So then to answer my own silly questions I've come up with the following:

1. Render speed should mean more than Vram. If a new card offers the same vram but double the performance speed, it is in my opinion easily worth double the price of the previous card. Deep down for every still render I've ever made I had a full movie in my head, or at least a short scene. Getting render times to the point that still scenes can become animations is a goal many of us assumed impossible long ago, and are unwuilling to reconsider. But the time may be coming for us to embrace animation workflows rather than disregard them. Double the rendering speed means at least a few more people willing to tackle animations, and that positions us to be more professional overall especially here at Daz3d.

2. Vram limitations are not going to be an issue forever. Octane and many other apps of this nature have out of core memory options that Iray might also get someday, perhaps even "Daz soon." However for the current atmosphere Vram is a central consideration. But still secondary to speed.

3. Obviously Nvidia isnt only interested in the gamers and miners, they've obviously considered the 3d rendering niche and see a potential for profit there, if nothing more than an offshoot of the gaming crowd. Lets not punish them by rejecting their preliminary efforts as not good enough. They'll just switch focus to a more grateful audience and officially forget about us. 

Conclusion:

There is no such thing as a "smart" time to buy one of these damned chips. You are going to waste money no matter how you do it. One decides to either ride the front of the wave or the back. These chips aren't like a pair of shoes, that either fits or it doesnt. All of these card products "work" and perform their duties acceptably. If you buy a Turing chip today (no matter how much you payed for it) it will be irrelevant within 2 years because Nvidia makes money from selling new chips and will certainly improve on both hardware and software. But at least its new, has at least a 2 year life under warranty, and could probably last you up to 8 years.  Waiting 2 years to buy last generations cards means you're always a step behind, which could be significant such as pre RTX vs post RTX. 6-8x performance is game changing. Warranties expire...applications become more advanced and move away from your legacy card's niche...

We know that cards are always overpriced when they are first released, so I see no reason to be offended by the price. I paid roughly 1K for each of my two Titan Blacks...still paying them off on the the credit card.... and they are a cruel joke now compared to what other cards more advanced can offer. I had no idea that a month after purchasing my Blacks Nvidia would release a brand new architecture with cards cheaper than mine that were double the performance. Without knowledge of the future, one will almost certainly waste money in this venture. I wasted money, but I get that this is how the game operates, and I for some reason still find myself wanting to play.

Please remember

Not currently in development does not mean that it will not come back into the development system at a later date,

Thank you for the timely reminder, Chohole. You're quite right, of course.

The challenge is in deciding how likely that is to happen. Obviously, until DAZ says "Nope, Carrara is done done done, we're never touching that again," then there's a chance that it might be revived. At the moment, however, it seems as if DAZ is thriving on selling content. It doesn't really need to do much software development.

DAZ|Studio development, of course, will continue because it helps drive the content side of the business: expect more new features like dForce, and support for advances in iRay and NVidia's newest hardware. But for Carrara (and Bryce, and even Hexagon) to be actively developed, developing them would need to make commercial sense, which is to say that they'd need to be part of some new business model.

There are two possibilities. The first would be to have the product itself as the driver of a new revenue stream. DAZ would have to position Carrara (or Bryce, or Hexagon) as a something-killer: an app that is going to compete head-to-head with the current market leaders, and take away dollars from them in sufficient quantity to make it worth DAZ's while. "We'll make a new version and we'll sell a few copies, mostly to the people who own older versions," isn't going to cut it. They need a new, bigger market. The problem here is that it's challenging to take software that's been neglected for a few years (however good it was to start with) and make it compete with the current state-of-the-art so compellingly that users are going to want to make the switch.

The other option would be if Carrara (or Bryce, or Hexagon) offered DAZ the chance to sell additional content. I suppose Carrara 9 might drive a limited number of additional sales. Bryce, with its more idiosyncratic file formats, might drive some Bryce-only content sales. Hexagon, being a much lower-level tool, probably wouldn't sell much more than a few instructional videos. But overall, I can't imagine any of them forming the basis of an independent, profitable ecosystem in the way that DAZ|Studio is.

I may be wrong. I have no idea what DAZ's master plan for world domination looks like. Maybe they're just waiting to execute a ten-year strategy with Carrara as a central pillar. And maybe there's another business case I haven't thought of.

But while Chohole is right that nothing is set in stone, I am doubtful that we will see another version of Carrara. The odds, in my view, are against it.

Sakura's male counterpart.

Asian men including Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indian/Pakistani.

Sakura's male counterpart.

Central/South American men.

Sakura's male counterpart.

An androgenous figure.

Sakura's male counterpart.

I should note I'm still doing these... and the detail level has started ramping up!

Now I'm doing them on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 PM Central US time, and Sundays at 6 PM Central US Time...

Errors popping up about every 4-6 pages that I try to open right now. (9pm Central)  And of course, the forum is messed up too. Keeps saying no file chosen when it IS and when Post Comment is hit, THEN it shows up. Can we get that working?????  Been a couple weeks! 

yes, this is the error I received all day, for a while could not even access my cart

Errors popping up about every 4-6 pages that I try to open right now. (9pm Central)  And of course, the forum is messed up too. Keeps saying no file chosen when it IS and when Post Comment is hit, THEN it shows up. Can we get that working?????  Been a couple weeks! 

Oops, I completely forgot my most incredible opera experience.  Same time period that we were in London, we were also in Amsterdam and I saw that Verdi's "Aida" (pronounced Eye-eeda) was playing there.  I stopped at a ticket booth somewhere in the middle of old town Amsterdam either Dam Square or near Central Station.  That year (1991) the opera company was a fragment of the original HUGE performance that had been staged in front of the Pyramids in Egypt previously.  The opera company had split into several sub-companies and started touring various countries around the world.  I happened to catch the one in Amsterdam.

The show was performed in an indoor soccer arena called Sporthallen Zuid,  south of the city.  They used the entire field to stage parts of the show, like for the massing army scene.  And there were huge wire frame props representing some of the pyramids and palace architecture.  At some points there were fireworks.  The number of people in the cast must have been in the hundreds (lots of soldiers).  And when the lead female singer made her entrance she came down the aisle of the stadium seats right next to me.  She stopped about 1/3 the way down the aisle, right next to me, on the end of the row, and sang her entire aria right there, right next to me.  I could have reached out and touched her dress.  It was an unforgetable experience, that I forgot to mention in my last post.   I still have the program from that performance and I bought a couple 8x10" glossy photographs of the play too.  They're around here somewhere...

Here's the best known song from "Aida":  The Triumphal March https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxgOIwOd_5I

Photo below only shows one of the wireframe "buildings" of the Amsterdam performance, but you get the idea.

Take a look at these results- oh MY things are going to be interesting.

CURRENT STANDINGS:    Check TIMELINE.  FINAL RESULTS

Changes to what players had in their possession are marked in red. 
The next post down starts the Timeline- it will track for you the latest moves by the gameplayers! 

3dcheapskate
Set 1:   A Curious Hallway       Set 2:  Echoes of Andromeda
Props:  Regenerator (Prop)          Thursdays Child- Deaddy Bear (Bear)             
             Playtime (Hobby Horse)
Character: RDNA Sluggians

barbult  
Set 1: The Cage       Set 2: Old Country Farmhouse
Props:  Kick Scooter            Signs of Protest (Sign Left Hand)          Lemonade Stand (The Stand)
Character:  Muck

dreamfarmer   
Set 1: aMAZEing Journey Around The World                               Set 2:   Sun Hall
Props:  Props: Fun In The Sun  (Lounge Chair)                   Everyday Groceries (Toilet Paper) 
 Laundry Day Mega Set (Prop: Empty Dryer) 
Character:  Charlotte 8

IceDragonArt   HAS OLD HAGRED  Can be moved NOW every 10 minutes Moved at 9:40 so can be moved 9:50 Central
Set 1  Cryptus Sepultus        Set 2:  Fantasy Tavern     
Props:  Hood Huntress Collection         Boned Wings for G3/8 Midnight Skeleton
              New Colony Props (Module 3e)
Character: Iray Alligator By AM 

Kismet2012   
Set 1:   Bend of the River                                    Cafe Luca      
Props: Laser Toss Arcade Game (Machine)                 Porta Potty (Potty)  
            Iray Snow, Light and Ash (Snow Rock)
Character: Abel for Genesis 3 Male

LaPetiteVerita    
Set 1: Enchanted Ballroom                         Patio Dining Set   
Props:   Jacuzzi Deck (Deck Chair 1 Red Cushion)               RW Rafting Fun (Raft)  
              Blade Weapons (Rip Saw)  
Character:  Toon Generations Two Essentials

Nonesuch00   
Set 1:  Versatile Terrain           Set 2: Northern Terrace Street 
Props:  The Gardener's Potting Shed Tools (Wheelbarrow)     Urban Warrior (Large Sword)              
             Geisha Prop Collection (4 Asian Inspired Fans)            
Character:  Baby Packy

Novica    
Set 1:   DA Palm Island           Set 2:   Fancy A Game Of Chess
Props:   Multiletter System (Prop X  Standard Font)            Scrappy The Robot     
            Grapevines (Grapes) 
Character:  Sakura 8
RGcincy    
Set 1: Abandoned Gas Station          Set 2:  Summer Gazebo     
Props:  Dream Home Great Room Access. (Bench)              Steampunk Vent (Gears)              
               BBQ Grill Collection (Grill)   
Character:  Floyd 8

Saphirewild  HAD OLD HAGRED.  
Set 1:   Generic Sci Fi Corridor                Set 2: Velodome Track   
Props:   Daybed Romance                 Ace of Spades Jack  (Backpack)     
             The Firearm Pack (#2 Rifle) 
Character:  Belladonna for V4

Stormlyght     
Set 1: Mystical Cave                    Set 2: The Void
Props:  Poseable Peonies (Bush Double 2)            Iray Ghost Light Kit 2 (flashlight)   
Cyber D Model 1 (Prop, not living)
Character: DA Unicorn for Daz Horse 2  

xmasrose  Has had  Old Hagred  
Set 1:  Bar Interior 2018                  Set 2   Disconsolation
Props:   Morphable Meershaum (Pipe)
              Inflatable Boat (Outboard Motor)               Daz Water Pump/Grain Silo (Water Pump)  
Character:  Toon Alien

Catching up on the timeline now. 

@IceDragonArt  we can go back over to the first thread for the discussion of Old Hagred. It will take me about half an hour though to finish up here. 

This was the status on the Current Status before I change it

IceDragonArt   HAS OLD HAGRED  Can be moved NOW every 10 minutes Moved at 9:40 so can be moved 9:50 Central
Set 1  Cryptus Sepultus        Set 2:  Fantasy Tavern     
Props:  Hood Huntress Collection          Black Market Blades Silent Death (any blade)  
              New Colony Props (Module 3e)
Character: Sharks By AM Great White Shark

Thread is not "closed" but no posts please. I have a lot of adding to do for the timeline, etc.

Where are you looking? It's in characters. It's a living, breathing thing. Your name is on it :) 

BTW Hagred can be moved every 10 minutes, starting 38 minutes ago.

Old Hagred is leaving Saphirewild and going to IceDragonArt . (You're welcome! I know you're online...) 

I'm going to round that time to 9:40 so she can be moved at 9:50a Central

@icedragonart   You sure do. It's only 12 after 9 Central Time. It ends at 10 The timeline and who owns what is up to date l

It's past 4:46 so Old Hagred is now with Kismet2012. At 6:53 am Central she can be moved to dreamfarmer or Novica.

Whenever you post who gets her next, just line through the person you just gave her to. (LOL not many choices!)  Remember you do not have to do her graphic if you don't want to. (when it gets down to 10 minute intervals that may keep you from gameplay. We're not there yet, we are still every 2 hours until 8am.) 

Players who have not: dreamfarmer     Novica    

Reminder- Old Hagred can be moved along today:

From now through 8am Central (right now it's 1:50am) every two hours.

8-9am every hour

9am to 10am every TEN MINUTES. Don't jump the gun or it won't count! At 9am we are going to do a "reset" of time and start it on a 10 minute mark to make it easy. (If she had been posted at 8:39 or whatever time, we'll reset that time to 9am to make it easy. 

@nonesuch00, Novica says the game is stopped. We should not be making moves until midnight central time, except for Old Hagred. 

OK, those two moves can be ignored. I wasn't sure when they'd show up posted. I still have made enough moves made even without those to.

Thanks,.

@nonesuch00, Novica says the game is stopped. We should not be making moves until midnight central time, except for Old Hagred. 

5:15pm GAME PLAY PAUSED. (2am through 5:15pm everyone should have had a chance to play.)  I will restart the thread at Midnight central time even if I am NOT ONLINE. Remember you can send Old Hagred on her way according to these guidelines. 

Starting at Central time midnight tonight until 8am every two hours she can be passed along if someone doesn't get her moving. Her graphics will be OPTIONAL beginning at midnight Central time tonight.

FROM 8AM UNTIL 9AM she can be passed along every half an hour if the person doesn't get her moving. I will remind you who has NOT had her. 

From 9am until 10 am, every TEN MINUTES (if the person doesn't do it.)  NO GRAPHICS ARE NEEDED AT THIS POINT.

If I am not online, will the first person do an updated list IN THE POST showing who has NOT had her? Then everyone should use that and not the Currrent Status list. 

I can't seem to get the G3 clothing to be converted into G8 clothing. After I selected the G3 files and click execute it says "0 clothing items" as seen in the attached image. 

 

Check the log.  What does it say?

The log says

18:57:01 GMT-0600 (Canada Central Standard Time): Executing Script

18:57:01 GMT-0600 (Canada Central Standard Time): Selecting Preset: D:\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Daz Connect Library\data\cloud\1_22508\people\genesis 3 female\clothing\wilding outfit\wilding boots.duf

18:57:02 GMT-0600 (Canada Central Standard Time): Input Filename does not have "Clothing" in its path: D:\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Daz Connect Library\data\cloud\1_22508\people\genesis 3 female\clothing\wilding outfit\wilding boots.duf

18:57:04 GMT-0600 (Canada Central Standard Time): Selecting Preset: D:\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Daz Connect Library\data\cloud\1_22508\people\genesis 3 female\clothing\wilding outfit\wilding bottoms.duf

18:57:04 GMT-0600 (Canada Central Standard Time): Input Filename does not have "Clothing" in its path: D:\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Daz Connect Library\data\cloud\1_22508\people\genesis 3 female\clothing\wilding outfit\wilding bottoms.duf

18:57:04 GMT-0600 (Canada Central Standard Time): Selecting Preset: D:\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Daz Connect Library\data\cloud\1_22508\people\genesis 3 female\clothing\wilding outfit\wilding corset.duf

18:57:04 GMT-0600 (Canada Central Standard Time): Input Filename does not have "Clothing" in its path: D:\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Daz Connect Library\data\cloud\1_22508\people\genesis 3 female\clothing\wilding outfit\wilding corset.duf

18:57:04 GMT-0600 (Canada Central Standard Time): Execution Complete.

 

Hmmm... Ok, this is useful.  Obviously, "clothing" is in the path.  I made a mistake on the function that tries to create the output file path.  Let me look at it.

I guess, I'll need to wait for the next update on the product to get this to work?

No, this should have been fixed with the unofficial patch too.  Did you try it?

If Barbult did not move Old Hagred we will let that premature move stand. But the time will be 2:02pm for the move. It's currently 2:30pm Central. Will someone check the posts since nonesuch00's (premature) one and see if she has been posted since then? I'm busy. (LOL obviously)

ERROR SPOTTED WITH OLD HAGRED.

Per the timeline (and my memory!): "10:02a  LaPetiteVerita seems to have no regrets about stealing the broom, but she hustles Old Hagred to barbult before the witch gets an angrier. Old Hagred can be on the move at 2:02p if barbult doesn't move her out! 

so nonesuch00's post here is a bit premature.

Of course, if barbult doesn't move Old Hagred herself before 2:02 (that's central time, right?), I think Old Hagred should spend some time with RGcincy.

Sorry, I though Hagrad had to move on as it was over 2 hours. Didn't realized it was a 4 hour wait. 

 I'm not making any moves til Novica has given all past moves ye or nay.

ERROR SPOTTED WITH OLD HAGRED.

Per the timeline (and my memory!): "10:02a  LaPetiteVerita seems to have no regrets about stealing the broom, but she hustles Old Hagred to barbult before the witch gets an angrier. Old Hagred can be on the move at 2:02p if barbult doesn't move her out! 

so nonesuch00's post here is a bit premature.

Of course, if barbult doesn't move Old Hagred herself before 2:02 (that's central time, right?), I think Old Hagred should spend some time with RGcincy.