Carrara 8.5 Pro BETA - version 8.5.1.19, Now Available! (UPDATED)
DAZ_Brian
Posts: 345
DAZ 3D is pleased to announce the next public version of the Carrara BETA - version 8.5.1.19 (UPDATED - 2015 May 15)
What is a BETA?
Despite our best efforts, DAZ 3D cannot possibly test the software under all possible conditions. So, we are providing a version of the application to the general public in order to uncover problems that were not discovered during internal/private testing. We expect that there will still be problems and we hope that when users encounter any problems, they will report them to the Bug Tracker so that they can be validated, prioritized and fixed.
As with any software classified as being in the BETA phase of development, you should expect to encounter bugs. Any bugs you do encounter while using BETA software can vary in terms of severity, from minor features that do not work correctly to problems that cause your computer to crash. Before choosing to use BETA software for production purposes, you should decide whether the benefit of new features and bug fixes provided by the BETA version outweighs the risk of instability you may encounter.
Public Build, BETA, what is the difference?
Public Build is a release channel, while BETA is a phase of development.
Carrara is distributed through four separate channels:
- Production Build - This is where the General Release build is distributed and is open to the general public.
- Public Build - This is where the builds that are not considered stable yet are provided for testing by the general public; requires qualifying purchase; this channel typically provides a build that is in the BETA phase of development, but technically can provide a build in the ALPHA phase.
- Private Build - This is similar to the Public Build channel, except it is limited to a select group of individuals that serve as the "front line" or the "canary in a coal mine" for a time before the build is promoted to a less restricted channel; this channel is more likely to see an ALPHA build than the Public Build channel is.
- Dev Build - This is for a much smaller group of individuals; this channel provides "bleeding edge" ALPHA builds; sometimes referred to as "nightly", although the builds are not limited to one per night nor to strictly occurring at night.
Will this Public Build replace the General Release?
While builds in the Public Build channel do eventually replace the build in the Production Build channel, the existence of a public build does not preclude builds that are currently in the Private Build channel from replacing the General Release before one in the Public Build channel does. One of the reasons we provide a Public Build channel is to gain broader coverage of the various fixes/additions. Sometimes fixes/additions in the Public Build channel are validated more quickly than others and can be integrated into the Production Build channel while the remaining, more risky, changes are allowed to "bake" a while longer.
What is new in this version?
The 8.5.1.19 version implements support for PostgreSQL and includes some bug fixes. We are well aware that we have not resolved all issues.
General Release (8.5.1.19) improvements are:
1) Added the ability to globally increase the size of fonts used in the interface, via preferences; disclaimer: may not display 100% correct in all cases or on all configurations
Public BETA 3 (8.5.1.17) improvements are:
1) Fixed an issue with morphs not displaying when using PostgreSQL
2) Fixed OS X version string
Public BETA 2 (8.5.1.14) improvements are:
1) Fixed crashes related to not having Valentina installed when using PostgreSQL.
Public BETA 1 (8.5.1.12) improvements are:
1) Added support for the PostgreSQL implementation of the Content Management Service (CMS). Valentina will still operate, but PostgreSQL is the preferred solution. Both can be installed on your machine at the same time, but only one will be used.
2) The Smart Content Browser has been optimized for both PostgreSQL and Valentina. PostgreSQL is generally the faster of the two and is on par with the performance of DAZ Studio's Smart Content pane. This resolves one of the known issues for Carrara 8.5
3) Fixed #CAR-70 - Fixed a vertex modeler lathe bug; segments were always 12 regardless of user input.
4) Fixed #CAR-81 - Fixed a ring light collision crash
5) Fixed #CAR-104 - Fixed an issue with normals being flipped on objects that are duplicated with symmetry on export
6) Fixed #CAR-108 - Fixed an issue where using a sky crashed the application on exit
7) Fixed #CAR-109 - Fixed an issue with the night sky setting not being remembered
8) Fixed an issue where Save As does not remember the path when saving non .car files.
Has the Content Management Service (CMS) been improved?
Yes.
The existing Valentina based service is still included and supported, however a new PostgreSQL based service is proving itself to be much more stable and much less prone to the data corruption issues that many have experienced in the past. The new PostgreSQL based service has also proven to be somewhat faster. Carrara will automatically prefer connecting to PostgreSQL if it is installed.
With this new solution, there is no longer a need to start a service that runs in the background. Normally, the PostgreSQL server starts when the application starts and stops when the application stops; unless another application, like Install Manager, is connected to it - in which case it will stop when the last application connected to it closes.
To help get you up and running with the new PostgreSQL service, we've added a separate package in Install Manager that will automatically migrate any existing data from your Valentina database; you simply install it after the PostgreSQL server is installed. The amount of time required to migrate the data will vary depending on the amount of data you have and your system specs.
*Note: While the PostgreSQL server is installed, Install Manager will not install any data to the Valentina database.
How do I get the latest version?
If you have previously purchased the Carrara 8.5 Pro or Carrara 8.5 product, launch Install Manager, log into your account and type "Carrara * Public Build" into the filter field to filter out anything else. Then simply download and install as you would normally.
If you do not already have Carrara 8.5 Pro BETA in your account and you have purchased Carrara 8.5 (Pro), simply follow this link, click the "Add to Cart" button on the page and then follow the checkout process. This product is free to customers that have purchased Carrara 8.5 (Pro) and will be automatically discounted.
*Note: The current version of Install Manager has a Public Build download filter that is disabled by default. You must enable this download filter to see packages in your Ready to Download list that are tagged PublicBuild.
Optionally, you can locate, download and install the BETA from the Product Library [once you are logged into your account] by entering "Carrara 8.5 Pro BETA" into the text field near the top left of the page and clicking the "Filter" button, or by clicking here. Then, simply click the "download & install" button.
*Note: This BETA version is not available as a standalone installer. It must be downloaded and installed using Install Manager. This does not impact the General Release, which will be made available through Install Manager as well as a standalone installer.
*Note: Carrara 8.5 Standard, when run under OSX 10.9 (Mavericks) or 10.10 (Yosemite), will not accept a serial number; a fix is being investigated.
Can I have the General Release and the BETA installed at the same time?
Yes! You can have both the General Release and a Public Build (as well as a Private Build, for those involved in that endeavor), of the same major version, installed at the same time. Please be aware that the preferences/settings for each of the builds ARE shared between the two.
What about the extensions I have?
The Carrara 8 SDK has not changed in any way that causes it to be binary incompatible, which means that any extensions created for a previous version of Carrara 8 should continue to load and function with this build.
Extensions that are currently built/produced by DAZ 3D will provide a separate package specifically intended for the Public Build. 3rd party extensions that DAZ 3D creates install packages for will be updated to allow simultaneous installation into the General Release and the Public/Private builds. These packages will display as "Product Updates" within Install Manager once they have been updated.
Is there any documentation?
Documentation is located on the Documenentation Center. The Carrara community has also produced guides and tutorials for using Carrara, see the Carrara Information Manual thread and Carrara Cafe.
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Comments
Thanks for that
Well Don't that just frost your shorts. A breath of fresh air
awesome there is light at the end of the tunnel.
most excellent !
Wow - looking forward to test-driving this version. Great news.
Downloading and will give it a spin tomorrow. I personally have not run into any of the bugs that have been fixed (I know of a couple of others...) so I may not notice any difference... They do have the comment that they haven't fixed all the bugs, so there must be some more fixes in the pipeline!
This time around seems mainly aimed at Postgre or whatever. Will installing that and using it impact normal usage of the current live build?
Edit: The included release note is dated Aug 26, 2013... I really need to get some sleep!
Great news about Postgre. I love using it with Studio.
...and there's a lovely, large-slow-flakes snow fall here right now... kinda feels like Christmas! :)
I Love you and your team, Spooky! ;)
Hi BHowell and Spooky,
I don't know what is a “QA Manager” because I speak French, but I thank you largely to establish the link between DAZ and us, the users of Carrara.
Perhaps I'm visiting this forum for about one year and I feel happiness when I see that there are people of DAZ which support our preferred program...
Thousand thanks !!!
QA=Quality Assurance
Then, he makes its job very well because all is impeccable in the products !
I am the guy in charge of the first line of defense when it comes to software bugs. :) (I am also the guy responsible for sorting the software bugs that we don't find in time and get to you guys. LOL.)
While I applaud the efforts to fix the buggy bits of the software regarding smart content and triax duf imports.
I am a bit wary after buying the last improvement and tend to want to hold off for Carrara 9 pro which is sort of what I was expecting you guys to be working on, rebuilt from the ground up to incorporate new technology inc Genesis with HD SubDiv morphs, smoothing modifier etc as well as maybe an improved vertex modeling room and hair/cloth dynamics.
And one would expect to and would pay top dollar for that.
I am hesitant to join in testing as I tend to want to just get stuff done, not fight the software to do it and come to rely on something only to have it withdrawn from use unless I pay up which is basically what happened with C8.5 and the improved fbx import which I still use extensively, that not Genesis was the only thing that sold it to me, I mostly render Genesis and certainly G2M &F in other 3rd party software and not DAZ studio though it plays a big part in it.
I have no hesitation about buying DAZ content they do that well!
I still thank you for working on it though and hope to see a great Carrara 9 oneday that makes the big boys sit up and say WOW too.
Nice, but it does not show up in the DIM O.o
Do you have "Public Build" ticked in your Download Filters?
Ahhh, thats it. Thanks a lot Mike!
Along with this beta update some free content was added in DS G2 Starter Essentials..
The pin up girl
the Lumberjack and
the Super Girl..
The first two load no probs but the third one ( Super Girl ) sends Carrara into a super hangup..
This happens with this new beta as well as the 8.5Pro
I loaded the free supersuit into DS then saved out the clothing to load up separately to work.. it seems the left boot is the problem.. the right boot loads ok but the Left one hangs the program.
anyone else have this problem with the free SuperSuit?
Am I reading correctly that the Beta is only for owners of 8.5, not 8.1 ?
I have public build ticked, but it doesn't show up in my DIM.
If you prefer you can put that in a Support ticket, and just post the ticket number so Customer support can get it to me. :)
Either way, we will get you straightened out. :)
Hmmm, seems there is a logic fail here, based on the previous definition of "Public" in the first posting in this thread:
"- Public Build - This is where the builds that are not considered stable yet are provided for testing by the general public; this channel typically provides a build that is in the BETA phase of development, but technically can provide a build in the ALPHA phase.
- Private Build - This is similar to the Public Build channel, except it is limited to a select group of individuals that serve as the “front line” or the “canary in a coal mine” for a time before the build is promoted to a less restricted channel; this channel is more likely to see an ALPHA build than the Public Build channel is."
If its not available for everyone, as in the Public, then its Private, as in ownership of Carrara 8.5 is required (a select group of individuals).
Maybe a small point, but if anyone sees it referred to a Public beta, that might be confusing.
Also note that the post does state:
If you do not already have Carrara 8.5 Pro BETA in your account and you have purchased Carrara 8.5 (Pro), simply follow this link, click the “Add to Cart” button on the page and then follow the checkout process. This product is free to customers that have purchased Carrara 8.5 (Pro) and will be automatically discounted.
Pity they won't let owners of 8.1 test - maybe get convinced and upgrade when the stable version is released :)
Having troubles?
The only way to install this Beta is via the DIM.
The beta just crashes on startup only Mac running OSX 10.9.5. Anyone got this running on a Mac?
I've not seen that one. Please file a support ticket and we'll see if we can get you up and running. :)
I still can't view Smart Content in the Beta version, although I have PostgreSQL installed.
I get exactly the same error message now as I got in the release version, about not being able to connect to CMS, but that was because I was running PostgreSQL and not Valentina.
I wonder why it is not showing up for me? I even ran the latest PostgreSQL update from DIM, but it made no difference.