Heads up! New release on the horizon, time to save a way back
namffuak
Posts: 4,403
Heads up! New release on the horizon, time to save a way back to 4.10 if you want it.
There have been three 4.11 beta releases pretty much on top of each other (April 17, May 14, and May 29). Significantly we now have 'Strand Based Hair' (SBH). In addition, we have at least one vendor showing off the PA-only upgrade to SBH - dForce hair over here. There are probably others in the pipeline and they will (probably) not be released to us until 4.11 goes live.
Once 4.11 goes live access to the current 4.10 release will go away - so if you want a way back, you need to pro-acively keep a copy of 4.10 yourself.
If you use DIM for the install and still have the files, make a copy of these outside your DIM download directory:
IM00009032-01_DynamicClothingControlforDAZStudio410Win32bit.dsx
IM00009032-01_DynamicClothingControlforDAZStudio410Win32bit.zip
IM00009032-02_DynamicClothingControlforDAZStudio410Win64bit.dsx
IM00009032-02_DynamicClothingControlforDAZStudio410Win64bit.zip
IM00010673-01_DecimatorforDAZStudio410Win32bit.dsx
IM00010673-01_DecimatorforDAZStudio410Win32bit.zip
IM00010673-02_DecimatorforDAZStudio410Win64bit.dsx
IM00010673-02_DecimatorforDAZStudio410Win64bit.zip
IM00013173-01_GoZforDAZStudio410Win32bit.dsx
IM00013173-01_GoZforDAZStudio410Win32bit.zip
IM00013173-02_GoZforDAZStudio410Win64bit.dsx
IM00013173-02_GoZforDAZStudio410Win64bit.zip
IM00013176-01_DAZStudio410Win32bit.dsx
IM00013176-01_DAZStudio410Win32bit.zip
IM00013176-02_DAZStudio410Win64bit.dsx
IM00013176-02_DAZStudio410Win64bit.zip
IM00013176-45_InteractiveLessonsforDAZStudio410.dsx
IM00013176-45_InteractiveLessonsforDAZStudio410.zip
IM00016558-01_AlembicforDAZStudio410Win32bit.dsx
IM00016558-01_AlembicforDAZStudio410Win32bit.zip
IM00016558-02_AlembicforDAZStudio410Win64bit.dsx
IM00016558-02_AlembicforDAZStudio410Win64bit.zip
IM00016684-01_MeasureMetricsforDAZStudio410Win32bit.dsx
IM00016684-01_MeasureMetricsforDAZStudio410Win32bit.zip
IM00016684-02_MeasureMetricsforDAZStudio410Win64bit.dsx
IM00016684-02_MeasureMetricsforDAZStudio410Win64bit.zip
The windows explorer search string (on 8.1 anyway) is *DAZStudio410 (and if you're using the photoshop bridge it should show up with that search- I don't own it)
Alternatively you can (until the release of 4.11) go to your product library and search (filter) studio 4.x pro and any other DAZ plugins not part of the bundle.

Comments
Thanks, you made it so easy.
n00b here... I searched for "IM00009032-01_DynamicClothingControlforDAZStudio410Win32bit.dsx" on my harddrive and didn't get any results. Perhaps because I'm using a mac? Anybody know what the mac equivalent is?
OK, stupid related question.
If the computer that you are using for Daz doesn't have an internet connection, will there be a way to do an offline install of the new version, as a separate install of course?
After some malware/rootkit shennanigans a while back, I've air-gapped my primary Daz Studio system from the internet, and have no intentions of attaching it to the internet ever again. Probably a bit drastic on my part, but i absolutely do NOT want my Daz computer being [corrupted].
Edited for profanity
...thank you for the notification. Saving 4.10 now.
It would be rather rash to make a full public release so soon after introducing a major new feature (like strand-based hair). But if that does happen, it's certainly worth taking a back up of the installer for 4.10 since the new public release may be a bit buggy due to a limited time in beta for the bugs to pop out. Hope it isn't released too early, that never ends well.
There used to be a joke back in the days of MS/DOS: never buy the .0 version, always wait for .1.
Cheers,
Alex.
IM00009032-03_DynamicClothingControlforDAZStudio410Mac32bit.dsx
You do have the dynamic clothing plugin?
I have installed older versions with DIM simply by uninstalling the current version, replacing the DS ZIP installer and related DSX file in the "downloads" folder with the old ones temporarily, and then find DS in DIM and install it again. So I assume you can do the same with newer versions as well, if you have the related DSX file (the one from a different version will probably not work). Just be sure not to go online again until after you have installed the old version, as DIM will update the old version with the latest again as soon as it goes online and updates the file list.
hmm..I only have 11 of those files on my system after a search. Perhaps I didn't DL the 32 bit files, but even then should be more. will need to compare.
Some people run into issues - and start looking for a way back. The official line from Daz is there is no way back unless you prepare it yourself. This is the prep.
That is for the old dynamic cloth and was (is?) an extra cost add-on.If you haven't purchased it you won't have it.
And Daz has this covered in spades! The beta is version .380 . . .
Please excuse my being thick.
Could someone explain what all this means in very simple terms?
Am I right in thinking a new version of Daz Studio is coming,and once released one will not be able to access the existing one?
Will the new version cause issues? Or just MIGHT cause issues?
Will there be a difference in what specs one needs to run it?
This sounds complicated. I am not very well and struggling to think properly at the moment. Sorry.
Yes once installed in DIM unless you save the ZIP you cannot go back likewise any updated plugins
manual downloads you have your installers
mostly it’s OK but sometimes it can be an issue such as needing a newer Nvidia driver my other software could not use or a third party plugin being broken
and a pretty big one
dsa files might not load especially Optitex dynamic ones!
When a new version of Daz Studio is released, you want to make sure that you update your plugins along with it so that they are all of the same version. Old version of plugins may not work correctly with newer versions of Daz Studio and have been known to cause issues..
However, you dont have to upgrade if you dont want to. The stable release of Daz Studio can co-excist on the same computer as the beta version. So if you want to remain with Ds 4.10.0.123 (or older) yet still use the newer features that are comming, just have both versions installed.
I will agree that you should always keep a personal back up of all your installers incase you need them.
As for the current beta, as long as you are running Nvidia drivers 4.18 and up, you will be fine as there was an update to Iray that needs the newer drivers.
.daz, not .dsa, were the problem - the latest beta is meant to have resolved this (for files that worked in 4.10.0.123); if you still have problems with the beta but not the release please report the issues. .daz files have always been prone to issues, with older files not opening beyond a certain point in the updates, which was why the format changed to .duf/.dsf.
Yeah sorry meant .daz
will admit not tried in beta I installed yesterday yet
If you install manually, it's not an issue, because you can just arcive the installer and use it later.
However, if you install manually, you have to wait for the official release, since the beta is not available for manual installation.
Correct - Daz only provides 2 versions of Studio - the current release - 4.10.0.123 and the current beta now 4.11.0.380; The moment that Daz announces that 4.11 ia available as a general release 4.10.0.123 will no longer be available. And there might be issues - any non-trivial software will have bugs. Daz does what they can to avoid them, but there are so many options and features in Studio that testing all combinations just isn't feasible.
As I understand it - each build goes through automated regression testing and then in-house alpha testing. The builds that survive this get passed tto the small group of beta testers under nda. This continues until Daz determines that the new feature(s) are nearing ready for release. That's when the beta gets turned loose to the rest of us. And after several iterations this beta goes live. The more people that play with the pre-release beta the better the chances of a trouble-free release.
There may be difference in the requirements to run the new release - these are usually called out on the first post of the release announcement. Here's Rob's post on the beta requirements.
The advice given is valid, but, as some have pointed out, it has become difficult to predict when the current beta version of DAZ Studio will become a General Release, since new features seem to be added to the beta before the bugs are worked out of existing features. Since version 4.10.123 (current General Release) isn't going to change, then backing it up now while it is still available isn't a bad idea. But when a new General Release is coming, well a picture is worth a thousand words:
Just to add another sunny point of biew to this, if you have the Octane plug-in under the 'old' licence scehme and, like me, so not intend to 'upgradfe' to their new subscription licence scheme you will be left using the version 4 of OcDS so when a newer version of DS is released with an updated SDK ithen OcDS may cease to work - the developer has said he intends to re-compile, or whatever it is that needs doing as and when that happens, so we can but hope.
I get all my updates through the DIM, including the DS Betas and nothing is installed automatically. I do it all manually. In the DIM, you can tell it to NOT install after download.
Thanks for the advice, Namffuak! All the backups are done.
Can I suppose the General Release will be up about next monday?
May I ask why you woulld think that its so close to release?
I always keep backups, but it is nice to get a reminder.
I was curious when I took the backup of 4.10.0.123 - 31/03/2018. I have numerous 4.11 betas, and of course 4.9, 4.8 and earlier, although fewer of those
I use DIM and I found the easiest way to save a backup (imo) is to save the files to a backup directory when they come available. I then copy from the backup directory to the DIM downloads directory to install. If I want to get back, (and I've done this several times,) I just go to the backup folder for the older version and copy/paste those files. DIM actually makes it really easy to do.
This will ensure you always have a backup of the files. I have a backup for every release since 4.9.3.166, and every beta since 4.9.3.117. (I suppose I really should purge some of those!)