Magic_Man posted at 12:37PM Mon, 21 September 2015 - #4229791

Couple of related questions, also new to Studio.

I've noticed that some characters show at the base level of the appropriate character directory branch, e.g. genesis 3 female, and have an icon. I can import the complete character from that file at that level. However, some characters don't have this top level file and rely on the 'morph' etc. in a named sub-directory. Is there a way to add such a top level file to these to make them show at the same level as the rest?

Additionally, some characters, e.g. Victoria 7, have their materials in a separate sub folder outside of their character sub folder whereas others just put everything in the character folder. I assume this is just down to how the vendor has decided to 'pack' their character and there is nothing stopping me re-organising them manually to follow the same format?

Same sort of thing with some hair and pose packages - they get installed as sub folders of a character rather than at a higher, global level. Again, I assume this is just down to the particular package and there is nothing stopping me re-organising where they actually sit in the folder hierarchy to tidy things up and reduce things being split up in different folders?

Thanks.

I am not sure why DAZ has not standardized some of this organization, but these inconsistencies you point out have been there for years.

While it is possible to move things around, you have to know what you are doing. Some files can be moved and some cannot. Also, if you start moving files around, then the Daz Install Manager (DIM) will get confused. DAZ does regularly send out up updates to fix problems with content. If you have moved your content around, DIM will not be able to update it correctly.

What I have done is use Categories in the Content Pane (not smart content) to create my own organization. Stuff from the DAZ store usually comes with default categories, which is the organization you see in smart content also. I created my own top level category and created my organization under it. By creating my own top level category, DAZ will not mess with it. I tried re-organizing the default categories, but that was hopeless, because every time I installed something new, it screwed things up again.

The category data is saved in a data base along with the smart content information. You can organize things how ever you like. In DAZ older poser items are organized totally differently than the newer DAZ studio content, but I have both Poser format and DAZ format content in a single organization.

It is a lot of work to organize all your content every time you buy something, but I could never find anything until I did.