DS Zip Files
inspired_art_86a3f09735
Posts: 140
Can these be used to install content directly, instead of using DAZ Central, or the built in DS Studio installer?
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Yes, you can install content manually from zip files too.
The zips made for DIM have the content files inside a top-level folder called "content". Take everything which is inside that folder and put it into your content library folder.
Using advice that I read in a forum last year, I stopped logging into Daz Studio upon boot up so that the insidious updates from Daz Connect would not wreak havoc with my database or content library. I never liked Daz Central when it was launched and have never used it to install content.
I trust the Daz Install Manager (DIM), though, as it installs well to the locations that I have entered into the Advanced Settings in DIM. On very rare occasion does something not install correctly via DIM. A nice benefit of using DIM, though, is that it creates a list of installed files with a live hyperlink to each file's install location. I use that at times to find or verify a file’s installation and/or location.
Most of my manual installs are usually for products purchased at Renderosity although I recently discovered that I can use the Install from Zip Archive feature in Poser to install to any directory that I choose. Some care needs to be take to ensure that unnecessary folders or files have been removed from the zipped folder first otherwise they will be installed. For example, I installed a zipped folder for a Renderosity product recently where all of the desired content files were in folders that were inside of a Content folder; the Poser installation process created a new folder called Content and placed the underlying folders in it; not what I wanted.
Once I manually install a product in Daz Studio, I create a Product for it using the Content Library. That creates an item in Smart Content that has no product thumbnail and very limited metadata. I use a product image that came with the product or which I downloaded from the product’s parent site (or which I create from a quick render in Daz Studio) to manually create and place a thumbnail in the Runtime/Support folder.