Daz Studio 4.9 Beta Now Available..
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Except that M7 is not yet late by the standards of previous generations.
Not quite correct. The content is still on your local machine. You can back up your content locally. You do not need to connect to the Internet to use, or even restore your content from a backup you have made.
Never mind, the post I was replying to aparently wasn't correct.
But we won't be downloading ZIP's anymore, right?
For existing content, or new content downloaded through DIM/Product Library there will of course be no change between 4.8 and 4.9.
For any Daz Connect products you have installed they would be able to share the files on a local file share as long as the machines that are accessing that content have connected at least once. The tricky part of this one is that the databases about the files would get out of sync and we are planning but have not yet implemented a way for Daz Connect to refresh the database contents based on the filesystem in a completely offline manner. As further beta builds get pushed out there be sure to check the changelog for this to be implemented and confirm that it works for your particular use case.
Not really relevant. Do you believe format is more important than how the content is used?
I think you will find that I referred to Poser's License Activation in an earlier posting. That is also a royal pain and in fact shows why this current plan is so ill thought out.
As to your promise about content being licensed forever. All I will say is that you don't implement a DRM system like this unless you build in the ability to expire previously downloaded products. It's going to happen sooner or later, don't you worry. For example, what about a product that suddenly becomes the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit? DAZ are not going to immediately delete all of the downloaded copies of it, in order to comply with a court order? They will hit that Remote Delete button quicker than you say DAZ Connect!
I know there isn't a timetable for these things. What I'm saying is how could DAZ turn down this golden opportunity to force their customers into DRM by making G3M/M7 a DS4.9-only product? Honestly, who would? It's a perfect scenario.
So will we be downloading over and over? If I use an item in a scene once, will I have to download it again if I want to use it again? If the answer is yes, some of us couldn't do that.
Some ISPs restrict downloads to X gigs per month.
I have Cloud items for other programs, but if I download it once, it's there on my HD, so I can access it again if I need to.
As far as the updater goes, could there be a "you have updates for X items. Do you want to download them now?" button?
Some of us just have to stay within a certain gig download range. No way around it.
Well it is relevant, actually. Without the ability to keep a backup copy of the product that you've paid for, be it ZIP, RAR or CD-ROM, what do you do WHEN the DAZ Cloud goes down? I think that was at the heart of some of the earlier questions being asked about this scheme.
One thing about clouds: there are a lot of them around, and they have a habit of dropping crap on people's heads.
No.
You can still back up your data and your database locally. In fact I, personally, recommend it. The format of the things you are backing up is not relevant.
I believe they're both equally important.
Part of why I prefer manually installing content is because I like deleting files I don't need. For example, starter bundles come with content designed to give new users something to toy around with while learning how to use the software. I don't need any of it. After downloading the ZIP file, I install it in a Test folder used to examine the content's folder structure, delete what I don't need, and then re-organize the rest. I then cut/paste my newly customized content to my main content folder.
My understanding is that I won't be able to do that anymore. I can arrange, rename, and delete my own Categories from within DAZ to my heart's content, but all of the unwanted files will still take up space on my drive.
This might go better, guys, if we didn't assume the absolute worst about Daz's intentions and capabilities.
It's kinda hard not to when the FAQ includes statements like, "New products will begin to migrate toward a Daz Connect-only delivery."
A "cloud" is just another name for a remote server. I think they've already made clear that you download all the content to your own computer, and that you validate the use of the content through authenticating your computer to your account. The files are not going to be stored any differently then they are now, they'll reside on your local hard drive, the whole thing would be way too slow otherwise. You're going to back them up just the way you're doing now, and you are going to restore them the same way. You may have to reauthenticate the program when you are done if you had to restore that. Oh BTW, Poser support just got completely officially dropped (ahem).
The only question I have is can I move the script files around the way I do now after downloading without breaking the system, that is, can I set up a directory structure for /Genesis3 Female/Clothes/Skimpware, /Genesis3 Female/Casual Clothes, etc and move the script folders into them, or am I stuck with the original directory structure? I do realize I will be breaking smart content, I am doing that now with gay abandon. It also means I have to do some manual adjustments with updates. Will that still be possible?
Sadly, there is a reason why folks assume the worst. (I say that knowing that Daz's Customer Service - my only real measure of Daz as a company - is top notch.)
Right. So product install files do not exist in the DAZ 4.9 world. There's only your Content Database and your Content Library. The files that constitute the "product" are files stored all over the cloud; I can see how that works and how it's good for DAZ, but what would you prefer? Backup your content ZIP files so that, even in the worst case scenario, you can manually extract them? or backup your entire Content Library every time you install a new product. OK, you can do incremental backups, but that starts to become one very complex system after the simplicity of a repository of ZIPs.
As I said, this IS relevant and it WILL affect the way people work. I don't like it, but I'm sure there are many who will be absolutely salivating at this wonderful new technology!
You are of course correct; folks are here (because they've already been affected) by the mere fear of what might happen. Whatever the actuality brings, well we'll see.
Well looking over at http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/64736/daz-studio-pro-beta-version-4-9-0-21/p6 and DAZ_Rawb's post it seems we will be able to download a encrypted archived file and a single authorization file unique to the user of the product the user has purchased..
Quoted from his post:
2. For users that want a single file they can download for a product we are building that option right now. It is my fault that this feature has not yet been implemented, I prioritized features that would improve the online experience first. You will be able to download (and backup) a package file (I don't want to call it a zip because the contents are encrypted) and an authorization file (that is unique to your user) which will let you install products while offline. You will have to connect any new machine at least once to download your user key to that machine but after that these package and authorization files can be used without ever connecting again.
Once again: We will be allowing users to download single file packages for all of their products that can be backed up and installed from.
First DAZ_Rawb has stated that individual files are being worked on.
Second Incremental back ups are not complex if you use proper software to do it.(Which comes with every back up piece of hardware on the market.)
It has been said, several times, that there will be an offline option so that people can download on another machine (or at a location with better connectivity) and then install on their working system - presumably, though I don't know this, we will have the option to store the files involved (I suppose it dpends on whether the key times out). As someone with a bandwidth cap I certainly hope there's a way to keep an archive of installers, whatever format they are in.
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The files are stored in directories specific to the product. So if you just bought and installed Victoria 7, and you want to backup just that product, you just need to make a copy of that one folder. You can zip it, rar it, burn it to a cd-rom, copy it to tape drive, or backup any other way you want, and get just that one product, similar to if you did it with the zip. The one real difference is it will be the entire product, so products which consist of 4 different zip files that are broken up due to size and problems that come with downloading multiple-gig single file downloads, are all in that one directory, so if you made a zip of it, it would, essentially, be the combination of all 4 zips.
I have several partitions set up across three SSD's. One of them is used exclusively for 3D art. Even Studio is installed on it. I don't put or use anything on my C drive, and I don't use the DIM or Smart Content.
This is an image of the Downloads folder on my 3D art drive. It contains ZIP files inside sub-folders that correspond to the structure of my main content folder. I backup all of my drives every night.
If 4.9 will let me continue doing that my way, then I have nothing to worry about. Otherwise, my 3D art hobby may be dead because DAZ is my principle source of content.
That solution is coming in two files. The package itself (contains all the encrypted assets) and an authentication file (generated per user per product, never times out, used to tie the asset package to your account for offline auth). So you can keep that package if you want, or just directly backup the downloaded directory of the product.
With knowing this I am now at ease that I can save my meagre 200gig download allowance for downloading new purchases.. :)
Personally, I always found it way easier to backup the entire library and be done with it than try to puzzle out specific packaged individually.
Just wish I could point Dropbox to my Daz folder directly. Ah well.
Just out of curiousity, how is that securing anything? Unless you put some security inside the installed file(s) themselves, wouldn't anybody be able to create a modified asset from it and distribute it as they please? Yeah, the installation package would be secured, the installed product would not. And that kind of DRM (encryption of the installed file) would be what raises everybody's hackles on the subject.
I know. The point is that YOU are making people do more work. Do you not get that?
I have seen the post about package files and that is very welcome. It still won't convince me about DAZ's intentions, but it is a step in the right direction.
Adctually, for me it will be. Everything I currently have installed is in this format: uppercase first letter, lowercase everthing else...Daz Connect is all lowercase. Therefore I picked wrong when trying to decide which of the several filename formats exist now. And I use a case sensetive files sytem.