Daz Studio Category Migration

ronwstewart

My apologies if this has been asked before, but a search of the forums didn't turn up anything for me. 

So the good news is I have a new PC with a much better graphics card, and I've been able to successfully migrate my content, character morphs, and so on over to it. 

The one thing that's missing is all the custom categories I used, especially for non-Daz-Store content. As a result of all the work I put into creating these categories and assigning content to them, I tend to use the Smart Content/Files area to find stuff much more than SC/Products or the Content Library. It's faster and easier. Well, it was, on the old PC! But even after copying my content and Re-importing my Metadata, Daz Studio just lists the default categories. 

So my question is this: Is there a way to migrate all those custom category settings from Daz Studio on the old PC to the new one? 

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance! 

fixmypcmike

Did you Export User Data on the old machine?

Richard Haseltine

Two options, both of which require your old system. You could start DS, then from the Content Library option menu (right-click on the tab or click the lined button in the top corner) open the Content DB Maintenance dialogue and check export User Data. This will create a UserData_#.dsx fle in the \Runtime\Support folder. Copy that file across to the same location in the new PC, open the Content DB Maintenance dialogue there, and this time check Reimport Metadata - the User Data should be a checkable option at the top in the enxt dialogue to open. The other option is to copy across the C:\Users\YOU\AppData\Roaming\Daz 3D\cms\ContentCluster folder - however, if you've added content (and especially made any customisations) on the new system that is not the best approach.

ronwstewart

Richard Haseltine said:

Two options, both of which require your old system. You could start DS, then from the Content Library option menu (right-click on the tab or click the lined button in the top corner) open the Content DB Maintenance dialogue and check export User Data. This will create a UserData_#.dsx fle in the \Runtime\Support folder. Copy that file across to the same location in the new PC, open the Content DB Maintenance dialogue there, and this time check Reimport Metadata - the User Data should be a checkable option at the top in the enxt dialogue to open. The other option is to copy across the C:\Users\YOU\AppData\Roaming\Daz 3D\cms\ContentCluster folder - however, if you've added content (and especially made any customisations) on the new system that is not the best approach.

Thanks, that first method worked like a charm! You just saved me hours of work. 

lukon100

Will the Richard Haseltine procedure option 1 work when I have moved my library to a different location on my new PC?

Location on old PC: "C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library"

Location on new PC: “E:\Luke\3D\My DAZ 3D Library”

Or will it fail and screw things up? And if it will fail, is there a way to adjust the procedure to make it work?

The procedure in question is, per Richard:

1. On the old PC, if DS isn’t on, start DS.

2. Right-click on the Content Library tab or click the lined button in the top corner of the CMS window pane to access the Content Library option menu.

3. Click the Content DB Maintenance menu item to access that dialogue box.

4. Check “Export User Data”.

5. Click “Accept”. This will create a UserData_#.dsx file in the \Runtime\Support folder, usually

“C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library\Runtime\Support\UserData_1.dsx”

6. Copy that file across to the same location in the new PC.

7. Open the Content DB Maintenance dialogue there.

8. This time check Reimport Metadata - the User Data should be a checkable option at the top in the next dialogue to open.

NorthOf45

If it is on the same PC, you don't have to anything so drastic, you will be using the same database. You just have to configure DIM (if you use it) and DAZ Studio to use the new location. If you use DIM to install, change the installation folder in DIM Settings->Installation tab, in the bottom half (Label | Path area) to the new path. In Studio, open up Content Directory Manager (right-click on the Content Library tab) and change the path for the DAZ Studio formats and Poser formats to point to the new one also.

lukon100

Thanks so much, NorthOf45.

It seems the Richard procedure does work, even if one's library dirrectory is at a different path in the new PC.

Now, if I change the path that DIM uses, will DIM still put programs, like FasceGen, into normal C:\ drive locations, while putting models into the new E:\ drive path?

lukon100

I changed the installation directory for DIM.

But DIM still thinks I have thousands of models to download (over again). I suppose this is because the new PC does not have the models in it's dowload archive. Those models are only archived on the old PC.

So, is there a way to fix this? Some log file of archived downloads to transfer?

NorthOf45

Content will go to the E:\drive path, as you have it. Plugins (i.e., dll's and other resources) generally go in a subfolder of the DAZ Studio application, but might also install some content, which will go with the rest of the content. The path for software is set on the DIM Settings Installation tab, in the slots for 64-bit/32-bit software base, which is probably set by default to standard Program Files folders, so you shouldn't have to change anything. Whether installed by DIM or not, any software will probably install where it should go.

NorthOf45

Oops, sorry lukon100, you must have posted while I was writing, and I didn't see your last question. So, if it hasn't been answered somewhere else, copy the manifests (.dsx) that were created in the Manifest Archive (as shown on the Installation Tab in DIM Settings) on the old PC to the new one.