(beginner) Locating content - DIM and how content is saved and sorted, in what categories etc
Branching off from the thread at http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/59130/i-do-not-use-install-manager which was touched on the merits of automated downloads and installation vs. the needs or preferences of more "DIY" oriented folks. I jumped in late on that one, just saying that on balance my new installation of DS 4.8 and DIM was much better than previous attempts, and I could locate and use more stuff.
I had mentioned not being able to locate some assets like hair... one user suggested posting details in case someone else had an answer or a similar experience.
Ok, I had another yet another look and aha! I did manage to figure out SOME of the locations of things that I'd thought were "missing"; in fact the three hair items that I had bought are in fact all there—it was more of a subtle location thing (DAZ formats vs. Poser formats perhaps)—than a fault in DIM so I'm going to have to eat my words... sorry! That having been said, some things in DS 4.8 continue to be MIA for me. I seem to be getting generic lists of things which are suddenly interspersed with more arbitrary, proprietary labels. Perhaps it's just me, but I don't understand how things are sorted eg. what are the primary, rock-solid PERMANENT categories? I tend to think along the lines of, you know, rock/paper/scizzors and earth/air/fire/water... yet when I open up my latest copy of DS I see something like these screenshots. Now "Cameras, Lights, People, Animals, Props" are labels that I can live with, but what's Dreamlight and Maclean (highlighted in yellow) doing here? Please note that I have absolutely nothing against Dreamlight and Maclean — they are fantastic products! — but for me as a beginner this type of sortation would really throw me off course as I tried to navigate and otherwise figure out what's going on.
Think about the "path" being shown here: we're starting with a list of pretty basic categories (Animals, People) and then "Maclean" and "Dreamlight" are inserted. Clicking on "Maclean" takes us to "Exteriors" which could be a generic term (Interiors, Exteriors, Aerial Views and Underground Tunnels?) but all of a sudden there's also "Everyday" which is a proprietary product name sort of heading. I've found this sort of thing hard to follow, especially in those instances when I really did have a "bad install" and thus "missing items".
In closing I don't think anything is "missing" these days; rather I am finding things on the hard drive that I didn't know were there - like there's a complete set of shaders for the cave system, it seems like. Didn't know that, small wonder my flowstone elements always look a bit funny.
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One of the problems you are looking at is the fact that you are dealing with several years worth of content and changes to default locations. With very little of what was made in the past, for previous 'standards' (I use THAT term loosely, because more often than not, it was merely a suggestion...), being updtaed to reflect the current 'standards'.
Tha't why, it's easiest to ignore the actual files/installed locations and use your own category system...no, not rearranging files, but Categories within DS itself. It's a user created database system where YOU control where everything is found (not where it's actually located). Unlike SmartContent, you have a say in what is where. This way the content is 'happy' because you haven't moved anything around that may/may not have been critical...and you are happy because you know where everything is and that it makes sense...to you.
Funny thing, I haven't been using "Smart Content" much, on this particular computer.
When I first downloaded DAZ Studio, I didn't realize they had a memory-resident CMS going and that they were going to be picky as to what went there. My first setup had everything branching out from a root named "Roman's folder" or something similar, and of course the result was a disaster. Worse, I was running Vista 64-bit and the video had been messed up by ZoomText and the computer was Just Not Right. Even when I overwrote the hard drive with Win7 the problems continued.
Ok, I have here the F-18 Hornet from Renderosity. When I first tried it last year I didn't have too many problems but thinking back, I now realize I installed that one manually, yeah.
So what am I going to do now with DS 4.8 and DIM up and running? Am I just going to create and populate all of the folders manually, as per the packing list? A sample of the text file appears below.
Unzip and merge the Runtime in that with the existing Runtime in My Library or My DAZ 3D Library...
Er, is there a difference between the "Runtimes"?