DAZ Studio Pro BETA (4.6.0.15) Release Candidate!

DAZ_BrianDAZ_Brian Posts: 345
edited May 2013 in Daz Studio Discussion

DAZ 3D is pleased to announce the next public version of the DAZ Studio Pro BETA - version 4.6.0.15!

What is a BETA?

Despite our best efforts, DAZ 3D cannot possibly test the software under all possible conditions. So, we are providing this version of the application to the general public in order to uncover problems that were not discovered during internal testing. We expect that there will still be problems and we hope that when users encounter any problems, they will report them to the Bug Tracker so that they can be validated, prioritized and fixed.

As with any software classified as being in the BETA phase of development, you should expect to encounter bugs. Any bugs you do encounter while using BETA software can vary in terms of severity, from minor features that do not work correctly to problems that cause your computer to crash. Before choosing to use BETA software for production purposes, you should decide whether the benefit of new features and bug fixes provided by the BETA version outweighs the risk of instability you may encounter.

What is a Release Candidate?

A Release Candidate is a BETA version that has the potential to replace the General Release if no significant new bugs emerge.

What is new in this version? Do I need to update my copy?

The 4.6.0.15 version resolves several issues and implements many improvements since the 4.5.1.56 General Release. More detail on specific fixes/changes/improvements can be found in the Change Log, which can be viewed online within the Documentation Center portion of our site. All new downloads of the DAZ Studio Pro BETA product (SKU: 12000) will be of this version.

Public BETA 2 - Release Candidate 1 (4.6.0.15) highlights are:
1) Additional work on OpenSubdiv support; handling of badly constructed geometry
2) Additional work on TriAx to TriAx support in AutoFit and Transfer Utility
3) Additional work on Geometry Shells; Subdivision, UVs and Materials
4) Additions/improvements to CCT tools/actions; Joint Editor, Polygon Group Editor
5) Fixed handling of default accelerators (keyboard shortcuts) on Mac
6) General stability and bug fixes

Public BETA 1 (4.5.2.40) highlights are:
1) Updated the embedded CMS client to Valentina 5; fixes several crashes, particularly on Mac.
2) Updated the 3Delight render engine to 10.0.125; see 3Delight Change Log for more details.
3) Added support for TriAx to TriAx AutoFit.
4) Added support for OpenSubdiv subdivision algorithms; Catmark, Bilinear, Loop; adds support for edge and/or vertex weights/creasing.
5) Added support for Ptex.
6) Added support for independent UV set selection on Geometry Shells.
7) Added support for Gamma Correction.
8) Added support for Surface Selection Sets.
9) Added the ability to Spot Render to a New Window.
10) Added support for Hierarchical Pose Presets.
11) Made improvements to various CCT tools/actions.

Has the Genesis Starter Essentials content been updated too?

No, the Genesis Starter Essentials content that is provided with the product has NOT been updated.

How do I get the latest version?

If you have previously added the DAZ Studio Pro BETA product to your account, simply locate it within the Product Library [once you are logged into your account] by entering "DAZ Studio Pro BETA" into the text field near the top left of the page and clicking the "Filter" button, or by clicking here. Then, simply click the "Download" button next to the file(s) you wish to download and install.

If this is your first time downloading DAZ Studio Pro BETA, simply follow this link, click the "Add to Cart" button on the page and then follow the checkout process.

Can I have the General Release and the BETA installed at the same time?

The simple answer is... Not within the same major version (4.x).

The more complicated answer is yes, but only if you are running a 64-bit operating system and you install the 32-bit version of one and the 64-bit version of the other.

What about the plugins I have?

The DAZ Studio 4.5 SDK has not changed in any way that is binary incompatible, which means that any plugins created for a previous version of DAZ Studio 4.5.x should continue to load and function. That said, as with any new release, there is always the possibility that a plugin has had bugs fixed or features added, so the latest versions should be downloaded and installed if they are provided.

Is there any documentation?

Yes, some documentation is located here.

Post edited by rbtwhiz on
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Comments

  • SphericLabsSphericLabs Posts: 598
    edited December 1969

    For those wondering, Luxus is working great in DAZ Studio 4.6.

    Here is a simplecube with a vertex weight and edge crease.

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  • cwichuracwichura Posts: 1,042
    edited December 1969

    DAZ Studio : Incremented build number to 4.6.0.3

    Implemented #DS-2: Added a Delete Hidden Facets action to Polygon Group Editor; delete facets/vertices from a mesh while preserving the other attributes of the mesh

    So am I reading this right? That we can now completely delete parts of a mesh from within the PGE? So all the stuff I do with moving faces from various surfaces of an object into a new 'Hidden' surface that is then hidden I can now outright delete? If so, that's pretty awesome. This will save to the geometry library in a scene file, correct? (I do my PGE changes mostly on a scene-by-scene basis to hide parts of clothing that interfere with other clothing when kitbashing stuff together; I don't want it updating the original asset.)

  • cwichuracwichura Posts: 1,042
    edited December 1969

    Also saw a comment about changing the plugin minor number. Does this mean all SDK plugins (Reality being my primary concern) have to be rebuilt to run with this new version?

  • DAZ_cjonesDAZ_cjones Posts: 637
    edited December 1969

    cwichura said:
    DAZ Studio : Incremented build number to 4.6.0.3

    Implemented #DS-2: Added a Delete Hidden Facets action to Polygon Group Editor; delete facets/vertices from a mesh while preserving the other attributes of the mesh

    So am I reading this right? That we can now completely delete parts of a mesh from within the PGE? So all the stuff I do with moving faces from various surfaces of an object into a new 'Hidden' surface that is then hidden I can now outright delete? If so, that's pretty awesome. This will save to the geometry library in a scene file, correct? (I do my PGE changes mostly on a scene-by-scene basis to hide parts of clothing that interfere with other clothing when kitbashing stuff together; I don't want it updating the original asset.)

    Yes you are reading it correctly. While this is primarily added for making multiple figures from one figure, it can be used like you said. However it will make your scene file very large ( all the changed morphs, the geometry, and the skin binding will be embedded).

    By the way you can also use another trick if you just want to hide faces on a tri-ax figure, that will not cause the geometry to embed in your scene file:

    1. Make a small primitive (simpler the better: plane, cube is good)
    2. Parent to one of the bones on the figure you wish to hide faces on.
    3. Select the primitive and run Edit > Object > Rigging > Convert Prop To Figure...
    4. Make sure Tri-Ax or General option is selected, make sure "Inherit Skeleton of Parent" is checked
    5. Accept Dialog
    6. Fit your new figure to the old figure
    7. On your new Figure set "Visible In Render" to off
    8. Pick the Polygon Group Editor Tool
    9. Select the faces you wish to hide on the base figure
    10. Right click and select Polygon Assignment > Set Auto Hide Faces for Fitted Figure...
    11. Select a different tool
    12. Unfit and refit your new figure

    You can hide faces on a prop by converting it to a simple single bone figure (same action as above, just don't "inherit Skeleton of Parent". For a legacy figure you can just use the convert to weight mapped figure option.

  • DAZ_cjonesDAZ_cjones Posts: 637
    edited December 1969

    cwichura said:
    Also saw a comment about changing the plugin minor number. Does this mean all SDK plugins (Reality being my primary concern) have to be rebuilt to run with this new version?

    This was the minor number of plug-ins, the minor number when you lock at a plug-ins version. While I haven't tested it, Reality should still be usable.

  • cwichuracwichura Posts: 1,042
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the hide trick description. I'll have to give it a try. Does it work even on Genesis itself?

    Of course, a lot of the time, I'm also making new surfaces to apply different shaders to in addition to hiding some of the faces, so that's still going to result in the geometry getting saved into the scene duf. A DUF with V4 in it is still generally way larger than any of the DUFs with just Genesis where I've been messing about with the PGE... And disc space is cheap these days.

  • DAZ_cjonesDAZ_cjones Posts: 637
    edited December 1969

    cwichura said:
    Thanks for the hide trick description. I'll have to give it a try. Does it work even on Genesis itself?

    Of course, a lot of the time, I'm also making new surfaces to apply different shaders to in addition to hiding some of the faces, so that's still going to result in the geometry getting saved into the scene duf. A DUF with V4 in it is still generally way larger than any of the DUFs with just Genesis where I've been messing about with the PGE... And disc space is cheap these days.

    Any weight mapped figure "Fit to" a weight mapped figure can hide faces on that target figure.

  • DavidGBDavidGB Posts: 565
    edited December 1969

    cwichura said:
    DAZ Studio : Incremented build number to 4.6.0.3

    Implemented #DS-2: Added a Delete Hidden Facets action to Polygon Group Editor; delete facets/vertices from a mesh while preserving the other attributes of the mesh

    So am I reading this right? That we can now completely delete parts of a mesh from within the PGE? So all the stuff I do with moving faces from various surfaces of an object into a new 'Hidden' surface that is then hidden I can now outright delete? If so, that's pretty awesome. This will save to the geometry library in a scene file, correct? (I do my PGE changes mostly on a scene-by-scene basis to hide parts of clothing that interfere with other clothing when kitbashing stuff together; I don't want it updating the original asset.)

    Yes you are reading it correctly. While this is primarily added for making multiple figures from one figure, it can be used like you said. However it will make your scene file very large ( all the changed morphs, the geometry, and the skin binding will be embedded).

    But if, for example, I wanted a version of a jacket with short sleeves instead of the long ones it has, or a shorter tunic, say, if I use this delete function to remove the bits I don't want, and then save the clothing as new clothing (not in a scene) so there's a new folder in the data folder with morph, UV etc .dsfs ... the new versions with the short sleeves or whatever would completely work on loading, all the previous fitting, style and action morphs etc automatically adjusted, UVs as before just with the bits I deleted chopped off ... is that correct?

  • DAZ_cjonesDAZ_cjones Posts: 637
    edited December 1969

    DavidGB said:
    cwichura said:
    DAZ Studio : Incremented build number to 4.6.0.3

    Implemented #DS-2: Added a Delete Hidden Facets action to Polygon Group Editor; delete facets/vertices from a mesh while preserving the other attributes of the mesh

    So am I reading this right? That we can now completely delete parts of a mesh from within the PGE? So all the stuff I do with moving faces from various surfaces of an object into a new 'Hidden' surface that is then hidden I can now outright delete? If so, that's pretty awesome. This will save to the geometry library in a scene file, correct? (I do my PGE changes mostly on a scene-by-scene basis to hide parts of clothing that interfere with other clothing when kitbashing stuff together; I don't want it updating the original asset.)

    Yes you are reading it correctly. While this is primarily added for making multiple figures from one figure, it can be used like you said. However it will make your scene file very large ( all the changed morphs, the geometry, and the skin binding will be embedded).

    But if, for example, I wanted a version of a jacket with short sleeves instead of the long ones it has, or a shorter tunic, say, if I use this delete function to remove the bits I don't want, and then save the clothing as new clothing (not in a scene) so there's a new folder in the data folder with morph, UV etc .dsfs ... the new versions with the short sleeves or whatever would completely work on loading, all the previous fitting, style and action morphs etc automatically adjusted, UVs as before just with the bits I deleted chopped off ... is that correct?

    Yeah pretty much. There a couple bits of information lost, like if you had grafts or face fulling on the item you'd have to redo it. But morphs, weight maps, edge weights, vertex weights, regions, etc will be maintained. It is very important if you do this and save assets, to save to a new data folder (not the same one as the source figure).

    The main point of this feature was to let content creators make a complicate piece of clothing/armor as one figure. They can then use the symmetry and other functions on the full set, but then when they went to ship it they could break it into pieces so users can just pick and choose the pieces they wish to actually use.

  • DavidGBDavidGB Posts: 565
    edited December 1969

    Yeah pretty much. There a couple bits of information lost, like if you had grafts or face fulling on the item you'd have to redo it. But morphs, weight maps, edge weights, vertex weights, regions, etc will be maintained. It is very important if you do this and save assets, to save to a new data folder (not the same one as the source figure).

    Just to be clear (as I have several clothing items I want to trim, and would much rather trim the unwanted mesh right off than transmap out parts or add material surfaces just to be transparent) ... when you say 'save to a new data folder'. you mean save to a new folder within my My Library data folder, not save to a completely different data folder somewhere other than my My Library data folder?

  • HellboyHellboy Posts: 1,437
    edited December 1969

    For those wondering, Luxus is working great in DAZ Studio 4.6.

    Here is a simplecube with a vertex weight and edge crease.

    Awesome! Knowing if Luxus worked with this new version was the only thing keeping me from installing 4.6. :)

  • rbtwhizrbtwhiz Posts: 2,162
    edited December 1969

    You should not save over the top of the original assets; I would think this goes without saying, but I mention it for the sake of being clear. Save the assets of the "trimmed" item as if they are completely new assets... because they are; i.e. vertex/polygon counts/orders will differ from the original as a result of the deletion, thus anything that is dependent on those counts/orders will also differ. If you don't do this, if you save over the top of the previously existing assets, you will [obviously] have a negative affect on anything that is dependent on those original assets.

    ...

    All existing plugins that are built against the 4.5 SDK should continue to load and function; there have been some additions to the API, but the public 4.5 SDK is binary compatible with this build. This is mentioned in the original post. The exception to this, of course, is any plugin that was doing something incorrectly and/or exploited a bug that has since been fixed. Those cases should be very rare, but they obviously have the potential to exist.

  • TheNathanParableTheNathanParable Posts: 984
    edited May 2013

    Not exactly too happy right now. Not only did the installer crash (yet again), forcing me to rename the uninstallers just to get it to work, but the one bug I was hoping would be fixed (and is marked as fixed) isn't actually fixed in this version despite what the release notes say.

    If I uninstall Daz Studio, will it also uninstall the content I have installed/saved? Do I have to make a manual backup, or am I safe? I'm going to try uninstalling and reinstalling Daz manually just in case this is an issue on my end.

    Post edited by TheNathanParable on
  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,563
    edited December 1969

    Uninstalling the application doesn't uninstall content.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,501
    edited December 1969

    ...so what if you have multiple drives? Couldn't you install the beta on one while still having 4.5.1.56 on the other and just map the same library/runtimes?

  • SphericLabsSphericLabs Posts: 598
    edited December 1969

    Not exactly too happy right now. Not only did the installer crash (yet again), forcing me to rename the uninstallers just to get it to work, but the one bug I was hoping would be fixed (and is marked as fixed) isn't actually fixed in this version despite what the release notes say.

    If I uninstall Daz Studio, will it also uninstall the content I have installed/saved? Do I have to make a manual backup, or am I safe? I'm going to try uninstalling and reinstalling Daz manually just in case this is an issue on my end.


    I had this problem too, but found out it was Nvidia's fault. If you have an nvidia card and another non nvidia graphics card(like an Ivy bridge CPU), nvinit.dll will crash the installer.

    My Nvidia settings allow me to "auto" choose the GPU or to use (on my machine) my Intel or Nvidia card. The "Auto" setting was the problem crashing of the installers for me.

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  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,563
    edited December 1969

    Kyoto Kid said:
    ...so what if you have multiple drives? Couldn't you install the beta on one while still having 4.5.1.56 on the other and just map the same library/runtimes?

    No, because they share settings and appdata.

  • TheNathanParableTheNathanParable Posts: 984
    edited May 2013

    I do not have the option to choose between card or integrated graphics. My issue came with the installer failing to uninstall the previous version halfway through uninstalling it, causing it to fail every subsequent time.

    EDIT: Another problem I encounter with the installation. It fails to install the Daz Content Management Service. It simply says it encountered an error, and then carries on installing the rest of Daz Studio as if nothing happened.

    Post edited by TheNathanParable on
  • DAZ_cjonesDAZ_cjones Posts: 637
    edited May 2013

    Not exactly too happy right now. Not only did the installer crash (yet again), forcing me to rename the uninstallers just to get it to work, but the one bug I was hoping would be fixed (and is marked as fixed) isn't actually fixed in this version despite what the release notes say.

    If I uninstall Daz Studio, will it also uninstall the content I have installed/saved? Do I have to make a manual backup, or am I safe? I'm going to try uninstalling and reinstalling Daz manually just in case this is an issue on my end.

    If its the geometry shell bug at render time it is fixed, its just not in this build. It will be there be there before 4.6 ships.

    Post edited by DAZ_cjones on
  • TheNathanParableTheNathanParable Posts: 984
    edited May 2013

    Not exactly too happy right now. Not only did the installer crash (yet again), forcing me to rename the uninstallers just to get it to work, but the one bug I was hoping would be fixed (and is marked as fixed) isn't actually fixed in this version despite what the release notes say.

    If I uninstall Daz Studio, will it also uninstall the content I have installed/saved? Do I have to make a manual backup, or am I safe? I'm going to try uninstalling and reinstalling Daz manually just in case this is an issue on my end.

    If its the geometry shell bug at render time it is fixed, its just not in this build. It will be there be there before 4.6 ships.

    By chance do we you have an NVidia Video card and the intel chip set that lets you use the built in video card or your Nvidia card on an application by application bases. If you do, we have found an issue with the uninstallers and the nvinit.dll. If its a different setup please report the bug.

    Re: Geometry Shell Bug: That's good to know. I'm just really really looking forward to being able to use it, so admittedly i'm very impatient right now and a tad anxious.

    Re: NVidia bug: I don't have integrated graphics on my machine, so I don't have the option to choose between one or the other. Not even a dropdown box. :P I've decided to do a manual uninstall and reinstall of Daz Studio in the hopes that that'll fix everything.

    Also, as I said above, the installer also fails to install the Daz Content Management Service, although it doesn't seem to have any adverse affect on Daz Studio...

    Post edited by TheNathanParable on
  • rbtwhizrbtwhiz Posts: 2,162
    edited May 2013

    The easiest way to work around not having the 'auto' option that Spheric mentions is to rename the nvinit*.dll (e.g. to nvinit*.bak), at least temporarily.

    NVIDIA threads related to the nvinit*.dll issue:
    - https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/527553/crash-in-nvinit-dll_unloaded-when-application-closes/
    - https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/534363/applications-popping-up-with-quot-nvinit-dll_unloaded-quot-pretty-sure-its-an-nvidia-error/

    Post edited by rbtwhiz on
  • TheNathanParableTheNathanParable Posts: 984
    edited December 1969

    rbtwhiz said:
    The easiest way to work around not having the 'auto' option that Spheric mentions is to rename the nvinit*.dll (e.g. to nvinit*.bak), at least temporarily.

    NVIDIA threads related to the nvinit*.dll issue:
    - https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/527553/crash-in-nvinit-dll_unloaded-when-application-closes/
    - https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/534363/applications-popping-up-with-quot-nvinit-dll_unloaded-quot-pretty-sure-its-an-nvidia-error/

    Is that safe to do? What exactly is the .dll for?

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,139
    edited December 1969

    Pretty exciting stuff folks. Thanks for the update.

    I wish you guys could work towards making an "auto meta data" doohicky thingamabob. Recently had a system go down the toilet and had to "refresh windows" which of course removes all the programs that are not native to MS. SO now all my content is just content again. All the meta data is .... I don't know. I'm going to try a few things and see if I can get it going again.

    Other than that these new additions sound scrumptious. You and SM are on a roll. Like that! :-)

  • DaremoK3DaremoK3 Posts: 798
    edited December 1969

    Thanks for the update. You guys are moving faster then I can test releases. Keep up the great work.

    Love the idea of manipulating the meshes within DS, and saving out new assets. Can't wait to try that one out.


    Kyoto Kid:

    Even though it won't work that way via multiple drives, you can have both production 1.56, and the beta installed alongside each other. Someone in the previous beta thread mentioned that on a 64-bit environment you can have a 64-bit version, and a 32-bit version of 4.5 installed together.

    I am running 4.5.1.56 64-bit, and 4.5.2.40_beta 32-bit together on Windows7 x64, and haven't had any issues. They both share the same libraries.

    Give it a try. Good luck...

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 40,501
    edited December 1969

    ...unfortunately not interested in going back to all the limitations and issues I dealt with in 32 bit which on a couple occasions made me nearly get up walk away from this all due to the frustration brought about by frequent memory related crashes

    I'll have to think this over.

  • kitakoredazkitakoredaz Posts: 3,526
    edited December 1969

    Bishonen taulus,,

    if you uninstall ds 4.5 or 4.5beta, etc,, your contents and plug in never uninstalled. you need not afraid it.

    when try beta,, we may just need to keep our contents (saved files) for suitable product ver
    not be overwritten in beta version. not merge them.

    then if I modify saved scene or content, just save it other name and other directory for beta.
    so that,, if I find prolblem, I can reinstall suitable version, and can use contents without rpoblem I think.

    and about CMS,, if you have never uninstalled it when you version up ds, (between 4.0, to 4.6currrent beta)
    you may better once uninstall CMS , then install 4.5 or 4.6 beta.

    1) Updated the embedded CMS client to Valentina 5; fixes several crashes, particularly on Mac

    DAZ do not say officially we need to uninstall CMS when we version up daz studio,
    but as for me, I think it seems better to uninstall CMS when install new version daz studio.

    ds installer install the CMS if there is no CMS in our pc..so we can version up CMS too (if it has been updated).
    but about some version (I do not remember the version )
    ds installer do not uninstall old CMS I think.

    then as for me,, I keep ds 4.5 product version 32 bit, and after uninstall 4.5 64bit, and CMS, then install 4.6 beta 64 bit
    with windows 7.PC.

    I am not Navida user,, so that I do not know about driver problem.

  • RAMWolffRAMWolff Posts: 10,139
    edited December 1969

    What the heck is Valentina 5 anyways??

  • DoctorJellybeanDoctorJellybean Posts: 7,812
    edited December 1969

    RAMWolff said:
    What the heck is Valentina 5 anyways??

    It is the database.

  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,563
    edited December 1969

    RAMWolff said:
    Pretty exciting stuff folks. Thanks for the update.

    I wish you guys could work towards making an "auto meta data" doohicky thingamabob. Recently had a system go down the toilet and had to "refresh windows" which of course removes all the programs that are not native to MS. SO now all my content is just content again. All the meta data is .... I don't know. I'm going to try a few things and see if I can get it going again.

    Other than that these new additions sound scrumptious. You and SM are on a roll. Like that! :-)

    Content DB Maintenance > Re-Import metadata

  • cwichuracwichura Posts: 1,042
    edited December 1969

    [quote author="DAZ_cjones" date="1368146031"Any weight mapped figure "Fit to" a weight mapped figure can hide faces on that target figure.
    So a content vendor making a set of say long boots could have the boots automatically hide the shin+foot+toes faces and completely eliminate any possibility of pokethrough happening, regardless of how the Genesis figure was shaped, and without having to make a bunch of custom FBM morphs for their boots? That seems pretty powerful. Obviously, it wouldn't make sense if you are intending to use transparency in the item fit to Genesis, but for a lot of clothing, that's not an issue.

    Can this cascade? E.g., boots fit to stockings fit to Genesis? Most shoes/boots lack suitable expansion morphs to make them fit over stockings.

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