Coming back to DAZ after a very long absence...

batfish

Hello,

Many years ago, started off using Poser which at first I enjoyed, but I eventually switched over to DAZ.  Used to use Bryce, Terragen, Adobe Photoshop, and visit Renderosity, etc., also.  Also utilized Lightwave to build and render objects and scenes.  Got very badly hurt in an accident, and am just getting back to rendering once again.  Just curious, going to purchase a new system and install DAZ.  Was pretty "comfortable" installing content, textures, etc., before - even though it was sometimes a little dicey.  From what I've recently gathered; that DAZ uses an "Install Manager" for content is that correct?  Wondering if 3rd party morphs, lighting, etc., include this option.  Used to be pretty much of a do it yourselfer.  Any helpful hint towards pre-installation direction would be appreciated.  For your consideration - I thank you...

My 3D Spin

You can either use the Install Manager or Daz Connect. inside DAZ studio to install products from DAZ - Third party products
you have to install manually by pasting folders in the My Library folder and they will show up in your Content Library under
the My library folder - DAZ connect and the install Manager are installed and found in the smart content tab and can also be
found in the Content Library under Products. 

NexySaloon

You can also ignore the "DAZ connect", "Install Manager", and the "Smart Content" pane in the Studio program itself - and just download the zip files like we used to, and like we do when we buy from Rendo - unzip them to wherever you want (I use an external 2gig hard drive), and then in the drop down tree by the Content pane (Edit Content Preferences) point Studio to where you put them.

I have also been away from DAZ for several years, and much prefer Carrara, but I am wanting to learn this way complicated DAZ just because.

Not impressed with iRay, since Carrara can bridge LuxRender, and the DAZ rendering time, well a sleeping turtle could outrun it.

If you're curious, they put the Carrara 8.5 pro full boat! on sale for about $5 once a year, and it seems like it's about time...

But not knocking DAZ, the Dreamlight guy did wonders with it 10+ years ago, i was and still am impressed, and DAZ is 50x better than it was then.

Best wishes, I know what it's like to be crippled, only for me it was so long ago now I don't remember what it's like to NOT be crippled, lol.

And every year I can remember things better and longer. Boogie on!