Daz Studio Pro BETA - version 4.9.0.21!
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I think my questions about metadata and the beta got lost in the thread, could someone please respond:
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/935864/#Comment_935864
1. As far as "subsequent build" I am fairly certain that it was fixed in the development code base before this current build shipped out. We didn't want to delay this release any further and as it had passed all other QA tests we shipped this build with that release note.
2. The Daz Connect metadata fetching will not erase any of your categorizations, but it will re-add the store provided categorizations. My recommendation if you are seriously customizing your categories is to add a "Personal" category as a top level so you can make sure that the store provided categories never interfere with your custom categorizations.
With such a vast database containing a highly customized set of entries and products from multiple stores and sites you are exactly our target for this public beta test. The migration code for converting from the 4.8 database to the 4.9 database has been well tested for "normal" data, but your data would really give it a solid beating. If you have some time to help, please give these steps a try and let me know how things went:
1. Backup your database in 4.8
2. Reset your 4.8 database, then reimport all of your metadata.
3. Install 4.9, start by staying in offline mode and wait for the progress bar at the bottom to finish with the migration.
4. Check 4.9's smart content / content library product and see if there are any major problems in the migration.
5. Login via 4.9 and let the sync complete. You should see the store provided metadata being added but your metadata being left alone.
I'm happy it has worked.
I chose not to go to 64 buckets all the time, as some times I just want to see if I need to adjust a smaller part of the image (or I just want to see something sooner), so I found a balance that worked for me. 3 times the number of cores, I don't know if that is optimum for 3Delight 12.0.27 or not. I can imagine times that 64 buckets is not always the best option.
Note to self, this version of 3delight dose NOT have that reflection optimization thing. I started to get excited over that, tho I'm not sure if it would even apply to the Daz shader family (Daz/AoA/Omni/etc).
I'l second that. I have not tried another Studio plug in yet, as I was not sure if there web-based database of surface settings for products would override my personal settings or not (or vise versa, my settings overriding others in the community). This dose have a similar appearance to the 'categories' and organization with that new Content Database-thing.
While I do not fus with the locations of stuff DIM put in the "My Daz Content" folders (I know better), I have managed to locate a few things in the Poser path, and created shortcuts of a sort so there easier to find without going to that other side of the Content Library.
Also, there is stuff I have purchased elsewhere, that I would really like to continue to use in the future.
Just a quick note; I think you've got it backwards. It isn't "renders 64 buckets at a time", it's "sets the bucket size to 64 pixels square" — the number of buckets processing at once depends on how many cores your computer is using to run D|S.
Ah, I see... Well, that's a point. But, I organize each download in folder that looks something like this:
A3 Spanish Princess
M4 ...
V4 ...
I also rezip each to get rid of the content folder in front of "Runtime" for easier install later.
I have done considerable testing on the topic, in at least two different threads dedicated to the issue. I beg to differ. When it comes to reflective surfaces in a regular (not progressive) render, the bucket size is very much tied to the number of parallel processes, Somewhere. It makes a very huge difference in CPU load if the number of buckets is set to low for the computer 3DL is on. I have seen it time and time again.
In older versions of Studio, it also made a very huge difference with progressive renders as well, I have not verified that with 4.8 or 4.9. 3DL has made incredible improvements to Progressive mode in the Studio 4.8 version, that may make bucket size a moot setting, possibly. In the past, it would still just stop at the "staph of render hell" just like the crawl of a regular render including the drop in CPU load.
Not CPU frequency, CPU load. The engine is revving up ready to go, and the clutch is just not engaging, lol.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/41914/renders-painfully-slow-on-win7-unlike-xp32bit/p1
Attached tests are with 4.8, not 4.9. Progressive mode is indeed very much improved. Normally I run with buckets at 24 not 8.
Oh, and this is why I call it the "Staff of render hell", lol. It has the potential to bring a render engine to it's knees, and is great for testing stuff. It's a simple cylinder with two spheres at the ends, with heavy reflection, colored specular bands, and ambient attributes to the specular bands. The bands change color depending how iluminated they are, It is by no means a simple diffuse surface to calculate.
Optimal bucket size also depends on image dimensions...a 640 x 1280 image with a bucket size of 64 is 10 x 20 buckets...but a 648 x 1288 'wastes' 7/8th of a bucket per row...or renders more than 20 more buckets than needed.
That was the other reason for not going 'overkill' on that, I forgot that one, lol. thanks. I've got three deferent things going at once right now, and that is a very important note with buckets vs render times.
I am one that don't care about where my files are located. I like and use the Smart Content pane and the Content Library all the time. I think the database and metadata to organize and set the relations between assets are the best way to work with content. My content have some kind of file system level organization, basically different directories for some content groups (Genesis (all generations), Generation 4, Vehicles, Environments and Props, etc), but it just this. My content is categorized and accesible from Smart Content pane and from there to the Content Library when necessary. When I said all, I am including thirdy part content bought from other content stores and some freebies from various other sources. I have been fixing DAZ metadata for long time and creating metadata for all third part content installed in my system. To be short, I use and love the Smart Content and metadata. Anyway, I can understand the concerns from people who prefer organize their stuff at file system level. The new distribution method will defitively broke their workflow and will force them in the future to adapt in a way that is not confortable for someones.
I am also a huge fan of DAZ Install Manager. I always hated the executable installers, so I jumped on DIM bandwagon since the first day. I have been making DIM ready installers to my third party content and freebies, which includes previously custom created metadata. For me, DIM is my main tool to install and keep track of what and where my stuff was installed. That said, I really think Direct Connect seems a great step to make installing and updating content an easy process, but DAZ still needs make its homework. There are still a lot of products without metadata and a lot of others using the old standard metadata. Automatically fetching metadata messed my database recreating a lot of old categories which I have fixed in the past 2 years (see the screnshots). Fortunately I made my backup and could re-import my data fixing all this mess.
When I opened the beta release for the first time, my data was not migrated automatically. I need import it manually. After the import finish, metadata was fetched automatically creating duplicate entries for some files in old categories. Some products, as "Le Village" from Faveral, which I converted to DSON format adjusting the respective metadata, are putted in Lost & Found. The Local User categoy also seems an inelegant solution for user created files. While this beta release can have passed in QA, I think it was prematurely released, despite the note about importing User Data. Fetching metadata from the store should be optional until all metadata is updated. I can live with the current DAZ metadata standard adding my custom categories, but not with fetched wrong or outdated metadata. I hope in the next build the "User Data Overrides Product Data" option will be respected. Messing the user database is a serious issue which DAZ should be carefull about.
In my short experience the Smart Content panel in the beta release is working way faster than in the last stable version. I also like the icon besides the product in Product section of Content Library. Kudos also for all new options in the contextual menu when using the Smart Content. The new layout when looking a product in Smart Content is a way better than before. I would like to get an option to see the product's read me's and information inside Studio in the Help pane when choosing the "More Information" from the contextual menu. This can be optional in the application preferences as some people could prefer see that infoormation in the default OS browser, but I particularly prefer to stay in Studio when looking for related information. Currently, always it is posible I look the documentation center inside Studio browse.
Hi,
Did you take into account, that PostgrSQL don't work under the most common security software (Antivirus / Firewall)?
Did you rework the incompatibilities?
Which one is that?
I guess he is probably talking about ZoneAlarm
Just one question to DAZ about the Connect System : Why?
If this goes through, I will not buy a single thing on this marketplace ever again. There is nothing that the customer will gain from it. This just looks like either a move out of desperation from possibly low sales in recent times, or pure greed. Be prepared that you will loose alot of customers through this, even if it also means a bit more safety versus piracy, but at the cost of disgruntling your valid customers.
Hi Chohole,
yes it is ZA and AVira, which is the most save a very popular in non U.S. countries.
And it has got its reason !!
So why should we all rebuild our PCs only because DAZ wants to continue using Trojan mechanisms?
The issue with ZoneAlarm existed before this version.
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/932661/#Comment_932661
As for Avira, I've not heard any issues with that.
PostgreSQL is perfectly safe, there are no trojans as you call it.
PostgreSQL needs to access a port on your system that you may have to tell the firewall to allow. I had to do it with Comodo before PostgreSQL would work.
OK, I am not a fan of DRM in the slightest as it often creates more problems than it fixes from a technical standpoint but I am responding to this in order to address one point. The move to using DRM here is most likely NOT greed unless you consider people wanting to be paid for their work to be greed. Businesses have a right to be paid for their products and services. Private individuals have a right to be paid for the work they do. In this case, when content is pirated people ( the content creators) and a business ( DAZ) are being stolen from. In some cases, creating content is the sole way a PA makes their living. They pay their bills and buy their groceries with what they make from creating content. In the case of the business, (DAZ3D) the lights are kept on and the employees are paid from the funds that are generated from operating the business. If the business cant earn enough to pay its bill, the business goes under and if the individual contractors ( PA's) cant earn enough making the content, we get no more new content. It is a more than reasonable expectation to be paid for the work you do.
I loathe DRM. I work in IT and I STILL loathe DRM. Basically becuase every DRM method thats been tried so far tends to cause me issues professionally. Its my job to make sure my users can be up and running and doing their jobs. Quite often, I am forced to navigate another company's DRM setup just so my user can do the job they are required to do. DRM methods cost me hours of time that I could be spending doing things that would make working easier and more productive for the users I am being paid to support.
Do I think that the steps being taken in the 4.9 beta are steps in the right direction? No I do not. DAZ WILL lose customers over this if they have not already. Hopefully they will listen to their customers and roll back this DAZ Connect plan and come up with another way. However, they won't listen to their customers if everyone in this discussion is simply responding emotionally and not giving sound reasoning for their statements. I have posted several times in this discussion with questions and concerns regarding this issue and my questions have been answered reasonably and calmly. I appreciate this professionalism. The answers I received to my questions have at least shown me that there has been some thought as to how this will be implemented should it go forward.
DRM has never prevented piracy. It really does not even reduce the damage done by piracy. How can it when there are people out there that will hear of a new DRM scheme and set out to crack it just because its there? To those people its a challenge, a dare thrown in their faces. They will always take up those challenges and will pretty much always be successful in cracking the DRM. Contrary to what is presented in popular media, a lot of your software pirates are NOT teenagers or college students with bad attitudes and too much time on their hands. Most of them are highly intelligent and very skilled coders. If someone can write the code to create the DRM method, another coder can ( and will) code a way around it
As I said, I loathe DRM. It is largely innefective and will result in a degraded user experience for many customers. That said, I understand logically why the company is doing this. I hope that DAZ3D will reconsider this stance and roll back the whole DAZ Connect scheme. If enough of us chime in with sound reasons not to do this, maybe they will listen and roll it back. However if we all just start screaming blue murder and threatening to boycott the company and the PA's partaking in this, they will probably not listen. We all need to give sound and well considered reasons that are backed up with hard data. We need to approach this seriously and professionally. Then maybe they WILL listen and we have a chance to help shape the next version of the software into something that will benefit everyone involved .
Rob's note on ZA and PostgreS is here: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/flag/comment/593430/17150/rbtwhiz/L2Rpc2N1c3Npb24vY29tbWVudC81OTM0MzAvI0NvbW1lbnRfNTkzNDMw - and as far as I can determine, the issue goes back several years.
I have a question about existing scenes and upgrading to 4.9. I don't know if it's been addressed as I started to fade out after reading the first 26 pages of this thread...
If I were to install 4.9 and take the opportunity to completely revamp my folder structure (what drive I have the content download to and reside on - I may just wipe it all and let it redownload everything fresh so it builds a new, clean database), then manually add in all the non-Daz purchased packages (including freebies) into a subfolder (I use one called Third-Party), would scenes I've already created load properly, or would Daz complain like crazy about files not being found (particularly where I used products from another source)?
Personally I love Smart Content. I've always wished it was smarter and catalogued stuff better. I'm hoping this will do that, and from some reports, it looks like it does. I'd like to be able to (somehow) get Daz to automatically add in items I bought from elsewhere, but I don't know if it would require me to figure out how to create the metadata for it or not. Maybe I'll have to be content with the dragging from Content Manager to Smart Content like I've been doing.
Feature suggestion for the next update: A method to TURN OFF texture tiling. No, not "set X tiles to 0" or "adjust X offset", but a way to DISABLE texture tiling/repeating. Hexagon has this, even Poser has this, why not DAZ Studio?
Sounds like a good feature that we just happened to have a blind spot for. Please contact customer support to get it put in our database of future features.
Not a problem. As long as your content was originally cleanly installed and worked properly when you made your scene, DAZ|Studio knows how to find all the little bits and pieces of files that make up all the objects in the scene. If it worked before you reorganised, it'll work afterwards.
But give a bit more description - tile set to 1 is no tiling, are you wanting to be able to scale and offset the image as with the tiling adjustments but fill any gaps with flat colour rather than repeats of the image?
Tile set to 1 is no scaling, not no tiling. What i want is to turn off the repeating of the image. I'm uploading some examples of what I'm talking about. I just don't understand why this is so hard for people to get.
I am not a fan of DRM at ALL!
I'm just now hearing a bit about this business.
My work computer is not even connected to the Internet, so how would this affect me?
I like the ZIPs that I manually load up (I actually like the old installers better, but I'm in the minority there).
Please always leave us a choice if we want to use DRM or any of the automation schemes.
Been trying the catagorising a little.
It seems to have potential, but even my library, with 2000 items is far from the biggest and the amount of work is incredible. This is a hobby, I want to create art, not sort out a database - that seems more like what I might get involved in at work.
Simple things, if I want to delete a folder I have to select one and delete, then hit the confirm button. This is far too much work.
I should be able to select multiple folders, then delete them; and I should be able to disable the auto confirm; I'm an adult, let me take some responsibility, and disable some of the damn hand-holding.
Just those two adjustments would make a huge different.
I'm sure I'll have more to add soon.
It doesn't appear to let me duplicate Items in folders; in lost and found I tried duplicating, but it wasn't doing that.
In the immediate term it wouldn't affect you. Once there was Connect-only content - that you wanted - you would need to allow your machine to connect once to register it to your account, but after that you would be able to download the content on another machine, transfer it to the work machine and install it much as you do now. Connect does not require access for working.
Thank you so much for stating your concerns in such a professional and reasonable manner. Thank you for recognizing what I think, as merely another customer, is the only real motivation behind the decision to use encryption on DAZ Studio specific files. Whether or not DRM is a good idea, it gets my dander up to see so many people demonizing DAZ, (and by extension, the PAs,) over this decision.
As you stated, DAZ is a business. For-Profit businesses exist to make money. If money wasn't an issue, they'd be a non-profit entity. If these businesses ceased to exist, our quality of life would change considerably, and doubt it would be for the better. Do businesses make bad decisions? Yes. Do they tend to look at their bottom line, rather than what their customer base wants? Yes. Are they evil? That's a resounding NO!
The businesses that stand the test of time are businesses that listen to their customers. DAZ has proven time and again that they do listen, and they make changes based on customer feedback. That's why the PA Festival got rid of the Rev-Ups format, (and why they gave those who had earned discounts based on the Rev-Ups that same discount for the duration of the sale.) The move to DAZ Connect is also a direct result of listening to their customers. I was one of those customers who gave my input via their Facebook page, and voiced my concerns about how hard it is to find content, especially as a new user.
DAZ Connect and DRM are two separate issues. While DAZ Connect makes using encryption a viable option, it won't break if they decide to remove the encryption. I am not in the know, however, I suspect DAZ will pay close attention to whether or not the encryption is beneficial to both the PAs and their business, and if so, how beneficial. If the dissenters are correct and it does little to discourage pirating, or even makes it worse, it will be easy enough to change the code for DAZ Connect and remove the encryption from the files. I suspect the caveat for some new content to be available only through DAZ Connect is so they can measure the effect of the encryption on piracy.
Like many others, I don't think any form of encryption will slow down the piracy of digital products. But I refuse to demonize DAZ, or any other company, who is looking to protect their intellectual property.
In the end, my decision to use DAZ Connect, or not, will be based solely on how well it fits in with my workflow.
Perhaps a setting to disable the auto-confirm? I, for one, find it annoying, yet it's saved my bacon on more than one occasion, so I try not to let it annoy me.
It's there for protection. If you happen to select the wrong thing and hit delete its gone. With the option you can cancel and don't have to worry about digging through hundreds of packs to find the one you deleted on accident.