My Daz4.9 Test
IceDragonArt
Posts: 12,900
Several people had asked me to post my thoughts and results of the test I did on my work computer for 4.9 so here are my thought.
Things I liked
1. Icons are bigger and easier to read. This is a big plus I can easily see exactly what each item is.
2. Dim still works exactly as it did
3. My custom categories work perfectly (after 2 weeks). I do NOT move my files I just create custom categories) My smart content tab pulls up my custom categories unless I use the default tab or all tab
4. Connect was easy to use and downloading the encrypted freebies I used for the test pretty much went off without a hitch
5. It was relatively easy to figure out how to get the encrypted items into my custom categories, I believe it was just one extra step right click and select show in content category. It automatically goes to the category and from there you can put it in your custom categories as usual. (I know a couple of people who have had their custom categories disappear though so please, back them up first)
6. Iray hasn't crashed yet
7. I still have 3 choices as to what style I want to use Darkside, Main Street and Highway
Things I don't like
1. DRM products. I won't buy them have had bad experiences in the past. I will use the freebies as the only thing I would lose is the use of something I didn't pay for. The stuff I do pay for....isn't going
to be DRM if I can help it. (personal preference, please don't debate this here)
2. It takes a while for the smart content tab to load and it took longer to download via connect than DIM does. (Roadrunner High Speed Business Class) I know other people have the opposite experience
3. I don't have any desire to shop while I am working and doubt that I will ever use the store tab. However, its unoptrusive and easily ignored.
4. I dislike that if I have a system change or get a new computer I have to reverify. Yes I know its only once each time but there are a ton of variables with internet usage. We camp. A lot. If something happened and we don't have internet I would be out of luck until back in the real world. That would make me very very unhappy.
5. The new items I have purchased and downloaded are no longer highlighted. This is actually a big deal. I have a TON of stuff and having to wade through it all and remember the 15 items I just downloaded and then find them is sincerely slowing me down.
6. I still don't like Smart Content. I dislike it slightly less but its still a jumbled mess. I will stick to my custom categories because they work for me. I will be trying different ways of searching just to see if it improves using different search terms. I had a very hard time finding Lynsey to download through connect in the smart content pane. Took me about 5 minutes. and yes, I did type in Lynsey.
7. I don't know how well Garibaldi Hair script or Look at My hair (full version) work in 4.9 as I am not loading those to this computer. The Skin Builder script works just fine
So, overall, for my purposes I will probably move to 4.9 in the near future (I have a backed up version of 4.8, just in case). I will probably do the pc first and see how that is for the next couple of weeks. If all goes well again, I will load the laptop. I won't be purchasing the DRM products on prinicipal however my biggest issues, which were being able to continue using my custom categories is resolved in a favorable manner. I realize that this does not help people who move actual files or people who need to get into those files for one reason or another but for those people who don't do those things but are undecided I hope this was a little bit helpful.
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Comments
Thanks for posting this, Sonja. I have no plans to make the move to 4.9 in the near future unless I test it out and it is actually easier to get working under Linux than 4.8 has been. I haven't had any problems with Iray crashing on those few products that everyone else has had so it isn't important for me to move on yet when 4.8 works perfectly well on my system. And since I'm trying to make the move to Linux and completely get rid of Windows, I have no incentive to really upgrade unless it works better in Linux.
I'm slowly doing my own custom categories for all of my stuff of which I have a ton so it is taking awhile. I really hate Smart Content and had made the move to just using the Content Folder tab, which I found easier and quicker to use than Smart Content especially since it refuses to show over half of the products that I know I own. I found that even if I have to do a quick search for the exact name of a product that is was easier to use than Smart Content which I have never managed to get working the way they say it is suppose to work. But, unless it is something I've installed outside of DIM like freebies and products from other sites, all of my files stay right where DIM puts them so I should be good like you if I do make the move in the future. I already have backups of my old install files with the exception of 4.6 (may still have that on the laptop, though, but haven't checked yet) and a very helpful lady at customer service helped me get AoA Graphic Arts Camera working in 4.8, even the broken ones, so I'm good there and no need to go back to 4.6 unless I can't figure out a similar fix for his Atmospheric Cameras. Still looking to fix that one, I think the fix will be similar to the Graphic Arts Camera.
As for the DRM content, I won't buy any of that because I don't have plans to upgrade and have no use for the DRM products. I don't really have an opinion on DRM and don't wish to debate that either even if I did have an opinion. I just don't buy DRM period. Makes my life so much easier to not have to stress about what happens when things go horribly wrong. I would much rather ignore the whole issue which is was what I've been doing by not reading any of the threads having having anything to do with the subject and my opinion or non-opinion isn't going to sway DAZ one way or the other. I have better more fun things to do than to get into a debate about things like that. I have 'bought' the free items, but they will sit there in the cloud somewhere for who knows how long as I can't use them in 4.8.
I do have a question, when you say that new items are no longer highlighted, what does that mean? Have they lost that 'new' sticker that is on items until you've played with them or are you talking about the blue color DS gives to some of the folders under Content Library where it says DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats? If the 'new' tag on products has gone away, I don't think I would like that. That tag helps me figure out what toys I might like to try out in my library because I haven't played with them yet. That would be bad. The other, the blue color in the folders, I usually ignore because I usually use the Products Tree in the Content Folder. It actually took me awhile to figure out what that was doing. Although, I think that both the 'new' tag and the blue color tag are related and when one goes they both go, but I'm not sure about that one.
The New tag is still there, just the blue highlight on folders with new items is gone. I miss it, but I do agree it was buggy sometimes.
Ya I miss it too. It was so easy to find the new stuff. Not so much now lol. Maybe they can figure out a way for the new items to be highlighted for the next release.
I simply switch the sort order in the Product tab to "Oder date" and newest first. That way all my recent purchases appear at the top of the list and I can go to the files from there. That works pretty well for me.
TD
I will have to give that a try, never even noticed that lol. That could prove to be most helpful.
The NEW tags are still there on the thumbnails, its just the blue highlight that is gone. My custom categories took umm a long time lol. I lost them all early on and had to redo them and I think it took me over 2 weeks to put it all back together on both the pc and laptop. And I have more content now. Which is cross referenced for kit bashing lol. (for instance, lets say I have an outfit that has boots, a dress, a necklace and a bow. The whole lot goes under Genesis 2 Female/Clothing/Dresses and the boots also go into Genesis 2 Female/Clothing/Boots & Shoes, the Bow goes under Weapons/Bows etc.) So if I need a pair of boots for Gen2F I hop over to the boots and shoes and can take my pick of whatever is their\\re without hunting. and both the daz and poser side of things freebie and paid for are all arranged together neatly. It really is a beautiful thing...lol
You can type group::new in the filter box to show only new items in Smart Content and the Presets tabs in paarmeter/surface settings panes.
That's very useful. It would be nice if Studio would remember your last setting, but it always defaults back to A-Z.
Also useful thank you
That's apparently is/will be fixed in a version currently in testing.
Loaded 4.9 to my main pc last night and so far all is well, custom categories are all as they should be. I have an iray spot render lock up for about 5 minutes but I just ignored it and it eventually cleared and I was able to continue working