Moving the "My DAZ 3D Library" to seperate drive...
s.camburn.faithbook
Posts: 0
Hi all! New here so please be patient...
Been away from 3D renders for about 4-5 years [was on a music kick] and want to get back into the scene. Used to have Poser Pro and was pretty good with that but I was really big into Photoshop. Was looking at various different 3D modelling programs and this one seemed to be promising. Glad to be here and hope I can contribute much [eventually].
Okay here is the deal. Running on Windows 7 Ultimate 64, installed Daz Studio 4.6 64 on my system. Installed various DLC packs and all went smoothly [aside from one background that seems to have vanished... lol, but not worried about that]. However, my C drive is a 180gb Solid State Drive that I don't want to clutter up, I also have a second internal hybrid [500gb: X drive], and two externals, 2tb Iomega HDD 15k rpm [Z drive], and a Maxtor 1tb 9k rpm [Y drive]. My z drive has 1.5tb of free space. I want to move "My Daz 3D Library" from my C:/ drive to my Z:/ drive...
Is this possible? Is there a "how-to" somewhere on here? I just spent 4 hours looking and I am simply out of time which was very frustrating for me [I only get one day a week off work] and Google didn't seem to help much...
I am just looking for a way to redirect where the program loads [quick edit: models and textures or "content] files from.
Thanks in advance for any info/ideas.
Also, any good hair packs floating around out there [particularly Afro-hair styles]? Any tutorials for making hair?
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Comments
Copy the My DAZ 3D Library from the C drive to whatever drive you want to use. If you installed using the DIM, and you kept the downloaded zip files, then it may be easier to uninstall using DIM, and reinstall to the correct drive. It should be fairly quick to do.
The other thing that you will need to do, is to tell DAZ Studio where the library is now or it wont find the content.
Go to Edit > Preferences > Content Library > Content Directory Manager and list the new path for BOTH DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats. Remember to remove the old paths if they are no longer used.
It is possible to just copy and paste this folder and the saved files in it will still be able to load from a different drive?
It is possible to just copy and paste this folder and the saved files in it will still be able to load from a different drive?
Yes, as long as the new paths are listed in Content Directory Manager, only the relative paths matter.
Thank you so much that is precisely what I was seeking was the "Content Directory Manager." Cheers! :-)
Yes, as long as the new paths are listed in Content Directory Manager, only the relative paths matter.
Thank you for clarifying that, I wasn't sure if everything would still load correctly if it was moved
Hello, I'm going to be in the same situation as the OP when I do my upgrade. Thanks for this info, I had one question.
Once the 'My DAZ3D Library' is moved and the preferences changed in DAZ, will the DAZ Install Manager then install any future content to the alternate, non-C:drive? Or are there settings in the DIM that need to be changed too?
DAZ Studio and the DIM do not communicate in any way. You will need to tell DIM where to install any new content, by going to the little 'gear' icon at the top right of the Interface, and adding the new path under the Installation tab.
If DAZ Studio is installed to a different drive, you will have to change the path in the Applications tab as well.
The install Manager keeps all of it's Downloads and Manifest files in C:\Users\Public\Documents\DAZ 3D\InstallManager, and that would need to be copied over as well.
DAZ Studio and the DIM do not communicate in any way. You will need to tell DIM where to install any new content, by going to the little 'gear' icon at the top right of the Interface, and adding the new path under the Installation tab.
If DAZ Studio is installed to a different drive, you will have to change the path in the Applications tab as well.
The install Manager keeps all of it's Downloads and Manifest files in C:\Users\Public\Documents\DAZ 3D\InstallManager, and that would need to be copied over as well.
Ah ok. Thank you very much for the info.
I just wanted to clarify your last line, once you add the new path under the Installation tab will DIM still load stuff into the C:...\InstallManager folder or will it go into the new path?
When you are installing DAZ Studio, I believe that the Install Manager files will be put into a 'DAZ 3D' folder inside the same folder as your content library is stored.
I am not certain of that, someone else may know for sure if you hang on.
You should backup any files in the DAZ 3D/InstallManager folder, and put them wherever the DIM files are installed to.
DON'T DO IT! Take my advice. You will see elsewhere in this forum that I tried this and it has completely screwed the CMS so I now can't find any of my content by searches and none of the smart content shows at all.
Here's the thread http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/37809/
Yes. Worrisome indeed! I am now stuck with a large content library which I essentially can't use (because who remembers exactly where every piece of content is, under which folder, by which content creator etc). Search is absolutely critical if you have a large runtime.
Finally fixed it. I don't think my alarmism re moving the content library was justified. The cause of my problems was a lack of port communication to the CMS
Yes. Worrisome indeed! I am now stuck with a large content library which I essentially can't use (because who remembers exactly where every piece of content is, under which folder, by which content creator etc). Search is absolutely critical if you have a large runtime.
Finally fixed it. I don't think my alarmism re moving the content library was justified. The cause of my problems was a lack of port communication to the CMS
Bold mine. So, how did you fix it? How does one address the port communication to the CMS?!?!?
I just tried to move my content library from the default C-drive to an F-drive... and now all my content is gone!!!
I did the "Edit > Preferences > Content Library > Content Directory Manager"-thing, but it didn't work.
PLEASE HELP!!!
More information is needed here.
You say you 'tried' to move your content library to another drive. Did you manage to do that, is the library visible on the F drive? What do you mean by 'all my content is gone?'
Adding the new path can only work if the content is where you are telling DAZ Studio it is installed to.
Please explain a bit more fully.
Are you on PC (windows version? 32/64bit?), or Mac? what version of Daz Studio, or other?
(edit)
As Novica has much advice for organizing the folders. Doing it some ways will break things, as I have found out the heard way. Don't feel bad, we learn from our mistakes.
First if you pointed Daz Studio to the new "F drive" folders, and it is still showing nothing, then CMS has probably turned itself into a pretzel. Simply deleting folders/files with the file-manager (My Computer) with Daz Studio running can do this. Made that mistake.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/590210/
Follow her advice and her links in the next post...
My reference link section has several links on content, here are two threads (and I don't resurf these, so not exactly sure what's here. But there were good enough to link.)
Content Management Not Working/Stopping &/Or Smart Content Gone:
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/8028/#105548
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/29115/#432144 (read entire thread)
There's more on content, such as how to organize it onto D drive or another drive, etc. That would be this (which was MY thread, from start to finish, with all questions answered.)
Content, Setting Up Your Way
Setting Up On D Drive (By Jaderail/Fixmypcmile/mcj1016) http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/39030/
My entire reference thread is here. New additions still added, not a "dead" post. When I see things, I add them.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/44327/
I moved the folder "My DAZ 3D Library" from the default C-drive to a new place in the root of my F-drive.
Now all my content is gone in the "Smart Content"-window (on the default left side of the screen), but I can still access it from the "Content Library" (on the default right side of the screen). -See attached image.
After having moved the folder, I changed the settings in the "Content Directory Manager" to the correct destination. See attached image.
I would really, really like to have the "Smart Content"-window working again...
-edit-----
I checked to see if the CMS is running while DS is open, and it does. (See attached image)
BTW: If I in DS click "F2 -> CMS Settings" - I have NOT changed anything here! SHould I?
If you are done moving folders...
(EDIT; Check my next post first before doing this, the database may be corrupted)
1 Bring up the menu from the "Content Library" tab. That little thing with the triangle and lines.
2 Select "Content DB Maintenance..."
3 check off the "Re-Import Metadata..."
4 Click accept, then let it think. It may take some time to rebuild the database.
I don't see anything under "All", do you have a database running, not just the CMS?
postgres.exe
There should be many of them running.
YES!!!
All I needed was to re-import the database. Now my Smart Content is back!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Epic, now the fun can continue.:lol:
Thanks zarcondeegrissom, I was at the doctor this morning and wasn't able to reply.
@udgang99
If you need any more help, we are always here, best wishes.
A tiny follow-up question:
Now that I have moved my content-folder to a different drive on my computer (DS is still on C-drive) - does that make rendering slower?
As mentioned, I have the content-folder on my F-drive, and DS on C-drive. But C and F are actually just two partions of the same SSD-drive.
It seems like my readerings are slightly slower now ...
It is out of the question for me to have the content-folder on the C-drive, as I'm almost out of space there. But would it make more sence to re-install DS entirely on the F-drive?
I wouldn't have thought that rendering would be noticeably slower.
Are you sure that you haven't changed any of the render settings recently? A small change in the Shading Rate for example, can make renders much longer. I usually use a SR of 1.0 for most renders, and change that to 0.2 for a finished render at best quality. If you have the room on your F drive, you could reinstall DS there, but I can't see that it would be that much faster.
Have a look at your render settings first though.
I have different drives and it didn't slow anything down.
I have had some heard drives that are just, slow. For whatever reason, there older, lower tech, or just plane substandard.
Sometimes the computer will put them to sleep if there not used recently, that's something I have yet to fix here after upgrades.
mechanical heard drives will always be slower then solid-state (SSD) Flash based ones.
Slower RPM drives, will be slower then faster RPM drives (for mechanical heard drives).
The interface can make a big difference, Some USB ports were only 0.18 MBPS, while some SATA was 150MBPS, etc)
USB 1.5 Mbit/S (187.5kBPS) to over 600 MBPS depending on generation.
SATA 150 MBPS to whatever it is today (600MBPS or more).
There are many others, PATA, SCSI, SAS, etc, etc, etc.
There are many things that can make a heard drive slow. Chances are, you can replace your "F" drive with a faster one, I wont say it will be affordable tho. Best of luck, I hope that can give you some ideas of what to ask geeky friends that are there to help you.
Coffee just started to soak in, and I Just realized that 'Partition' bit.
If F is a partition of C (The same physical drive), then it should not be any slower at all. However if it is a mechanical drive (NOT an SSD), It may simply be 'Fragmented' and need a de-frag to get things in order again (don't de-frag an SSD, they don't need it).
(edit)
A partition is not the same thing as separate physical drives, I have not fussed with partitions in over fifteen years. Enough on that tho, there are GOOD reasons for using partitions, I just prefer real drives myself.
One question I have but I didn't see it mentioned here, or in other threads: If I move the content to a different drive, rebuild the database by reimporting meta data and user data (by the looks this is needed most of the time), are the categories, notes, and tags preserved? Or are they lost since the move and the CMS doesn't understand that this note/tag/category goes with this file in the new path. I am gussing it is smart enough, but thought I would double check.
When you Export User Data the categories, etc. are saved as relative paths. When you Re-Import Metadata it checks the new paths for the items, so the metadata gets associated with the file in the new path.