How do you organize a huge content library?
bronyswvg
Posts: 16
Hi, I have a pretty large content library that’s becoming hard to manage. I own around 800–1000 products from the DAZ store, plus content from other external stores and freebies. Lately, I spend more time searching through my library than actually creating renders.
Some of my products appear in the Smart Content tab, while others are only accessible through the Content Library. But that’s messy too, because some products are in “My DAZ 3D Library,” others are under “Poser Formats,” and some are only available in the “Products” folder (the alphabetical folder inside Content Library).
Is there any way to organize all of this properly? I’d like to create my own folders with my own category structure and place products there so they’re easier to find, but honestly I’m afraid to touch anything. I don’t want to break my library and end up reinstalling everything from scratch.
Are there any folders whose contents I can safely move around, or are there some that I absolutely shouldn’t touch because it would break things?
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Some products will be in Poser format (possibly in both poser and daz studiio format, in whiiichc ase the Poser fiels are redundant, but some may be Poser only or Poser with extra DS materials). You cana lways load them and then save a scene subset in the Daz Studio formats.
Anything in Products will have files (if it is installed) in onme of the ... Formats lists - if you right-click on one of the files in the Products containers then there should be an option to show the asset in a Mapped (content installed through DIM or manually) or Virtual (content installed through DS) folder.
You can categorise content, either files or a whole folder, from the right-click menu.
You can add files to Smart Content by drag-and-drop - have the thing the files are to be "smart" for loaded and selected (e.g. a base figure for hair or clothes, the hair or clothes themselves for their materials) then drag the files from the Content Library pane into the desired category in Smart Content; you wil then be asked what type of file it is (Wearable, Shaping preset, Materials preset etc.)
But which specific folders am I actually allowed to move? Products are often split into multiple folders like People, Runtime, etc. If I move a file, will it break the asset? Will the software still recognize it?
I've been re-sorting, or correcting content files and folders for ages, since I have around 10000. It looks like you can pretty much sort that section as requred.
In particular, I've split G9 into Female and Male folders, just leaving Unisex clothing and creatures in the G9 folder. It means I have to move new files as soon as they install. I try to do it before I next open the program, but it doesn't seem to matter if I do it later (it just complicates the weekly backups). If manually installing files from other sites, I change Genesis 9 to Genesis 9 Female as appropriate
I wouldn't try to move Data or Runtime files, as I presume the others point to them.
I also correct situations where folders have been spelled incorrectly or put into "My Library" or "Content" folders
I wasn't suggesting moving any folders, which would break any existing metadata (and for the Data and Runtime folders would stop the product from working), rather I was suggesting using categories and (if desired) the compatibility system that drives Smart Content, both of which sit on top of the file locations.
I certainly understand your frustration.
I have been collecting for 21 years and my content folders are overwhelming.
I install ALMOST everything manually. However, there are some things I have Daz Manager install in a main Daz Library.
Just talking about Daz Studio folders or libraries:
The folders you cannot move are "Data" and "Runtime."
Daz Studio uses all "Data" files and the "Texture" files in "Runtime."
In my Daz Studio library, These are the folders I have:
Data
DM-SV
Elleque
FK Design
Genesis
Hair
Hivewire
Lights
Props
Runtime
Shaders
Within all if the folders, EXCEPT Data and Runtime\Textures, I move everything exactly where I want it.
So, within my Genesis folder, I have G1, G2, G3, G8, G9.
Within those folders, I have Base files, Character Files, Clothes Files, etc.
Poser files are a different story.
You cannot move any of the main folders within "Runtime."
These are:
Geometries
Libraries
Textures
************************************
Under Libraries, you cannot move:
Camera
Character
Face
Hair
Hand
Light
Materials
Pose
Props
Scene
HOWEVER, under each of those files, you can put things ANYWHERE you want.
Just to confuse you even more, for the last 12 years or so, I have been able to move all of my Pose and Props files to Characters.
If you want pictures of any thing I have mentioned, let me know!!!
That, too, is understandable.
When you click on a Character in Daz Studio, that is like a shortcut.
It pulls the "Data" Files that it needs, and the "Runtime\Texture" Files that it needs.
In Poser, when you click on a Character, it pulls the "Geometry" files it needs and the "Texture" files it needs.
In Poser, however, many venders use special folders within Poser for Morphs, Scripts. Those files you CANNOT move around.
I've been contemplating doing manual downloads, editing the manifest file in the zip, and then install with (offline) DIM. Product updates would require merging the new manifest with my changes.
The other problem would be starting now with 10,000 assets to "fix".
I have a new HDD though, so it might be worth it.
I have about 15 different libraries, with the items sorted into them. They are:
The advantage is that I can usually find stuff. The disadvantage is that, if a product is for multiple figure generations and doesn't have separate installers, one of them will have to be installed manually in the other library, since DIM won't handle two installations.
I'm exporting my stuff, rather than rendering in Studio these days, so some of these directories are mostly empty these days, as I've exported their contents and uninstalled.
I gave up on organizing these things in one library, because some of them -- especially the old producs from the days of Victoria & Michael 3 and 4 -- are very hard to keep track of. The figures are only part of it. Some of the environments had add-ons and texture sets, where figuring out which texture set went with which base + add-on combination could take some time.
I'm exporting because Daz Studio's old preview render, which used to be excellent and helpful, got broken and never fixed -- the old products never used to look like flipped-normal patchwork rubbish in preview, or I'd never have gotten started with Daz at all -- and because Studio is so darned slow moving around a large landscape I eventually decided I'd rather move everything than try to work with it. (Forgot: And also they've never increased the displayable text size, a decade after HiDPI became common, so it's eyestrain to use. I understand it was impossible with the old toolkit. But they haven't done it yet in Studio 2026 either, so I'm glad I didn't decide to wait.)
It's all getting worse, since you've started reorganizing and costomizing your content.
That would mean, that just re-downloading won't do it.
I do a full 800GB backup to an external hard drive at least every month.
My daz library is currently sat at 1.7Tb. That drive only has 162Gb free space left now....
Think I need to shuffle some data around and swap it to the 4Tb drive.......
Ok, for me what I do, is create folders for content of specific types. IE: Fantasy, SciFi, modern, (ro)bots; vehicles, environments, creatures, etc. Safest is to not move stuff from the main folder it was in, so poses, props, people etc. If it's in say Genesis 8 female/clothing, you can usually get away with moving it to Genesis 8 female/accessories without causing too much trouble. More than that is asking for trouble. I create the sub folders I listed inside the main folder it was in. So for instance G8f fantasy clothing goes into it's own folder, G8f modern clothing, etc. Note that these stay in the general G8f/clothing folder, just more organized. Sub-catogorizing like this helps, as long as you can figure out what sub-catagory something went into. I also have several major vendors I like such as Lilflame that I leave as a catagory by itself. Her style is recognizable enough that I can almost always remember if an item was hers to know where to look.
I also have two drives, one for my very old content (Aiko3, Victoria4, 3delight, etc), one for newer content.(anything Genesis or iRay). I will often tap into that ancient stuff for some extra kit-bash items, then rework tectures for iRay.
In my early days I got this very bad idea that I hated the organization of the major folders and tried reorganizing them, very bad idea. I had to basically deleat everything and start over. Don't do that.
As a general warning, freebies are almost always trouble. Look at them carefully before installing them. Then look carefully at where they installed. Especially if they are 3rd party vendor freebies. Additionally some 3rd party vendors have weird ideas about where they install various parts of an item that don't match up with regular formatting. This can be a big pain because you cannot simply move a misplaced Data folder. But the inventory folder (the one that has People/Genesis 8 female, props, etc) can be a little more generous.
Also. I use mini portable drives to keep backups of important stuff like Scenes that I don't want to have to try to replicate by memory. I am prone to leave a scene 3/4 finished with ideas that I'm missing something, or need to find a better way to do something, so I save them as-is and go back when I think I have an idea how to improve it. As a for instance I have one where I have a combat team on a foggy night hunting a monster. I'm still dithering with the night and fog effects and the lighting. It's tricky because I want the team to be visible, but the monster to be barely visible, but visible. So if I figure I am stuck I save and go back.
What kills me is the number of items that install in the wrong spot. The existing directory structure would be tolerable if it were for the things that are installed incorrectly.
For example, https://www.daz3d.com/hdr-basesets-monterey
It is SKU 15675 and it installs in File TARGET="Content" ACTION="Install" VALUE="Content/DimensionTheory/HDRMonterey/BaseSet/....."
No one reported this since 2013 when it was released? It's not like DT is no longer an active PA. HDRIs usually install in Lighting Presets. I can't possible report all of the misplaced library assets without dedicating weeks of time to it. At which point, I may as well reorganize my stuff manually. I still might.
For me, everything Daz gets installed via DIM, and I have a legacy install folder and a current folder on a new drive. New purchases get installed on the new drive, updates to legacy stuff gets handled by DIM. All the other stores where I get stuff have their own content libraries so it makes it easy to install and find in DS.
I have a different approach. I only install the products I need for the project I am working on. Rest stays on external HD. Luckily I create a lot myself, so don't rely much on Daz products.
Over the past 25+ years I've gone from one extreme to the other.
In the earlier years, all my hard drives had small capacity. I tried to cope by being creative, whatever.
But all my schemes never worked, and I lost a few years' worth of work once.
From then on, the only solution for me was to buy larger capacity hard drives.
For awhile I decided to split my installations between Genesis stuff and "pre-genesis" stuff. I had a few other ideas.
But I got so darned confused. I stopped manually installing content, and decided to rely soley on DIM to install my content.
I decided to have one folder for everything installed by DIM.
I have another folder for "3rd Party content," from other stores. But most of my content comes from DAZ.
I have another folder for "Poser content." That is mostly whatever Poser stuff I bought years ago. (Stuff from Content Paradise, back in the day. Also content that came with various versions of Poser.)
I have another folder for stuff I put together. Whenever I put together a character, place it into scenes, whatever.... That work gets copied over to "Ron's World."
I've ended up with my content fitting snugly into a 2TB SSD drive. There is still 1TB free space.
Maybe I'm a lightweight compared to others?!
Really, I don't know how much 3D content I have meanwhile. Since I started my main account here in 2007, I started to evolve into a 3D-software-hamster
I must have tons of freebies, products from other shops and at a minimum - as my excel lists tell me - around 7.100 products from Daz.
The next point is, that they're spread over several external hard drives, which mainly are added to my old Windows 10 32bit PC ... I know, that doesn't even sounds as if, but it literally feels as if it's from the stone ages (and you don't have enough smileys here, by the way
)
Back in the times, when I had the chance to be a part of the Beta team, I recognized, that it might be much easier to use Daz Studio or Bryce, if I would have my own folder structure - especially regarding a more and more shrinking space - and for a time it really worked.
But now with the newer PC I need to restructure everything again, because this time I want to set up a system, which is right from the beginning. Not only for the 3D-files, but for everything else as well. Considering, that I have now much more TB than ever before with 10 TB on the new PC plus 8 TB connected to the old PC, it should be somehow possible, but therefore I need a better plan and a better oversight what came from which shop or site. And it would be very helpful, if DIM would work as well for other products outside from DAZ.
It does, as long as other stores are taking the time to create packages made for DIM.
It took me a year to make "EZFinder" programming day and night. Check it out in the Daz store. My library is approaching 14,000 assets. Catch it when it is on sale...
There is this product that you can create your own DIM zips. https://www.daz3d.com/content-package-assist
Wow! That's really a great piece of work
I just added it to my wishlist and hope for the next sale 
And another addition to my wishlist
Thank you very much
Just to be clear, did you mean to use the word "Assets" there rather than the word "products?" Typically, the latter is used to describe something purchased within the DAZ store, whereas the former describes the granular elements that comprise that product, so given that the majority of DAZ products contain multiple assets, 14,000 assets doesn't seem like a very large library.