DIM is fine for installing everything.It's the oldest and most tested.

Central maybe aswell, I just don't like it's lack of customization.So haven't even attempted to use it.

Connect is the install method with the least amount of options, none really.Other than where to put the library.

Connect also uses a very unique directory structure that is very different from DIM and Central.Which causes problems for products that need the DIM/Central style directory structure.

If you have something that isn't showing up in DIM it should be reported as there may be a server side problem that has nothing to do with your setup.Wouldn't the first time that has happened actually.

Not really,You will have problems combining Connect installs with DIM or Central.

Some scripts simply won't function if installed through Connect.

I use DIM because it can handle plugins, betas, and software  installs. You can also customize where it puts everything.

Connect works inside Studio so it can't install plugins, betas or itself.

Central isn't very mature and isn't very customizable, so I just don't consider it a viable option.

Over the years I've accumulated about 1.7TB of content(compressed folders) and roughly 3TB of supporting files.Manifests, thumbnails,templates, etc,etc..

My folders for Scenes and Scene sub sets is ~250GB combined

In DIM I select what drive I want to put everything on and it keeps it all up to date for me.

DIM can also control how many downloads it does at one time.Default is 4, I think.I set mine at 1, so It's much faster.

Just remember, you have to tell Studio where you told DIM to put your stuff.

So you have two places to configure your content library location

1.DIM

2. Studio Content Directory Manager

Smart Content works well, most people run into problems with disabling things or security software.

I can't live without it.

I love how easy it makes sorting though literally thousands of outfits, hair styles, shaders, etc,etc,.

AbovU said:

Good morning. Appreciate the help!
I have tried to download Genesis 8 Starter Essentials over and over. Keep getting errors.
I have tried to download what Daz Install Manager tells me I need to download to work properly. Keep getting errors.
 I came across Daz last week and was hoping to find a nice relaxing hobby to try and be creative on what little down time I have.
I understand theres always a learning curve, but it has been nothing but stress.
I have uninstalled, and reinstalled, used different zip extractor services etc....
I'm trying to remain optimistic and have a bunch of add ons on my wishlist I was wanting to purchase, but after buying my first one and all this happeneing it has been tough staying positive.
Thank you all for your help. I'm hoping this can somehow get resoved. Much appreciated.
Maybe the screeshots can shed some light on something?

Uninstall everything except Daz Install Manager. Use that to re-install everything, including Daz Studio itself. It should automatically sort the program and the asset files correctly, to the content folder specified in DIM's options menu. Ignore Daz Connect and Daz Central; mixing install methods usually leads to errors like this.

interestingly it is under "type DAZ studio"  but what you want are the zips one at at the top here https://www.daz3d.com/downloader/customer/files#prod_16777

and all the ones here https://www.daz3d.com/downloader/customer/files#prod_16175

on the left in green shape labled Download Zip, extract it and install

Don't use DAZ Central, that does not work with DAZ studio, DIM should but it is simpler to just download the zips if it's not

It's him, and as I have written, you right click at the Parameters Tab and you find Parameters, Zero and Memorize in the drop down menu, they can also be found in main menus, Edit->Figure->

1. Open DS and load "Genesis 8 Basic Female" (to an empty scene)
2. Right Click at Parameters Tab->Preferences->Choose "Show Hidden Properties" (part 3 zeroes only 'visible' dials)
3. Right Click at Parameters Tab->Zero->Zero Figure (Zeroes the value of all the 'visible' dials)
4. Right Click at Parameters Tab->Memorize->Memorize Figure (Sets the current value of all the dials as their default value)
5. Edit->Save As->Support Asset->Save Modified Assets (Writes the changed default value to the morph files that were changed)

When saving "Modified Assets" DS shows a dialog and asks for confirmation;
"The following file(s) will be permanently modified:" - "Accept/Cancel" - Choose "Accept"

I can think of only two reasons why this wouldn't work,

1. You have the ill-behaving morphs installed in several places (products installed with DAZ Connect after being installed with DIM/DAZ Central/Manuallly)
2. You have saved a character as an "Asset" with the dials at non-zero value

dragotx said:

Ok, another odd wrinkle.  I installed Central as a last ditch effort (it did not work either), but it reset the download directory in DIM.  With an empty download directory, rather than reusing my existing zip files downloaded through DIM, everything seems to be installing correctly now, and Smart Content is even responding.  It's been downloading and installing since last night, and thus far there have been no failures.  I'll update the thread again when it finishes in a couple of days with how it went overall.

Ok, now that it's installed about 2/3s of my library and 4.116 with no issues, it looks like redownloading everything fresh has solved the issues I was having.  And 4.16 installed fine on another machine, so whatever was causing the issues at first have apparently been resolved.  I haven't had a chance to test rendering with 4.16 yet though

hpcl is a Daz owned site.

HPCL stands (stood?) for "High-Performance Caching Layer" and was a separate set of servers that would cache product and ownership information because those lookups took the old store software so long it would both crash the old store software and slow down the login process with DIM to miserable levels. The servers are no longer in use after we moved to the new store software about a year ago we brought that code in and now it's hosted on an auto-scaled redundent cluster of web servers (currently running on about 22 servers). Both DIM and Daz Central still use that host for their dynamic requests but trying to browse the store on it would be pretty miserable because the CDN wouldn't be set to cache much there.

Don't confuse Daz Connect and Daz Central. Daz Connect cannot download Daz Studio, as far as I know. DIM and Daz Central can download Daz Studio. If you plan to use DIM, do not download Daz Central. Download and install DIM and install Daz Studio from DIM. You may need to configure the download filters on the Ready to Download tab of DIM to show Daz Studio as an available download. Make sure Software is checked and your operatiing system is checked in the DIM Download Filters.

In your purge, did you also purge the Daz Studio database? If not, you are not completely starting over, but it may not matter.

If you have been away for a long time, you may not be aware of the confusing mess that Daz has made of the content installation process. There are 4 separate ways of installing content now:

1. Good old reliable, configurable Daz Install Manager (DIM). It can install everything: Daz Studio itself, plugins, and content.
2. Daz Central, which is a stripped down less capable, less configurable version of DIM.
3. Daz Connect (Installing from inside Daz Studio). It looks nice and is convenient, but has always been problematic. It installs content into a "cloud" folder on your computer and puts every product into a separate subfolder named by SKU number. Some products don't work if they are installed this way. Some products won't work with content that is installed this way. Also, Daz has had a real problem with delivering corrupt products and updates with Daz Connect.
4. Manual download and manual installation. Daz does not make all products available for manual installation.

To further complicate and confuse, Daz puts little icons in the corner of Smart Content product thumbnails that indicate that a product is "available to install with Daz Connect". This icon is displayed even on products that you have already installed with another method, like DIM. It makes people think they have to install it again from inside Daz Studio. You do not have to install again from inside Daz Studio, and doing so will waste disk space and potentially cause problems.  In my opinion, the best way to avoid this temptation to double install is to NEVER log in from within Daz Studio. Go to preferences and stop automatic log in and don't ever manually log in. Just use DIM for your installation tool.

Horo said:

neotig_gundam - as MelanieL says (writes). DIM is dim for Bryce and stands for Daz-Studio Install Manager, neither Daz Central works. Once you have manually downloaded Bryce (zip), unpack the zip into a temporary folder and copy the files to the correct folders in the Bryce main folder/subfolder as this document https://horo.ch/docs/mine/pdf/BryceContent_v4.pdf shows.

DIM stands for Daz Install Manager - in fact that is its name, DIM is not an official acronym.

neotig_gundam - as MelanieL says (writes). DIM is dim for Bryce and stands for Daz-Studio Install Manager, neither Daz Central works. Once you have manually downloaded Bryce (zip), unpack the zip into a temporary folder and copy the files to the correct folders in the Bryce main folder/subfolder as this document https://horo.ch/docs/mine/pdf/BryceContent_v4.pdf shows.

Daz Central is for Daz Studio, Install Manager is more general.

I'd definitely suggest against using Daz Central because it's quite limitedin the things it can do. Instead just rely on DIM, which you can find here.

Don't attempt to install Bryce through Daz Central (nor through DIM) - they are only really meant for Daz Studio installation.

Horo (a PA here) has a useful document about how to install Bryce and it's contents, but I can't for the moment find the link - with luck someone will chip in with it.

Just bought bryce 7 pro and ive installed daz central but bryce isnt showing up for me to download and theres no download on the site. Just tells you to use daz central. HELP! Please thanks.

Forget Daz Central and use DIM.

Links you can find on your product library here at the site.

I'd taken a break from Daz for a few years. Now a fresh install on a newer Mac.... except Daz Central will NOT allow me to login to download program. Keeps freezing & 'not responding'. Tried numerous re-boots & re-installs of DC. With a huge catalogue of products & a program I can't access - feeling kind of ripped of here. Yes - in an ideal world I'd use PC - but I use Mac for work & home & simply cannot afford another system. Why does the world of 3D seem to hate Mac users so much? Anyway - really hacked off with this. Spent so much money on content but Daz Central won't let me even log in. Clearly I must write this off as a bad experience & forget about 3D or start from scratch with Blender? What an expensive pain in the rear! I am not impressed Daz Central!

A few days back I got a mailer from DAZ that contained a link to download the latest version of DS. But when I click on it I am brought to a page to download DAZ Central.

Is DAZ Studio called DAZ Central now or what?

The location in the screen shot looks right, assumign you are using the General Release and not a Public Build and that you isntalled with Daz Central. .exe is the Windows application extension (executable), .app is the Mac aplication extension.