No encrypted for me.
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Uhm.... huh? Maybe I'm slow, but I don't see what you're on about (and even if I did, it'd be an entirely different discussion on a different forum).
You didn't know that your Windows operating system is DRM locked?
Both Windows and Mac OS use DRM. Unless you are on a Nexus Phone, so does your Smart Phone, Android or iPhone.
Cross posted.
well my latest expperiment with that DragonQueen armour decided it for me
and obj reimport fitted to genesis using transfer utility freezes up carrara as a clothing item fit to genesis
I have never had that before
carrara just hates that mesh full stop regardless of how I use it, is something off about it
I have successfully fitted other G3F clothing in DS and saved as a support asset wardrobe and can even load most as is in Carrara
its still trying to fit it, I may see if it does eventually but there is more to this than meets the eye, never seen anything like it
and then it finally loaded ......still too flakey for me
And people routinely run into problems with that DRM and root/jailbreak their phones. Do you really think Microsoft and Apple never hear complaints about their DRM? There are all kinds of tools and tutorials to circumvent it. Not for piracy but so legit users aren't locked out of their content.
Anyhow,I'm getting a sense that everyone at DAZ loves the DRM and the opinion from on high is that if the customers don't like it then that's tough cookies because DRM is DAZs future. If that's the case then just let me know. I'll get refund requests in for my orders in the last 30 days, and I'll want my account deleted from your systems. If Daz can't trust me with the content I've purchased, then I don't think I can trust them with my information and payment methods.
I really hope this is still a decision under consideration, but the way every DAZ rep is playing the 'DRM is great' drum makes me feel very much like it's too late already.
I do have some questions: This doesn't mean I'm jumping in---the loss of freedom of how I access my files is really unforgivable. I've spent a total of $5.51 on encrypted only files which I can live without using until either I give in or DAZ does. I guess DAZ never heard of KISS.
I read that the database format changes as part of the installation. Will this affect Studio 4.8 if you try to go back to it? How does the change in format affect the files I have 'ready to download' in DIM? There are over 7000 of them.
During installation does it add the metadata for ALL your products? How long would it take for over 13,300 products on an average machine?
All I am going to say is that I have never voiced an opinion either way. I answered a question with the statement you quoted.
it is working now but honestly I have spent more time fiddling finding ways to use the item than I have modeling something from scratch and rigging it, the UV mapping I fixed by exporting an obj with tiles collased sio that was probably the new system at play, I would rather refit old M4 V4 and even older stuff than fight the connect encypted stuff to be honest. I hates the textures not in my library too.
That would be quite difficult to do though: they still need content creators to be able to create new items, and when you create new content it has to be unencrypted or nobody else can use it....
4.9 uses new tables, the data are copied to those when you open it the first time. So your 4.8 data doesn't change.
And so is my Vue content. Still a different conversation.
Spooky? Is this or is it not DRM. If it's just encryption why did DAZ make it so complicated?
Sorry, but I do find some of what is being said here a bit amusing. I've often thought of this hobby being a bit like an addiction for many people (may have to add myself to that list after spending way too much last year). So reading posts from people saying they are dead set against encrypted content and will never but any in one post, then latter saying that it's OK that I got "X" or "Y" because it was "free" (or DAZ free where you pay to get something free), or really really cheap, and it was something I 'needed" anyway.
Just like the old saying with a drug dealer - the first hit is free, the second is "cheap", but once your hooked you are glad to pay full price (or more). Seriously though, by getting whatever encrypted item it is, for whatever reason, you are clearly sending a message that you are not 100% against encryption, because you will accept it under the proper terms. So ..... if you find that it isn't as bad as you thought, then you will probably be tempted and falter again, and again, and again
Before I get tarred and feathered, I apologize for warped sense of humor, I worked with law enforcement for many many years, and that is one of the side effects.
I think what many would like is some indication as to what is going on.
Is this set in stone as the future of DAZ products?
Are the people responsible for this decision even getting this feedback? If all they do is look at sales figures to decide then they do this community a disservice by dismissing our input.
I don't mean to rail on you, but so far you're the only ear DAZ has given us to talk at. It gets frustrating because it feels like no one is even trying to see the point being made here.
I've lost content before, not because the provider went out of business (I think we'd notice if Microsoft had done that) nor temporarily due to an overloaded server, but simply because the provider just didn't care anymore.
I don't want a system where I'm one authorization glitch away from losing everything. Till now DAZ was a viable way to avoid that if Poser locked me out. And since the poser content wasn't encrypted even if Poser went away, someone could make an alternative. With Daz opting for encrypted content, they lock out any alternative. As well as any other potential development outside their walls.
I repeat, in case anybody missed it. *I'm* not against encryption (full blown DRM is another matter) But...
Will somebody explain the necessity of each product being stored as its own runtime? With a filename that is the product ID. That can't be installed where we want it and FORCES us to use Smart Content? Why?
Has anybody at DAZ tested this using Smart Content with, say, even 7000 products without categorization?
Thanks! Is it the data for every product you own (er license)?
One: Optitex dynamic cloth. 'Nuff said on that.
Two: As I understand it, only certain Daz approved people can make HD morphs. So they've done this before.
Really not that hard to see them encrypting everything and only working with their approved vendors. Maybe reach out to a few they see in other markets as vendors move on. The vendor list looks huge, but if you take out anyone who hasn't produced anything in the last couple years it goes to a more manageable number. Just add the right clauses to an updated vendor agreement and they're good to go. They might lose a few in the changeover, but they've had vendors leave before, some rather angrily.
For all we know they might already have the requisite changes in the vendor agreement backed by NDA to keep them quiet on the subject. I don't think so as I think I recall a PA saying they wouldn't let their product be encrypted, but I can't find that at the moment.
That makes updates and uninstalling easier: if all the files for a product are in a special directory and can't be moved by the end user then the program knows exactly where they are and what it can delete / update.
They provide this products to DAZ and DAZ release them as encrypted content. But I think, that they don't give their products to DAZ and don't see any money for this. When they get a few cents from any sale, then they get less money, when only a few buy encrypted products. If that was okay for the vendors ...
It creates a product specific name space for files to live. What happens, and is kind of cludgy, is often times a file with the same path and name will exist in multiple products. It might be something as simple as a readme or a vendor icon, but has been things which actually affect the 3d model itself. So when one product that expects one version of the file loads it up, it doesn't work right because it got overwritten by a different product. By seperating it out, it allowed for us guaranteeing that files the product self references are the ones that came with the product. Additionally, if one of those products gets a metadata update about the file, then you have two conflicting sets of metadata for it and no clear "winner" of which one is right. It also gives us a very fast and efficient way to say "Uninstall X product" and be able to remove an entire folder without having to go through ever single file that is associated to the product, see if there are other products that also provide it, see if they are installed to the same runtime or not, etc. The file structure that is currently being used by connect is to reduce complexity and make it much less error prone for content management actions such as install, uninstall, updates, etc.
We test with a lot of different scenarios, including on accounts that have access to every item in the store to see how it performs and works in the most extreme of cases in terms of quanitty of content.
If it's a buyout, the creators are paid once upfront and then the item belongs to DAZ to do with as they see fit
At least we are the customers and it's in our hand to leave the encrypted products in the store.
They get a flat amount of money when DAZ buys the product. After that DAZ owns the product and all the money from sales in the store goes to DAZ.
For PA products it's different, part of the money goes to DAZ and part to the PA.
Well, that's a lousy tradeoff. And what does that have to do with encryption?
Might not even be someone at DAZ. If they were trying to partner with someone for some reason, DRM could be a condition of the partnership. Same goes for trying to get investors.
Sorry about the long answer, but I don't know another way to do this.
I should just point to the FAQ, which is where the official answer is, but I am going to do my best to answer this directly. (Though I am reminded of the opening scene in Demolition Man.)
Why did Daz make this so complicated? The related question might also be, could things have been messaged differently? It is a complicated subject, I seriously doubt it could have been messaged in a way that wasn't complicated. It might have been messaged differently, but I don't see that it would have made much of a difference. :)
Is this DRM? Depends on the definition of DRM you wish to use, there is very little black and white on the subject, it is mostly gray.
Encrypted content is, obviously, encrypted. Can it, because it is encrypted, be considered a form of DRM? Possibly, depending on the definition of DRM you wish to use.
Most obviously defined instances of DRM requires it to check against a disk, a dongle, or go online to use the DRM protected software, this does not. Less restrictive DRM requires periodic checking against a server somewhere, this also does not.
Daz has been shipping encrypted content for years, (Scripts) yet nobody has said those are DRM files. .DAZ files required the correct version of DS to read, yet nobody has said that was an instance of DRM either.
This falls somewhere between the obvious instances of DRM that I cited and Daz Studio Script files. Where it fits is more based on opinion than some hard and fast rule.
Everyone has an opinion on this, everyone also has a different priority as to whether this really makes a difference or not to them. I am not dismissing anyone's opinion on it.
Unfortunately that is about as good as an answer gets on this subject.
The difference being that to use the previously encrypted files you did not need to connect to the internet, obtain a specialized key, and then check that key against the file.
A function which, at least for me, does not work. And only results in repeated "your system has changed" messages.
It also solves the number one customer service issue, which is "I can't find my stuff." Customer service can show them where it is.
It has absolutely nothing to do with encryption.