Smart content vs Content manager

[globalrecession2009]

Smart content vs Content manager

Howdy folks, Just curious as to what your choice of workflow is with DazStudio?

I have always use Content library (the tree style)

I never really got the hang of using the smart content.

Some products would show up after their installation and then some products wouldn't.

I also never got the hang of the DAZ download install manager thing either, so i don't install that anymore.

Might be wrong but i heard that you can use DIM to install downloaded zips but I never got into trying it out.

I have always installed things manually.

[EvilMonkey]

There are people that will prefer one over another, personally I don't like "smart content" and it's changing menu depending on which asset I'm focused on. I prefer the normal content library where I can remember where things are and change them if I want to.

I do prefer to keep the product "near mint" by not messing with the archives it ships as. If it's a DIM file, then it will always stay that way for me with the original naming conventions. That way everyone can use it because it's "universal" by default.

[Errilhl]

DIM works for any "correctly" formatted zip. Doesn't have to be DAZ, doesn't have to be prefixed with IM, but it does need correct naming, and a manifest.dsx inside it.

That being said, _always_ upload a DIM-file, if that's what you got. I mostly upload custom DIM-compatible files if I upload something from Renderosity and/or Renderotica, but it's of course fine if you don't do that. I will make them into DIM-compatible files if I download them anyway - I don't install anything manually, only via DIM, which helps something immensely when I need to pull an asset that's making trouble - find it in DIM, uninstall, problem gone. Having to track down things manually is a real pain.

[eelgoo]

The other side of the coin here. I install everything manually.
If you trust vendors to do things the same way twice go ahead with DIM.
I don't. Within a very short space of time your runtime will be chaotic & you can't find things. That makes life difficult to uninstall.

My manual archive is a copy of the exact installation I made, so I can manually install or uninstall easily & quickly should I so desire.

A while back I detailed my approach here:

' https://zonegfx.com/forums/topic/manual-install-to-ds/ '

🙂

[Errilhl]

Sure, I just find it's too much work. Mind, I have about 11000 assets installed. I don't really have to look very hard to find stuff, it's mostly where I expect it to be, and if I find something egregiously wrong, I will just pull it (uninstall via DIM) and redo the inner workings of the DIM, then reinstall.

[La_Pucelle]

I like Smart Content.

I created a Custom Content file and did good at keeping it current for about a month. After I fell behind on updating my Custom tree, I realized I don't use or buy V4 / M4, at least 95% of items I get are from Daz (with smart content) and not Rendo. Since then, I happily use Smart Content.

I use Daz Install Manager (DIM) for Daz items and Content Package Assist to make non-Daz items work in DIM. Tutorial here - (https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/210511/tutorial-how-to-use-content-package-assist)

Some of my favorite items from Rendo I have created metadata to use in Smart Content. Tutorial here - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69uIKMZ7zZk)

[UnboundConsciousness]

I've gone with the total cluster method.

[Checkit1414]

I do exactly like you do GlobalRecession.

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