To a newbie, installing Daz content can be a difficult or even an aggravating process. This blog post is designed to help you through some of them and I hope you all will find it to be helpful.
Some of the installation files available for download are in .exe or .zip format. Using either one will have issues. So let's see if I can help you through some of them.
An .exe file is basically an automated installation program for your Daz content. Unfortunately, just because it is automated, it does not mean that it will always be a breeze. This is because sometimes you may be prompted to specify an installation directory. If you don't know where it should be installed, you will have a problem.
Basically, on a Windows based system, you will need to install it in your My Library folder. That will be found in My Documents/Daz 3D/Studio/My Library. There will be slight variations depending on your version of Windows, whether it be XP, Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8. But it is pretty close to being the same in all versions. In Windows 7 and Windows 8, you have a libraries folder, so it will look like this: Libraries/Documents/Daz 3D/Studio/My Library.
Another installation issue will be regarding compatibility. On a Windows 7 system, you may have to run some of the installation programs as administrator to get them to install. On a Windows 8 system, you may have to run it in Windows 7 compatibility mode. To run as administrator, just right click on the installation program and select "Run as Administrator." On a Windows 8 System, right click and select properties. Then click on the compatibility tab and set it to run in Windows 7 Compatibility mode. Then run it as administrator.
You may get some downloads provided in .zip file format. You can copy and paste the contents of the Zip file into the My Library folder. Now, remember that within the My Library folder, there are a number of sub folders. One of which will usually be the Runtime folder. Most of the content you will want to install will have contents within the Runtime folder. So you may see a Runtime folder in the .zipped folder. You need to make sure that you go down far enough into the directory structure of your zip file and copy and paste the right folders.
The zipped folder may have a sub folder called Content and it is usually within that folder that you may see the Runtime folder or the other common folders like Data, People, Props and etc. You need to copy all of those and paste them within the My Library folder.
Now you may opt to use the Daz installer utility but if you download content from a site other than Daz, like Renderosity.com or RuntimeDNA.com, you will need to know how to do your installation by copying and pasting the content manually into the My Library folder. That's actually how I learned to do this myself.
Sometimes after installing my content, I may have a problem locating it. If the content did not provide a readme file that tells you where it is, you can look in your zipped installation folder for that product to check out the directory structure. That will help you to be able to locate it within Daz Studio.
Another issue that you may run into is the license. I just ran into an issue by using a Daz Studio 4.6 license number for the installation of Daz Studio 4.7. I ended up having issues with Animate 2 not working. None of the aniblocks were working. It was quite an aggravating experience. To fix the issue, I did a system restore on my computer to set it back to a date before the Daz 4.7 installation. Then I installed Daz Studio 4.6 and used the appropriate license number. Then I used the appropriate Animate 2 license number. After that, I upgraded it to 4.7 and all of the problems were fixed.
To avoid the problem in the first place, just install 4.6 and use the 4.6 license number and make sure your aniblocks work. Then upgrade to 4.7. Make sure you save all installation files for everything. Back it up somewhere because if you go to download some of the installation files, they may not be available because they are often replaced with the newer versions in your content library. So anything you download and install from the Daz website, save and back it up. That may help you to avoid lots of issues in the future.
Okay, I just thought I would put this info out there so that some may prevent issues and others may be able to resolve them, should they encounter them. good luck everyone.
Photo Credit: Screen Shot by Bob Craypoe, working within Daz Studio.
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