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More (the same?) content installation problems

PeterHPeterH Posts: 0
edited December 1969 in Carrara Discussion

Hi everyone

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but if it has, I can't find it.

I got my new 8.5 installed OK on my Mac, and the Native Content, but I am now left with a lot of extra content folders that I don't know how best to organise. They have elegant names like IM00013723-01GenesisRanger, and, as I'm sure you know, contain loads of sub-folders of the Content/data/People/Runtime etc etc variety.

I don't want to use the Install Manager, as a previous run-in with the Content Management System played havoc with the Mac's Time Machine back-up utility, and it had to be terminated with extreme prejudice...

Generally I don't use much content, so am not very familiar with how it should be structured. My beta test version of 8.5 found some runtime stuff in DS directories, but the new version won't auto-detect any more content, and I'm not sure whether it would organise it in a very manageable way if it did.

I rarely use Daz Studio so am primarily interested in organising the content so that it's easily available in Carrara in a clearly structured way.

Any help gratefully received. Thanks.

Comments

  • DZ_jaredDZ_jared Posts: 1,316
    edited December 1969

    Check out the Carrara 8.5 Setup Guide

    The setup guide covers the installation of the additional content.

  • PeterHPeterH Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Thanks Jared, sort-of. It was one of the first things I looked at, but as it was of no use I posted an enquiry.


    "Step 3 - Install Additional Content
    The additional content for Carrara 8.5 Pro and Standard is listed above."

    So it is. Spot on. Can't argue with that.

    "Bitrock Installer(s)
    Download the installers for the additional content from the Product Library section of 'My Account'"

    Well, all the files there are downloaded, but they aren't what I call "installers" - they are folders of stuff, all beginning IM000, and containing a dendritic nightmare of subfolders.

    "Run each of the installers individually."

    What does this mean? How do I "run" what is just a folder, with sub-folders called Content and Manifest DSX, and a string of sub-sub folders called Runtime etc? There is no file to "run". Do pay attention 007.


    " All items should be installed to the same location.
    Take note of where you are installing each item to.
    The installers can be installed to any location on your system outside of the Program Files folder (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac). Somewhere within the documents folder is recommended. A typical install path could be /User/[username]/Documents/DAZ 3D/My DAZ 3D Library"


    Well, I have made a lovely folder with a suitable name, and all the extra content folders are now in it, with their strange IM000xyz-01UnconvincingGenesisTranny names - so now what?

    Slightly more help from an administrator might have been expected, especially after what many might think has been a rip-off upgrade. And no, I probably wouldn't have bothered to upgrade, except that 8.1 doesn't work properly on a Mac any more, much like Bryce doesn't.

    And relax. I know you all work very hard, and occasionally it's worth it.

  • DZ_jaredDZ_jared Posts: 1,316
    edited December 1969

    Looks like I need to update the doc. When I wrote it I was under the impression that the bitrock installers would be included, it appears that they are not.

    All you need to do with those zips is merge them into a single location. Each .zip file will share a similar folder structure with "content" being the root folder. Pick a location on your hard drive and pull the content folder from each .zip and put it in the location you've chosen. If you do it correctly you will have a content folder that continues to grow.

    Once you've merged all the .zip files you can follow the steps in the Setup Guide to add this location to Carrara. Alternatively you could use the DAZ Install Manager, and it will handle the extraction and merging for you.

  • PeterHPeterH Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Jjared, thanks for getting back to me, and apologies for grumpiness, but I have also already tried something along these lines.

    If I drag/copy Content files to one location, Mac tells me "Content already exists" I'm probably being dim with this - maybe there is a merge option on Mac OSX-7 that I've never had to use?

    If you can nudge me further towards sorting this out I'd me grateful.. Thanks

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,853
    edited December 1969

    Option-drag the folder, then finder will tell you how many new items it will copy into that folder.

  • de3ande3an Posts: 915
    edited December 1969

    Totte said:
    Option-drag the folder, then finder will tell you how many new items it will copy into that folder.

    Is this the way Option-Drag works in the newer versions of Mac OS (Such as 10.7 or 10.8)?
    In Mac OS X 10.6.8, Option-Drag will just indiscriminately replace the entire contents of the old folder with the new one. It does not merge.

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,853
    edited December 1969

    de3an said:
    Totte said:
    Option-drag the folder, then finder will tell you how many new items it will copy into that folder.

    Is this the way Option-Drag works in the newer versions of Mac OS (Such as 10.7 or 10.8)?
    In Mac OS X 10.6.8, Option-Drag will just indiscriminately replace the entire contents of the old folder with the new one. It does not merge.

    10.7+

  • PeterHPeterH Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Many thanks - unbelievable, the number of basic things I don't know just because I've never had to use them. (Like finding out the cost of a fruit bat license...)

  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,853
    edited December 1969

    PeterH said:
    Many thanks - unbelievable, the number of basic things I don't know just because I've never had to use them. (Like finding out the cost of a fruit bat license...)

    I was about to say Ignorance is bliss, but I didn't... or.. opps ;-)

  • de3ande3an Posts: 915
    edited August 2013

    Totte said:
    de3an said:
    Totte said:
    Option-drag the folder, then finder will tell you how many new items it will copy into that folder.

    Is this the way Option-Drag works in the newer versions of Mac OS (Such as 10.7 or 10.8)?
    In Mac OS X 10.6.8, Option-Drag will just indiscriminately replace the entire contents of the old folder with the new one. It does not merge.

    10.7+

    Thanks, good to know.
    I guess it's time I upgraded one of my Macs. I'm falling behind in my OS knowledge.

    Post edited by de3an on
  • TotteTotte Posts: 13,853
    edited December 1969

    de3an said:
    Totte said:
    de3an said:
    Totte said:
    Option-drag the folder, then finder will tell you how many new items it will copy into that folder.

    Is this the way Option-Drag works in the newer versions of Mac OS (Such as 10.7 or 10.8)?
    In Mac OS X 10.6.8, Option-Drag will just indiscriminately replace the entire contents of the old folder with the new one. It does not merge.

    10.7+

    Thanks, good to know.
    I guess it's time I upgraded one of my Macs. I'm falling behind in my OS knowledge.

    Probably the only reason to upgrade though....

  • PeterHPeterH Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    Back again, I'm afraid. As we colourful London Cockneys say, vis is doin' my 'ead in.

    Thanks for the Option-Drag tip - useful to know. However, I'm not much further forward with knowing how to organise the extra content.

    So I have decided it should be in /[username]/Documents/DAZ 3D/DAZ 3D Library. This seems relatively uncontroversial.

    I've read elsewhere in the forum that to have any folder(s) called Content in the "real" content folder is bad news. So should there be a main Content folder that I create (.../DAZ 3D Library/Content), which then contains (somehow) all the contents of the individual Content folders in the original downloads, the ones paired with Manifest.dsx files? As you all know, they contain a wondrous and baroque variety of sub-folders:

    data/A/B/C...,
    People/M/N/O/...
    Runtime/Support/P/Q/R/...
    /Textures/S/T/U...

    I could go on [please don't - Ed].

    If anyone can clearly describe, or better still illustrate, the kind of tree structure I should be attempting to build with all these many identically-named folders, I'd be really grateful.

    The second, linked thing is what I should expect the file structure of the Carrara content browser to be like, if I can eventually get any of this content into it.

    Over to you, Krell Boys. Many thanks and hope you can help.

  • PeterHPeterH Posts: 0
    edited December 1969

    FYI

    From Mac Help:

    Merge two folders
    If you have two folders with identical names at two different locations, you can merge them into a single folder. To do so, you must copy (not move) one folder to the location that already contains a folder with the same name. In the dialog that appears, click Merge.

    The Merge option appears only if one of the folders contains items that are not in the other folder. If the folders contain different versions of identically named files, the only options are Stop or Replace.

    So no help for merging Content folders (which all contain data, Runtime etc)

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