Organizing Daz folders
Hi to all,
I havent been using Daz a lot in the past year and I used to not mind too much about the folder "disorganization" my Daz3d software had suffered over time.
Let me explain: I changed computers twice over the past few years, and for some reason, when I migrated from one to the other my Daz installation got somewhat mixed-up. Now when I get products from other providers Renderosity or others, I have a hard time knowing where I should unzip my files. I Have like 3 sets of Daz libraries.
So, my question is: How can I move things from one place to another without screwing things up even fruther? I wouldn't want my Daz Central to get "confuzed" and not be able to find my stuff at all.
Thanks for any tips...
Comments
What are your current content directories?
If you re using Daz Central or smart content, I can't help since I don't use either. I use DIM to install my DAZ content and then have another folder I install 3rd party content into. I use the content library to find all my content and know where everything is installed because I know the file paths.
That's the problem, they are scattered around and I'm not sure I know where everything is. But at least, I found those:
C:\Users\Public\Documents\My DAZ 3D Library
C:\Users\denis\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library
D:\Denis\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library
What I'd like to do is to put everything in les last place, on my D drive which is much bigger than the C drive.
But I'm not sure how the program will react to that. I saw a way to tweek the directories in the preference tab. But it doesn't look to be a very intuitive interface.
That's why I'm seeking advice before I go screwing everything up.
Daz Studio doesn't care where the content directories are, or what they are called, as long as the files and folders within the content directory are correct. The only things which store the absiolute location, from drive lette on, are the manifests created by Daz Central or Install Manager - assuming you still have those, if this is moved from your old machine. If you still have the zips DIM has an option to reinstall selected items using the current path in the right-click menu in the Installed tab.
I'm not sure what you mean by that, I still use Daz Central and sometimes Install Manager when I buy things from a 3rd barty vendor who uses that method for installing files. But I don't know what those "manifests" are or if I have them.
I'm beginning to believe that my only way out would be to whipe the last installation clean and start from scratch. But than again, would Daz Central put everything where I want them or go by default to my C drive? Or even install each thing back to where they were last installed?
If you use DIM go to Advanced Settings (gear icon at top-right) and in the Installation tab you will see the location of Manifest Archive directory. These are .dsx files, one per zip, saying what files were written where and so on. These are not the same as the .dsx files that sit alongside the zips.
Thanks Richard,
One last thing: What do you mean by "These are not the same as the .dsx files that sit alongside the zips"?
If you download without installing, or keep the zips after instaling, there will also be a .dsx file alongside it (matching name in the same folder) - the two .dsx files are doing different jobs. People have confused the two and ended up deleting or overwriting the installation records as a result.
OK, thanks, good to know.