How to manage thousands of products ?
Noah LGP
Posts: 2,591
Hi,
It becomes difficult to remember what I already own and find something. It's even worse when it's about non-DAZ content and raw HDRI / OBJ files.
Have you some advices or tools which could improve the management of the library ?
Post edited by Noah LGP on
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Once upon a time I had nice custom categories setup that I put all my purchases in. But that only works if you're disciplined enough to keep it up to date with new purchases. lol If you're disciplined and can spend the time doing it, it can be a really big help. Adding your purchased content to your own custom categories ensures that you can easily find what you're looking for and also helps you to remember what all you have.
Organization, and Discipline.
I've been buying, building, and snagging freebies for Poser and DS for nearly 20 years now. While Poser's folder structure was a lot more restrictive, DS allows for some awesome self-organizational work. I organize stuff by Environment, People, Shaders, Animals, etc.
In "Environments", I do "Indoor SciFi", "Indoor Modern", "Indoor Historical", "Indoor Fantasy", etc. and stuff gets sub-organized under that.
Makes it insanely easy to sort it all out without the need for a database or a Content Manager of any sort. Also makes backups a snap, and makes restorations even easier if needed. Even stuff like poses can be sorted out by "Single Doing Stuff", "Single Actions And Activities", "Multiple Romance", etc, and you stuff everything under its general type. Clothing can be sorted by "Outerwear Thick", "Outerwear Skimpy", "Sports". "SciFi", etc. If you find any one folder getting too much stuff in it, then you can do -01, -02, -03, and suchlike. All of it sorts itself out alphanumerically fairly easily that way.
I did something similar back in the Poser days, and to a large extent, it worked almost as well.
Now when it comes to checking if you bought something or not already? You can search through the purchase history on the same website and quickly see if you already bought it (or didn't). For freebies, you can d/l it again, and then merge the /Data and /Runtime directories of the item to your main ones... if you see a file conflict message pop up saying, oh, that you got 250 files with the same name, odds are near-perfect you already got and installed the product.
Pretty much the same way I manage mine without having to worry about the database all of the sudden throwing everything into "Lost and Found"...
All the categorizing can be done easily on installation, extract the Data and Runtime where they belong and place the user facing files according to your own folder structure while at the same time getting rid of those vanity folders.
I have lots of custom libraries, which I'm thinking of changing, but am in no hurry.
What I'm considering next, is installing everything in one library as it was, then having custom libraries not part of DIM that I copy the user facing files to; I already know this doesn't cause issues in studio (as I do this to an extent already), it's only the hidden files such as textures and data that would cause an issue if coppied.
Before you decide, decide what you want your catagories to be. What you want them to contain.
You might like Smart Content, I'll certainly never touch it in its current itteration.
Edit
Doing it the way I've described for myself when I decide to do it, will mean that I can continue to add Renderosity and other stores and free sites as I do now, but move their user facing files to the same as Studio without any issues. If links become dead, well it is easy to remove then, and also easy to open the containing folder.
Here's an offline database (Windows) for all your DAZ products with DS Product Library integration (locate any installed DAZ product with a couple of clicks). DS Library integration requires DS 4.12.1.117 or later and that your products are installed with DIM, currently no Connect support (may possibly come later). Free up to 250 products.
http://taosoft.dk/software/pm-daz/
A couple of demo videos:
(this is from the current build, with improved search (AND plus EXCLUDE), not released yet)
https://www.screencast.com/t/kQ4u0UF4ohD
(current public release, showing DS integration)
https://www.screencast.com/t/ofZEsVpkwyN
I put each order into an Excel spreadsheet. Add notes as needed.
I use a manual install and custom folders - but then products come along that fit into multiple folders - that's where DS's custom categories thing could really help (as things can go in more than one category) but I haven't had the time to set it up. As a result, I've got a system that mostly works but still needs some browsing.
I've been organizing (and manually installing) my assets since my Poser days.
I keep an excel spreadsheet organized by category and broken into sub folders. I also use the spread sheet to make notes on products.
Every new purchase is a new entry when I install it (so I get the spelling and organization correct)
If it's something I like such as an obj, I create a scene file with it in it.
I do the same with lights, this way I can load the ones I like quickly, label them accordingly and have them at hand for use
I have scene files with specific hdri I use often, and the characters at zero, and additional 3 point lights. Then when I get the urge to use them they are prepped to go.
Like others, I don't let Daz auto organize anything. All my installs are manual. I rip out any vendor vanity folders from the user interface directories. I put props, materials and poses that are unique to a product in that product's sub folder, not letting them get strewn across multiple folders. I'm sure my 'smart content' would look like a horror show if I actually used it.
Environments are environments, not a toaster that might be used in an environment later. Environments are easy to break down to sub folders. Urban exterior/Urban interior/Residential exterior/Residential Interior and so on. For me, if a environment shows both interior and exterior I put it in 'interiors', just out of personal preference.
Props are props, not cars or houses or whole neighborhoods. Those directories are then broken down to more granular subdirectires bases on my preferences. I have weapons sub directory under props with firearms/melee/artillery/etc under that.
I do the same for clothes, male/female, winter/summer/casual/fantasy/action/business/formal. I only run G3 so all V4/G/G2/G8 poses/clothes/characters/morphs/textures get converted to G3. They all get converted to G3 then the original UI facing files for the other generation get deleted.
I have one root pose directory that has been completely reorganized so that poses are renamed and installed in folders based on function (standing/sitting/interaction/useless stupid poses/etc...) not in some random 'bob's super studly poses' directory. I'm not sure if I've ever bought a commerical pose pack, if you do that this system might not be that great of an idea since you could loose the orginal product name unless you make it part of the file name.
My next adventure is going to be in textures. I've noticed that a lot textures I have are just the same image over and over, put in a different directory each time causing massive storage bloat from having the same image under different names in twenty different directories. I've already gotten a lot of my characters' duplicate skin textures fixed and the dufs repointed towards the common textures folder. Next up will be to do the same for props and environments.
Actually I will probably get rid of a lot of textures that aren't character skins. I have several shader packs that cover just about everything. I'm comfortable using geometry editor to create surface groups so most 'prop/bulding/environment' textures can just get tossed in favor of common textures that won't eat up a ton of memory. It should be noted here that I don't do photo realistic renders, if you do those then you might want to keep loading those six or seven, eight meg images for every part of your character. For me, I prefer scenes that I can render in five minutes over being able to count the pores on a cartoon's nose. Plus using common textures/shaders lets me kitbash a lot of random stuff together and not have it look too weird.
From reading here though it sounds like my library is on the smaller side. I imagine my system would scale up if I ever got to the 'tens of thousands of products' neighborhood though. I can find everything I need for any character and activity I'm making up in just a couple of seconds.
That's the best solution I've ever come across. Alas, I don't think your comment will last long. I used to try to post a tutorial about a product I use to catalogue DAZ items but it was deleted and warned me by email not to mention about software not in DAZ store again. They are what they are for business. Not for us. Even if an outsider software should help us use DAZ easier and even boost their own sales. I don't know which one is right or wrong, clever or not clever. They just don't allow to reveal the best choice of software.
I've tried Product Manager for DAZ3D but I can't login since DAZ server return error message. It forbid login from your product.
By the way, DazCentral is there both for Windows and Mac users. Library with pictures is awesome but it doesn't let us search by product description in promo page like I can do with my catalog. Just wait and see if DAZ will provide us better DazCentral or not. I love DAZ more than any other products I've owned in my life. But I hate what DAZ team handle their customers' experiences from day one. DazCentral may be the key to freedom from hatred.
I agree. It's hard to manage and keep track of so many products.
I have created my own subcategories under Favorites. So for instance, I have grouped all the figures, clothing, weapons, and poses that are used for my Anime scenes into one subcategory under Favorites, called "Anime".
This makes it easier for me to find things because I usually worked in "themes" with my designs, and it beats looking through the Wardrobe, Figures, Props and a bunch of other categories for all these items individually.
But one method that is really useful to find things if you cannot seem to locate something from your own purchases is to search in the DAZ Shop, which seems to be indexed for searches. I could not find a specific lantern once in even my own categories, so I went online and searched for "lantern" in the DAZ3D Shop, and it quickly displayed all the products with lanterns. I was then able to find the lantern I had already purchased. LOL
That's the same method I use too. Works great!
And you can organize products the way that your mind works. So for instance, I put everything related to Anime (wardrobe, figures, weapons, environments, props, and pose products) into my own subcategory of Favorites and named it Anime. Now everything I need for a scene is there in one place.
Like you said though, it's only helpful if you take the time to do this with all new products, which can take a bit of time. But it also takes time to go looking for stuff later when you really need it and you cannot find it. :)
As for recommending or linking to 3rd party stuff here it's usually OK as long as it's a response to a request. Besides, one of DAZ own programmers has helped making this program by providing info about their servers and database so they seem to be OK with it.
It's logging in fine (just tested), there are just temporary login problems in the store sometimes.
If so, then this is the best news of the year. I'm using Scrivener to catalog my 10,000- items by manually drag and drop pix and descriptions for years. Quite a torture but I accept that because I can search and never miss things by words. From now on my life will change. But to tell the truth I'm quite reluctant. How can I know that I can use your great tool forever? With all respect, why don't you put this greatest manager to DAZ store? Even if you charge me $100 there I will not mind to pay immediately.
It's very interesting for Daz3D Shop content, I like the possiblity to see the promo images.
Right now, I'm looking for a way to manage the whole library because I don't remember if I purchased a product at Daz3d, Renderosity or somewhere else.
Another thing I would like to be able to add is custom tags in order to assign themes (Urban Future, Space Travel, Pirate, Fantasy, Asia, Wild West, ... ), when I create a Sci-fi scene I would like to find all the products which could match to this theme.
I'm thinking about creating a MS Access database, I would be able to define the fields that I need.
Just try now and the result is exactly the same as last night.
I can't guarantee that DAZ will do something with their store at some point which will break some of the online functions in the program so they can't be fixed. So far though I've been able to fix it every time it has been broken by store updates and changes, during the 5+ years it has existed. In any case you will still be able to keep and use your existing offline database "forever", if that should happen, and I'll make it possible to update the database manually instead then (download of product page data & promos will probably continue to work as this does not require account log in).
I asked DAZ over a year ago if I could sell it in their store, they said they'd take a look at it but I never heard from them.
Yea, I also have a lot or products from other stores, therefore I'm working on a general content manager which can handle it all. That will include categories, tags, and whatever that can make finding content easier.
An Excel spreadsheet is a definite!!
You have to organize your content the way you will remember it most. No one else can tell you where you should put a certain prop.
For instance, a haybale. I would use that in Country Themes and Halloween Themes.
Decide which theme folder you want to put it in. Then, in the OTHER theme folder, make empty folder that says "Haybale-see Country Props." This is so you can see the reference folder within DS or Poser.
Also, vendors may have names for items that are not really what they are. Such as "Holiday Hot Tubbing" is really textures for a bikini.
In your Excel spreadsheet, have a column that shows WHAT the item is...such as "Haybale"... and another column that shows WHERE it is...such as "Props Runtime-Country." You can then do a search on your spreadsheet for haybale and see that you put it in the Country Theme folder.
I don't think you can work with Daz Studio or Poser without referring to your spreadsheet if you cannot remember where you put an object. And I do NOT see how ANYONE could remember, except those with exceptional memories.
I have 15 years of DS and Poser products. This has been a work-in-progress that I just started about 5 or 6 years ago. So, for 10 years. I really didn't know where my things were.
I manually input everything. My DS and Poser runtimes are on an external drive. I save space by combining my Props runtimes. Since DS and Poser both use the textures folder, I save space by doing so...by combining my runtimes.
I imagine I have thoroughly confused you, but I will be glad to walk thru anything!!!
Surprised to learn that it has been around here for many years. I've searched for something like this all these years.
The reason DAZ. didn't accept your product may be DazCentral. I don't know. And I'm not a fan of it until it has product description search engine.
About Production Manager for DAZ3D, what is error 403?
403 is access denied by the server. Are you getting that error? Could be a temporary server problem, there have been a few of those today.
Oh @Taoz that would be awesome! I would purchase in an instant!
Hmm I did not have any issues logging in, I didn't even realize there had been two updates! So I updated then logged in and it worked fine. Hope you get it figured out.
It may have something to do with the TLS version, I believe DAZ is using TLS 1.2 or 1.3 now. Are you using Windows 7? The program requires NET 4.6.2 to work correctly.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/mem/configmgr/core/plan-design/security/enable-tls-1-2-client
GENERAL would be nice, but I am running a MacOS system. No chance, I suppose
Not natively, but it might work with Parallels or CrossOver, most of my other apps do. Whether Microsoft at some point will come up with some cross platform solution that doesn't require a Mac to port it I don't know, but they are doing a lot to improve cross platform support right now, so who knows.
Excel and Access are available on macOS, you can create your own database.
There's MF Turbo Content by ManFriday here on Daz: https://www.daz3d.com/turbo-content
Haven't tried it myself.
This tool will help me to find the male content, Daz Studio always find female when the search is 'male'.