Is it possible to show manually installed items in Smart Content ?

MelonLord

So I've installed few assets manually and I was hoping if it was possible to see them in smart content tab. Some assets do show up there but for the majority, they dont

crosswind

Only for products from Daz3d.com...
RMB click on Smart Content tab - Content DB Maintenance - Re-Import Metadata...(Tick it) - Accept... then scroll down the list and locate the product (by SKU#). Tick and Accept...

Richard Haseltine

Some freebies and items from other stores will already have metadata.

Anything can be added to Smart Content - it needs compatibility, type, and category. The simplest option is to have what you want to be compatible with (e.g. a figure, or an item of clothing or hair for materials or styles) selected in the scene and then drag the files from the Content Library to the desired category in Smart Content, after which you will be prompted to set the type.

crosswind

Yes, manually 'Create a Product' is another way after dumping the files into Lib... For installing 3rd-party products into Smart Content,  also suggest use Content Wizard...

SofaCitizen

If the manually installed item has an existing DSX file then you can import just that one file using a script in the freebies forum - this saves you doing the whole meta-data import routine. Here is the link to that script if relevant. If you are installing new items from third party stores then I would recommend using Content Wizard as it does most of the setup for Smart Content.  For adding metadata for already installed manual products then the only option is to do it manually I believe since once you have merged the files into the library there isn't really any way for Daz to know what files belong to what products (as this is the job of the DSX files).

NorthOf45

SofaCitizen said:

If the manually installed item has an existing DSX file then you can import just that one file using a script in the freebies forum - this saves you doing the whole meta-data import routine. Here is the link to that script if relevant. If you are installing new items from third party stores then I would recommend using Content Wizard as it does most of the setup for Smart Content.  For adding metadata for already installed manual products then the only option is to do it manually I believe since once you have merged the files into the library there isn't really any way for Daz to know what files belong to what products (as this is the job of the DSX files).

You can define a new Product by adding assets with the "Create a Product from..." right-mouse menu from any Folder or Asset(s) in a folder. Choose a name carefully, but if it already exists, you will be prompted to add to an existing Product. If new, it will create a new Product with the selected Folder and any sub-folders, or group of Assets. If the assets are in different parallel folders, you can still use the same procedure to add to the same Product when prompted.

ShelLuser

MelonLord said:

So I've installed few assets manually and I was hoping if it was possible to see them in smart content tab. Some assets do show up there but for the majority, they dont

That is most definitely possible, and relatively easy to set up. You basically need 2 things: you need to categorize your asset and you need to supply it with metadata. The metadata will determine what kind of asset Daz Studio is dealing with whereas the category basically determines the assets place within smart contents.

• Use the content library pane to look up your 3rd party assets.
• Right click on an asset, then select "categorize" from the context menu; make sure to give it a proper place by enabling a checkmark in one (or more) categories.
  • Note that you're fully free to create your own categories, though I suggest leaving the "root" or "base categories" as they are.
• When done right click on the folder which contains the asset, then use "Edit metadata".
  • Find your entry, select it in the section above and then set the proper 'Type' in the bottom section (use the pull-down arrow menu).
  • Bear in mind that you need to be careful with some type entries because this list includes legacy types as well. For example: Actor vs. Actor\Character (both work though). Or: Preset\Wearables vs. Follower\Wardrobe (the latter isn't often used anymore).
  • Suggestion: check out your official Daz Studio library and check the metadata of some of your current items.
• After that you're pretty much done.

And it doesn't even have to stop here....  you can even set up relationships between specific assets. Think about a prop and its textures (or as Daz Studio calls it: its "material settings"). You can see part of this in the "Edit metadata" window I referred to above: the lower section has a "Compatibilities" tab which is used for this (well: used to define if an asset is related to an already existing item in the database). So if you have a piece of clothing for, say, Genesis 8 then you could use the "Compatibilities" tab and then add a compatibility with, say, "Genesis 8\Female" and/or "Genesis 8\Male".

But that's probably taking a bit too far for this simple explenation. Bottom line: this is perfectly doable, takes a bit of time to set up but it's more than worth the effort IMVHO.

Hope this can help!

 

(edit): Although usable I'm personally not a fan of creating your own product(s) because it has a tendency to clog up the database. All locally added assets are already automatically filed under "LOCAL USER" which can help you in the longer run to keep a clear distuintion between 3rd party items which you added manually and those bought in the store. Of course there are other ways to do this: like making sure you store all your 'local 3rd party items' in a separate dedicated folder.

NorthOf45

You can identify your own or third-party products with a unique prefix, like your initials or something. LOCAL USER is a catch-all and cannot be tamed. You will be surprised at how much ends up there that creates real clutter. You can also add different Stores with a script (Add Store Id [Documentation Center]). There are a few other useful scripts for dealing with metadata in Metadata [Documentation Center]

MelonLord

Thanks a lot everyone. I wasnt expecting so much ways to do so. I wasnt aware of Content Wizard and seeing it's features, i will definitely need it in future. Again, thanks a bunch

stripe6499_9253833ae8

ShelLuser said:

MelonLord said:

So I've installed few assets manually and I was hoping if it was possible to see them in smart content tab. Some assets do show up there but for the majority, they dont

That is most definitely possible, and relatively easy to set up. You basically need 2 things: you need to categorize your asset and you need to supply it with metadata. The metadata will determine what kind of asset Daz Studio is dealing with whereas the category basically determines the assets place within smart contents.

• Use the content library pane to look up your 3rd party assets.
• Right click on an asset, then select "categorize" from the context menu; make sure to give it a proper place by enabling a checkmark in one (or more) categories.
  • Note that you're fully free to create your own categories, though I suggest leaving the "root" or "base categories" as they are.
• When done right click on the folder which contains the asset, then use "Edit metadata".
  • Find your entry, select it in the section above and then set the proper 'Type' in the bottom section (use the pull-down arrow menu).
  • Bear in mind that you need to be careful with some type entries because this list includes legacy types as well. For example: Actor vs. Actor\Character (both work though). Or: Preset\Wearables vs. Follower\Wardrobe (the latter isn't often used anymore).
  • Suggestion: check out your official Daz Studio library and check the metadata of some of your current items.
• After that you're pretty much done.

And it doesn't even have to stop here....  you can even set up relationships between specific assets. Think about a prop and its textures (or as Daz Studio calls it: its "material settings"). You can see part of this in the "Edit metadata" window I referred to above: the lower section has a "Compatibilities" tab which is used for this (well: used to define if an asset is related to an already existing item in the database). So if you have a piece of clothing for, say, Genesis 8 then you could use the "Compatibilities" tab and then add a compatibility with, say, "Genesis 8\Female" and/or "Genesis 8\Male".

But that's probably taking a bit too far for this simple explenation. Bottom line: this is perfectly doable, takes a bit of time to set up but it's more than worth the effort IMVHO.

Hope this can help!

 

(edit): Although usable I'm personally not a fan of creating your own product(s) because it has a tendency to clog up the database. All locally added assets are already automatically filed under "LOCAL USER" which can help you in the longer run to keep a clear distuintion between 3rd party items which you added manually and those bought in the store. Of course there are other ways to do this: like making sure you store all your 'local 3rd party items' in a separate dedicated folder.

TY... Took me a few to figure out where the categorize was, but got there in the end.  I can't get Content Wizard working always gives me an error trying to write to a dsa file.

ShelLuser

NorthOf45 said:

You can identify your own or third-party products with a unique prefix, like your initials or something. LOCAL USER is a catch-all and cannot be tamed. You will be surprised at how much ends up there that creates real clutter.

True, but there's a very nasty caveat involved with this, and I fear that this could be related to your woes elsewhere: cms backups.  If you use the "Export user data" to back up your CMS then this will only include user data. In other words (I quote): "All meta data that has not been installed by a product".

For random readers: I'm referring to "Content DB maintenance", you can acccess this by right clicking on the 'Smart contents' or 'Content library' pane and then selecting "Content DB maintenance...".