Mark_e593e0a5 said:

barbult said:

richardandtracy said:

That looks really magnificent. I do have a problem though - it involves the word 'Plug-in'. I have discovered that manual downloads are impossible on plug-ins, and with an Android tablet as my internet connection, that's all I can do. DAZ's policy of making DIM/DAZ Central the only download method puts plug-ins out of reach for me. It's a shame, as the backgrounds look as fantastic as every other US component.

It makes no sense to me that Daz will not let you download and install plugins manually. I have beta tested multiple plugins for multiple PAs. For testing, all were installed manually, simply by putting the dll file in the plugins folder in Windows. There doesn't seem to be any technical reason for disallowing manual installation.

I fully agree, but quite some things DAZ does does not really make sense, at least to me. A DLL or dylib (mac) sould be self-contained. so ther should be no need to run DIM on it.

I wonder where you would stand if you purchased the plugin, then got hold of someone else's package file from DIM and then did a manual install with that (if possible)?

barbult said:

richardandtracy said:

That looks really magnificent. I do have a problem though - it involves the word 'Plug-in'. I have discovered that manual downloads are impossible on plug-ins, and with an Android tablet as my internet connection, that's all I can do. DAZ's policy of making DIM/DAZ Central the only download method puts plug-ins out of reach for me. It's a shame, as the backgrounds look as fantastic as every other US component.

It makes no sense to me that Daz will not let you download and install plugins manually. I have beta tested multiple plugins for multiple PAs. For testing, all were installed manually, simply by putting the dll file in the plugins folder in Windows. There doesn't seem to be any technical reason for disallowing manual installation.

I fully agree, but quite some things DAZ does does not really make sense, at least to me. A DLL or dylib (mac) sould be self-contained. so ther should be no need to run DIM on it.

richardandtracy said:

That looks really magnificent. I do have a problem though - it involves the word 'Plug-in'. I have discovered that manual downloads are impossible on plug-ins, and with an Android tablet as my internet connection, that's all I can do. DAZ's policy of making DIM/DAZ Central the only download method puts plug-ins out of reach for me. It's a shame, as the backgrounds look as fantastic as every other US component.

It makes no sense to me that Daz will not let you download and install plugins manually. I have beta tested multiple plugins for multiple PAs. For testing, all were installed manually, simply by putting the dll file in the plugins folder in Windows. There doesn't seem to be any technical reason for disallowing manual installation.

Daz Central does allow you to set a base path, and it should have been enough to reisntall through DIM with the application path set as desired.

I have been playing around with Daz for about 3 days. I have already spent a decent amount of money at the store, got the PC + membership. So far, it all looks good. For the first time in my life, I can create actual art outside of taking screenshots from video game photo mods.
However, I am thinking, what is the story in general. I have been researching 3D art creation, and names like Blender, Cinema 4D and Maya keep popping up. Also, when I look at other stores (Daz store is great, and I find the convenience of Daz Studio and Daz Central extremely super cool) like Sketchfab, the formats are 'OBJ' and the available ready to use converters are for unity or Blender or Cinema 4D or Maya.

I have gone through a few forum discussions, external tutorials videos. The general impression I get is, the OBJ and FBX formats do work, but after a fashion. There are some quirks and things may not always as expected. Ultimately, nothing will be as smooth as getting stuff from the DAZ Store.

So far, the DAZ Store is so massive (and prices incredibly reasonabe for the kind of work I am planning to do), I might never exhaust myself out of the depth provided by DAZ.

Still, I am curious. Say, 2 years from now, if I am still in the 3D art hobby/business, should I migrate over to Blender or Cinema 3D or Maya? Is DAZ essentially a subset of what these full fledged 3D apps do?
If Blender was the Animal Kingdom with all its animals, is DAZ a focussed part of it, like a pride of lions. I start using DAZ to learn how to study lions, and then, if I am enjoying it, I upgrade myself to Blender or Cinema 4D and study the entire full set of animals?

HowieFarkes said:

richardandtracy said:

That looks really magnificent. I do have a problem though - it involves the word 'Plug-in'. I have discovered that manual downloads are impossible on plug-ins, and with an Android tablet as my internet connection, that's all I can do. DAZ's policy of making DIM/DAZ Central the only download method puts plug-ins out of reach for me. It's a shame, as the backgrounds look as fantastic as every other US component.

Due to performance reasons this pretty much has to be a plugin. I tried doing this a couple years ago in the script API and it was taking 20 minutes do the erosion calculations on a 256x256 terrain. With the plugin it does this in under a second. The terrain in the picture is 1024x1024 and takes about 5 seconds to generate (depends on settings though)

That's a shame, but understandable. I do wish DAZ would change its policy & make zip file installation possible for plug-ins. Then it'd mean offline machines could also take advantage of such things.

Ah well. In the mean time, I'll think of their policy as an armour belt around my wallet protecting from certain depradations.

Regards,

Richard

richardandtracy said:

That looks really magnificent. I do have a problem though - it involves the word 'Plug-in'. I have discovered that manual downloads are impossible on plug-ins, and with an Android tablet as my internet connection, that's all I can do. DAZ's policy of making DIM/DAZ Central the only download method puts plug-ins out of reach for me. It's a shame, as the backgrounds look as fantastic as every other US component.

Due to performance reasons this pretty much has to be a plugin. I tried doing this a couple years ago in the script API and it was taking 20 minutes do the erosion calculations on a 256x256 terrain. With the plugin it does this in under a second. The terrain in the picture is 1024x1024 and takes about 5 seconds to generate (depends on settings though)

That looks really magnificent. I do have a problem though - it involves the word 'Plug-in'. I have discovered that manual downloads are impossible on plug-ins, and with an Android tablet as my internet connection, that's all I can do. DAZ's policy of making DIM/DAZ Central the only download method puts plug-ins out of reach for me. It's a shame, as the backgrounds look as fantastic as every other US component.

Does install manager or Daz Central seem able to communicate, if you use either of those?

I wiped my computer to re-install Windows; my content is on a secondary drive (Drive E).

After installing DC and DS, I set in DC my E:/DAZ folder for the content, and in DS I set all the libraries links from C location to my E:/DAZ location.

Although when I run DS and DC, no content is found. I installed as test something from DC, and it was downlioaded and installed, but if I click on open, even with DS open, I get an error (resource error: could not find the "81506" product).

Why is happening? Do I need to download about 80-100 GB of assets every time I re-install the app? That would be quite inconvenient.

MickF said:

Serene Night said:

I have discovered a fix for the 11th generation processor incompatibility  issue here:

11th Gen Intel CPU users - Launching/Crashing Issue – Survios (zendesk.com)

So far, I have not experienced a crash while implementing this solution and I am now able to use the default installation of studio and dim without it quitting, I am not sure it will work for others, but it seems to work for me, to do this, then reboot. 

Thank you you so much for this link. I have been pulling my hair out, installing/uninstalling, reaching out to Dell and Daz support (still haven’t heard back from them). The link you posted has the fix I needed to get DIM and Daz Central working as well as Studio. Currently downloading remainder of my library/store purchases. RTX 3060 rendered a scene in 2 min 7 seconds that took 27 minutes on old machine. Thank you again for the link to the solution.

You are welcome!  I have the same card, and the same manufacturer, so it makes sense. It also had the happy result of fixing problems I was having with crashing in other apps dude to the same issue. Glad it worked.

Serene Night said:

I have discovered a fix for the 11th generation processor incompatibility  issue here:

11th Gen Intel CPU users - Launching/Crashing Issue – Survios (zendesk.com)

So far, I have not experienced a crash while implementing this solution and I am now able to use the default installation of studio and dim without it quitting, I am not sure it will work for others, but it seems to work for me, to do this, then reboot. 

Thank you you so much for this link. I have been pulling my hair out, installing/uninstalling, reaching out to Dell and Daz support (still haven’t heard back from them). The link you posted has the fix I needed to get DIM and Daz Central working as well as Studio. Currently downloading remainder of my library/store purchases. RTX 3060 rendered a scene in 2 min 7 seconds that took 27 minutes on old machine. Thank you again for the link to the solution.

karl said:

Sorry Cenobite, I got lost in your post: totally my fault, I wasn't sure which folders were in DIM, DS, Windows, what I was meant to be copying, and which steps in my procedure need to change to incorporate your suggestion. Were your instructions about manually installing zip files rather than using DIM? Other people advised me to use DIM rather than manually install. Basically I just want a repeatable set of steps that mean if I reinstall Windows or get a new PC, I can reinstall Daz Studio and have it find all my content exactly as before, without needing to download or install it again. But because Daz uses different programs and has settings in each (which can easily conflict) I want to have a simple set of stages as I am trying to create! I'm already having issues when I try to follow my steps, and find extra options in the Settings of DIM where my instructions don't say which of the paths are the ones I need to change to my D:. :-(

I'm just talking about manually installing files so they are basically perm in the daz3d editor, once you have all your usual install paths setup the way you would for your particular computer setup whatever drive that maybe, you would simply install those manual files to the My Daz3d Library folder or its data folder, the assets are listed the My Daz3D library file tree in the content tab.

As for what your saying you would have to copy all your current files with file paths and move them onto another system like a ghost format you would use for windows operating systems in networking. Best thing i can suggest is setting daz3d up on say an external drive then copying it down to whatever drive and make the nessesary file alterations for your setup according to your drives, the updates should recognise what files are in the directory if they are set properly in drive location and won't update files that it detects if they don't require update via the install manager or daz central.

I would install all my files manual then copy the system files in My Daz3D Library, replace them in your new setup & make sure they all follow the same file path would be the easest way i would approch this if i didn't want to download everything via the install manager again, doing this might take you awhile to setup depending how quick you are on the keyboard & mouse but once you had your template you could just copy over the main files into whatever daz3d setup you made on other machines, this doesn't really work in a sense because if your like me you'll be adding content constantly & doing this kind of setup required content manual updates which can be time consuming for large librarys or if your adding lots of new content frequently.

Just remember your in for a wait the more data your moving between hardrives, if your moving 100's of gigs it will still take time to copy from one drive to another no matter what speed you have, i use only SSD which are the quickest and you still need to wait for file transfer which isn't instantanious. In most cases just redownloading your files can take just as long. Try moving 300 or 500 GB you'll be waitng a bit regarless of pc power.

Chumly said:

Thanks for this... it was very helpful
If I am reading it right, what you guys are saying is that I can make changes in Windows Explorer to Anything NOT in Runtime or Data folders?
But if somebody can confirm that, by not using Smart Content, I don't need to worry about the Porducts Folder at all... then I will get to work on cleaning up the Content Library and Merge all the 
Genisis 8 Female
Gennesis  8 Female
Genesis  8 Female
Genesis 8 Females
Genesis 8 Femles 
Genesis 8 Famles 
Into the Proper "Genesis 8 Female" Folder and not look back.

Two things

First...I don't use Smart Content and in fact maually install, as stated. When you install things to MyLibrary there are only 3 folders you can not move or rename, that would be the data folder and everything in it, and the Geomtries and Texture folders in Runtime.

Second...Yes you can merge all those Genesis 8 Female folders into one only, as Gigi stated, if you do not use Daz Central or DIM or Connect.

You use an app to install and you pretty much have to leave things where they are or start figuring out how to get the app and Daz to know where to find them.

MickF said:

MickF said:

Richard Haseltine said:

That sounds as if you copied the settings across from the old machine. Daz Central has only one path setting, and places everything in set sub-folders of that; if you have path settings from a DIM set up on the old machine then Central will give that message as it is not able to adjust the paths independently as DIM can/ Why not use DIM instead? If you want to use separate path settings it will be much easier.

https://www.daz3d.com/get_install_manager/

Did NOT copy any settings across.

Just initially installed DAZ Central only on new PC, NO Ohter DAZ applications, Just DAZ Central.

When I got the DIM message uninstalled Daz Central and tried to install using DIM, DIM will not run at all as it just closes when I try to run it with an error in windows log relating to ssleay32.dll.

Completely removed everything,cleaned registry and retried installation with same results.

Even resorted to resetting new PC to factory settings and tried install. Same results.

DAZ Central pops dialog box stating Install paths are controlled by DIM.

Do not know if this is relevant but Daz Central tries to create installation to C:\DAZ3d rather than C:\Program Files\...

Exact Dialog states

"The path specified in the Package Archive" field on the Downloads page of the settings dialog is currently not available. Make sure that the drive is connected to your computer and that the computer recognizes the drive then try again"

Daz Central DOES NOT have "Package Archive", "Downloads" or a "Settings" page these are related to DIM. Which is not installed on New PC. I thought Daz Central was a stand alone application supposedly to replace

DIM. But if they are tied together then it is totally useless. Secndly I have Daz installed on a laptop with Windows 10 and it only has a single HDD with everything on it with no problems. The laptop haz Daz Central and DIM installed.

MickF said:

Richard Haseltine said:

That sounds as if you copied the settings across from the old machine. Daz Central has only one path setting, and places everything in set sub-folders of that; if you have path settings from a DIM set up on the old machine then Central will give that message as it is not able to adjust the paths independently as DIM can/ Why not use DIM instead? If you want to use separate path settings it will be much easier.

https://www.daz3d.com/get_install_manager/

Did NOT copy any settings across.

Including the AppData folder?

Just initially installed DAZ Central only on new PC, NO Ohter DAZ applications, Just DAZ Central.

When I got the DIM message uninstalled Daz Central and tried to install using DIM, DIM will not run at all as it just closes when I try to run it with an error in windows log relating to ssleay32.dll.

Completely removed everything,cleaned registry and retried installation with same results.

Even resorted to resetting new PC to factory settings and tried install. Same results.

DAZ Central pops dialog box stating Install paths are controlled by DIM.

MickF said:

MickF said:

Richard Haseltine said:

That sounds as if you copied the settings across from the old machine. Daz Central has only one path setting, and places everything in set sub-folders of that; if you have path settings from a DIM set up on the old machine then Central will give that message as it is not able to adjust the paths independently as DIM can/ Why not use DIM instead? If you want to use separate path settings it will be much easier.

https://www.daz3d.com/get_install_manager/

Did NOT copy any settings across.

Just initially installed DAZ Central only on new PC, NO Ohter DAZ applications, Just DAZ Central.

When I got the DIM message uninstalled Daz Central and tried to install using DIM, DIM will not run at all as it just closes when I try to run it with an error in windows log relating to ssleay32.dll.

Completely removed everything,cleaned registry and retried installation with same results.

Even resorted to resetting new PC to factory settings and tried install. Same results.

DAZ Central pops dialog box stating Install paths are controlled by DIM.

Do not know if this is relevant but Daz Central tries to create installation to C:\DAZ3d rather than C:\Program Files\...

Yes, that is what I meant by saying it uses a single folder that the user can pick and then puts everything in sub-folders of that.

MickF said:

Richard Haseltine said:

That sounds as if you copied the settings across from the old machine. Daz Central has only one path setting, and places everything in set sub-folders of that; if you have path settings from a DIM set up on the old machine then Central will give that message as it is not able to adjust the paths independently as DIM can/ Why not use DIM instead? If you want to use separate path settings it will be much easier.

https://www.daz3d.com/get_install_manager/

Did NOT copy any settings across.

Just initially installed DAZ Central only on new PC, NO Ohter DAZ applications, Just DAZ Central.

When I got the DIM message uninstalled Daz Central and tried to install using DIM, DIM will not run at all as it just closes when I try to run it with an error in windows log relating to ssleay32.dll.

Completely removed everything,cleaned registry and retried installation with same results.

Even resorted to resetting new PC to factory settings and tried install. Same results.

DAZ Central pops dialog box stating Install paths are controlled by DIM.

Do not know if this is relevant but Daz Central tries to create installation to C:\DAZ3d rather than C:\Program Files\...

Richard Haseltine said:

That sounds as if you copied the settings across from the old machine. Daz Central has only one path setting, and places everything in set sub-folders of that; if you have path settings from a DIM set up on the old machine then Central will give that message as it is not able to adjust the paths independently as DIM can/ Why not use DIM instead? If you want to use separate path settings it will be much easier.

https://www.daz3d.com/get_install_manager/

Did NOT copy any settings across.

Just initially installed DAZ Central only on new PC, NO Ohter DAZ applications, Just DAZ Central.

When I got the DIM message uninstalled Daz Central and tried to install using DIM, DIM will not run at all as it just closes when I try to run it with an error in windows log relating to ssleay32.dll.

Completely removed everything,cleaned registry and retried installation with same results.

Even resorted to resetting new PC to factory settings and tried install. Same results.

DAZ Central pops dialog box stating Install paths are controlled by DIM.

MickF said:

Got a new Dell Alienware PC 11th Gen Intel Porcessor with RTX 3060 12GB card. Installed Daz Central, upon first run logged into my account and got the following

"Base paths are controlled by DIM."

I love using Daz but this is annoying,

I DO NOT HAVE DIM installed on this PC so questionsare as follows.

1. Do I have to manually set all paths in Daz Central on new PC

2. DO I have to remove all Daz products from original PC

3. DO I have to reset all paths on Original PC with default Paths

4. Will Daz simply not work on 11th Gen Intel CPU

PS

I do NOT have any other Instances of PostgreSQL installed

Windows Defender is the only security app running at present.

No error messages displayed, just the Dialog stating that paths are controlled by DIM, which is not installed and will not run if I try to install it because of ssleay32.dll issues.