DIM disappears, so do I.

I trust DIM to do what it says. I have al sorts of reservations about Smart Content, and now DazCentral.

DIM, as an acronym works; it's meaning is succinct - and it does manage my installs.

Daz Central sounds (and behaves) like big brother.

Studio 4.9 felt like Daz was trying to force something down my throat; this feels the same.

Daz Central is DIM with a simplified interface and option tree, for the benefit of new users.

But why does it mess with DIM and cause problems for DIM users.

Ever since they introduced Central I've had odd problems popping up with DIm can't help but wonder if the Central thing is interfering with DIM somehow.

If you installed Central it may have changed some paths in DIM

So are you saying that its a known issue that installing Central messes with DIM - why the hell wasn't that mentioned when it was first introduced.

Maybe it was not known until some people found out (the hard way)?

 

Then it should have been made very clear that we were alpha testing this for them.

Ever since they introduced Central I've had odd problems popping up with DIm can't help but wonder if the Central thing is interfering with DIM somehow.

If you installed Central it may have changed some paths in DIM

So are you saying that its a known issue that installing Central messes with DIM - why the hell wasn't that mentioned when it was first introduced.

Maybe it was not known until some people found out (the hard way)?

DIM disappears, so do I.

I trust DIM to do what it says. I have al sorts of reservations about Smart Content, and now DazCentral.

DIM, as an acronym works; it's meaning is succinct - and it does manage my installs.

Daz Central sounds (and behaves) like big brother.

Studio 4.9 felt like Daz was trying to force something down my throat; this feels the same.

Daz Central is DIM with a simplified interface and option tree, for the benefit of new users.

This is really a comment. I have been delayed in producing more work of my own by issues about how I can distribute my own work and protect from unauthorised copying etc[ as well as by other isseus]. Likewise I wish to protect the intellectual property rights of DAZ creators. 

Taking this into account I believe that DAZ needs to set more prescriptions on how we set up our devices. But also they need to take into account the fact that some people are just doing renders on a laptop and may want roaming capabilities whereas other people are trying to do some serious renders and animation and want a good set up at home with a main machine one or more render boxes and a separate disk station or indeed home network server.

DAZ probably needs a render node available [perhaps it already is available] as many fancy doody expensive programs already do? Also we need to be able to use home network storage devices not just hard drives on one machine. I orginally set up a disk station on my home machine to make maintaining my DAZ content easier. It has proved to make it harder. I aslo wanted to use that same content from my render box machine. My understanding is that does not cotravene the EULA because the content can be used on more than one machine but by the same person.

I note that I do not have a separate server and simply use software on my main machine to download and install on the diskstation. Perhaps I should be doing it differently? Also I could use the same user name to log onto the two different machines and use the same name to specify the shared folder on my diskstation. Many people are doing the same thing but perhaps are more au fait with the process and don't have as many problems as me. Every time there is a new update to DIM there seems to be a problem. I actually got the diskstation after purchasing a  DAZ tutotiral on how to set up your content. The diskstation sounded like a good idea so that you can easily maintain your DAZ data and access as required. It also means that if you had set up RAID you could easily fix hardware problems.

It seems that it should be fairly simple to write a new installer program [given the complexity of what DAZ does such as iRay algorithms etc]. But it is important that we are told specifically what is allowed and what is not allowed. If I must go back to simply installing on one machine on one of my internal hard drives I will do so to enable to use the content I already have purchased. 

I actually wanted to check I could reinstall DAZ easily using the new DAZ Central. It certainly doesn't work currently at least to the folder you specifiy. I can actually use DAZ from the folder it is currently residing in and point to the right content database without any problems. However because I now can't install Postgre SQL CMS it can't read my installed content on the diskstation. But DAZ Central doesn't work and nor does DIM work any longer as well. So this seems like a good time to raise this issue. Perhaps these problems wouldn't occur if the EULA and or set up prescription issues are solved?

Installiing also adds the information about the filles to the local database - another system will not get that unless the database (Ediit>Preferences>CMS Settings>Content Cluster directory) is also shared.

Do note that Daz does not create or code Iray, nVidia supplies it as a osed box and Daz integrates it into DS using the APIs - this is also true from 3Del;ight, from DNA Research rather than nVidia, and from Optiiex the older dynamic clothing system from before dForce..

Ever since they introduced Central I've had odd problems popping up with DIm can't help but wonder if the Central thing is interfering with DIM somehow.

If you installed Central it may have changed some paths in DIM

So are you saying that its a known issue that installing Central messes with DIM - why the hell wasn't that mentioned when it was first introduced.

DIM disappears, so do I.

I trust DIM to do what it says. I have al sorts of reservations about Smart Content, and now DazCentral.

DIM, as an acronym works; it's meaning is succinct - and it does manage my installs.

Daz Central sounds (and behaves) like big brother.

Studio 4.9 felt like Daz was trying to force something down my throat; this feels the same.

I've had that popup too - but I never installed Central ... I think it's the new version of DazStudio or DIM that does that. Since I unticked the show automagically thing, it only pops up again with a new update of DIM.

I had this same issues several times over the past few weeks. I never installed Central though, so that can't be it (at least not what's caused the issue on my end). I did update DIM though. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. I ended up having to create a new login profile because somehow my regular log in profile got messed up. I went to log into DIM one day and the login part that has my account login name had weird non-letter values like "%" added to it and it wouldn't let me log in with that profile. I had to make a new login profile. Then I to re-setup all the pathways and everything, all of which where custom and I couldn't remember the exact paths for everything since I have 3 different Daz Libraries in three different Hard Drives. Now I have a ton of content that DIM says isn't installed that is, other content that it says it's in one content library when it's really in a different one. It's a headache.

If you have any custom pathways in Install Manager I highly recommend going into the Advanced Settings and taking screenshots of all your pathways. I would take a screenshot of the different tabs: "Downloads", "Installation", and "Applications". That way if you ever have to reset up those paths, you know exactly what goes where. I wish I had done that before all this - it would have saved me a mega headache and lot of uninstalling and reinstalling.

..is this something with the new update?  I am still using the previous version and manually downloading from my Content Library into the DIM install folder..

It's the new DAZ Central, it seems to mess up people's installations if you install it.  See the sticky thread.

This is really a comment. I have been delayed in producing more work of my own by issues about how I can distribute my own work and protect from unauthorised copying etc[ as well as by other isseus]. Likewise I wish to protect the intellectual property rights of DAZ creators. 

Taking this into account I believe that DAZ needs to set more prescriptions on how we set up our devices. But also they need to take into account the fact that some people are just doing renders on a laptop and may want roaming capabilities whereas other people are trying to do some serious renders and animation and want a good set up at home with a main machine one or more render boxes and a separate disk station or indeed home network server.

DAZ probably needs a render node available [perhaps it already is available] as many fancy doody expensive programs already do? Also we need to be able to use home network storage devices not just hard drives on one machine. I orginally set up a disk station on my home machine to make maintaining my DAZ content easier. It has proved to make it harder. I aslo wanted to use that same content from my render box machine. My understanding is that does not cotravene the EULA because the content can be used on more than one machine but by the same person.

I note that I do not have a separate server and simply use software on my main machine to download and install on the diskstation. Perhaps I should be doing it differently? Also I could use the same user name to log onto the two different machines and use the same name to specify the shared folder on my diskstation. Many people are doing the same thing but perhaps are more au fait with the process and don't have as many problems as me. Every time there is a new update to DIM there seems to be a problem. I actually got the diskstation after purchasing a  DAZ tutotiral on how to set up your content. The diskstation sounded like a good idea so that you can easily maintain your DAZ data and access as required. It also means that if you had set up RAID you could easily fix hardware problems.

It seems that it should be fairly simple to write a new installer program [given the complexity of what DAZ does such as iRay algorithms etc]. But it is important that we are told specifically what is allowed and what is not allowed. If I must go back to simply installing on one machine on one of my internal hard drives I will do so to enable to use the content I already have purchased. 

I actually wanted to check I could reinstall DAZ easily using the new DAZ Central. It certainly doesn't work currently at least to the folder you specifiy. I can actually use DAZ from the folder it is currently residing in and point to the right content database without any problems. However because I now can't install Postgre SQL CMS it can't read my installed content on the diskstation. But DAZ Central doesn't work and nor does DIM work any longer as well. So this seems like a good time to raise this issue. Perhaps these problems wouldn't occur if the EULA and or set up prescription issues are solved?

Subtle element of my landscape, the grasses are concentrated in shallow gullies.  

I'm attaching screengrabs of the settings I used for the landscape and the shader that I used to control the placement of the shrub grass.  I used the plateau filter in the terrain modeler to create the central meadow.  To control the surface replicator placement, I enabled shader control, then used a mixer.  I used elevation.  I set black for the elevation above the plateau and white below.  The blend is important as well.

I started getting that before Central came out.  I think it started around the release of the latest build of Daz Studio - at least that's about when i first noticed it.  I only use DIM for things that won't install through Contect Browser within Studio. 

Ever since they introduced Central I've had odd problems popping up with DIm can't help but wonder if the Central thing is interfering with DIM somehow.

If you installed Central it may have changed some paths in DIM

I am glad to hear you are back to work but sad too. No time now for rendering. Thank you for your kind response as well. So if I were to finish the line "I do declare" I would say "I do delcare Hylas. Your are my hero." only Scarlet says it to Mr. Beauregard. Are you a fan of Gone with the Wind?

The embarassing truth is, I've never seen Gone with the Wind.

But I do remember Gone with the Window, the Drag Race episode where the contestants made dresses out of curtains...

Ah yes were they green velvet by chance?  Not embarassing. I am sure there are many movies, animations and shorts that I have not seen that are just as iconic. Watching Gone with the Wind is just another opportunity to watch one of the movies from the Golden Era. The director did some amazing things with 1939 cinema technologies not to mention using color in a big way. The scene of Atlanta after Sherman came through is impactful. The use of color must have been amazing for those that watched it in 1939. I kind of think they might have felt like me after watching  Avatar in 3D. You just didn't want it to end. You might find it difficult to get through, though. It is three hours long. It is told from a white person from the South point of view. The love story might not be to your taste. Scarlet is a spoiled brat. But for all its shortcomings it is a work that would be worthwhile to study. Just like Metropolis (1927) and Maria, the central characterin the movie. I can only take about 10 minutes of it at a time but it is still worth doing so. ArtDeco is pretty cool stuff. And who can resist such a Russian angst kind of thing. I love movies. Watched them my whole life. I noticed that The Blob is now available on Netflix. That is my first real memory. Playing on the bars in the drive-in playground and seeing "it" eat a person. Love at first sight and it scared the s**t out of me. Still don't like horror very much but to get that kind of emotion was a wonder and isn't that what it is all about? Hope you are having a wonderful, stress free weekend. a one last image from my Day At the Circus. V2 in Redviper's Gymnastics Wear for A4, Ziggy's Tight Rope and the Boston Terrior by Kerwyn. The headdress is by Specs. If you want links tell me and I will list them.

I'm trying to do a new clean install of selected components on a Windows machine to test. I have a hard enough time keeping DIM from barfing all over the C: drive, but I decided to try DAZCentral and there is no option. The drop down says controlled by DIM, so I download and install it through the browser (I did not see a way to do that through DAZCentral). Could not successfully install Studio until I removed DAZCentral. Now content is hit or miss. I may try to install it through Studio itself.

DIM was bad enough, but Central is buggy and doesn't seem to need to exist. I just may have to uninstall everything and use RegEdit to get all the other parts gone and start again with only DIM.

Merged threads

There is a dedicated thread for Daz Central here https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/407131/beta-for-dazcentral-your-new-content-manager#latest . Givenm your workflow you may well be better off sticking with DIM, or even using Connect (install within DS - that wll then prompt you to install any missing products needed by the scene or preset you are loading).

Ever since they introduced Central I've had odd problems popping up with DIm can't help but wonder if the Central thing is interfering with DIM somehow.

Hi R-O Studios,

I had assumed that the Base Path Location was for content and DAZ Studio Install location was for the application or program. I have tried it that way and can't get the program to install to my c:\programs folder although I seem to get my content to install to the location I specified. It appears as loaded however old content that is already loaded to my content location doesn't register as already installed?

The program actually loads to users\me\applications\etc.

So beats me.

Also I can't get DIM to work either. It will not install DAZ at all. Although again it accepts my home network drive for content.

I was going to submit a ticket but I assume they are already working on this issue. Because lots of people seem to be having problems since the DAZ central app started to be used for installing new content?

One of the things I need to do frequently is uninstall and then reinstall content via the DIM so that I can manage space on my hard drive.

I decided to download Daz Central today, and not only is it a sluggish, advertising nightmare for a platform I've already spent thousands of dollars on, but it auto-installs content without warning.

Some hair props alone take up about 2GB of space, when I'm not using them for a scene, I uninstall them.

And I absolutely loathe the idea of Daz Store advertising to me when I run it's applications. I uninstalled Daz Central immediately, and if I'm ever forced into it, I won't be giving anymore business to Daz3D, that's for sure.

Horrible idea.