I've been using DIM since it was released. No problems. Where it might get complicated is in defying install, download, paths etc. If you're not using default path setup. I tried Daz Central which proceeded to destroy my custom install paths. Even after deleting it, DIM DID NOT WORK properly. I'm still messing and have products in places I dont want them. If I had a huge C drive I would use default, but it's only 500gig SSD. SO I INSTALL STUFF TO D drive.

1) Maybe. On the rarest of occasions, downloads don't match size, but sometimes they get corrupted undetectably.

2) You can dedicate several download connections at once (simultaneous files, mine goes to 6 max, as fast as the weakest link in the chain, some people report 300Mb/s, maybe more)

3) Absolutely no difference. In fact, if DIM can't download for some reason, you can download manually and drop it in the download folder and install with DIM after a refresh.

4) Apparently it was aimed at new users to make the process of installing and loading your new toys "simple, clean, and easy-to-use". See the blog. Apparently, DIM was too complicated for some users, which is probably true, but there are no really good instructions on how to set up your system for anything other than the default configuration. Central is supposed to use the same files and servers, but based on the users' "comments", not ready for prime time. Don't know if it has improved, I will never touch it.

Sounds a rediculous thing really; I mean lets fix DIM because folks can't use it. I wonder if anyone suggested actually having a simple set of instructions on installation - pretty damn sure that would have been both cheaper and not garnered the illwill Daz bloody Central seems to have.

... And no one considered that those folks having issues with DIM are likely to have far more issues with the more complicated piece of software that is Studio (a streamline and reduced 3D package).

Couple of quick questions:

1. Did they fix the issue where due to some previliges stuff we couldn't open files on the Mac?

2. Does Daz Central play nice with Daz Connect? (since it the only way to install DS12 on a Mac atm) I installed it when it first came out on my PC and it made a mess of  my Daz Connect library and I had to re-install everything. Don't want that.

Help, I'm using Daz Central Installer and it's stuck at 57%. The Status percentage just disappears and goes back to Install Button. I click install, and it continues to around 70% but then it goes back to Install Button again, I click it but then it goes back to 57% and goes up again to 70% but closes and Install Button appeara again, so I have to click Install again, but instead of 70%, it's back again to 57% and the cycle goes on.

1) Maybe. On the rarest of occasions, downloads don't match size, but sometimes they get corrupted undetectably.

2) You can dedicate several download connections at once (simultaneous files, mine goes to 6 max, as fast as the weakest link in the chain, some people report 300Mb/s, maybe more)

3) Absolutely no difference. In fact, if DIM can't download for some reason, you can download manually and drop it in the download folder and install with DIM after a refresh.

4) Apparently it was aimed at new users to make the process of installing and loading your new toys "simple, clean, and easy-to-use". See the blog. Apparently, DIM was too complicated for some users, which is probably true, but there are no really good instructions on how to set up your system for anything other than the default configuration. Central is supposed to use the same files and servers, but based on the users' "comments", not ready for prime time. Don't know if it has improved, I will never touch it.

So I recently used a temporary DIM installation (install, download, uninstall) to get the rotations add-on for Mesh Grabber (which is not available via normal download).

To be honest, I was expecting a bloated monstrosity with an awful user interface - in a nutshell, modern programming (not all, of course, but far too common).

I was pleasantly surprised to find that DIM feels rather oldschool - lean and efficient with a simple interface that doesn't hide options and settings from users.

My initial impression is quite positive, and I'm considering using DIM for future downloads. But I do have some questions:

1.) Does DIM have any built-in error-checking to insure the integrity of downloads?

2.) Does DIM take full advantage of available bandwidth by default?

3.) Are there any significant differences between the zip files downloaded by DIM and the zip files for manual installation downloaded from the Product Library section of the Daz website?

4.) What were the reasons for developing Daz Central? Are there problems or downsides to DIM that caused users to want a new program?

Thanks in advance for any helpful information or experience that you can share.

Sorry, but when the fires subside at least the ashes are great fertilizers. When I lived in DFW, Texas in the summer of '96 their was a huge central American fire that caused similar problems in Texas, even as far as I was in DFW!

2017 was really bad for air quality here, between the Chetco Bar Fire to the south of us, and a very busy fire season in WA, OR and CA overall. But in spite of how smoky the air was, (for weeks, it seemed,) we didn't see the ash.

The winds have kicked up, too, and the ash on the cars is no longer evenly distributed. I can still see the ash in the air, though, when I venture outside. It all seems so surreal, with the murky yellow tint to everything.

A bit of off-topic rambling… Summers here in Eugene, Oregon are generally mild enough that central air conditioning is more of a luxury than a necessity. (Although there was the summer of 2015 that broke all kinds of heat records.) We've been especially fortunate this year, with overnight lows in the mid-60s or lower, allowing us to use fans to bring in the cooler air overnight, keeping the house quite comfortable in spite of temps in the upper 80s and lower 90s late in the day.

We're smack dab in the middle of an atypical heat wave, for this time of year, with high winds coming from the northeast. Meteorologists say these NE winds this time of year, especially this strong, only happen a few times in a century. The forecast for tomorrow is still 99-100ºF, depending on what tv station you watch.

The problem is, there are wild fires to the east of us, including one that just started yesterday only about 75 miles to the east. There's also one in Washington, about half way between Seattle and Spokane. (Not that air quality here is much of an issue, compared to the losses from the fires. I understand a small town in WA has been completely destroyed, and the fire to the east of us has detroyed at least 100 structures.)

I usually close the house up during the heat of the day, opening windows and doors in the evening to start bringing in the cooler air. But not last night. I went to the front door and it looked like we were socked in with fog. But when I opened the door, I was hit with the smell of smoke. No clouds; just smoke, thick and low. I could see the trees across the street, but I couldn't see the top of the trees on the other side of my neighbor's house.

Things are bit better today. The wind is not as strong here as it was last night and the smoke is higher, though according to Google on my phone, visibility is now at 2 miles. We've been told to stay inside if we can, and definitely avoid outdoor activities like running or bicycling. But I couldn't resist the temptation to take my DSLR out and try to get some photos in manual mode, (so I could work with the camera raw files.) It was as if I were looking through a yellow filter at everything.

Here are a few images to show the ash. (Images link to larger versions and open in a new window/tab.)

Our cars, (links to full 3888 x 2592 pixel image, to show details):

 

All those white speckles on the leaves and the chair are ash. Based on the debris on the cars, I'd say most of the brown, dusty stuff is too.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the people who are losing everything in these fires.

Mother Nature has not been kind to human beings this year.

Sorry, but when the fires subside at least the ashes are great fertilizers. When I lived in DFW, Texas in the summer of '96 there was a huge Central American fire that caused similar problems in Texas, even as far as I was in DFW! 

 

A bit of off-topic rambling… Summers here in Eugene, Oregon are generally mild enough that central air conditioning is more of a luxury than a necessity. (Although there was the summer of 2015 that broke all kinds of heat records.) We've been especially fortunate this year, with overnight lows in the mid-60s or lower, allowing us to use fans to bring in the cooler air overnight, keeping the house quite comfortable in spite of temps in the upper 80s and lower 90s late in the day.

We're smack dab in the middle of an atypical heat wave, for this time of year, with high winds coming from the northeast. Meteorologists say these NE winds this time of year, especially this strong, only happen a few times in a century. The forecast for tomorrow is still 99-100ºF, depending on what tv station you watch.

The problem is, there are wild fires to the east of us, including one that just started yesterday only about 75 miles to the east. There's also one in Washington, about half way between Seattle and Spokane. (Not that air quality here is much of an issue, compared to the losses from the fires. I understand a small town in WA has been completely destroyed, and the fire to the east of us has detroyed at least 100 structures.)

I usually close the house up during the heat of the day, opening windows and doors in the evening to start bringing in the cooler air. But not last night. I went to the front door and it looked like we were socked in with fog. But when I opened the door, I was hit with the smell of smoke. No clouds; just smoke, thick and low. I could see the trees across the street, but I couldn't see the top of the trees on the other side of my neighbor's house.

Things are bit better today. The wind is not as strong here as it was last night and the smoke is higher, though according to Google on my phone, visibility is now at 2 miles. We've been told to stay inside if we can, and definitely avoid outdoor activities like running or bicycling. But I couldn't resist the temptation to take my DSLR out and try to get some photos in manual mode, (so I could work with the camera raw files.) It was as if I were looking through a yellow filter at everything.

Here are a few images to show the ash. (Images link to larger versions and open in a new window/tab.)

Our cars, (links to full 3888 x 2592 pixel image, to show details):

Early morning view out the window in my front door, (no ash. Oops):

Ash on the leaves of Foxglove, in our front yard:

And finally, a plastic Adirondack Chair just in front of the house, (which is off-white, NOT yellow!)

All those white speckles on the leaves and the chair are ash. Based on the debris on the cars, I'd say most of the brown, dusty stuff is too.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the people who are losing everything in these fires.

Mother Nature has not been kind to human beings this year.

Daz Central should let you choose the startng folder (the Base Path setting), but it won't let you choose specific folders within that (that's part of the simplification it is aimed at offering). If you want to be able to set specific paths then use Install Manager instead, which is still available.

I'm looking over my DAZ Content in preparation for getting the new computer next week. Who am I kidding?! DAZ splatters our content recklessly, leaving us to figure a way to find anything. Smart content?! I'd laugh if I weren't so bored.

 

 

I don't understand why studio has to install parts of itself all over your computer like a virus, that is why I install studio to my main drive but my content library is on an external. I don't use DIM or any of the other 'installers'  that studio offers for this reason. I prefer to know exactly where all my programs are going and where I can find them when needed. For those of you that love smart content and meta data and it works for you, that is awesome but from the sounds of it the majority of people have more issues with it than it is worth.

DIM allows you to specify where the content goes too. Daz central uses a single master folder, on a drive of the user's choice, for everything that has an option.

But that doesn't fix all the vanity folders or environment sets being put into the props folder. Along with fixing the smart content and metadata there is no consistancy when it comes to directory folders. Some PA's use a vanity folder, some don't these are all things that daz should have been caught in QA before release, instead of waiting for customers ti find the issues and report them. There have been several threads about broken smart content and metadata but it never seems to get taken care of.

Vanity folders are one thing, but the most annoying ones are texture sets, which are placed under another vanity folder, nowhere near the garment it was meant for with a name that has no connection to the said garment and a thumbnail that gives no clue as to which garment it was meant for... I guess some PA:s still haven't gotten over the Poser "logic"... Just another example and reason for installing content manually...

The vanity folders are something that daz could easily address by instituting a policy either saying everything will have a vanity folder or nothing will. It is that easy. The same could be done with the metadata and smart content. Make sure everything has it and not approve anything that has incorrect information. 

As a former poser user I take a bit of offense to that, their logic has nothing to do with previous programs, and for the record studio used to use the same layout pre version 4.0. 

I'm looking over my DAZ Content in preparation for getting the new computer next week. Who am I kidding?! DAZ splatters our content recklessly, leaving us to figure a way to find anything. Smart content?! I'd laugh if I weren't so bored.

 

 

I don't understand why studio has to install parts of itself all over your computer like a virus, that is why I install studio to my main drive but my content library is on an external. I don't use DIM or any of the other 'installers'  that studio offers for this reason. I prefer to know exactly where all my programs are going and where I can find them when needed. For those of you that love smart content and meta data and it works for you, that is awesome but from the sounds of it the majority of people have more issues with it than it is worth.

DIM allows you to specify where the content goes too. Daz central uses a single master folder, on a drive of the user's choice, for everything that has an option.

But that doesn't fix all the vanity folders or environment sets being put into the props folder. Along with fixing the smart content and metadata there is no consistancy when it comes to directory folders. Some PA's use a vanity folder, some don't these are all things that daz should have been caught in QA before release, instead of waiting for customers ti find the issues and report them. There have been several threads about broken smart content and metadata but it never seems to get taken care of.

Vanity folders are one thing, but the most annoying ones are texture sets, which are placed under another vanity folder, nowhere near the garment it was meant for with a name that has no connection to the said garment and a thumbnail that gives no clue as to which garment it was meant for... I guess some PA:s still haven't gotten over the Poser "logic"... Just another example and reason for installing content manually...

I'm looking over my DAZ Content in preparation for getting the new computer next week. Who am I kidding?! DAZ splatters our content recklessly, leaving us to figure a way to find anything. Smart content?! I'd laugh if I weren't so bored.

 

 

I don't understand why studio has to install parts of itself all over your computer like a virus, that is why I install studio to my main drive but my content library is on an external. I don't use DIM or any of the other 'installers'  that studio offers for this reason. I prefer to know exactly where all my programs are going and where I can find them when needed. For those of you that love smart content and meta data and it works for you, that is awesome but from the sounds of it the majority of people have more issues with it than it is worth.

DIM allows you to specify where the content goes too. Daz central uses a single master folder, on a drive of the user's choice, for everything that has an option.

But that doesn't fix all the vanity folders or environment sets being put into the props folder. Along with fixing the smart content and metadata there is no consistancy when it comes to directory folders. Some PA's use a vanity folder, some don't these are all things that daz should have been caught in QA before release, instead of waiting for customers ti find the issues and report them. There have been several threads about broken smart content and metadata but it never seems to get taken care of.

I'm looking over my DAZ Content in preparation for getting the new computer next week. Who am I kidding?! DAZ splatters our content recklessly, leaving us to figure a way to find anything. Smart content?! I'd laugh if I weren't so bored.

 

 

I don't understand why studio has to install parts of itself all over your computer like a virus, that is why I install studio to my main drive but my content library is on an external. I don't use DIM or any of the other 'installers'  that studio offers for this reason. I prefer to know exactly where all my programs are going and where I can find them when needed. For those of you that love smart content and meta data and it works for you, that is awesome but from the sounds of it the majority of people have more issues with it than it is worth.

DIM allows you to specify where the content goes too. Daz central uses a single master folder, on a drive of the user's choice, for everything that has an option.

Just started using this and love it, but I have a couple of issues and questions that have come up in one scene. Here are 2 renders of the same scene: in one I used Ocean Wide midday skydome and lights, and the other I used IBL Master with an hdr skydome. Rendering in 3delight. Sampling settings: 2, 10, 10, 8. No adjustments to IBL Master, except for turning off ground plane.

Render time is certainly better: OW skydome and lights - 34min 28 sec; IBL Master with hdr skydome - 24min 50sec (2015 macbook pro 13" 3.1 Intel i7 16GB ram)

1. As you can see in the attached images, in the central pavilion the columns (or part of the columns) cast shadows, but the shadow above is magically missing, as if they are free standing columns covered by nothing.

2. Some areas are getting a total blackout, not like a dark shadow, just error level black. If necessary I can post a different image to better show this.

How can I fix these? Any other suggestions to get a new user thrust into making the most of this product?

...well,to add insult to irritation, in the middle of the night, the smoke alarm began to "chirp" intermittently which is the sign it needs a new battery. Were I in my old place that would be remedied by goong to the store getting s new battery snd putting it in. Not so simple where I live now as the alarms in the units are wired into the building's central system as well as out of easy reach (in the old place I could simply reach up and remove the unit to install a new battery as the ceiling was rather low). Here I need maintenance to do it, but the catch is, it's a holiday so no staff is around. So I'll have to deal with it all day and night before it can be attended to. Talk about really, really bad timing. The really frustrating part is that maintenance was scheduled to do this in April but COVID caused it to be cancelled and only serious emergencies like a broken pipe or fridge dying would be handled, no "routine" matters. That has been relaxed a bit but now we need to make an appointment even for something like this so it could take longer.

Hi,
Thanks. Unfortunately I lost the screenshot I posted yesterday, but I did not even have anything under Windows menu. There was one entry there: Panes (Tabs)
As to Install Manager, I was looking for it all over the place. Seem it was automatically uninstalled, when I installed DAZ central for the first time.
There was Uninstall option in Programs and Features for Install Manager and I have found a folder for it, but there was no any executables to fire it up.
So I ended up manually wiping all out, including user settings in the profile and then install DAZ Central and Studio.

I am just glad it is over...

Hi,

Thanks so much for your answers, Is it just me or is that not clearly stated that I need another software even though it says I Daz on the Compatible Software: Daz to Maya Bridge, Daz to 3ds Max Bridge, Daz to C4D Bridge, Carrara

And also says Install Types:  DIM  which I have.

This also doesn't help:  

Notes

• This product includes:
  • 1 Carrara Files Installer

To me that meant I will have to install Carrara files, (I had a rough idea what Carrara was but didn't know I needed to buy it to use this product I bought) I bet I'm not the only one that has done this.

Thanks I'll ask for a refund and will look again for city scape for daz

(I wonder if that's why daz never replied, waiting till the 30 days is up?!!! )

 

Thanks once again.

This is the Drive I use for Daz and 3D in general.

You'll notice I have the manifest that is kept on the C drive there too.

The folder just named Daz 3D contains the files downloaded via DIM, as well as third party downloads.

There are no issues with moving where everything is by default; issues will arrive if that move is not done correctly, with either missing files, duplicate files, or library folders not added to both DIM and to Studio. Not all the folders in Daz 3D All Libraries are added to DIM or Studio, and some added to Studio are not used by DIM, and consequently not added.

I don't touch Smart Content as I have various issues with it, including I don't think it is close to smart.

I also don't tough Daz Central (another abomination IMO).

With this new DAZ Central I am completely lost. How do I Uninstall/Reinstall DAZ studio?
Unless someone tells me how to reset workspace and get menu items back, I figured I would uninstall and reinstall DAZ studio.

(I did attach an image showing my top menu was missing most of the links, but it is gone )

But I cannot even do that. It's not in Programs and Features and I cannot find any uninstall executable.
Please help...

 

Update 1: DAZ central is quite useless. I found an uninstall link, but it did not do anything. For 2 hours it stayed on 50% uninstall progress. I had to kill it, delete DAZ manually from program files, user profile, registry. Now I cannot install. Installation has stuck on 57%. Where can I download installation files and install it manually?

Update 2: OK, I uninstalled DAZ Central completely. Cleaned the drives of all possible DAZ content and related files. Downloaded, installed it fresh. Installed Studio, got my menus back finally. But there is no any links in Start Menu. Had to Pin executables shortcuts for DAZ Central and Studio to Start. Reinstalled all content one by one (Where is a button for installing all content at once as it used to be in Install Manager??)  My content folder is now 10 GB, it used to be 20 GB. I do not create any assets myself, nor have many projects saved. Where is another 10GB? Luckily I have a backup, if I see something missing I hope I can reinstate.

Anyway, it was frustrating few hours of wasted time. That is given I am a power computer user. Average user would never be able to pull it through and would probably stuck for days.