Revisited: Content Install Path for DAZ Studio 4 and the DAZ Install Manager

Braincells

Hi, I thought i share the outcome of my journey to a clean content database, as i could not make a lot of sense when I looked at this article plus I contacted the Helpdesk several times but it was just really difficult for me to understand the answers.

My Situation
I started having problems with meta data and product searches and the smart content disappeared completely. I had a lot of content installed through the DAZ Install Manager application (DIM) and also manually installed content, all in the recommended default installation path; the DAZ Install Manager installs to is: C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library (or for Mac users MAC: Users/Shared/My DAZ 3D Library). Despite my best efforts to only leave my money at DAZ, as a promo artist I have to manually install content without Bitrock installers or DIM.

When I read up, it became clear that DAZ recommends:
a) not to mix content installed with DIM and manually installed content,
b) if you install to any other path than the recommended default installer path, you have to make sure that manually and DIM installed content are in separate install paths, but on the same level of folders, not above or inside each other, as I had it.

How I solved it
1) made backup of the entire existing DAZ Library for safekeeping (included all manually and DIM installed folders on my hard drive)
2) unstalled my purchased products of existing DAZ content, using the DIM application
3) this left me with a DAZ Library on my hard drive that had only the manual installed items. I put that Library folder aside and renamed it into 'My Manual DAZ Library'
4) I reinstalled a clean 'MY DAZ Library' folder in the default install path and downloaded and re-installed all my purchased DAZ products using the DIM application.
5) I now had a clean MY DAZ Library' folder in the default install path with clean re-imported product meta data
6) I now placed the 'My Manual DAZ Library' folder next to it, so that the folder paths on my drive are now: C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library and C:\Users\Public\Documents\My Manual DAZ Library (or Mac users: Users/Shared/My DAZ 3D Library and Users/Shared/My Manual DAZ Library)
7) I now mapped both paths using the content management directory tool inside of DAZ. I mapped both to the Poser and DAZ content directories.

NOTE: This principle can be also applied if you run out of hard drive space and need to install everything on an external drive. Remember this: all morphs and characters and base figures MUST be in the same directory otherwise, they will not show up in DAZ. Do not attempt to have your base figures and morphs on your hard drive, and at the same time your morphs and content external. It's either all on your hard drive OR all on your external drive.

This seems obvious now, but believe me, it was not that easily explained to me in above article or Zen Desk sessions. Hope this helps the ones who seek the wisdom of separating manually and DIM installed content and external install paths.

SpottedKitty

consensio said:

b) if you install to any other path than the recommended default installer path, you have to make sure that manually and DIM installed content are in separate install paths, but on the same level of folders, not above or inside each other, as I had it.

Actually, the only important thing is that you must never have one mapped content location inside another. As long as the two (or more) paths branch out at some point into different locations, it doesn't matter if one of them is more levels deeper into the folder structure than another.