Backward compatibility
TomViola
Posts: 103
I am still using DAZ 3.
I use Daz to create images for my graphic novels. Over the years I have created characters and scenes that I frequently re-use and tweak. I am locked into DAZ 3 because the newer versions of DAZ are not backward compatible with my characters and saved scenes.
I also find that the newer versions take longer to render... much longer.
Will DAZ ever develop a platform that is backward compatible with DAZ 3, and have shorter render times?
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
I find the idea highly unlikely. And shorter render times is an entirely subjective concept.
DS 4.x should generally be able to open .daz files, though it may have problems with very old files (1.something and before), but I thought 3 could have issues with those too.
I agree that backward compatibility is highly desired, as loss of compatibility leads to problems, loss of sales, fear of changes, lost opportunities from improved products that can't be used, or loss of existing products if improved incompatible products are adopted, etc. For example, I have chosen to stick with older figures even though I am now limited to existing products for them and by their flaws, but I feel I have made the correct choice because what I personally gain from this is greater than what I would loose by constantly chasing newer figures and abandoning older ones. In other cases I have abandoned the old and accepted the new along with the loss; for example I had to ditch a very expensive old shader pack, but I gained many improvements and bug fixes with a new DS version. The balance changes with time and circumstance though, I now have far more content and less spending power and a more stable version of DS than I once did, and and expect someday I will have to freeze at a version of DS and stop moving forward as the gains will no longer outweigh the losses.
Unfortunately those in charge of breaking compatibility often do not agree with us, whether they are right or wrong about needing to move forward at this expense. However it is entirely possible that much effort HAS been put into trying to maintain compatibility; as in, there could have been quicker or much harsher changes, although we'll never know. And perhaps additional options have been made available. For example, some figures have the ability to use materials from older figures, autofit (while it cannot do many things) WAS still developed and can be used to a limited extent, and so on. These products could simply have been made 100% incompatible with no thought to backward compatibily, however clearly thought and effort was put into preserving at least pieces of compatibility even if the entire thing could not be achieved.
some things you are out of luck with; for example I had a huge package of early shaders that no longer work, and thus anything that used them wouldn't work without redoing that. But you might want to post with specific items or problem in the Commons though just on the off chance that there is some workaround; for example, I heard an unconfirmed rumor that some of the old .daz scenes that won't load in the latest version might have loaded a few versions back, and could then be resaved in that older version of DS, then that modified file loaded in the latest? And some of the older DS files that don't work may have corresponding poser files that do that could be used instead. And of course right now anything in the obsolete formats that still loads can be resaved in the newer format, although that would be a lot of work for a big content library. It's a long shot, but possibly worth persuing if very important.
I would encourage content designers to consider the long term effects of incompatible products however, and the impact that can have, and endeavor to try to maintain compatibility where it can help both their own sales as well as the customer's ability to use their products.
Thank you for your respones.... especially for sriech's lengthy and powerdul reply.
If you render in 3Delight the newer versions of DS are much faster then DS3, so are my experiences. Since DS4.8 3Delight renders relativly fast compared to DS3
This should be possible for all new DS versions in my opinion I have a lot of older scenes in which I have self designed items and I load them just when I need them into a scene without saving the scene new, understandable? I use the some of the older scenes and the items in it as props for figures as you will.
Cosmo.... I tried that. My older scenes and characters do not load at all.
What error messages do you get?