a V4 cloth, I do autofit for G3F and save the G3F version in a folder used only for conversions. Now I can package the converted cloth with CPA, next I use DIM to install this clothe in current content folders, and If I want for some determined reason like a new converted version ¿Can I uninstall it using DIM?
Thanks for answers
Yes, you can package them but remember that you still need any textures, geometry, etc, files which come with the original product.
Great! Thanks. Yes, I know that I need find geometry and texture sources. There is another tool for search this files.
CPA looks super useful.
No, it still works.
Content Library > Categories (and Products) still work for Connect-installed items. Smart Content uses the same Category information.