karl said:

Thanks, I'll make a note of that! Since it doesn't seem t ocover the common setup of Daz (assets on D:, program on C:) I don't know if this will be useful for anyone else who wants to do it that way. As well as D: being larger usually, this means if they reinstall Windows or get a new PC and so do a fresh install of Daz Studio, Daz Studio will be able to find and use those installed assets exactly as before, so they don't have to download and install the assets all over again. Note this is just my procedure!

STEP 1: PREPARATION

If necessary, uninstall all current Daz stuff from the PC to start fresh.

Use Daz Central (DC) or Daz Install Manager (DIM) to uninstall Daz Studio (DS) and content (whichever one you used to install DS in the first place), then uninstall DC/DIM through Windows.

Then do any manual cleanup - see the instructions at https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055963392-How-do-I-uninstall-delete-Daz-Studio- but note that some of the folders names may be different, and the guide misses out a few folders (e.g. I had a Daz 3D folder on the root on my C: that needed deleting).

STEP 2: INSTALL AND RUN DIM

Download DIM from https://www.daz3d.com/install-manager-info/

Install DIM on the C: at its default location.

Run it, tick "Work Offline" (so you can set preferences). This will temporarily disable the password box. Enter your email and click Start.

STEP 3: SET UP DIM

We want to set locations on the D:, so they can be easily backed up and will also survive Windows reinstalls.

In the top right corner is a small Gear icon (Settings). Go to Settings>Advanced Settings.

Go to the Downloads tab – this is where we set the location to save the files you download from your store account.

It has two options. There is a Package Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Downloads and a Thumbnail Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Thumbnails

Package Archive is the zip files downloaded from the Daz store.

Thumbnail Archive is apparently optional, some kind of preview in DS. Nothing is added to it by DIM installing assets, so things are probably only added by DS. However, since it will get downloaded anyway, and they don’t take up much space compared to the main assets, it makes sense to back them up too.

The thumbnails are for DIM, not DS, but they are not downloaded by default - if you want thumbnails in the tool tips when you hover over an entry in DIM then you need to right-clickand choose the option to download the thumbnail for the item under the mouse or for all selected items, or all missing thumnbnails in selected items.

Since I want to back them up, and they are different content types, I will be using a nested folder structure where the downloads and installed files all go under D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\

So I set the Package Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\downloads

and the Thumbnail Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\thumbnails

Leave all other settings alone.

Next go to the Installation tab. This allows you to set and add Content (Runtime) install paths.

Again, there are multiple options.

There is a Manifest Archive at C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/ManifestFiles

There is a Content Database Base of C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms

And there is a Recommended folder of C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library (which has an ellipsis after it but clicking it does nothing).

Manifest Archive is for the files that DS uses to track what it has installed.

The manifests are used by DIM, not Daz Studio. Daz studio (or rather the CMS) cares only about relative location within the content directory - if you move the entire directory and update the location in the directory list then the files will still show in the database-driven views - but DIM needs to know the absolute location of files, for one thing so that it can install content if it isn't in a current content directory (manifests store other information too).

Content Database Base is the database used by the Content Management System. It is accessed and managed by PostgreSQL and has no DS content in it. DS and DIM update it based on product metadata. To avoid losing any metadata it should be on the D: drive and included in back ups. This location will be the same as the ContentCluster path you can set in DS Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings.

So I set the Manifest Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\manifest

and the Content Database Base as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms

However, I had an issue with this step! Every time I changed the Content Database Base to D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms, and Accepted it, then went back in, it had reset to C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms (there were no error messages). This seems to be a bug. One option was to skip this step temporarily, let DIM go online, install DS, then try changing it inside DS (Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings, the ContentCluster location). But I found that once I installed DS and logged in, then came back to DIM, DIM then let me finally change the location of the CMS, so all was good. For some reason it would only let me after I installed DS.

We also need to set a folder (a fifth location) for the actual files that DIM unpacks from downloaded zips and installs, which is the key ones to move to the D:. By default this is the Content Folder, which shows as C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library. First click the + in the bottom left of the window. Give the path a label such as “content” and choose a location on your D: (for me it was on my D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content). Any added locations will be available in the Content Path Shortcuts drop-down selection box above, so change it to the one you want there. You can then delete the original default option so you only have the D: option for content.

You can confirm the path etc in the main interface window “Ready to Install” tab: click on Show Details.

That’s five folders set, so the hard work should be done.

STEP 4: SET UP DAZ STUDIO

We have set up DIM. If you haven’t done it already, let DIM go online and install DS. DIM should have transferred all the correct paths into DS, but we can double check for peace of mind.

Open DS.

Edit>Preferences>Content tab>Content Directory Manager.

(You can also open preferences with F2.)

That lets you expand the path trees for where thinsg will be stored.

The CMS Cluster Directory should be whatever you set in DIM (D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms).

Content (in both DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats) should be whatever you set (mine were both D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content as I expected).

Daz Connect Data isn’t something set by DIM, so will be a C: location. Daz Connect means installing content from within DS rather than via DIM (and doesn’t work for all content). As such, since we are using DIM, it makes sense to ignore that and install everything via DIM. So you can leave that alone.

This hopefully just confirms that DIM correctly set the directories and transferred those locations to DS.

I don’t think there’s a way to set a default for saving your scenes etc in DS, but I created a folder at D:\image creation\Daz 3D\my presets and will manually save scenes and characters there, so they get backed up and can also be transferred to a new PC or survive Windows reinstallation.

icon_png files: see this https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/225611/daz-studio-creates-icon-files
I had that problem, icon files all over my desktop. So need to change
Render Settings>General>Image Path and point it to some folder with no images in (can I set it as none? Chooce C:?). Then when save a render, browse to the desktop.

STEP 5: DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL CONTENT/ASSETS

Now that everything is set up, we can install all the assets we bought.

Open DIM. Make sure you are “Working Online” (enter your password).

The “Ready to Download” tab should be populated with everything you bought on the Daz Store, plus Daz Studio and some freebie starter content.

TIP to save space and time: hide anything that you don’t want to download and install that might be things you don’t need such as Hexagon, or a bridge for Photoshop (if you aren’t going to use that). To the right of each line is a right-facing triangle. Click that for a menu, and you can hide any items you don’t want to install and they’ll disappear (you can view the hidden items at any time by clicking “Display Hidden”, and unhide them in the same way).

My big tip is that many things I’d bought had the same file twice – once with ds at the end, once with ps. According to https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28450/ds-ps they are pretty much the same thing, and the ds version will work better in Daz. Also, the ps (Poser) version would often not work as smart content anyway. So, we want to just download and install the ds versions, and hide the ps. Installing both just doubles the storage, and unfortunately that is the default DIM chooses. So it may be worth filtering it – type ps onto the top right filter box. Ignore false positives (e.g. files where ps are next to each other liks “special ops poses” but identify real ps files and hide them using the right triangle menu I mentioned. For me that prevented DIM downloading and installing 94 items, or 12.3GB of unnecessary files. The downside is that I had to hide all 94 items individually, two clicks for each (and since the button is small and right next to the install button, I accidentally downloaded a few and had to delete them again). The little menu ignores the fact that you may have selected multiple items with the check marks on the left, making you hide each individually. Also be aware that if you hide ps packages in DIM in this way, then if you ever you reinstall DIM (e.g. on a new PC, or reinstalling the OS), you may well find them all back again and offered for install, so will need to hide them again (another 188 clicks …).

If ever you use the filter box, remember to click the x in it when you are finished, to cancel the filter and reveal all the files again. Also, the filter box is handy for finding a particular item.

A big bonus of DIM is multiple downloads. Daz Central (and Daz Connect) only let me download items one at a time (if I tried to download multiple items in DC it cancelled previous ones and only downloaded the last one I clicked on). But DIM lets you download multiple items – or even everything – at once. You can re-sort the packages by size or name and select groups. If you tick “Install After Download” it will do it for you. Because I don’t have superfast Internet, and have to share it with my partner (and use the same network for work), it took me three days to download and install what I currently own. That’s why I don’t want to ever have to do it again if I get a new PC or reinstall Windows – hopefully this method means the content will be there on my D: for future installs of DS!

DIM downloaded and installed everything to the folders I set.

(Also, I did NOT click “Delete Packages Once Installed” on the “Ready To Install” tab; this way, if something goes wrong with my plan, at least I can reinstall the assets from the downloaded files, saving the three day task of downloading them all again. The downside is content appears twice on my D: and takes up twice the space – once as the installer, once as the installed version. Maybe one day, if I find this system works even after reinstalling Windows or getting a new PC, I will then have the confidence to delete the downloaded installers and free up a lot of space – currently the installers alone take up 119GB).

STEP 6: TEST CONTENT IN DAZ STUDIO

Check the items show up fine and work in DS, showing up as Smart Content if applicable, that there are no problems that might require a refund.

Note that in DIM the installation tab shows if a product has installed Metadata. If so, there will be a checkmark underneath the “Smart” column, letting you know it will show under “Smart Content” in DAZ Studio 4 and higher. Most items will have metadata, but some may not have user-facing files (e.g. morph sets may add new sliders to the figure without having any presets to click). Additonal parts of a file that is so big it is in more than one part may not show as having metadata either. If there are properly installed products which don't have the data to appear in database-driven views (Smart Content) but which do have user-facing files you should still be able to find them in the Content Library pane under daz Studio formats (or Poser formats) and then the content directory name. This often applies to older items.

I have noticed one problem: some items I installed via DIM show up in DS, but are greyed out, as if they aren’t installed. I’m not sure what has happened there, or how to fix it. If I right click install within DS then it uses Daz Connect, so would download the item again (when it is already downloaded and stored on my D: by DIM), plus it would store it on the C: unless I change that path too. Using multiple install methods is perhaps asking for trouble, so I want to work out why DIM is not working for some items instead. Is this a known issue? Some of the items it applies to: Genesis 3 Starter Essentials; Rocker Outfit for Geneis 3 Females; Shadow Thief Outfit for Geneis 8 Females; Genesis 8 Starter Essentials; Nyala HD for Genesis 8 Female; Daz Studio Iray HDR Outdoor Environments; and others.

STEP 7: REGULAR BACKUPS

I do a full backup of my D: regularly. So this would now mean I am also backing up the downloaded asset zip files in one folder, the installed Daz assets in another (doubling the storage requirements but meaning I am covered for a few potential scenarios), and things like the cms, thumbnails, manifests, and my presets in other D: folders. I also save one caleld “previews” which lets me browse what I have bought – each product gets a folder within a structure that categorises it (people, hair, lighting, poses etc), with a link to the product page, a txt file with the full description, and all the preview images from the product page. This is really useful to store as products are sometimes withdrawn, and that information is no longer available – there are a few items where I can no longer get the preview images, which si a shame as they give ideas for how to use the content, or illustrate all the options. Ideally all that info would be available in a zip for everything you buy, which would save manually having to save every image via the browser.

NB: do backups only when DS, DIM, and other applications using the cms are all closed and there are no PostgreSQL processes running.

STEP 8: REINSTALLING WINDOWS / GETTING A NEW PC

If I reinstall Windows, or get a new computer (where I'd copy my D: backup contents to the new PC's D:) I would perform steps 2-4 above, choosing the same paths (so they actually now point to installed content on the D:). That should mean DIM and DS see and use all my existing content, so it doesn’t need redownloading or reinstalling again, saving me days.

Worst case scenario is that I reinstall Windows then all the Daz software, as above, but DIM and Daz Studio don't "see" the previously-installed Daz assets. In that case, as long as DIM can see the downloaded zip files, I can manually delete the installed assets from my D:, leaving that folder empty; then point DIM at my previous downloads and reinstall everything from the downloaded zip files. (Which at least saves downloading everything again.)

Back to rendering for the first time since November with the update update that is finally compatible with current Mac OS and CPUs ..  also the first purchase from the store since then.

I'm in New Jersey which was hit by the remnants of Ida.  We had ridiculously wet August with 11 inches of rain at the weather station three miles from here - 4 a week ago.  August is nomrally the wettest month with about 5 inches being normal for the full month.  The ground was saturated and there had been a fair amount of minor flooding just before Ida hit.  We had 8.1" in 7 hours here - some parts of the state were over 11.  There are a lot of failry flat areas and Central NJ took a big hit.  One of the more intense part of the storm was at the tail end of rush hour and a lot of people were stranded.  Two police departments rescured over 200 people *each*.  There are a number of illegal sublets that rent out basements and some people couldn't get out.  

We were lucky - we live near top of a hill and only had one shallow rooted tree go down in an area that didn't do any damage. No water in the basement, although the sump pump has been going for about two weeks now first dealing with the big storm at the end of August and now this.  Yesterday most of the roads around here started to open.

Normal years in NJ used to bring about 40" of precipitation.  The average now is closer to 60" and this year is aout 70" so far. 

I guess I should start rendering maritine scenes.

Thanks, I'll make a note of that! Since it doesn't seem t ocover the common setup of Daz (assets on D:, program on C:) I don't know if this will be useful for anyone else who wants to do it that way. As well as D: being larger usually, this means if they reinstall Windows or get a new PC and so do a fresh install of Daz Studio, Daz Studio will be able to find and use those installed assets exactly as before, so they don't have to download and install the assets all over again. Note this is just my procedure!

STEP 1: PREPARATION

If necessary, uninstall all current Daz stuff from the PC to start fresh.

Use Daz Central (DC) or Daz Install Manager (DIM) to uninstall Daz Studio (DS) and content (whichever one you used to install DS in the first place), then uninstall DC/DIM through Windows.

Then do any manual cleanup - see the instructions at https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055963392-How-do-I-uninstall-delete-Daz-Studio- but note that some of the folders names may be different, and the guide misses out a few folders (e.g. I had a Daz 3D folder on the root on my C: that needed deleting).

STEP 2: INSTALL AND RUN DIM

Download DIM from https://www.daz3d.com/install-manager-info/

Install DIM on the C: at its default location.

Run it, tick "Work Offline" (so you can set preferences). This will temporarily disable the password box. Enter your email and click Start.

STEP 3: SET UP DIM

We want to set locations on the D:, so they can be easily backed up and will also survive Windows reinstalls.

In the top right corner is a small Gear icon (Settings). Go to Settings>Advanced Settings.

Go to the Downloads tab – this is where we set the location to save the files you download from your store account.

It has two options. There is a Package Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Downloads and a Thumbnail Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Thumbnails

Package Archive is the zip files downloaded from the Daz store.

Thumbnail Archive is apparently optional, some kind of preview in DS. Nothing is added to it by DIM installing assets, so things are probably only added by DS. However, since it will get downloaded anyway, and they don’t take up much space compared to the main assets, it makes sense to back them up too.

Since I want to back them up, and they are different content types, I will be using a nested folder structure where the downloads and installed files all go under D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\

So I set the Package Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\downloads

and the Thumbnail Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\thumbnails

Leave all other settings alone.

Next go to the Installation tab. This allows you to set and add Content (Runtime) install paths.

Again, there are multiple options.

There is a Manifest Archive at C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/ManifestFiles

There is a Content Database Base of C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms

And there is a Recommended folder of C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library (which has an ellipsis after it but clicking it does nothing).

Manifest Archive is for the files that DS uses to track what it has installed.

Content Database Base is the database used by the Content Management System. It is accessed and managed by PostgreSQL and has no DS content in it. DS and DIM update it based on product metadata. To avoid losing any metadata it should be on the D: drive and included in back ups. This location will be the same as the ContentCluster path you can set in DS Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings.

So I set the Manifest Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\manifest

and the Content Database Base as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms

However, I had an issue with this step! Every time I changed the Content Database Base to D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms, and Accepted it, then went back in, it had reset to C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms (there were no error messages). This seems to be a bug. One option was to skip this step temporarily, let DIM go online, install DS, then try changing it inside DS (Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings, the ContentCluster location). But I found that once I installed DS and logged in, then came back to DIM, DIM then let me finally change the location of the CMS, so all was good. For some reason it would only let me after I installed DS.

We also need to set a folder (a fifth location) for the actual files that DIM unpacks from downloaded zips and installs, which is the key ones to move to the D:. By default this is the Content Folder, which shows as C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library. First click the + in the bottom left of the window. Give the path a label such as “content” and choose a location on your D: (for me it was on my D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content). Any added locations will be available in the Content Path Shortcuts drop-down selection box above, so change it to the one you want there. You can then delete the original default option so you only have the D: option for content.

You can confirm the path etc in the main interface window “Ready to Install” tab: click on Show Details.

That’s five folders set, so the hard work should be done.

STEP 4: SET UP DAZ STUDIO

We have set up DIM. If you haven’t done it already, let DIM go online and install DS. DIM should have transferred all the correct paths into DS, but we can double check for peace of mind.

Open DS.

Edit>Preferences>Content tab>Content Directory Manager.

(You can also open preferences with F2.)

That lets you expand the path trees for where thinsg will be stored.

The CMS Cluster Directory should be whatever you set in DIM (D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms).

Content (in both DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats) should be whatever you set (mine were both D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content as I expected).

Daz Connect Data isn’t something set by DIM, so will be a C: location. Daz Connect means installing content from within DS rather than via DIM (and doesn’t work for all content). As such, since we are using DIM, it makes sense to ignore that and install everything via DIM. So you can leave that alone.

This hopefully just confirms that DIM correctly set the directories and transferred those locations to DS.

I don’t think there’s a way to set a default for saving your scenes etc in DS, but I created a folder at D:\image creation\Daz 3D\my presets and will manually save scenes and characters there, so they get backed up and can also be transferred to a new PC or survive Windows reinstallation.

icon_png files: see this https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/225611/daz-studio-creates-icon-files
I had that problem, icon files all over my desktop. So need to change
Render Settings>General>Image Path and point it to some folder with no images in (can I set it as none? Chooce C:?). Then when save a render, browse to the desktop.

STEP 5: DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL CONTENT/ASSETS

Now that everything is set up, we can install all the assets we bought.

Open DIM. Make sure you are “Working Online” (enter your password).

The “Ready to Download” tab should be populated with everything you bought on the Daz Store, plus Daz Studio and some freebie starter content.

TIP to save space and time: hide anything that you don’t want to download and install that might be things you don’t need such as Hexagon, or a bridge for Photoshop (if you aren’t going to use that). To the right of each line is a right-facing triangle. Click that for a menu, and you can hide any items you don’t want to install and they’ll disappear (you can view the hidden items at any time by clicking “Display Hidden”, and unhide them in the same way).

My big tip is that many things I’d bought had the same file twice – once with ds at the end, once with ps. According to https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28450/ds-ps they are pretty much the same thing, and the ds version will work better in Daz. Also, the ps (Poser) version would often not work as smart content anyway. So, we want to just download and install the ds versions, and hide the ps. Installing both just doubles the storage, and unfortunately that is the default DIM chooses. So it may be worth filtering it – type ps onto the top right filter box. Ignore false positives (e.g. files where ps are next to each other liks “special ops poses” but identify real ps files and hide them using the right triangle menu I mentioned. For me that prevented DIM downloading and installing 94 items, or 12.3GB of unnecessary files. The downside is that I had to hide all 94 items individually, two clicks for each (and since the button is small and right next to the install button, I accidentally downloaded a few and had to delete them again). The little menu ignores the fact that you may have selected multiple items with the check marks on the left, making you hide each individually. Also be aware that if you hide ps packages in DIM in this way, then if you ever you reinstall DIM (e.g. on a new PC, or reinstalling the OS), you may well find them all back again and offered for install, so will need to hide them again (another 188 clicks …).

If ever you use the filter box, remember to click the x in it when you are finished, to cancel the filter and reveal all the files again. Also, the filter box is handy for finding a particular item.

A big bonus of DIM is multiple downloads. Daz Central (and Daz Connect) only let me download items one at a time (if I tried to download multiple items in DC it cancelled previous ones and only downloaded the last one I clicked on). But DIM lets you download multiple items – or even everything – at once. You can re-sort the packages by size or name and select groups. If you tick “Install After Download” it will do it for you. Because I don’t have superfast Internet, and have to share it with my partner (and use the same network for work), it took me three days to download and install what I currently own. That’s why I don’t want to ever have to do it again if I get a new PC or reinstall Windows – hopefully this method means the content will be there on my D: for future installs of DS!

DIM downloaded and installed everything to the folders I set.

(Also, I did NOT click “Delete Packages Once Installed” on the “Ready To Install” tab; this way, if something goes wrong with my plan, at least I can reinstall the assets from the downloaded files, saving the three day task of downloading them all again. The downside is content appears twice on my D: and takes up twice the space – once as the installer, once as the installed version. Maybe one day, if I find this system works even after reinstalling Windows or getting a new PC, I will then have the confidence to delete the downloaded installers and free up a lot of space – currently the installers alone take up 119GB).

STEP 6: TEST CONTENT IN DAZ STUDIO

Check the items show up fine and work in DS, showing up as Smart Content if applicable, that there are no problems that might require a refund.

Note that in DIM the installation tab shows if a product has installed Metadata. If so, there will be a checkmark underneath the “Smart” column, letting you know it will show under “Smart Content” in DAZ Studio 4 and higher. Most items will have metadata, but some may not have user-facing files (e.g. morph sets may add new sliders to the figure without having any presets to click). Additonal parts of a file that is so big it is in more than one part may not show as having metadata either. If there are properly installed products which don't have the data to appear in database-driven views (Smart Content) but which do have user-facing files you should still be able to find them in the Content Library pane under daz Studio formats (or Poser formats) and then the content directory name. This often applies to older items.

I have noticed one problem: some items I installed via DIM show up in DS, but are greyed out, as if they aren’t installed. I’m not sure what has happened there, or how to fix it. If I right click install within DS then it uses Daz Connect, so would download the item again (when it is already downloaded and stored on my D: by DIM), plus it would store it on the C: unless I change that path too. Using multiple install methods is perhaps asking for trouble, so I want to work out why DIM is not working for some items instead. Is this a known issue? Some of the items it applies to: Genesis 3 Starter Essentials; Rocker Outfit for Geneis 3 Females; Shadow Thief Outfit for Geneis 8 Females; Genesis 8 Starter Essentials; Nyala HD for Genesis 8 Female; Daz Studio Iray HDR Outdoor Environments; and others.

STEP 7: REGULAR BACKUPS

I do a full backup of my D: regularly. So this would now mean I am also backing up the downloaded asset zip files in one folder, the installed Daz assets in another (doubling the storage requirements but meaning I am covered for a few potential scenarios), and things like the cms, thumbnails, manifests, and my presets in other D: folders. I also save one caleld “previews” which lets me browse what I have bought – each product gets a folder within a structure that categorises it (people, hair, lighting, poses etc), with a link to the product page, a txt file with the full description, and all the preview images from the product page. This is really useful to store as products are sometimes withdrawn, and that information is no longer available – there are a few items where I can no longer get the preview images, which si a shame as they give ideas for how to use the content, or illustrate all the options. Ideally all that info would be available in a zip for everything you buy, which would save manually having to save every image via the browser.

NB: do backups only when DS, DIM, and other applications using the cms are all closed and there are no PostgreSQL processes running.

STEP 8: REINSTALLING WINDOWS / GETTING A NEW PC

If I reinstall Windows, or get a new computer (where I'd copy my D: backup contents to the new PC's D:) I would perform steps 2-4 above, choosing the same paths (so they actually now point to installed content on the D:). That should mean DIM and DS see and use all my existing content, so it doesn’t need redownloading or reinstalling again, saving me days.

Worst case scenario is that I reinstall Windows then all the Daz software, as above, but DIM and Daz Studio don't "see" the previously-installed Daz assets. In that case, as long as DIM can see the downloaded zip files, I can manually delete the installed assets from my D:, leaving that folder empty; then point DIM at my previous downloads and reinstall everything from the downloaded zip files. (Which at least saves downloading everything again.)

This may be useful for anyone else who wants to install Daz with assets on the D:; then, if they reinstall Windows or get a new PC and so do a fresh install of Daz Studio, Daz Studio will be able to find and use those installed assets exactly as before, so they don't have to download and install the assets all over again. Note this is just my procedure!

STEP 1: PREPARATION

If necessary, uninstall all current Daz stuff from the PC to start fresh.

Use Daz Central (DC) or Daz Install Manager (DIM) to uninstall Daz Studio (DS) and content (whichever one you used to install DS in the first place), then uninstall DC/DIM through Windows.

Then do any manual cleanup - see the instructions at https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055963392-How-do-I-uninstall-delete-Daz-Studio- but note that some of the folders names may be different, and the guide misses out a few folders (e.g. I had a Daz 3D folder on the root on my C: that needed deleting).

STEP 2: INSTALL AND RUN DIM

Download DIM from https://www.daz3d.com/install-manager-info/

Install DIM on the C: at its default location.

Run it, tick "Work Offline" (so you can set preferences). This will temporarily disable the password box. Enter your email and click Start.

STEP 3: SET UP DIM

We want to set locations on the D:, so they can be easily backed up and will also survive Windows reinstalls.

In the top right corner is a small Gear icon (Settings). Go to Settings>Advanced Settings.

Go to the Downloads tab – this is where we set the location to save the files you download from your store account.

It has two options. There is a Package Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Downloads and a Thumbnail Archive C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/Thumbnails

Package Archive is the zip files downloaded from the Daz store.

Thumbnail Archive is apparently optional, some kind of preview in DS. Nothing is added to it by DIM installing assets, so things are probably only added by DS. However, since it will get downloaded anyway, and they don’t take up much space compared to the main assets, it makes sense to back them up too.

Since I want to back them up, and they are different content types, I will be using a nested folder structure where the downloads and installed files all go under D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\

So I set the Package Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\downloads

and the Thumbnail Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\thumbnails

Leave all other settings alone.

Next go to the Installation tab. This allows you to set and add Content (Runtime) install paths.

Again, there are multiple options.

There is a Manifest Archive at C:/Users/Public/Documents/DAZ 3D/InstallManager/ManifestFiles

There is a Content Database Base of C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms

And there is a Recommended folder of C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library (which has an ellipsis after it but clicking it does nothing).

Manifest Archive is for the files that DS uses to track what it has installed.

Content Database Base is the database used by the Content Management System. It is accessed and managed by PostgreSQL and has no DS content in it. DS and DIM update it based on product metadata. To avoid losing any metadata it should be on the D: drive and included in back ups. This location will be the same as the ContentCluster path you can set in DS Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings.

So I set the Manifest Archive as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\manifest

and the Content Database Base as D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms

However, I had an issue with this step! Every time I changed the Content Database Base to D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms, and Accepted it, then went back in, it had reset to C:/Users/NA/AppData/Roaming/DAZ 3D/cms (there were no error messages). This seems to be a bug. One option was to skip this step temporarily, let DIM go online, install DS, then try changing it inside DS (Edit>Preferences>CMS Settings, the ContentCluster location). But I found that once I installed DS and logged in, then came back to DIM, DIM then let me finally change the location of the CMS, so all was good. For some reason it would only let me after I installed DS.

We also need to set a folder (a fifth location) for the actual files that DIM unpacks from downloaded zips and installs, which is the key ones to move to the D:. By default this is the Content Folder, which shows as C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library. First click the + in the bottom left of the window. Give the path a label such as “content” and choose a location on your D: (for me it was on my D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content). Any added locations will be available in the Content Path Shortcuts drop-down selection box above, so change it to the one you want there. You can then delete the original default option so you only have the D: option for content.

You can confirm the path etc in the main interface window “Ready to Install” tab: click on Show Details.

That’s five folders set, so the hard work should be done.

STEP 4: SET UP DAZ STUDIO

We have set up DIM. If you haven’t done it already, let DIM go online and install DS. DIM should have transferred all the correct paths into DS, but we can double check for peace of mind.

Open DS.

Edit>Preferences>Content tab>Content Directory Manager.

(You can also open preferences with F2.)

That lets you expand the path trees for where thinsg will be stored.

The CMS Cluster Directory should be whatever you set in DIM (D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\cms).

Content (in both DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats) should be whatever you set (mine were both D:\image creation\Daz 3D\assets\content as I expected).

Daz Connect Data isn’t something set by DIM, so will be a C: location. Daz Connect means installing content from within DS rather than via DIM (and doesn’t work for all content). As such, since we are using DIM, it makes sense to ignore that and install everything via DIM. So you can leave that alone.

This hopefully just confirms that DIM correctly set the directories and transferred those locations to DS.

I don’t think there’s a way to set a default for saving your scenes etc in DS, but I created a folder at D:\image creation\Daz 3D\my presets and will manually save scenes and characters there, so they get backed up and can also be transferred to a new PC or survive Windows reinstallation.

icon_png files: see this https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/225611/daz-studio-creates-icon-files
I had that problem, icon files all over my desktop. So need to change
Render Settings>General>Image Path and point it to some folder with no images in (can I set it as none? Chooce C:?). Then when save a render, browse to the desktop.

STEP 5: DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL CONTENT/ASSETS

Now that everything is set up, we can install all the assets we bought.

Open DIM. Make sure you are “Working Online” (enter your password).

The “Ready to Download” tab should be populated with everything you bought on the Daz Store, plus Daz Studio and some freebie starter content.

TIP to save space and time: hide anything that you don’t want to download and install that might be things you don’t need such as Hexagon, or a bridge for Photoshop (if you aren’t going to use that). To the right of each line is a right-facing triangle. Click that for a menu, and you can hide any items you don’t want to install and they’ll disappear (you can view the hidden items at any time by clicking “Display Hidden”, and unhide them in the same way).

My big tip is that many things I’d bought had the same file twice – once with ds at the end, once with ps. According to https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/28450/ds-ps they are pretty much the same thing, and the ds version will work better in Daz. Also, the ps (Poser) version would often not work as smart content anyway. So, we want to just download and install the ds versions, and hide the ps. Installing both just doubles the storage, and unfortunately that is the default DIM chooses. So it may be worth filtering it – type ps onto the top right filter box. Ignore false positives (e.g. files where ps are next to each other liks “special ops poses” but identify real ps files and hide them using the right triangle menu I mentioned. For me that prevented DIM downloading and installing 94 items, or 12.3GB of unnecessary files. The downside is that I had to hide all 94 items individually, two clicks for each (and since the button is small and right next to the install button, I accidentally downloaded a few and had to delete them again). The little menu ignores the fact that you may have selected multiple items with the check marks on the left, making you hide each individually. Also be aware that if you hide ps packages in DIM in this way, then if you ever you reinstall DIM (e.g. on a new PC, or reinstalling the OS), you may well find them all back again and offered for install, so will need to hide them again (another 188 clicks …).

If ever you use the filter box, remember to click the x in it when you are finished, to cancel the filter and reveal all the files again. Also, the filter box is handy for finding a particular item.

A big bonus of DIM is multiple downloads. Daz Central (and Daz Connect) only let me download items one at a time (if I tried to download multiple items in DC it cancelled previous ones and only downloaded the last one I clicked on). But DIM lets you download multiple items – or even everything – at once. You can re-sort the packages by size or name and select groups. If you tick “Install After Download” it will do it for you. Because I don’t have superfast Internet, and have to share it with my partner (and use the same network for work), it took me three days to download and install what I currently own. That’s why I don’t want to ever have to do it again if I get a new PC or reinstall Windows – hopefully this method means the content will be there on my D: for future installs of DS!

DIM downloaded and installed everything to the folders I set.

(Also, I did NOT click “Delete Packages Once Installed” on the “Ready To Install” tab; this way, if something goes wrong with my plan, at least I can reinstall the assets from the downloaded files, saving the three day task of downloading them all again. The downside is content appears twice on my D: and takes up twice the space – once as the installer, once as the installed version. Maybe one day, if I find this system works even after reinstalling Windows or getting a new PC, I will then have the confidence to delete the downloaded installers and free up a lot of space – currently the installers alone take up 119GB).

STEP 6: TEST CONTENT IN DAZ STUDIO

Check the items show up fine and work in DS, showing up as Smart Content if applicable, that there are no problems that might require a refund.

Note that in DIM the installation tab shows if a product has installed Metadata. If so, there will be a checkmark underneath the “Smart” column, letting you know it will show under “Smart Content” in DAZ Studio 4 and higher. Most items will have metadata, but some may not have user-facing files (e.g. morph sets may add new sliders to the figure without having any presets to click). Additonal parts of a file that is so big it is in more than one part may not show as having metadata either. If there are properly installed products which don't have the data to appear in database-driven views (Smart Content) but which do have user-facing files you should still be able to find them in the Content Library pane under daz Studio formats (or Poser formats) and then the content directory name. This often applies to older items.

I have noticed one problem: some items I installed via DIM show up in DS, but are greyed out, as if they aren’t installed. I’m not sure what has happened there, or how to fix it. If I right click install within DS then it uses Daz Connect, so would download the item again (when it is already downloaded and stored on my D: by DIM), plus it would store it on the C: unless I change that path too. Using multiple install methods is perhaps asking for trouble, so I want to work out why DIM is not working for some items instead. Is this a known issue? Some of the items it applies to: Genesis 3 Starter Essentials; Rocker Outfit for Geneis 3 Females; Shadow Thief Outfit for Geneis 8 Females; Genesis 8 Starter Essentials; Nyala HD for Genesis 8 Female; Daz Studio Iray HDR Outdoor Environments; and others.

STEP 7: REGULAR BACKUPS

I do a full backup of my D: regularly. So this would now mean I am also backing up the downloaded asset zip files in one folder, the installed Daz assets in another (doubling the storage requirements but meaning I am covered for a few potential scenarios), and things like the cms, thumbnails, manifests, and my presets in other D: folders. I also save one caleld “previews” which lets me browse what I have bought – each product gets a folder within a structure that categorises it (people, hair, lighting, poses etc), with a link to the product page, a txt file with the full description, and all the preview images from the product page. This is really useful to store as products are sometimes withdrawn, and that information is no longer available – there are a few items where I can no longer get the preview images, which si a shame as they give ideas for how to use the content, or illustrate all the options. Ideally all that info would be available in a zip for everything you buy, which would save manually having to save every image via the browser.

NB: do backups only when DS, DIM, and other applications using the cms are all closed and there are no PostgreSQL processes running.

STEP 8: REINSTALLING WINDOWS / GETTING A NEW PC

If I reinstall Windows, or get a new computer (where I'd copy my D: backup contents to the new PC's D:) I would perform steps 2-4 above, choosing the same paths (so they actually now point to installed content on the D:). That should mean DIM and DS see and use all my existing content, so it doesn’t need redownloading or reinstalling again, saving me days.

Worst case scenario is that I reinstall Windows then all the Daz software, as above, but DIM and Daz Studio don't "see" the previously-installed Daz assets. In that case, as long as DIM can see the downloaded zip files, I can manually delete the installed assets from my D:, leaving that folder empty; then point DIM at my previous downloads and reinstall everything from the downloaded zip files. (Which at least saves downloading everything again.)

I've seen metadata uploaded to server around 10,000+. But as Taoz said, we can't count on DIM number. I am not so sure where to look for the number of DAZ products. May be somewhere in DAZ Central. DAZ doesn't want us to know much about frightening information about our purchase.

These two problems have just appeared this week. I don’t know how these problems began, but it seems they’re connected to something that’s appeared in my Edit Preferences. 

One, when I attempt to log into Daz Connect, my Norton Security software gives me a notification that it has blocked a suspicious action from DAZStudio.exe, and the severity level of this threat is high. So, I closed Daz so it wouldn’t finish logging in. I have no problems logging in to Daz Central or the Install Manager. This only happened when I attempted to log in to Daz Connect, which I almost never use. Two, and I discovered this a few days ago, when I load a scene I've created and saved in my Scene folder into Daz Studio and make a change to that scene, Daz Studio, instead of saving the change, brings up my Scene folder so I can save my previously made scene as a new scene. After I save the scene as a new scene, I can save all of the changes I make to that scene as normal. But if I close the scene and load it again, I have to go through the same process again if I want to save any changes I make to the scene. I skimmed through the forums to find out if anyone else has had this problem, and all I could find was this thread where Richard Haseltine says Save updates a file if the author name of the file matches the author name in the application. So, I went to my Edit Preferences and then clicked on edit and found what you see in the image I have attached to this post. The image is of this strange sequence in my Preferences and Authorship Information pop-up windows. I don't know exactly what script this is, but it's clearly not English, which is my native language. I don’t know where this has come from, and I’m thinking it might be the source of my problems. Does anyone have any idea what this is and how to fix this issue? This is making me nervous. 

It is fast. It is smooth. It is more usable than ever! But still crash at shutting down. And DAZ Central on Big Sur still crash while searching things. But overall, this is a very good come back. Thank you very much DAZ team!

I went to DAZ  this morning and was told to download DAZ Central and I could get DAZ Studio 5. I did this but no link for DAZ Studio 5! Cheers

No, DIM is still an option (anything that can be installed through Daz Central can be installed through DIM; the reverse is not the case).

Can I only install DAZ Studio 5 through DAZ Central? I do not use it! I prefer the DIM!

Richard Haseltine said:

The default display in Task Manager is not helpful - set one of the graphs to Show CUDA (or Compute ) if CUDA is not availabl) and you will see the activity.

As an aside, Daz Studio does not automatically update - you have to install the update through Install Manager/Daz Central (if it prompts you and you don't want to update, yet or at all, just make sure that the option to always show the reminder is set to off).

 

How do I get CUDA to show in task manager? I'm seeing no options for showing it 

bytescapes said:

JOdel said:

Aurilio is gradually releasing the components for a whole NYC neighborhood. With the twwo tenement sets, we can now assemble a street with a cross-street and cover most camera angles for storytelling purposes.

Aurilio is gradually releasing the components for my NYC neighborhood. It's kind of eerie. I feel like I'm being stalked. I looked at one of the tenement models and thought "Holy crap, that's my girlfriend's building." It isn't ... quite ... but it's very close. I don't know who Aurilio is, but I'm pretty sure I've probably passed them on the street.

I wish they (or someone) would do upscale neighborhoods, Park Ave, Fifth Ave both the buildings and the sidewalk with the wall to the park, Central Park, the carousel, the little bridge over the lake... I guess Central Park would be hard, but maybe in sections with low res buildings or billboards of buildings in the background. Basically I’d like the sets of a typical Woody Allen movie lol.

The default display in Task Manager is not helpful - set one of the graphs to Show CUDA (or Compute ) if CUDA is not availabl) and you will see the activity.

As an aside, Daz Studio does not automatically update - you have to install the update through Install Manager/Daz Central (if it prompts you and you don't want to update, yet or at all, just make sure that the option to always show the reminder is set to off).

Yeah, I'm not an expert I don't think DAZ Central and DIM mix well. DAZ has historically had a few issues with installation paths and types of video cards (this would be going back several years).

IIRC there have been some problems with DIM from time to time that (for me) have been kind of hard to nail down. I guess I'm thinking that it would be vexing if some sort of completely unrelated, server side problem reared its head JUST at the exact same time as you are experimenting with your storage setup, whatever it may be.

Not to sound tooooo discouraging but on the best computer I have, which is now two years old (maybe three; time flies ) DAZ Studio absolutely refuses to work. Period. And I have a grand total of one SSD...  You guessed it - on that machine D|S will 100% not work unless I take out the SSD and put in a conventional hard disk drive. Tech people say there is nothing wrong with the SSD. Oh yeah?!

The other problem you're going to encounter, unless you master the art of configuring your content directories, is the Wild West, free-for-all nature of the default categories, eg. Figures, People, Environments, Vehicles, Transportation - stuff like that. It's a bit hit and miss at times; some things end up getting stored in interesting ways that may appear a bit off the beaten "path"... not exactly where you might expect them to be.

Whatever setup you end up with, backing it up to make it possible to re-create your favorite "look and feel" in on new or similar hardware may turn out to be a whole new ballgame.

TBorNot said:

I'm finally downloading using the new DIM on Mac mini M1 , but finding some descrepencies.  For example, Holt 8 is missing, unfound in the search, but the Holt HD package installed fine.  Holt 8 exists in my old Mac Intel mini version of DIM.  Any ideas?

Missing where? In Install Manager, in Daz Studio after installation with Install manager (or Daz Central), in the list of products in Daz Studio after it has connected to your account?

Novica said:

We're getting pummeled here with rain, over 5" and some places 8" in the Pensacola area. It just depends on the cells coming over you and we were in the red. Wouldn't you know it I had to leave and go pick up the bird food I ordered, was completely out. Folks are driving responsibly so the trip was uneventful, but I have a Honda Civic so it is a really low car and the SUVs were just breezing along and I was getting whammed with higher puddles/flooding. No power outtage here but 1,100 folks around here lost power, I think closer to the Alabama line.

And look out folks in the Southeast, it's coming for you next!  I feel so bad for Waverly, TN, they can't catch a break.

The event in Waverly, TN preceded the hurricane! Tennessee & Kentucky do not drain quickly like the sandy soils of Florida. It was unreal but these torrential rains out of nowhere have been showing up frequently in this area for the last decade. Tornados now in 2nd half of January. Hurricanes keeping it together enough to show up in September. People laugh at me when I tell them nowadays in the Pennyroyal and central Appalachia what I'm talking about are Biblical size floods like I'm exaggerating but I'm definately not! That waterfall and stream in my backyard were huge and you'd get smashed against my home's backwall if you tried to stand up against it. It nearly collapsed that wall and it was scary. Of course it wasn't covered by my home insurance. Kin, friends, neighbors having 100 year old plus trees snapped like twigs and falling on their homes and cars. Crazy and too frequently occurring to people I know which is so improbable unless I know it is not bad luck but a much increased probability of occurance by a radical shift in weather patterns. That I'll believe.

Stay safe on the gulf. It's not like Florida and gulf weather is calming down just because it's getting more turbulent inland!

If you are using Install manager then don't use Daz Central, it's essentially a simplified interface for Install manager - but since it is inheriting the paths from DIM its simplification is somewhat broken.

If you install only through DIM you will need to go into Advanced settings and set the software base path to use the C: drive, while everything else uses D:

Hi, I recently became interested in the unreal engine and to my surprise there is a  plugin that allows exporting Daz charactersto unreal. I watched a  YT video about installing the unreal bridge plugin and it showed the bridge avaialble in Daz central under the plugins tab. I updated Daz and was able to access Daz  central, but the unreal bridge is not visible  under the plugins.  Does anyone know where to fnd it? Thanks

I do avoid Daz Central, but I genuinly find Connect/smart content easier to use than the product library. Despite all the problems that there is with it :)

The odd thing is, I did use reset database, than everything disapearred from the Smart Content tab. Using re-import metadata only gave me the items that had been installed manually or through DIM, not anything that had been installed with the Connect. So I'm not sure what went wrong there to be honest, I do however remember (belatedly) that when I had a problem with a product, the support person I talked to suggested resetting the database but did caution that it would mean having to install all the products again (really should have remembered that before I did that reset LOL)

Mark_e593e0a5 said:

BTW, if you allow DS to log on, you may get updated metadata. Sometimes, with fixes. Sometimes, it screws things up really well.

Indeed lol - since I install everything with DIM I never need DS to be online, so I'd rather reduce the chance of screwiness and keep DS logged off. 

Carola O said:

@jestmart I can say that you were wrong with not needing to re-install. I let the batch of products I had selected install (doing smaller batches at a time) and than reseted the database again, did the re-import metadata and all the products installed via Connect did Not get back when doing so. So it's a complete re-install of my products that is necessary. I sure as heck hope the Lost & Found problem will be mostly solved by this or I am so going to cry *sad smile*

Goodluck :)  For future reference when the products disappeared from your smart content due to database reset it didn't uninstall them.  It's like having a craft room, database reset removed all the labels from the boxes, but the boxes are still full, and re-import will just reapply the labels.  Reinstalling is emptying the boxes and re-fill + re-label them.  If you mix up reset with reinstall it could put the boxes in a mess so my guess you're right by that stage it's best to reinstall everything.    

I agree with jetsmart, don't use Connect lol.  I tried it when it was new and the actual file system is horrendous, definitely not content creator friendly.  Also avoid Daz Central at all cost. lol!!