Moving Daz Content

nelsonsmith

Is anyone aware of a step by step guide to changing your Daz Library to another drive other than the C drive.

There are forums that hint at it but, nothing that is really step by step as in for example:  do I next to make a folder, or is it automatically generated?  Can I simply copy the folder and change to path to the new location?


What are the specific precedures one needs to take?  

Also this is not concerning an external drive (though that might make no differnce) I simply have a computer with 5 hard drives, and when I got into Daz, I never expected I would eventually have as much Daz content as I have amassed, and it really needs it's own hard drive at this point.

DrunkMonkeyProductions

Swapping to a new drive is fairly easy.

Copy the

My DAZ 3D Library

My Library

My Daz Connect Library

Over to the new drive and remap in Content Directory manager.

The three libraries may be in a couple different locations, either C:\Users\[name]\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio or C:\Users\Public\Documents, depending on installation options used.

Before you change the mapping, to make sure everything works properly, highlight the Current direcotries and use the Copy button to the left to create a backup of the currently mapped directores paths.

For the new location create a new set, naming it what ever you want.

You can change the mapping in Content directory manager by either right clicking on the Content library tab, selecting Content directory manager..., or pressing F2 to bring up the Preferences dialog, also accessible through the Edit menu, and selecting the Content Library tab above the dialogs, it's the fifth tab from the left, and selecting the Content Directory Manager button towards the bottom of the dialog box.

The main reason i suggest just moving the directories in their entiriety is that some content requires files to be in specific locations and if they aren't the content doesn't work properly.

Click on the radio button next to the new installation and click accept, and you're new location should be active.

Before you delete out the old installation, test the new one for broken scenes and files by loading them in daz studio.

A few things to be aware of is that it's still possible to break scenes and content as some contain absolute references, such as c:\users\[name]\documents\my library\etc... and may break if not in  the proper location. It's a little rarer these days, but older content does sometimes have references like this.

Some plug-ins may need to be reinstalled if they placed content in the original location(s) and no longer function properly.

You'll need to change the installation options in DIM and Daz connect to reflect the new installation as well.

If you want a more 'thorough' walk through I can work something up.

 

ShelLuser

nelsonsmith said:

Is anyone aware of a step by step guide to changing your Daz Library to another drive other than the C drive.

Sorry for a double post, but even though I've done this myself I still got a little confused with Monkey's post. So in hopes that I might be able to clarify a few things if this also happens with you I figured I might as well respond too. But apologies if I'm sharing overlapping info, I figured "better too much info than too little" ;)

• Check the location of your content folders. So the physical location on your harddisk. You can do this by using: F2 (go to Settings), click the "Content library tab" and then click the button "Content directory manager" at the bottom. There are more ways to do this, I'm trying to use the easiest way (which doesn't rely on the 'content library' tab to be visible).
• Expand everything, there should be 3 sets:
  • Daz Connect data
  • Daz Studio formats
  • Post formats
• Now that you have the physical location(s) use a file manager to go there, and copy them to a new location. Don't move, just copy them to be sure. As you can tell: you don't have to create a new directory yourself, but it probably does help if you set up your containing folders. Example: instead of keeping my Daz & Daz Connect libraries on C, I keep them in: "D:\Media\Daz 3D library" and "D:\Media\Daz Connect library" respectively. Obviously I created "D:\Media" myself.
  • Following my example I'd have copied "Daz 3D library" and "Daz Connect library" to D:\Media.
• Careful: The library manager probably also contains pointers to your user data. You probably want to keep that where it's now. But keep in mind that it's not the same as the "product libraries". Example: Under "Daz formats" and "Poser formats" I have 2 entries, one points to: "c:\users\peter\daz 3d\studio\my library" (or something close enough) and that's my user data, which I prefer to keep on C.
• Right click on the "Daz Connect" folder (the entry itself) and use "Edit base directory". Point it to the new location.
• You can either do the same thing for the other folders, or you can choose to add a new location (you'd right click on a section (DS formats, Poser formats, etc.) and select "Add a base directory").
• If you added new base directories it's advicable to remove the old ones (but keep track of their physical location!).
• Theoretically you could right click on your smart content 'all' tab and select "refresh" but personally I prefer to restart Daz Studio.

After that you should be using your contents from a new location. Once you triple checked that everything is working as expected then you can proceed to remove the old folders on C.

I hope that this can also be of some help.

 

 

nelsonsmith

@DrunkenMonkeyProductions   @ShelLuser    Thanks for the advice.  After all this time, I've finally decided to go ahead and attempt to move these files over the holiday weekend.   I've copied the folders, which if successful  I already see will clear up over 600+ Gigs off my C Drive.   That should go a long  way to improving  my computers performance.