Create a second copy of Daz Studio?
JD_Mortal
Posts: 760
Is there a way to create a second copy (install) of Daz3D, to act as an actual second copy?
Eg, I want a good "clean" install, with only the minimal installed files, so nothing that is installed on my prior version will mess with that clean version. Ultimately, I will only be manually installing only the single things I "need", once I find them, from my other copy of Daz3D.
I have the beta version, but I have that reserved as a duplicate for the version that I have now, which is getting horribly bogged-down by all of these items I have laboriously installed over the years. Things which can't easily be "uninstalled", without breaking other things along the way. It would be much easier to locate the components of the installed items, and just duplicate them to the "clean Daz", which I can then scrub clean, or isolate, as needed, when I no longer need THOSE previously installed items.
I don't have any plugins to worry about, so that makes things sort-of less complicated.
However, Daz will still try to use the same CMS system, which is where I think I need the isolation for this "clean copy". Since none of the files in the CMS will be in any of the folders that the clean version will be using.
I'm open to any suggestions, no matter how illogical or hackish they may seem. I am just at a loss for how to do it, or fake it... (Avoiding the whole "get another computer", or "create a virtual OS", as those are not options available to me. I do have a multi-boot system, but there is no real way to move things back and forth, and easily "use them", without constantly rebooting. I have my other copy of Daz on that OS, which is actually my sibblings copy of Daz.)
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Comments
two computers?
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I still have my old versions .. that I moved to a separate hard drive..
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but maybe .. copy your current daz to another hard drive ..
take the copy drive off line
then do a clean install over the one on the C drive (might have to delete the one on the drive firs
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then put the other drive on line and see whether you can run from each?
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I was doing timing tests and had a 410 a 411 and the 412 beta each open at the same time.
Two computers... as in, one for Daz3D, (which is borked), and another computer for the clean Daz3D, (which shouldn't be as borked). I still need to render, using THIS hardware on the borked Daz, as it is only messed-up for the Genisis models. That is what I need the other copy for. So I can load the things I KNOW work, for Genisis models. (Or just isolate them, because apparently I hit some kind of morph-limit along with some busted morphs, which is causing my models to take 12+ minutes to load empty models. Because daz loads all morphs, even if you are not using them yet, into a fresh model.)
My problem is with the "content"... I don't want the current content installed, for the second isolated copy. But, I have to still be able to pull files from the current Daz setup, which is essentially broken at this point for any Genisis models, and move them to the other copy. (I don't want two individual versions.)
Unfortunately, the way Daz is setup, both will still see the same content-manager files, and both will essentially have the same content, which is what is breaking the system now. I literally can't work, at all, with how long it takes to load anything or edit anything related to Genisis models. All other normal models are fine.
What would make this simple, is being able to just install another Daz3D (the same version), into a new folder and have the CMS ALSO install into that folder, but the CMS system goes where it wants, which is where it already exists now. Thus, it is forced to be shared, as well as the generic "registry settings", which don't have isolation between users or versions or installs. EG, only half of "Daz3D", would be unique, from two individual installs. The only reason beta works, as an individual "new program", is because, in essence, it is, at the registry level and folder level. But it still shares the same CMS, for obvious reasons, as far as I know. All my stuff was just "there", when I installed the Beta version.
So, these are my current options... Which I want to avoid, or they are not acceptable solutions... Which is why I am looking for a better solution here.
1: Multi-boot OS. Two versions of Windows-10 on the same computer. Each having a copy of Daz3D installed. (Takes too long to reboot, and has "permissions errors", when trying to transfer files from one OS to the other.)
2: Virtual OS. Two versions of Windows-10, with one running inside the other. (Might work, but.. It has "rendering issues", as it shares and fights for resources, almost literally defeating the purpose. The result is slower load times and memory limitations and general crashing.)
3: Create a second CMS setup, thanks to a post from Richard, from ages ago, where he addressed a similar issue. (I will have to manually keep flipping back and forth into settings, rebooting Daz, clearing caches, etc... To get that to function as desired. But, I only need one copy of Daz3D that way.) {Honestly, this is my best option at the moment.}
4: Try a 32-bit version or older version of Daz3D. (Not honestly an option, as I NEED the current rendering ability, due to my Titan-V and Titan-XP(ME) cards. Also, they chare the same CMS content setups, which is where the issue is.)
5: Use Beta for one setup and Non-Beta for the other setup. (I can have two individual CMS content setups, but for some renders, again, I NEED the other version to render the other stuff, which is not related to the borked Genisis models.) However, at the end of the day, now that the normal version uses my cards, well... I might fall-back to this setup. The issue is that BETA is not exactly stable, obviously. But, at the moment, nor is the public version they recently released. Which is why I am here now, in this situation. But BOTH are having the same issues, as they are both essentially the new 4.12, which has these new issues in both versions. Thus, the need for the isolation.
6: Two individual computers. I can network them together, to get file transfers, but unfortunately, that leaves one I can't render with, which defeats the whole purpose. I need to render with the dirty version and the clean version of Daz, since the dirty version will render all the non-genisis stuff fine, and the clean version is NEEDED, so I can render the Genisis models that I know work fine.
By the way... all of this could be resolved if I could just install the skins for the models, without having to install the morphs for them. However, that isn't even an option in any of the setups or when doing manual installs. I make all my face and body shapes with morphs that adjust individual parts. Those have never caused me any issues. The other character morphs, well, that's another story. Each one having a dozen-hundreds of "corrections" that may or may not ever be needed, all loading anyways, if you use them or not.
This could also be avoided, or resolved, if the error-log actually logged usable error-codes, or if it showed actual "scene data", so we could locate and fix things, or at-least ask for help about things. However, all my errors are just generic numbers or blank (Error in file: ""), or just unitdentified, as in, they don't show-up at all, or they simply say, "Animation error: Some part: Some value", without actually saying WHAT is causing the error. The best ones are the JSON errors, "JSON Error: thisvalue Some_Thing", again, not pointing to any file or item causing the error.
Most delay happens before the errors though. So there is a LOT going on, which isn't even showing in the error-logs, which may not be errors, but it's the source of the issues, and they can't be addressed, because they are not logged.
This is the "fastest" I can get it to load... (I manually deleted any models related to any displayed errors) Normally this takes about 5 minutes and Gen3 base model takes up to 12 minutes, but that error log is HUGE. half full of those "...cpp(4321)" errors that don't lead to anything useful, and the other half are "Animations" for every single body part/segment... (I don't recall ever downloading or installing any animation stuff. I thin that came with the latest update to Daz3D, whatever it is.)
The actual load time was over 4 minutes, not 2min 25sec, as the log indicates. The majority happening before the first logged error, and then the rest happening just after the unidentified "...cpp(####)" errors. But the majority of the hang-up, visually, is in the "Clearing scene" and "Deleting objects" phase, with the remainder happening after the model is "loaded", but not actually displayed, with Daz3D stuck as "Not responding". Again, this is on an EMPTY or BLANK model, with nothing on it. Just clicking the Gen3 or Gen8 base female model.
Loading times are only 1 minute on MY version of Daz, which only has the "Free items". This is from my sisters version, which has all her paid and unpaid content crammed in there. Mine isn't "clean", because I have like 5,000+ of Daz's "free items", from over all the years I have had Daz. Honestly, I never even used more than a dozen of them, except for testing. :P (Less now, because almost none of them are IRAY ready.)
I develop architecture stuff on my version, and I play with people on her version. (She buys mostly people stuff. But I download moslty Architecture stuff for free, and every free morph I can find, that is offered. Which she started doing too.) But now, that is kicking us in the hind-side, from this last update.
You can have two different content sets, each with their own CMS, if you like - use Content Directory manager (launched from Edit>Preferences>Content tab, or from the Content Library option menu) to create them and to switch. For this to work it's easiest to use Connect for your installations.
You were my #3 option... :)
At the moment, I will be doing that, with the obvious "new content folder". Now I just have to figure out how to get my DIM to play the same way, to get the "essentials" in there.
As I said, it's easier to do this using Connect. You can do it with DIM, but you'd need to manually set a different Manifests folder and select the correct content path from the list each time you switched destination.
Yes, I think I am actually going to go that path. I am going to make a Daz-Launcher, so I have Daz3D setup in one of two ways, and DIM, and CMS, if I can figure-out where all the files that I need to "hide", or "alter", are located.
I plan to have two "Content Folders". One with everything I have now, which is a horrible cluster-F of a mess. The other will only have what I want to work with, transfered from the other "mess", and/or DIM installs. (Because I want to keep the core files updated, where possible, in both setups.)
Sooo...
I have to alter the locations data of all these things, or alter the folder-names, where altering locations is not easy.Then my launcher will fire-up Daz for me, with the changes already made. (I am not sure if they are stored in the registry or in just a simple ini-file.) On a similar note, I'll be altering, or hiding the CMS databases and the DIM stuff, as well. At the moment, DIM thinks I have downloaded and installed everything that I currently own. Because it is... But I need it to think that I don't have anything installed, for the second setup, until I do have it installed there.
Thus, I get my two, and potentially "three" versions. (I still want one that ONLY has the minimum required to run. So, when I get done with the "things I am using", I can simply delete that setup and duplicate the "sanitized setup".)
This way I can also track-down and resolve specific issues, without having to "rescan for files" and "rebuild the database", with such huge archives. I don't mind hunting down a few dozen "missing files", or "errors", but my current log when updating the database is filled with thousands and thousands of "missing files" or "no connections", or whatever, just from all this outdated poser content I couldn't NOT install. (Due to DIM being an all or nothing installer.) The shortened list is a 3MB long log-file, the full log is over 12MB. I removed a lot of the log-clutter, but kept the important stuff. File-paths and item names, and the general error type. 90% is for poser or V4 garbage, which I would never even use, if I even knew where to find it, or how to use it.
Honeslty, I don't need anything below Gen3, and only a few things from Gen8. Due to the limitations of available "free things", for Gen8. The rest is just raw objects and items, which either works, or they don't. Below the advent of IRAY, I have little use for items that look like they belong in an outdated video game from the 90's. Luckily, and unfortunately, that is about 75% of my content, which I refuse to use. :P (Unfortunately, I don't know what this stuff looks like by just the names or product ID#s, and the icons honestly don't help much. So much post-editing in the product thumbs!)
That is the closest I can get to true isolation, without actually using a virtual-system or a multi-boot OS setup, while still keeping it fast and managable. Since there is no easy way to do this, within Daz, or with Daz at all.
DIM goes by the .dsx fiels in the Manifests folder - if you chnage that, in itss ettings, then it will think nothing is installed. You should also be working with a different CMS database (chnage the Content Cluster location) so that it agrees that nothing is installed, and will be updated when you install (though DIM or through Connect).