Daz Studio Pro BETA - version 4.9.0.21!
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How does declining sales sound for a change? Is DAZ scared of that? And dont talk down to us like we are frightened of your so called change.
I have heard this reasoning by DazJohn.. and my answer is MAKE DAZ CONNECT OPTIONAL. KEEP ZIP FILES FOR EXPERIENCED USERS WHO WANT TO MANUALLY INSTALL THEIR CONTENT.
S.K.
The database gives you just as much control over your content that you bought. You control the database, it is on your computer. You can change it. There are two main differences in changing the database instead of the file location. Making changes to smart content through the database instead of moving files allows you to get updates to your content correctly without additional work. Whether that update is because of a bug or to give you a new feature, the update just works, you don't need to do anything more than just install the update. Changing the database instead of the folders gives you more power. You can make things show up based on what is selected, regardless of what is selected.
For example, you use the Cross Figure Tool on a product built for Genesis 2 Male. Now that product also works on Genesis 2 Female. You can remember it is located in your Genesis 2 Male folder structure, or you can duplicate the files into the Genesis 2 Female file location, or you can load up Genesis 2 Female, and simply drag and drop the files in Smart Content and the same files show up when you are looking for either Genesis 2 Male or Genesis 2 Female content.
+1
+2
I completely agree with this.
As a Carrara user (which is after all a DAZ product), I already can't use half of the new products that DAZ has available as it does not (yet?) support Genesis 3. If most new products are going to be tied to the DAZ Connect system, it looks like the other 50% won't be usable either. Which means that I will stop buying anything from DAZ. Which is surely not what you want?! I honestly want to be supportive of DAZ for many reasons, but I can see this causing a lot of pain for a lot of people.
+4
The whole thing is just there as a smoke screen. The core of it all is that Daz wants to DRM it all. Hey Daz, food for thoughts: if consumers say "Well s**t, I don't want DRM so I won't buy anymore stuff from Daz", tell me how this will "protect" the merchants? Piracy costs them sales, but no sales at all will cost them even more. You built a nice house with DS 4.8. Way to burn it down with DS 4.9.
All I can say is this if they are not willing to give their customers choice of how the obtain the content they purchased you can pretty much say that Daz Studio 4.9 and on could be the death knell for Daz.. No matter how hard they try to sugar coat and explain their reasonings behind this decision you would think by now with the gradual increase in peoples displeasure at what is to come you would think they would think twice..
I was all for 4.9 and the fixes it brought but I am not so sure now what to think of all this and I am now having second thoughts..
I'm another that doesn't use smart content ever, and moves various filesa round in my library. I do not wish to and will not change that - if that means giving up buying from DAZ, so be it. I said at Renderosity that a certain change in their last big store change meant that I wouldn't buy anything more from there until/unless they adressed that issue; they haven't and I I haven't bought anything from there since.
But another issue:
I quite often find myself going into the files in the data folder, and loading and editing various things in the dsf files. E.g. Finding the cause of the bug in the G2M/F and Genesis Muscualrity sets to do with the deltoid flex morphs and fixing them, which I eventually remembered to report in a forum thread, leading to the products being fixed for everyone (well, the G2F and M ones; the Genesis Evolution Muscularity morphs haven't been fixed ... SimonWM put something into his Genesis Alive update that fixes the problem for anyone who has both proiducts, but not for anyone with Genesis Evoltuion Muscularity but NOT Genesis Alive). This includes finding and fixing faults in products (surprisingly and rather depressingly common), and also editing files to change things I wish changed, or to re-purpose products away from their original design. Do I take it, then, that with these encrytpted versions downloaded with DAZ Connect I won't be able to aceess, load, examine and edit the data folder .dsf files? I won't be able to fix, expand or re-purpose products through editing the dsf morph, geometry and UV dsf files?
If that is the case then I will definitely never be buying any DAZ Connect only products.
Or can someone load a Connect-encrypted product, then save-as-asset to get a normal data folder unencrypted version whose files can then be examined and edited? But if that's possible, then why bother with the encryption at all?
I'm sorry - I've spent a lot of the last 11 years going into first Poser format files, then DSON format files to find faults and fix (very common, especially with products from the DAZ store), to adapt, to enhance, and to repurpose. If your remove the ability to do that, DAZ, then you WILL lose this customer.
(Mind you, as I'm not using G3F or buying anything more for her due to my previsouly stated exception to certain aspects of the geometry topology, and I imagine I'll have the same issues with G3M as and when, I suppose my futire purchases would be shrinking to just props and environment sets anyway.)
Hi. I'm a content creator.
My stuff gets stolen all of the time. :) Its true. And.. I can't do anything about it. But you know what.. its okay! My friends tell me that those people wouldn't have paid for something I spent 80 to 120 hours creating, anyway. They are just jerks who horde data. I should feel better about knowing that.
It wouldn't matter if I opposed, anyway. There is not a damn thing I can do about it.
Until now.
DAZ is my livelyhood. I'm sick of my work being ripped off. I understand that everyone has their preferred workflows. Thats cool. But you know what: For once I'm stepping in and defending my right not to be stolen from. Is this a change? You bet. Is it making some people uncomfortable? Sure. Change does that.
But on this one I've got to say the devs went above and beyond to put together a solution that means the content I make is actually protected. No one has done that for me before.
Thank you, developers. I always have and always will look at each of you as super hero magic makers. <3
A very happy content creator,
~Charlene
Bluebird 3D
The organization is confusing because it is not documented very well...or what documentation does exist is rather 'dated'.
Picking ONE reasonable and sane structure AND THEN ENFORCING it (along with ironclad documentation for it...) would go a lot further to reduce those type of problems. And there is a difference in what the files are as to whether or not they create problems if moved. If you really take a look at a lot of the missing/broken content complaints, a large chunk of them are going to be because of the 'split' content between the default for a manual install and the default location for a DIM install. Or they end up not being found because of nesting...which is caused by lack of a concrete, documented content structure. And another chunk are just because not all the included content has been downloaded.
Wrong...Smart Content only shows what the accompanying metadata says it works with, which is not necessariily what it will work with. In fact more often than not it is only a small fraction of what an item will work with.
I don't think encryption is a good idea. The 4.7 update crippled the "AoA Graphic Art Cameras", there were people submitting support tickets, it was never fixed, thanks to the fact that there were any encryption I could analize the product files and found out what was wrong and then came up with a fix. Up to this time there's still no solution from DAZ Support or the PA, so, encrypting content cuts any chance from producing our own fixes or tailor products to our liking.
As for the Smart Content is not useful to me 'cause it doesn't find all products or files, I query the database directly sometimes, I think queries to the database from Smart Content are wrong and I always end up using the Content Library or the file explorer. I do believe Smart Content needs a facelift but also a core reengineering. Maybe something like Spotify, it locates every single song file in their database and it's FAST. When you search for something it breaks down the results in songs, artists, albums, playlists, etc.
As for the DAZ Connect, I don't mind how content is delivery to me, but being behind a firewall most time of the day is a problem, I see the advantage of delivering only updated files instead of the full package.
I installed the update yesterday and these were my comments from what I saw.
Unfortunately someone out there will find a way around the encryption. You won't stop piracy I'm afraid.
+1 Charlene.
Probably, but at least the efforts trying to decode and avoid encryption will discourage thieves. Believe me it's not nice at all when you see your hard work published on most warez and torrent sites within 24 hours after the release.
I can symphasise with what you are thinking, as I am also a digital content creator. However, if you think this is going to stop piracy, then you will be disappointed. In fact, it might make it worse, since a pirated version would actually be more desirable to some since it will be human readable. Just look at the music industry and mp3 players, they tried this route that DAZ are proposing, but they realised that it does not work, so abandoned the idea.
So this IS DRM to protect Content Creators and NOT a more user friendly method for managing content which has been posited by Daz.., which is it.??? I am confused.
S.K.
And changes to that structure because something makes more sense is one reason it is such a mess.
You can change it simply enough if it isn't showing up as you want it to. Or without changing anything, in 4.9, there is a check box that you can uncheck. :)
Daz, you really need to stop telling us that this change will be good for us and it's better for us and we'll be happy. That's a Microsoft mentality. You don't know what's best for us.. we do! We've tried smart content, tried catagories. We don't like it! You want to encript files? For my part I don't care. But let Install Manager sent me the files to put where I want, not through DS. Don't send me the zips. Not a problem for me.
You say new content will be through DS and we have to use catagories but old content will still work the way we set it up. Ah! But then we have 2 places to be bouncing back and forth to when we want to use G3F or whoever. So use smart content? We don't want to! re-catagorize my old content so it's all together? Sure... I have weeks to re-do 3600 files, when it's already done and set up my way!
Yup Daz, it's sad and distressing to me but if this is the way you're going then new content via Connect won't be bought. It's a shame.
And what will you do for users who want to use the product in Carrara, Blender or Poser? What is happening here is that you will limit the purchased products to use in DAZ Studio only.
Daz is aware that its not a one time fix and that they will have to evolve to stay one step ahead of the pirates.
DAZ spookey, I feel,, you and DAZ team not understand why basic or new customer get trouble.
it is simple. because all luck of clear step by step kind document about current DS version.
eg file structure and file type. it is really important to play with DS and content.
you everytime migrate old and new document. DAZ can not organize document well.
and yes MJC you are right.
because of the 'split' content between the default for a manual install and the default location for a DIM install. Or they end up not being found because of nesting...which is caused by lack of a concrete, documented content structure.
about meta-data,, I can make original product meta-data, I can make user-data,
before, I push smart content, and DIM too. but DAZ offered miss meta-data about many product when they push
smart content. almost everyday I send support ticket, as meta-data bug report .
why smart content work without clean stable meta-data.? and why user can controll them without clear guide about daz CMS, meta-data, and database relation?
you just say, install, un-install meta-data user data. start cms stop cms. then show up them in smart content perfect!
but there is no clear official guide, how we manage them.
what is recoreded on user data. and where they are stored in which directory. so many new comer need to ask here or there.
they may give up easy. when user tweak data-base , it may cause problem but actually we record data from daz studio
when make meta-data for smrat content.
daz must needed offer clear guide how daz cms works . and how we keep it safety. or moidfy data of database if we need, easy .
DAZ just say export user-data, and re-import meta-data, user, data,, but it cause often mistake.
DAZ may better to show clear, where user data are stored, and what is user data, and how it is discribed in files
as official manual. (every user can find easy,, not need to ask where is document etc,,) then push user to make
meta-data (not simple user data, but original product data by user) for contents they get from other shop,
and their original or cusotimized content. then we can keep them safety, and we can manage it as we like.
we can use smart content as we like.
Then I think the major problem about this beta is not about smart content , with data base only.
because there are still many user who do not like smart content etc. he or she never use smart content. but they like daz studio
actually meta-data only work for daz native content without we make it, it is same about DIM too.
but we coulld controll them. by customize directory structure etc, and insttall content without DIM.
do not mind about meta-data if we do not like. do not need to use DIM if we do not like.
but this time,, DAZ seems push us to install new product to one new directory then force us to use smart content,
I am afraid, DAZ will finally force us to get only daz shop content or it cause many disadvantage,, I feel.
It might slow down pirates. It will definitely inconvenience users. It will definitely reduce the value of content by reducing customers' ability to utilize it.
I certainly won't be buying anything with DRM, but maybe I am one very small fish in a big pond. Only time will tell whether it's worthwhile to the merchants.
What makes more sense than a folder for the mesh data and folder for the texture data, organized by (pick a scheme and stick to it)? Then EXPLAIN what and why the rest of the folders/files are.
Yes, you can change it, but HAVING to change it is a bit different. No matter how you slice it, it is still limited to what the metadata says.
Hi Charlene,
There is little evidence to prove that DRM is effective in countering piracy. As several of us have stated in responces to 4.9 the evidence actually suggests that DRM increases piracy.
Im totally sympathetic, I can understand your frustration as an artist and vendor but holding your paying customer responsible for some thiefs wrongdoing is counter productive.
All Content sold at Daz 3D has, as part of the readme, a file list which shows where things are. The link to the readme is right in the DIM interface.
You can determine through DIM where, exactly, each piece of content you installed actually got installed. The DIM capability is documented right in the interface and is simple to find.
Since this is still the primary customer service ticket submitted, documentation did not provided the solution and the issue needed to be further addressed.
Greetings,
You know what? You don't give in to the bad guys, even if their victory is assured. You make it hard as hell for them to win, because then some of them will drop off.
No you're not, that's disingenuous and doesn't help the conversation. DAZ worked out what they feel is a more user friendly way to manage content, and realized that if they went that way, it was also possible to provide at-rest encryption that helps protect the artists who sell through the DAZ store. Both of these things can be true at the same time.
I have seen several people publicly quit the forums and DAZ (and actually stick to it!) because they, in one of their words, 'feel like 3D is database administration, not artwork'. Because they couldn't handle the constant stress of sorting where their files went. I can EASILY imagine that DAZ gets 40-50 support emails a month from new (and existing) users who have no idea where their content installed to. Hell, more than half the time I don't, but at least I know how to do the product, SKU, readme dance (or launch DIM, which I often forget to do). It sucks that I have to do that, as someone who's actually experienced with the program.
I'm not a fan of DRM. I've enjoyed being able to parse DUF files myself, and do interesting things with them, and I'm sad to see that go.
The absolutely shitty Poser-based directory structure, or having to manually sort and file over 5,000 installed products? To HELL with that. I'll take a FIXED Smart Content over that, any day. And Smart Content has been changed. I can't say if it's been fixed yet, but the ability to not only show stuff that's compatible with what's selected is a really good start.
-- Morgan
What makes sense for one, does not make sense for another.
Clearly you believed you had to change it in the past. Giving the customer more options and more power, while preserving the ability to update products without having to go hunt and helping solve the number one customer complaint strikes you as a bad idea?