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DIM does have filtering options that Central doesn't, however.
I somehow missed this post earlier. I'll bookmark that page and look at the download filters and settings. Thanks Richard!
I remember when DIM was first being introduced and I was skeptical at best - but with the Genesis 1 extensions and such being changed to help make the whole thing compatible in the (then) up-and-coming Carrara 8.5 Pro, it was kind of essential, otherwise we'd get incorrect files remaining on our system as the updates rolled out - so I gave it a try.
Wow. It blew me away as my skepticism immediately dissolved into vague memory.
For my Legacy-Style Poser content that I was so used to using in Carrara, I was able to quickly and intelligently create all of the separate "Runtimes" I used for organization and I left all DUF format content to install to the default My Daz 3D Library.
So cool! If I wanted to relocate anything from one Runtime to a different one, I can easily do so in DIM simply by uninstalling the product(s) and installing again to the preferred path.
Since then, DIM has improved and my use of it is nearly a daily thing. When I want to find the texture folder for anything, I type it into DIM, Show Installed Content, click on a texture and it takes me to the folder!
It's also very fast. Installing is a breeze and the database features ROCK!!!
Big Fan of DIM - user since it first came out.
Will DAZ Central still work if you have it installed?
From the previous page, and quoted above
In my many years of using it, the only Improvements have been Improvements. DIM ROCKS!
Well they did add that "notification" capability like they did in Daz Studio. I've only seen it used once, though. And they changed the color scheme which reduced the contrast of the numbers on the green background, so I can barely read them now. So not everything is improved in my opinion.
Sorry to hear. I've been very happy with every change so far. But again... I am a bit of an oddity, I think
This was very useful. Thank you. I never knew this. It's not exactly obvious mechanics, is it?
Now ... how can I make those tiny pictures bigger?
You're welcome! Thought others must be in the same boat too. I found the info in some older threads in the forum...
I think Richard mentioned that there are no larger images like with the DAZ Central grid view, which was great for browsing or finding things based on image. In DIM, the 'tooltip' we get when hovering over items brings up a bigger image, but that's it I guess...
I like DIM. I don't have a conventional folder setup (my thumbs, manifest files, installer files and installed files are all on drives other than C:. It's not difficult to go into DIM and change the paths to where your files are. When you do, THEN DIM will see them :). Having said that, my preferred method is to install manually, but I found I was missing a lot of updates that way, so I went back to DIM.
This is good news. DIM has worked well for me and I always thought Daz Central was a bad idea that only made things more confusing, especially for new users.
if you hover over the selection it gets a lot bigger.
It does but that's not a swift, viable way of scrolling through lots of stuff.
If the new DIM coudl implement an option for (a) large thumbnails (b) grid view - ie like Daz Central - then, for me, I'd feel a lot less unhappy about the forced change to DIM.
Daz Central has been a key part of my workflow. Maybe some people remember what all their 1000s of named items look like. I don't - and without access to a quick way to see them and remind me that this set looks like this and that one like that, then I'm likely to use Daz a lot less.
was that notice via email or what? I had not seen anything about this. I've been using nothing but DIM for quite some time though, so I'm not affected. I never go online with DS. The only problem I encounter, that I know of, are the items in Lost and Found as well as products not being put into the correct category, in Smart Content. I find Content Library to be seriously hard to find things as well, so would rather not use it at all, although for content from other stores, that's about the only way to install it, AFAIK,
It's a message UNDER the opening asset items in the Daz Central dashboard. It's very easy to miss because I'd guess many users click straight on Studio Assets and never scroll down on the opening screen.
Ah, thanks. I dont use daz central so probably why i didnt see it.
Just adding that the DaZ central grid was very usefull for finding stuff visually might have said that already
Will I have to uninstall all my content and reinstall through DIM?
Pitmatic said:
Pitmatic You can totally say that a few more times.
That visual grid makes a huge difference in locating/discovering/remembering things!
Jorune2112 No, no you don't! Dowload the latest DIM and just have a look around. All your installed stuff will be listed. DIM and Daz Central interface to the same system.
(Just check that DIM has the same install paths as DAZ Central...)
so. i tried the "new" DIM - since it has been changing gradually i think over the past weeks/months, i didn't see much difference. maybe the starting a product from DIM seems new to me... which i have absolutely no use for. otherwise i don't smell any disaster there...
ok now i've given my 2 cents, i came to the forum to ask something about DIM actually - so i'll do it here:
my HD is full. 1 TB and just a few MB left. i can't even unstall a game any more... HOWEVER.. i realized my DIM downloads, the zips, are 244GB huge. apart from a few 500GB monster zips that i can count on 1 hand, which i had to deinstall to free some space, everything i have downloaded is also installed, so i don't need the zips any more (but i wanna keep them here at home, not delete them, who knows...)..
now as far as i've understood, as long as i leaved the manifests where they are, and just move alle those installed zips to an USB drive, DIM and DS shouldn't even notice anything, right? right? without me having to change any setting. as if i had opted for "delete installed zips" while installing...
i don't want to mess up - i already have a bunch of products that don't appear in the smartpanel, others that have like deinstalled themselves, and no energy to find solutions about this at the moment. so the last thing i need is to lose 244GB installed files too...
You can delete the zips, but leave the manifests in place. Yes, it will be like selecting the "Delete Package Once Installed" checkbox. I don't do that myself, but I have done it accidentally a few times, no loss of installed content.
You can actually use the external drive for downloading, and keep them available in DIM, and install from there. Just change the Package Archive path and move everything (.zip + .dsx). I put the Thumbnail Archive next to it, just because.
The manifest with the zip does not store the download location, so it is totally transparent. The installation manifest (in the Manifest Archive) does, however, so it would require changing them all to show the new download location from which the products were installed (or, how shall I say, would have been installed). Batch edit, replace string... 5 minutes.
I tried to use daz central and just got confused by it. In contrast, DIM seemed very intuitive, albeit ugly UI
I suppose it's too much to ask to be given the option to bail entirely and manually download the stuff that we currently have to go to DIM in order to download it at all.
I've had to go to DIM to download a handful of things. Like the newer verssions of the program. So far I've been able to unzip or manually install most it on my own terms. But I would much rather be able to manually downlod whatever I want in the first place.
You can manually download most products from the product library section of the site. That's what I do for most content.
There are only a few things which are only available via DIM, like the betas and some plugins.
nice! thank you for the detailed explanation. i didn't realize the manifests in the two different places also had different contents, good to know.
i'll keep my settings as they are, it's not a big feat to move new downloaded zips manually (i can't afford new products that often anyway...) - once the 244GB are done. i really don't like to meddle with default settings for apps that are so entwined like DIM and DS, with cross-references everywhere. i'm so distraught and unfocused that if i mess up, i won't even remember what i did and where...
thanks a lot! ^^ now i can hope to have soon an only 3/4 full HD again intead of fighting to have more than 3GB free - not very much from a 1 TB HD, lol.
I check the "Delete package Once Installed" box all the time. It has never caused me any problems and it keeps things more tidy. I do keep a copy oif the ZIP files for every product I've bought on an external HD "just in case" so I can do a manual install if needed.
For me it is manual Installation per zip file only, or *.exe for DS software.
No DIM, DAZ Central, Smart Content or what ever, never!
I have never understood why all those installer apps suppose to be important.
Daz Install Manager (DIM) has some great advantages, such as...
1. When a product you already installed is updated, DIM provides a "Product Updates" section with a Download button for each updated product.
2. DIM makes it easy to uninstall products you no longer want installed on your system via the Uninstall button.
3. DIM has a "Work Offline" option which is great when you just want to get into the DIM settings to adjust download paths, etc.
4. DIM has a good Filter/Sort function built-in, so you can set "Application Tags" and then just search for your Carrara or Hexagon content, or just your Poser or Daz Content such as Daz Horse, or Aiko 7, etc.
5. If you have 3rd party products without Smart Content, you can add smart content via Content Wizard and then export a new Zip File for that product and load it into the DIM Downloads folder to install/uninstall using DIM.