Daz Studio 4.9 Beta Now Available..
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You can use multi-directory setups, install what you want to one directory, then switch to a different directory and install other things, they'll still work even if they're in different content folders.
Perhaps I am missing something in all of this. The DAZ Install Manager works fine and it handles content of all types. I use it and it rarely gives me any hassle. I actually like it!
Are you saying that there will be an instance of DAZ Connect built into each application (Studio, Carrara etc)? If so, I think this is a bad design decision, and I repeat what I said some while back on this thread. Why do you want to bloat DAZ Studio with unwanted functionality? Keep It Simple! DAZ Studio is for making art. DIM is for downloading content. Once you start integrating non-core functionality you dilute the product, reduce its efficiency and open the door to all manner of bugs ... not to mention possible network-based security exploits. I understand what you're saying about the function not operating unless you open the Store pane, or whatever, but it's still a ton of code that doesn't need to be there with, I assume, links into scene management to feed the product suggestions function. It's asking for trouble.
Sorry, I know people don't like it when I complain about DAZ, but this really needs to be said - and that's all I'm saying on the subject.
So if I want to reinstall a product for some reason, how does this work?, by re-downloading the entire thing in order to reinstall it? Seems a very strange way of doing it. Right now I can click on the product in DIM, hit uninstall, and then hit install, and it all takes a few seconds. How will that work with the new "improved" cloud method? I install my content on a small but very fast solid state drive, and I generally remove large products I am not currently using to save space on this drive. I can restore it quickly by reinstalling it with DIM. How can I do this in the future. Also, how do I install a product when I am offline?
To me the only advantage I see with DAZ Connect over DIM is there is no need to redownload everything just to update a few small metadata files. Over than that DIM works just fine.
I am with you for wanting to improve the user experience, and I do like Smart Content, and I use it a lot, but the downsides to these improvements seem pretty bad to me. The new system seems determined to force the user to do things a particular way, rather than allowing them to install and manage content as they wish.
With the inability to have an offline hard copy, plus this horrible decision to encrypt most of the files, I will avoid DAZ Connect completely, which is a shame, as up to now I have embraced all of the changes and have always used the newest functionality.
The problems of beta. Just note, you don't have to download and reinstall everything to use it, that is only if you want to get updates for it. So you can do it on a per product basis as you need it if you want. Also, in some future version, I believe there will be a migration process so it will just "convert" a product to Daz Connect for updates instead of requiring a full redownload. I know there was discussion about what it would take to do that, just can't recall if it made the feature list for this release or not. DAZ_Rawb would have a better idea on that particular feature.
When you first launch 4.9 it should migrate all of your existing DIM installed content and show it as being available for use. We are talking about adding functionality to move content from the DIM installed location to the Daz Conntect locations without having to re-download, but it is not in the current build.
Daz Connect will install everything to a single location, but that location is configurable in the same location as the mapped paths. If there is Daz Connect content installed in any mapped directory (in the data/cloud subdirectory) then it will find it in that location. So if you need to spread your content between multiple drives for space reasons it is fully supported.
I think you're missing our point here Rawb, the offline packages would be the ultimate backups. The zips can be stored locally, wich saves time and hassle re-downloading, and zip files are compressed, wich saves disk space. Not evryone has infinite disk space to back up their content directories. My current directories total well over 100 GB, even without third party content. Having the product zips is essential for me.
Of course, that's all being made moot, since DAZ Connect is downloading duplicate copies of all the content files anyway.
I wasn't going to ... but ... what does this mean for somebody who has several content libraries organised according to DAZ, Other Vendor and Freebies? Along comes DAZ Connect and amalgamates the lot, destroying years of organisational work. This has the feeling of a major catastrophe in the making. Are you sure you guys haven't been taking lunch with Bill Gates?
And I shall be incandescant with rage if I find DAZ using my internet connection to download duplicates of my entire content library!
Are you talking about having multiple content folders, or about rearranging files/folders inside a content folder? The former can be done with Daz Connect, the latter will still work, you don't have to reinstall it with Daz Connect. And Daz Connect only works for items from the Daz store, freebies and items from other brokerages still work the same way.
It will only download what you ask it to, you don't have to re-download your existing content.
That might be reasonable, if most of us weren't spending hundreds, even thousands, every year on the content needed for DS to be a useful tool. by providing the program free of charge, it opened the industry up to hobbiest who otherwise would never have gotten into 3D. It was a brilliant marketing move. And I'm sure it resulted in a a huge increase in revenues overall.
I'm talking about multiple content folders. I have my DAZ content split across two content folders: Primary (the recommended folder) and Secondary (on an external hard drive). Primary holds base figures and morphs, Genesis Essentials etc. Secondary holds all other DAZ Content. Then there are three more: Unmanaged (from other vendors, so not managed by DIM), Free (obvious) and Personal (that's the one in the per user My Documents folder where I store assets that I have created).
So, as you can imagine, I will be unbelievably upset (really - you cannot imagine) if DAZ Connect does anything to mess that up - especially if it does it without my express permission! I imagine lots of other users would also be somewhat irritated if their content structures were messed up.
Honestly, I think the best thing is a configuration option in the Preferences: "Use DAZ Connect for downloading and installing content?". This should be OFF by default - unlike Microsoft who set all the most damaging and privacy-invading functions ON by default.
For me, it's simple: If I can turn off DAZ Connect, never ever see it, and keep using DIM then I will be happy. If it gets in my way and makes extra work for me then I will be very unhappy.
Perhaps I wans't clear. I wasn't talking about my content library. Does Daz now want to discontinue providing content which can be manually installed?
You can continue to use multiple content folders, and have Daz Connect install your primary items to one content folder and your secondary items to another. And Daz Connect doesn't install anything without your permission -- you can decide which items, if any, you want it to install.
The reason that Daz Connect installs everything into one little subdirectory hidden way over there is so that it doesn't mess with anything you already have on your system. When you start 4.9 it will migrate all of the smart content entries to the new tables and you should be able to use everything there without downloading a single file, and without having to login to Daz Connect at all.
Right. So, and I apologise if this has been asked and answered, if I want to continue using DIM and NOT use DAZ Connect to download new content and updates, will I be able to do that?
From the comments I have seen above, does this mean that going forward I can only get updates through this DAZ Connect thing?. From the earlier comments it was implied that major updates at least would still appear via DIM.
This answer from earlier in the thread still applies: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/933502/#Comment_933502
That sort of answers my last question, but it raises another one. Possibly I am not understanding how DIM talks to the content database, but that post above implies to me that the database DIM is talking to will not be the same one that DAZ Connect is talking to. So they will gradually diverge.
Am I right?
It appears that DAZ's focus is shifting more and more towards the casual load-and-render crowd.
I will not buy content (models, scripts, morphs, shader presets, etc) that isn't editable. I'll pay $100 for a great DRM free product, but I will not pay a single dollar for an encrypted product (which is likely to be mediocre anyway).
This should be good for the competing market places, and possibly Poser. I'd rather pay $300 for a program than deal with this freemium bullcrap, thank you very much.
If I understand the FAQs, once you ask DAZ Connect to install a product, you will have to use DAZ connect for that product from that point on. No going back to using DIM.
Actually I missed that point in amongst all the other issues. I'm in two minds here: on the one hand I feel that it is right that a content author can protect their work, but if that means we are going to start seeing per system licensing linked to DRMified content then that makes me nervous.
Actually, this whole DAZ Connect thing is making me nervous. It would be the perfect platform for DAZ to implement Digital Restriction (Rights :) ) Management by the back door.
I say, if it sounds like DRM, smells like DRM, works like DRM ... then, guess what, it's DRM.
"Little" subdirectory, I am not sure I would describe a directory holding potentially 100s of GB as little. What happens when it runs out of disk space (which it will on my drive), how does that fit in with the aim of "not messing with your system". Do you think we all have unlimited sized hard drives?
I don't even use DIM for downloading and installing content.. I purely use the Zip Files..and install manually..
So to confirm. When I make a purchase there will still be zip files available for me to download and then perform a manual install.
I DO NOT WANT ANY DAZ CONNECT AT ALL. indeed my workstations are not even connected to the internet, so is that likely to cause a problem when I eventually install 4.9.??
Cheers,
S.K.
I probably shouldn't say this, but just when I thought that Poser was dead and buried, having abandoned it only a few months back, a whole new issue has emerged for me to head straight back to Poser. If I can no longer manually install my content to the folders I choose with the file names I choose... see ya later.
Upgrading to 4.9 should work without a hiccup on an offline system. You won't get the per-file updates and the quick metadata refreshes that come with a connected system but you are able to use all current content without logging in.
Okay, "little" may have been a bad term, you got me there.
I did want to enforce that Daz Connect installs to it's own location to the side in order to not stomp all over your existing files. You can change the base path that Daz Connect will write to so you can have is spread about multiple drives. If you want to get fancy you can also manually move individual product directories among your mapped paths to better balance your drive space.
I was thinking the same thing, it will be interesting to see how well this is received by the bulk of the users, rather than a few vocal forum users.
OK, but how is that configuration done? I'm not seeing any options for configuring DAZ Connect.