No encrypted for me.
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Doesn't a large number of customers opting out of DS 4.9 & Daz Direct content also mean there is less money for Daz to roll out new features and figures, and less money for the artists to live, or that prices go up and the honest people pay more. I think so. Allot of us have been with DAZ since the beginning. feels like a slap in the face.
I've written more tech support tickets for 4.9 than all prior versions combined. The most vexing boil down to 'getting stuck needing to login' for things that used to be doable offline. All because Daz wanted a DRM system and therefore needed to mandate login for certain tasks and push for constant connection whenever possible.
Heh, just got an email from GOG, talking about new games in development that are DRM free. Not just ancient stuff pulled from the days of floppy disks but actual currently being worked on by developers games that have opted to go without DRM in a market where DRM is much more entrenched.
One of the big reasons for this is simply DRM is unpopular. One reason DRM is unpopular because sooner or later it hurts honest customers. Maybe not all of them, maybe not all the time, but it does.
As for stopping piracy? Not much of a success rate there. Sometimes it seems the presence of DRM actually spurs it on as people try to pirate the DRMed software as a challenge for bragging rights.
I hope the idea is that the market for this content is so small that nobody with the knowledge and tools to attempt breaking the encryption would notice or bother. I really hope that is the thinking. It may be hopelessly naive but at least it's not as bad as drm being imposed knowing it's worthless for it's stated purpose.
Because if this is about what DAZ_Steve said about keeping honest people honest, then it is a slap in the face to every one of us. Honest people don't need someone holding their hand to keep them honest.
And for those using the lock on a door analogy: This isn't about me having a lock on my front door. This is about letting someone else put a lock on my front door, and handing me a key that they can take away any time if I don't take specific precautions against it. They may say they won't but they hold all the power in that arrangement.
DAZ is a business, and even if I trust the people working there today, who can guarantee that I can trust the people working there tomorrow? With my current stuff I've got backups and can refer to the EULA they came with to provide at least a tiny crumb of protection against potential negative action. The new encrypted content could easily forbid me to reinstall until I accept a different EULA, something that happens rather frequently in other sectors. No matter that my offline computer has a key from it's rare time online, sooner or later I'd be in the position of accept the terms or be locked out. The DRM takes away my control and my protections, giving the company that holds nearly all the power in the arrangement even more power.
...response removed as off topic to discussion.
Apologies.
How many times does it need to be said before folks get the message; DAZ CONNECT IS OPTIONAL. I've updated to 4.9, told the software I don't want to use DAZ Connect and not to ask me again, and I'm using DIM just like I did before to download and install content. I have no interest in buying encrypted or otherwise "protected" content, and until DAZ makes Connect madatory for all users, I will not use it. If it ever bcomes mandatory, I won't upgrade to the version of the software that requires it.
Why can't daz release the Iray upgrade as a patch/upgrade to 4.8 without all the "smart content" & DAZ Connect stuff so us who stay with 4.8 aren't blocked out of the upgrade unless we install DS 4.9?
As explained by the previous post you do not need to use DAZ connect, and so what is the point of having a separate version without it? If you do not trust 4.9, and think it will still try to do something "bad", then why would you trust a version of 4.9 that was created without it, since both versions would be written by the same people, ie DAZ.
I feel like I'm some sort fo alien species because this is the common thing I hear and yet I find Blender to be so incredibly natural and logical (and also customisable.) That said while the figures thing is really interesting, there are definite advantages to Daz figures (lots of textures would be the most obvious one, but also clothing etc if you're into that.
Are you sure about that?
I don't use Smart Content. I only use the Content tab and arrage all my own stuff manually where I want it. If I install DS 4.9 wil it screw up my Content layout? It seems others are having real problems with this on install. Seperate problem than DAZ Connect.
There's a lot of mention of "pirate sites" and downloads, etc; of how encryption won't stop that; and of how these aren't lost sales anyway. All largely true, I expect.
However, I suspect that there may be quite a bit of "casual" file sharing amongst some of the user base, in the sense of multiple installations (of content) on computers of family and friends. No great criminal malice intended (just some pretty models for the kids and uncle Bob to play with, etc), but breaking the EULA and probably hitting sales. Encryption/DRM could largely stop that.
However, I still think the "piracy" angle is a distraction. I believe the main purpose of encryption/DRM long-term is simply to enable DAZ to retain control of the content. Software as a subscription service is where commercial software is headed now, with the assent of the majority it seems. If DAZ heads in the same direction it should be no surprise. They may not do so, but getting the customer base acclimatised to encryption/DRM certainly facilitates it.
Software subscription is not wrong or evil. But it's not where I want to go.
I don't use Smart Content. I only use the Content tab and arrage all my own stuff manually where I want it. If I install DS 4.9 wil it screw up my Content layout? It seems others are having real problems with this on install. Seperate problem than DAZ Connect.
And then what? They maintain and support 2 official versions of DS forever, one without Connect and one with it? Because next time a new feature gets added, you can bet that the people who don't want Connect will ask why they can't have that added to "their" version too...
Well, you can stil do them in batches by multi-seelction, you don't have to go one-by-one.
You still have the files on your hard drive, they're just stored in a different place.
He certainly didn't at the time he talked about Genesis 3 support since we had never heard about Connect then ;)
Remember that subscription works best where what you are paying for is mostly the software itself. That is the case with Windows and Office, and also the case with Photoshop and Adobe's other apps. The problem a lot of these companies are grappling with is that once their software had reached the point that it already does what most users want, how do you get people to upgrade, and without upgrades, how can you ensure a continous revenue stream? The answer was to rent the software rather than sell it. However the business model of DAZ is very different, they give the software away and sell the content, so since they already have a continous revenue stream, what possible reason would they have of switching to a subscription based model?
Wait, where is that? I hold down shift and click the highlight moves to what I clicked on. Ctrl click is the same. Is there some special method?
Oh, and could you kill my doubled post please? Been doing this all from my phone including manually adding paragraph tags and such because it can't handle most of the forum features.
Some people have had problems with the update not keeping their custome categories or metadata. If you don't use smart content or categories it shouldn't have any impact on your library.
...and this frustrates me to no end.
Bryce uses fractal generation, which makes for very realistic formations. Sad that it is still stuck in the 32 bit world, which for 3D CG work has pretty much been left in the dust.
Hexagon has such a nice clean and elegant UI as well as very comprehensive toolset and best of all, is a standalone modeller rather than being just another tab in some "Swiss Army Knife" application. It is an excellent programme that is sorely hamstrung by instabilities and bugs, as well as being only 32 bit. Hex has been left to languish in this form (with only one very minor update) since I came aboard eight years ago (and paid a fairly substantial price for it).
I agree. A subscription system for content would be a nightmare to setup, since most of the content in the store belongs to individual PAs: how would you share the revenue between them? You could imagine that if all items were DAZ Originals I suppose, but I doubt DAZ could afford to buy all the content from the store upfront. And having a subscription for only part of the content doesn't make sense.
Ah, I'd thought it was one of the 4.9 beta threads. Thanks.
Perhaps the 3D human figure market is also reaching the point that it already does what most users want.
Where are you selecting them? Since you have the metadata back I assumed you were in the products list in Smart Content, which will show and allow selection of multiple items.
...they may as well just sell them off to someone who would actually do something with them. After all Daz acquired Bryce from Corel in 2004, and Hexagon (along with Carrara) when they acquired Eovia in 2006. As their Flagship Studio application began to grow (particularly after the release of 4.0), interest in development of the other programmes seriously waned. Even Carrara seems to have taken its seat in the "rear of the bus".
I think it was before that, but I might not remember it correctly.
I distinctly remember reading that they were purchased to make sure that no one else did anything with them (this isn't unique to Daz, lots of companies and people do this "drag everyone else down" type thing.)
For anyone interested, the post from rbtwhiz concerning both Genesis 3 in Carrara and DAZ Connect support in Carrara can be found here http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/944221#Comment_944221
...since the 4.7 update, AoA's effects Cameras and Advanced Lights have been crippled (as I understand by changes to some bricks in the Shader Mixer). This remained an issue through two updates to the Studio programme (4.7 & 4.8) before a third party (other than the PA) provided scripts to get two of the effects Cameras (Graphic Art and Colour Cameras) to work again. As I understand, the issue with the Advanced Lights and flagging SSS surfaces is admittedly much more complicated and thus most likely looks as if it will not be dealt with. This is a sad situation for it makes 3DL less attractive since the other option, UE, can involve extremely long rendering times, even longer than CPU mode rendering in Iray.