Daz Central Ending - New Enhanced Install Manager

Richard Haseltine

Cyrinadia said:

I admit, I preferred Central too. It looked a heck of a lot more polished. I've used Daz Studio a long time, and the DIM reminds me of the early days when you'd pray that the internet with it's noisy modem would stay connected long enough to DL a 3MB figure.

Also I installed everything through Central, now DIM reckons I have nothing installed >:C

They use the same information to track installation, so I don't know how that could happen unless something happened to the Manifests folder itself or the directory settings.

And I hope it's not installing into Poser content folder. But it looks like it would.

Again, it should use the same directory settings unless something weird has happened. DIM can install more kinds of thing that Daz Central, however.

AND Central was better for visualising products. I have a LOT of products.

Richard Haseltine

Nerevarine said:

I've been using DIM now for a little while. Please, please, please, I beg that you bring back DazCentral.

DIM is CONSIDERABLY slower than Central ever was (for me). The lack of large thumbnails in the list (pop-up doesn't count, because that's not as quick to check and I'd still have to remember things by name. I cannot make out the tiny thumbnails AT ALL) is really starting to get me down. It's so much harder to figure out what I have. I purchased a lot of things in the Black Friday sales, but it's been so slow trying to retrieve all the thumbnails (because DIM somehow doesn't have the ability to automatically load them, whereas Central did)

DIM keeps copies of the thumbnails locally, which daz central didn't need to do since it worked online - you could certainly make a feature request for auto-download, but not doing it by default until asked is a matter of being a good guest.

and then installing seems to be taking longer too (that could just be me being biased here).

As far as I ama ware the inner workings of the two applications are the same, though I don't know if they both defaulted to the same number of parallel downloads - if Daz Central did only one-at-a-time and DIM defaults to four then any individual download will seem slower, though the ttoal time taken should be the same. You cana djust the number of concurrent downloads in Advacned Settings, via the gear icon at top-right.

I managed to accidentally update Daz to 4.22 via DIM, which thankfully didn't cause any issues but I do now get lovely sales pitches when trying to make a new scene. DIM also signs me out every time I close it (Remember Me is definitely ticked), and I still hate the dated interface.

This might sound strange, but it's also been a bit sad not being able to show off all my swanky new purchases. Before, I would excitedly go share a screenshot of DazCentral to my friends, like "hey! Look at all this neat stuff! What do you think I should make?", and that was really fun. I got some great ideas for new art doing that. I can't do that now so I'm not inadvertantly promoting Daz assets, and it's absolutely tanked my desire to just make random art using random things I see in my files list. The Smart Content thing being broken too is just adding to my let-down.

I really tried to get into DIM with an open mind despite all the jank. People here were kind enough to help me figure out some of my problems with DIM, but after using it for a bit I have to say it's just... an inferior bit of software (to me!). I don't understand why we can't have both options, but perhaps that's me not being techy enough to know how much work goes into maintaining both. :( Rant over. :(

Nerevarine

Richard Haseltine said:

DIM keeps copies of the thumbnails locally, which daz central didn't need to do since it worked online - you could certainly make a feature request for auto-download, but not doing it by default until asked is a matter of being a good guest.

and then installing seems to be taking longer too (that could just be me being biased here).

As far as I ama ware the inner workings of the two applications are the same, though I don't know if they both defaulted to the same number of parallel downloads - if Daz Central did only one-at-a-time and DIM defaults to four then any individual download will seem slower, though the ttoal time taken should be the same. You cana djust the number of concurrent downloads in Advacned Settings, via the gear icon at top-right.

Thanks, unfortunately given the icons are so tiny, they aren't even that useful - but more useful than the default icon, I suppose. Yeah, they probably do download at the same speed, but given how slow the rest of it is I'm probably biased. The thing locks up after I sign in (...every time...) and I have to sit and wait, and then it lags briefly if I scroll too quickly. Never had this issue with Central. :(

Torquinox

I've found DIM indispensable for dealing with DAZ content. Glad it's sticking around. Sorry for the Central people who are losing something they rely on.

PerttiA

Nerevarine said:

Richard Haseltine said:

DIM keeps copies of the thumbnails locally, which daz central didn't need to do since it worked online - you could certainly make a feature request for auto-download, but not doing it by default until asked is a matter of being a good guest.

and then installing seems to be taking longer too (that could just be me being biased here).

As far as I ama ware the inner workings of the two applications are the same, though I don't know if they both defaulted to the same number of parallel downloads - if Daz Central did only one-at-a-time and DIM defaults to four then any individual download will seem slower, though the ttoal time taken should be the same. You cana djust the number of concurrent downloads in Advacned Settings, via the gear icon at top-right.

Thanks, unfortunately given the icons are so tiny, they aren't even that useful - but more useful than the default icon, I suppose. Yeah, they probably do download at the same speed, but given how slow the rest of it is I'm probably biased. The thing locks up after I sign in (...every time...) and I have to sit and wait, and then it lags briefly if I scroll too quickly. Never had this issue with Central. :(

I have seen mentioned here on the forums that one can choose the size of the icons in DIM. 

SapphireBlue

PerttiA said:

Nerevarine said:

Richard Haseltine said:

 

Thanks, unfortunately given the icons are so tiny, they aren't even that useful - but more useful than the default icon, I suppose. Yeah, they probably do download at the same speed, but given how slow the rest of it is I'm probably biased. The thing locks up after I sign in (...every time...) and I have to sit and wait, and then it lags briefly if I scroll too quickly. Never had this issue with Central. :(

I have seen mentioned here on the forums that one can choose the size of the icons in DIM. 

I think they're referring to the size of the icons you can see when you hover over the item. Those can be set. You can also go through the folder with the product thumbnails and resize them for consistency. But I don't see a way of re-sizing them in the main listing of products or re-creating the grid-style layout from DAZ Central which gives a better and more pleasing overview of the items in your library...

Nerevarine

Yes, @PerttiA - @SapphireBlue is correct, unfortunately. You can make the icons bigger if you hover, but it's not quite the same. :(

PerttiA

Nerevarine said:

Yes, @PerttiA - @SapphireBlue is correct, unfortunately. You can make the icons bigger if you hover, but it's not quite the same. :(

Ok, I'm using manual installation only, so I didn't know but...

If DIM allows choosing the size of tip files, it wouldn't be that hard to go to the folder where the thumbnails are kept, delete the originals and use some utility to batch-rename the larger tip files with the thumbnails original name (remove the ".tip")

Richard Haseltine

Nerevarine said:

I've been using DIM now for a little while. Please, please, please, I beg that you bring back DazCentral.

DIM is CONSIDERABLY slower than Central ever was (for me). The lack of large thumbnails in the list (pop-up doesn't count, because that's not as quick to check and I'd still have to remember things by name. I cannot make out the tiny thumbnails AT ALL) is really starting to get me down. It's so much harder to figure out what I have. I purchased a lot of things in the Black Friday sales, but it's been so slow trying to retrieve all the thumbnails (because DIM somehow doesn't have the ability to automatically load them, whereas Central did) and then installing seems to be taking longer too (that could just be me being biased here). I managed to accidentally update Daz to 4.22 via DIM, which thankfully didn't cause any issues but I do now get lovely sales pitches when trying to make a new scene. DIM also signs me out every time I close it (Remember Me is definitely ticked), and I still hate the dated interface.

This might sound strange, but it's also been a bit sad not being able to show off all my swanky new purchases. Before, I would excitedly go share a screenshot of DazCentral to my friends, like "hey! Look at all this neat stuff! What do you think I should make?", and that was really fun. I got some great ideas for new art doing that. I can't do that now so I'm not inadvertantly promoting Daz assets, and it's absolutely tanked my desire to just make random art using random things I see in my files list. The Smart Content thing being broken too is just adding to my let-down.

I missed this on first read - what do you mean about Smart Content being broken?

I really tried to get into DIM with an open mind despite all the jank. People here were kind enough to help me figure out some of my problems with DIM, but after using it for a bit I have to say it's just... an inferior bit of software (to me!). I don't understand why we can't have both options, but perhaps that's me not being techy enough to know how much work goes into maintaining both. :( Rant over. :(

Richard Haseltine

PerttiA said:

Nerevarine said:

Yes, @PerttiA - @SapphireBlue is correct, unfortunately. You can make the icons bigger if you hover, but it's not quite the same. :(

Ok, I'm using manual installation only, so I didn't know but...

If DIM allows choosing the size of tip files, it wouldn't be that hard to go to the folder where the thumbnails are kept, delete the originals and use some utility to batch-rename the larger tip files with the thumbnails original name (remove the ".tip")

.tip(.png) files are a Daz Studio thing, not Install Manager.

PerttiA

Richard Haseltine said:

PerttiA said:

Nerevarine said:

Yes, @PerttiA - @SapphireBlue is correct, unfortunately. You can make the icons bigger if you hover, but it's not quite the same. :(

Ok, I'm using manual installation only, so I didn't know but...

If DIM allows choosing the size of tip files, it wouldn't be that hard to go to the folder where the thumbnails are kept, delete the originals and use some utility to batch-rename the larger tip files with the thumbnails original name (remove the ".tip")

.tip(.png) files are a Daz Studio thing, not Install Manager.

Is there some other naming convention for DIM if there are separate thumbnails and bigger ones one can see by hovering over? 

Irfanview can also do batch resizing of the original thumbnails

Richard Haseltine

PerttiA said:

Richard Haseltine said:

PerttiA said:

Nerevarine said:

Yes, @PerttiA - @SapphireBlue is correct, unfortunately. You can make the icons bigger if you hover, but it's not quite the same. :(

Ok, I'm using manual installation only, so I didn't know but...

If DIM allows choosing the size of tip files, it wouldn't be that hard to go to the folder where the thumbnails are kept, delete the originals and use some utility to batch-rename the larger tip files with the thumbnails original name (remove the ".tip")

.tip(.png) files are a Daz Studio thing, not Install Manager.

Is there some other naming convention for DIM if there are separate thumbnails and bigger ones one can see by hovering over? 

Irfanview can also do batch resizing of the original thumbnails

I don't think there are two thumbnails.

PaperMoon

I have always installed with DIM, but used Daz Central for creating art.  The large display of thumbnails made it much easier, quicker, and more relaxing to pick and choose the products you needed for your work.  I don't need glasses for close up detailed images, but I was spoiled with Daz Central's large and colorful display.  There was no back or neck bending needed for a good closeup look on your PC, plus you didn't have lean or hold your cursor over an image for a little bit better look.

As far as enlarging the thumbs in DIM, that should be done by the creators of the software. We shouldn't have to try to figure it out ourselves.  I truly hope they will take into account that there are probably still many who prefer the Daz Central look.  Sure, most of us will eventually get used to it the way it is, but adding the option for larger thumbnails would be a great move for Daz if they included that change in a near future update.

crossmlk_a949763252

Just why? I'm so sick of DAZ just changing things for no appreciable improvement. 

Dartanbeck

Torquinox said:

I've found DIM indispensable for dealing with DAZ content. Glad it's sticking around. Sorry for the Central people who are losing something they rely on.

Well said, my friend! I feel bad for them too, yet I'm so glad that my DIM is alive!

Funny, I never knew we could "retrieve thumbnails" in DIM before finding this thread. Never bothered me not having pictures. Now I grab them every time I install! 

frank0314

crossmlk_a949763252 said:

Just why? I'm so sick of DAZ just changing things for no appreciable improvement. 

DIM is by far a better solution and a massive improvement. You don't have the constant problems that a lot of people were having. Central was just a simplified version of DIM. DIM is very powerful and you can set it to do so many things that once you get how to use it you'll find it a better solution. With Central, you were stuck with it installing where it wanted, with DIM you get to dictate where the stuff gets installed. You can filter in more than a couple dozen ways plus make your own custom filters. You can install/uninstall many products at the same time. It gives you the option to auto-install once you download the product. You can set it to either keep or delete the zip after installation. You can tell it where to store things anywhere on your system or external HDD/SSD with a couple of exceptions of files that can't be moved but take up very little room. There are many more features that come with DIM that can be et up. The Wiki for DIM has fairly good info on how to use, set up the app, and set up locations to save things.

leonardo_3285321d

Hello all,

I've read here that many people liked the UI of Daz Central. Now that it's retired I would like to suggest you DSX Catalog as a standalone replacement to view product thumbnails at different sizes, print the catalog, etc..

Disclaimer: I'm the developer of DSX Catalog

Cactuskim

leonardo_3285321d said:

Hello all,

I've read here that many people liked the UI of Daz Central. Now that it's retired I would like to suggest you DSX Catalog as a standalone replacement to view product thumbnails at different sizes, print the catalog, etc..

Disclaimer: I'm the developer of DSX Catalog

Hi Leonardo,

Sounds like a great way to search my DAZ content :D . Is there a way to get your product to work for products that I have bought from other sites like Renderosity?  

 

JamieM

Rather odd ... Daz Central is suddenly working again this morning. 

I really hope this is a rethink on the decision to close it and not just a temporary error. 

I've really missed it and found myself much less creative without it. 

fargore53325

Nerevarine said:

This is just my opinion, I feel like I'm alone with it. DIM looks old, feels old, is harder for me to navigate (I have no idea what half my products are by name, because a lot of things are named ridiculously), and just overall not that great to use, in my opinion. I started out with DIM, found DazCentral very quickly which was leaps and bounds better - I assumed it was Daz's modern, new, shiny version, whereas DIM was the dated, old version that would get phased out.

I've now installed DIM again because of DazCentral being scrapped (can I still use it, or will it just no longer work?), and it really is just, very visually at least, outdated. Maybe my install has an error (I just updated it), but I can't see any way to actually make the product images bigger? At first, I assumed it wasn't possible to see the images, because they haven't loaded - I'm not sitting here to go through thousands of products just to retrieve the thumbnail, either, so I guess I just don't have product images with DIM. Sure, DIM is slightly faster to load (even though it prompts me to sign in every time, despite 'Remember Me' being checked), but I really prefer clean, modern, and highly-visible UI over a slightly faster load time.

I suppose I'll get used to it eventually, and I know that plenty of people prefer DIM and think it's better than DazCentral. Personally, I think it's a shame I have to start using something that's harder for me (personally) to use. If anyone can help me figure out how to make those images bigger AND load all of them in for thousands of products in one go, that'll make the transition smoother I think. I do like that it's a little quicker to scroll through all my items, but that's not quite a benefit if I don't know what half of them are. :)

Rant over, and I am sure there are benefits to DIM, people do seem to prefer it after all!

This is pretty much my feelings excatly. So I'm just going to second this ^ (/third or whatever :P )

Jazzy

paulawp (marahzen) said:

Well, that seriously stinks. What kind of chaos is that going to cause on a computer that has been almost 100% installed from day one - glitch-free - with DazCentral, where I have almost never used DIM for installing? DIM thinks hundreds of things that are installed and working fine need to be installed. Ugh, what a pain.

I have yet to figure out the hate for Daz Central, unless it's not entirely compatible with earlier DIM-installed products, in which case this bodes badly for me. I've set up two different computers entirely with DazCentral only, and I've never had a problem finding and using products installed with it. If there are lurking compatibility issues, then I look forward to all the trouble that future installs with DIM are going to cause (no, I don't).

 

I can say I was perplexed for the last several days on why Daz Central stopped working.  I stopped using DIM to install products a while back, along with Daz Central.  I have focused solely on using the Daz Studio application to manually select what is loaded.  However, I can say that each time I open up Daz Studio, Daz Central is opened as well.  It is the EASIEST way for me, and I am speaking strictly for me and my workflow, in quickly tracking down what I am looking for during the planning/creation process.  I was happy to see it FINALLY load this morning.  WIthout it, it is super time consuming to search for what I am looking for in far too many instances.  I also appreciate the quick punch out to the website for additional information, if needed.

Richard Haseltine

JamieM said:

Rather odd ... Daz Central is suddenly working again this morning. 

I really hope this is a rethink on the decision to close it and not just a temporary error. 

I've really missed it and found myself much less creative without it. 

It is still intended to be shut down, but it is temporarily reactivated.

Jazzy

leonardo_3285321d said:

Hello all,

I've read here that many people liked the UI of Daz Central. Now that it's retired I would like to suggest you DSX Catalog as a standalone replacement to view product thumbnails at different sizes, print the catalog, etc..

Disclaimer: I'm the developer of DSX Catalog

 

I do like your alternative solution should Daz Central finally reaches EOL!!

somefunok

@frank0314 please can you please expand on your comment "You can filter in more than a couple dozen ways plus make your own custom filters" 

Richard Haseltine

somefunok said:

@frank0314 please can you please expand on your comment "You can filter in more than a couple dozen ways plus make your own custom filters" 

If you download and install the default filters then clicking the magnifying glass icon next to the text box at top-right will give a bunch of pre-defined options. You can edit these or create your own and save the result to the same menu.

PaperMoon

Richard Haseltine said:

JamieM said:

Rather odd ... Daz Central is suddenly working again this morning. 

I really hope this is a rethink on the decision to close it and not just a temporary error. 

I've really missed it and found myself much less creative without it. 

It is still intended to be shut down, but it is temporarily reactivated.

Yes, it has been (temporarily) activated.  It even includes my most recent purchases as of yesterday.  

By chance are the deveolpers reassessing it?  One can only hope. 

Timbales

I liked Daz Central for the large thumbnails and easy searching. It was great for when I couldn't remember the name of an item I knew I had.

paulawp (marahzen)

I have to admit that I never used Daz Central for anything other than installing new stuff, but if it accidentally got turned back on, and accidentally keeps working for a while longer, I'll take it. I just wish it had happened in time for the big cart full of stuff I bought a couple of days ago.

Richard Haseltine

PaperMoon said:

Richard Haseltine said:

JamieM said:

Rather odd ... Daz Central is suddenly working again this morning. 

I really hope this is a rethink on the decision to close it and not just a temporary error. 

I've really missed it and found myself much less creative without it. 

It is still intended to be shut down, but it is temporarily reactivated.

Yes, it has been (temporarily) activated.  It even includes my most recent purchases as of yesterday.  

By chance are the deveolpers reassessing it?  One can only hope. 

No, this is a purely temporary stay of execution, not a full reprieve.

Taoz

Cactuskim said:

leonardo_3285321d said:

Hello all,

I've read here that many people liked the UI of Daz Central. Now that it's retired I would like to suggest you DSX Catalog as a standalone replacement to view product thumbnails at different sizes, print the catalog, etc..

Disclaimer: I'm the developer of DSX Catalog

Hi Leonardo,

Sounds like a great way to search my DAZ content :D . Is there a way to get your product to work for products that I have bought from other sites like Renderosity? 

There is one for Renderosity here, version 2 will be released soon:  https://3dcontentmanagers.com/products/pm-rr/index.html