Daz Studio Pro BETA - version 4.9.0.29!
DAZ_Vince
Posts: 114
Daz 3D is pleased to announce Daz Studio Pro BETA - version 4.9.0.29!
!! IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU BACKUP YOUR CONTENT DATABASE IN DAZ STUDIO 4.8 BEFORE LAUNCHING DAZ STUDIO 4.9 !!
How do I backup my User Data in Daz Studio?
Important Notes:
Content Database / Metadata related
- The first time you launch Daz Studio 4.9, any data that exists in the content database is migrated so that it can be used in Daz Studio 4.9.
- The amount of time the database migration operation takes is proportional to the amount of data to be migrated.
- The database migration operation does not delete the data that it migrates from the previous location so that it remains accessible by earlier versions and other applications, such as Carrara.
- Daz Studio 4.9 uses the same PostgreSQL database as Daz Studio 4.6 and later, and/or other applications, such as Carrara.
- A portion of the data contained within the database is shared amongst versions but not entirely. For example:
- Creating a category in either Daz Studio 4.9 or 4.8 will cause that category to exist in the other version
- Assigning a file to that category in Daz Studio 4.9 will NOT cause that file to be assigned to that category in Daz Studio 4.8
- Assigning a file to that category in Daz Studio 4.8 WILL cause the file to be assigned to the category in Daz Studio 4.9
- Reseting the database in any version of Daz Studio that uses PostgreSQL (4.6 or later) will purge all of data in the database, including any data that may be used by earlier versions or other applications, such as Carrara.
- After the initial migration operation, edited metadata in Daz Studio 4.8 will not be migrated to Daz Studio 4.9.
- A workaround is to export User Data from Daz Studio 4.8 and reimport User Data in Daz Studio 4.9.
NVIDIA Iray related
- Fixes made to the implementation of Sub Surface Scattering (SSS) in the NVIDIA Iray renderer affect materials which have "Translucency Weight" active—not set to 0. This manifests in skin tones appearing more blue than they do in 4.8. A quick adjustment that can be made during the BETA phase is to adjust the "SSS Reflectance Tint" from a light blue to a light yellow—R: 1.00, G: 0.88, B: 0.67. Adjust this value to your liking.
- After the BETA phase, Daz 3D products will be updated to include this change.
- The Mac version now requires OS X 10.7 or later.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How do I backup my User Data in Daz Studio?
- What is a BETA?
- General Release, Public Build, BETA... What is the difference?
- Will the version in the Public Build channel replace the one in General Release?
- Has the Content Management Service (CMS) changed?
- What is the Application Improvement Program about?
- Have the content packages been updated too?
- How do I get the latest version?
- Can I have a General Release and a BETA installed at the same time?
- What about the plugins I have?
- What is new in Daz Studio 4.9? Do I need to update my copy?
- Is there any documentation?
Frequently Asked Daz Connect Questions:
- What is Daz Connect?
- What are the goals of Daz Connect?
- How do I get my purchased products now?
- How can I get new products through Daz Connect?
- Are all products Daz Connect ready?
- Will the products I already own keep working?
- Will products from stores other than Daz 3D keep working?
- Can I use products installed through Daz Connect with other software?
- Does this update make it easier to find content I can use with Auto-Fit in Smart Content?
- Can I use the Content Library pane with Daz Connect?
- Does Daz Studio 4.9 require me to use Daz Connect?
- Does Daz Studio 4.9 require me to be online to use Daz Connect installed content?
- I use my content on multiple computers. Can I still do that?
- I have multiple people in my household who share content with each other. Can we still do that?
- Is the encryption associated with Daz Connect essentially Digital Rights Management (DRM)?
- Can I copy products installed using Daz Connect from one computer to another?
- I like to move files around on disk to organize them differently. Can I still do that?
- What will happen with the content already on my hard drive(s)?
- What will happen to my custom metadata?
- Can I still custom sort my files?
- If the content is stored encrypted, how do I reinitialize morphs?
- Will Daz Install Manager and Daz Connect work side by side? Can I choose one or the other?
- Do I have to re-download all of my products?
- Does having the Daz Connect service mean that all content will finally be Smart Content capable?
- Does Daz Connect work with plugins?
- Will my saved scenes also be encrypted?
- How do I add content that I have created myself to Daz Studio?
- What happens to my Bryce and Carrara content?
- Does Daz Connect support 32-bit operating systems?
- Will this update work with products like ZoneAlarm or other software firewalls?
- Will this update eliminate the Hexagon, Bryce, GoZ, or Photoshop bridges?
- Will the DSON Importer for Poser plugin work with products installed using Daz Connect?
- Will this update keep zip packages on my computer like Daz Install Manager does?
- Is there a reason to upgrade to 4.9 if I do not plan to use Daz Connect?
Previous Threads:
Post edited by rbtwhiz on
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Comments
What is new in Daz Studio 4.9? Do I need to update my copy?
Daz Studio 4.9 resolves many issues and implements many improvements since the 4.8.0.59 General Release. More detail on specific fixes/changes/improvements can be found in the Change Log, which can be viewed online within the Documentation Center portion of our site. All new downloads of the Daz Studio Pro BETA product (SKU: 12000) will be of this version.
Supports mass uninstall via multiple selection + context menu
Has the NVIDIA Iray renderer been updated?
Yes, it has.
Iray 2015.3.3, build 246000.7491
Added and Changed Features
Fixed Bugs
slots has been fixed.
have been fixed.
parameter is not array typed.
See Also
Iray 2015.3.2, build 246000.4498
Added and Changed Features
Fixed Bugs
Iray 2015.3.1, build 246000.3782
Added and Changed Features
Fixed Bugs
Iray 2015.3, build 246000.3341
Added and Changed Features
Fixed Bugs
Iray 2015.3 beta, build 246000.1253
Added and Changed Features
Fixed Bugs
Iray 2015.2.1, build 243400.2118
Added and Changed Features
Fixed Bugs
Iray 2015.2, build 243400.1151
Added and Changed Features
Fixed Bugs
For instance:
The compiler erroneously assumed, that the default case has a reachable exit, hence code after the switch is not dead.
When base::blend color layers() was used in a jitted expression, the modes color layer hue and color layer saturation failed. This has been fixed.
where the compiler complains that a T[] array cannot be transformed into a uniform T[] array.
Is there any documentation?
Yes, there is. And we're actively working on more.
Check out the User Guide and QuickStart Guide that we've posted in the DAZ Studio 4.x Documentation section.
The Reference Guide is also in the process of being populated/updated—updates will be posted over the course of the beta.
*Note: Some pages are still being built. If you see "permission denied" for a page, that page is not live yet.
v4.9.0.29
Autofit / merge into scene appears to be completely broken.
Example:
Load Genesis Female, move her back a bit, load magus item via double clicking on it as normal (character still selected) clothing doesn't parent.
Load G2F, move her back a bit, load basicwear via double click as usual, parents in place properly fit as expected
Load Toulouse Hair same way, doesn't parent or fit. Selecting the unparented hair and then clicking materials to change the colours also does not work.
Of the items I've tested so far, only G2F basicwear and persian beauty default items actually went onto the character. Nothing else has fit any other character that I've tried so far.
Also, new content in Smart Content highlights as "New" but while clicking on a file removes the new setting, there doesn't appear to be any intuitive way to remove it from the actual product. I feel like this will confuse a lot of people.
On the bright side, creating Category folders now works, so thank you.
The issue that has been causing Auto-Fit (and other path dependent support file add-ons) trouble was in the process of being fixed being earlier today—i.e. 4.9.0.37. That build still has to go through some testing internally, and then in the Private Build channel before the public will get a chance to try it. The Public Build does not have everything we've worked on in it, yet—see FAQ: General Release, Public Build, BETA... What is the difference? for more information on the various build channels. The Private Build channel recieved 4.9.0.36 shortly before 4.9.0.29 was posted to the Public Build channel. If you would like more information about what isn't in the Public Build, but has been worked on and is currently being tested, take a look at the Private Build section of the Change Log.
-Rob
Whether or not new assets/products installed via Daz Connect are assigned to the "New" group is controlled by the Edit > Preferences... (F2) : Content Library : Assign New Product to "New" Group option. The Import Metadata dialog also now provides options for whether a product is assigned to the "New" group (i.e. Group As "New") as well as whether the asset(s) within the product(s) are assigned to the "New" group (i.e. Group Contents As "New") upon import.
To manually change group assignment, right-click on any asset/product and choose Group As > %id.label%. By default there are two groups: "New" and "None".
The asset/product grouping feature is intentionally extensible by end users, but it does have a few rules that must be followed. To add a custom group to the list of available options, you must create a pair of identically named PNG files—one for assets, and one for products. The files must follow the naming pattern
id.label.png, whereidis a unique postive numeric identifier for the group, andlabelis the text you want to appear within the menu—negative numeric identifiers are reserved for the application. You must place these identically named PNG files in specific parallel folders of your 4.9 installation—i.e./resources/images/groups/assetsand./resources/images/groups/products. Regardless of size the PNG image will overlay, and be anchored to the bottom right corner of, the asset/product icon. Groups are currently only added to the menu when the application launches, however this may change.-Rob
Okay, first - if I launch a new public beta and find what appears to be a fairly crippling bug, I have no way of knowing that it's a known issue that's been in the following 10 private versions of the program I don't have. Nothing in that changelog mentions that issue that I can see, probably because I can't understand a lot of the technical details mentioned, so I feel like it was worth reporting here. If you know about it and are fixing it, great. Personally speaking, I was going to solely use the beta for this build now that categories were fixed, but this renders the entire program pretty much unusable for me.
I understand how to assign things to the New group and how to manually remove each product, but it seems like something that should automatically remove itself, the same way it does on the individual file. Other than changing the display, the Group doesn't seem to do anything else? From what I can see, it isn't rearranging the order of products displayed, nor is there any clear way to only view one group at a time, etc. It all works, but I can easily see a new user being confused by their products being new forever if they don't go to a menu and adjust them.
TLDR version: If I click on a file, it removes itself from new. If I click on a product, it doesn't. This behaviour is confusing and feels inconsistent as a user. In the old sensible Content folder setup, a folder would remove its new status when its contents had all been highlighted. I expected products to do the same thing.
Greetings,
This:
Wantsies. :)
Also this:
It'd be interesting to see the ChangeLog for DzCloud, but that's probably too inside-baseball.
It's been a bit since I've had a good read over your changelog. Sounds like you hired some new devs.
I know this one just came out, and I've already installed it, but I can't wait for the next public beta! :)
-- Morgan
Um... isn't this functioning exactly the same way as it did previously? Its marked as new until you access each item? Product acts like the folder in the content tree...I never cared for the behavior myself, but sometimes found it useful. Can't you clear the flag from the Product with a right-click option like you could on the folder?
//edit: uncalled for, contentious comment removed
That's what I said you'd expect to happen, and it's what isn't happening.
Folder marked New contains content marked New, click on content and New is removed. When no New content in folder, folder no longer marked New.
Product marked New contains content marked New, click on content and New is removed. When no New content in product, product REMAINS marked New.
This remains after restart too, so it's not the only on launch limitation.
Ahh, I see... I guess I did not follow.
I found the reason I can't find content. The products that can't be found in Smart Content are the ones that lack a field "content_type" in the .json file in the data\cloud\meta folder. I think that if they default to:
"content_type" : "Prop"
all content would appear.
Also a bit confused about the "New" group especially what it is actually supposed to do and how it is intended to be used.
What worked:
- In the smart content pane I went to the tab "Updates"
- CTRL + A
- rightclick "Install Updates"
All updates were marked as "New"
What did not work (as expected):
I made it a point to purchase some new items in the store and then check if and how they would show up in BETA 4.9.0.29
It seems none of the new purchased items are marked as new in the available tab.
In this example Westpark Treatment Room Iray:
What I expected how the "New" Group could be used:
- There could be a tab "New" next to "Updates" or "Pending" so the users can quickly find the latest items they purchased.
alternatively
- There would be a way to display all "New" items in one place so one can quickly create a selection with CTRL+A or CTRL + C and then rightclick "install from cloud"
Other things I noticed:
- I was not able to find a folder called /groups in /resources/images
- When starting DS BETA 4.9.0.29 for the first time it seemed to take a minute or longer until any products were displayed in the Smart Content tab ALL.
- In general it seems to take 5-6 seconds to load the products in the tab ALL or AVAILABLE
I did not notice such a loading delay in the last beta.
Remaining Questions:
1) Is there quick way to display and install with DAZ connect all products purchased in the last order?
In one of the last beta threads there was written that it is planed to add a similar sorting function like in the DIM. I guess sorting by "Purchase Date" would do the trick in the future. But is there allready in the current version some kind of workflow to group items of the same order together to install them with a quick selection?
2) What is the difference between: "Group as" and "Group Content as" ?
I noticed in both cases that when I make a selection with CTRL+A all products and then use either right click command "group as" or "group content as" - new just seemed to add the new tag on all products.
- - -
Update / Edit:
Rephrased question 1) to make it more clear:
I purchased the products in the store and now I am looking for a quick workflow to find them all grouped together in some way to install them directly inside DAZ Studio (instead of using the DIM).
That is the intention, but it does not work that way yet. There are many moving pieces and we have to iterate to get everything working the way it is designed to.
"New" is now one of many possible asset groups—an "Asset Group" is an abstraction of the concept that "New" was serving in very limited form. Basically, it is simply tagging by way of visual indicator—a bit like putting color coded stickers on things to indicate a relationship between them or a similarity in purpose. For instance, using a series of adjacent outlined/filled stars to indicate how much you like a certain song/album/movie in a playlist.
A product can be assigned to a group regardless of its installed state. The pages (tabs) you suggest adding "New" next to are there for filtering by a product's installed state, so adding a "New" page there does not fit into the intended scope of that filter.
Instead, what is coming—but is not there yet—is something very similar to the Advanced Filtering found in the Filter Field of Install Manager. This mechanism allows you to do things like filter by group, or by a specific date, or before a specific date, or within a specific date range, or before/after a dynamic "distance" date, or within a range that is a dynamic "distance" date from a dynamic "distance" date... and many that I haven't mentioned. Grouping, in conjunction with advanced filtering, is exponentially more powerful/flexible than what "new" was doing.
You essentially end up with a mechanism whereby you can use the category selection with a keyword filter and a group filter to find the cross-section of products/assets that meet your specific criteria... or you leave out the group filter so that you can see the distribution of products/assets assigned to the group within the category and keyword cross-section.
They are not created by default. Create the paths I described yourself and then add/create the images I described and you'll be "off to the races."
"All" can be rather a lot. Before we limited the result set to 1200 it took even longer. Could it be faster? Sure. Will we continue to improve it? Yes. Is it going to be done tomorrow? No.
The Change Log indicates that sorting has been added in the 4.9.0.32 build. The advanced filtering and grouping I mentioned above puts even more power in the hands of the user.
Group As applies to the product itself. Group Contents As applies to the product and all of the assets in it.
-Rob
Awesome. Thank you for taking the time to explain!
As a test I was able to create a custom group called "cruiser" by placing a png labeled 1.cruiser.png in ./resources/images/groups/assets and
./resources/images/groups/products.In the screenshot you can see the custom overlay image in the lower right corner of the product Arabella 7 HD Add-on. To get it at that size I choose 30x30 pixels.
I can allready think of some ideas how to use that feature but for now its probably best to wait until the final release version before I get too crazy creating groups on my own.
Hum, I am having problems to create custom metadata for third party products. Generally, my workflow is:
Now, after the last step, the Product entry shows empty and all assets shows in LOCAL_USER. Looking inside the dsx file I can see it is correct, so maybe is just a matter of re-import it. Is this how it works now?
Edited: In fact I found that the problem starts in the step 4. When you open the new product entry in Content DB Editor after Create a Product the assests lost all categorization and compatibilities done in previous step.
Looks like the "The" issue with metadata is still a problem as importing metadata that have a name that starts with "The" still does not work. It can be imported fine in 4.8, just doesn't import/display in this beta. I'm assuming (hoping?) the line item in the private build log 4.9.0.34 "Cleaned up placement/grouping/labeling/population of Smart Content and Content Library context menus for products." is referring to a fix for this issue?
First cup of coffee, just waking up here.
I think, for the sake of the people working on Meta Data for products, It may be better for all, If the default was not something of a normal product (as in prop), rather "Undefined" or "Not Set Yet" may be better. It would make life easier for many, not just the users. It's a thought.
As a software developer, I am all too familar with only ever hearing about the negative things, what is wrong and what is broken, so I would like to state that I really like a majority of the changes and updates to the Smart Content tab. There has been some really great improvements and the little problems seem to be getting addressed as new beta builds come up. Keep up the good work!
I am going to download and install 4.9.0.29 and see what has been addressed before making any further comment.
Finally I managed to make my Desk Clocks to appear, it required a few SQL statements to set content_type_id to type 238 (Set). First image is before changing database. Second image after.
So, I'm sure if we are given some way to manually change the content type por assets we can make them to appear.
I have a question, I want to add folders/files to smart how do I go about doing that? I created a "product" but where do I find it in smart?
Nevermind, I found it, but I would like to find a tutorial in creating smart content.
Challenges and possible solutions to work with the new SKUNUMBER/runtime/textures folder structure
I installed a selection of 600+ product with DAZ connect which all went perfectly fine and was saving me hours of time installing as compared to installing with the DIM.
Nevertheless when I was trying to manually browse to some textures I did notice one road block that may cause me to loose a lot of time searching for textures in the future:
BEFORE with 4.8:
All textures were placed in one library folder in a more or less logical way:
My DAZ 3D Library\runtime\textures\ARTISTNAME\PRODUCTNAME
This made it possible that I was able to quickly browse to other textures of my favorite artists directly inside the "browse / load image" dialogue that uses the default windows explorer save / load windows.
DAZ connect 4.9 BETA
The new folder structure seems to be:
In general:
My DAZ 3D Library\data\cloud\SKUNUMBER\runtime\textures\ARTISTNAME\PRODUCTNAME
Specific example:
My DAZ 3D Library\data\cloud\1_2281\runtime\textures\stonemason\skycar
The issue now is that there is not anymore one /runtime/texture folder but there seems to be one SKUNUMBER folder for each product and inside that a unique texture folder.
In practice this means:
- It is not anymore possible to quickly browse to other folders of the same artists to mix and match different textures of products and addon products with the windows explorer load window
- It is not anymore possible to quickly browse to a favorite artists to look for a sykmap or HDR image with the windows explorer load window
- Especially when working with other render engine plugins it is especially for experienced users faster to directly load a texture into an image slot with the windows explorer load window
- DS material presets often apply a whole selection of textures. Manually loading textures has the benefit of applying just one new texture to one surface zone
The new challenges are when searching for textures and maps in windows explorer:
- you actually have to know the SKU number of the product and as well the SKU number for the addons.
- even IF you do know the number you are wasting valuable time switching between multiple folders in different locations
- you may know the artist that created that one tiled map, skydome, HDR image you are looking for but you do not remember the product and have no way of figuring out the SKU
Which user groups are affected by this change in the texture folder structure?
- If you are just loading presets without ever fine tuning materials or shaders you will not be affected by this change in the texture folder structure and maybe even not notice it is there.
- If you are a person who actually creates your own custom version of clothing by mixing and matching textures and bump, displacement and normal maps the way textures are now spread over multiple folders sorted by the SKU number has a negative impact on your workflow.
Especially for users who try to use DAZ Studio for client work and are looking to customize content in a reasonable time to quality relationship the old folder structure who used /ARTISTNAME/PRODUCTNAME was a more time efficient way to find textures.
In addition it is important to remember that some users do not only want to use the products in DAZ Studio.
When using DAZ Connect it should still be possible to find tile able textures or HDR backgrounds also quickly from other applications by using the windows explorer load windows.
Benefits of placing all assets of a product in one product folder
What I gathered from other threads the benefit of having all assets of a product in one folder is that users can move the SKUNUMBER folder around to another location.
- - -
Alternative solutions:
1) Placing all textures in one cloud/runtime/textures location
An alternative option could be to place all encrypted content in the SKU folder and then to place all unencrypted content in one location as before
My DAZ 3D Library\data\cloud\runtime\textures\ARTISTNAME\PRODUCTNAME
Doing that would allow the users to navigate the textures in just one place with a logical order as before.
As a downside it would not be possible to just move the SKU folder to another harddrive. the textures would be missing.
Personally I would not mind not being able to move around SKU folders.
I value the ability to have all textures in one place higher than to move around product folders.
2) Placing "shortcuts" to all textures into cloud/runtime/textures
Basically the installer would place all assets inside the SKU folder as before but at the same time shortcuts to all textures would be placed into /cloud/runtime/textures
This means the user would still have a way to manually browse the textues in a logical way in the windows explorer load window.
Maybe not that efficient but still a start to at least have some kind of alternative to browse textures and maps in one location as before.
3) DS IMAGE BROWSER
An alternative would be to add something like an image browser to DAZ Studio itself.
The OctaneRender plugin developer t_3 came up with the feature of the OctaneRender image browser for the OR plugin for DAZ Studio.
When loading images manually inside DS the user has two options
- load with the default windows explorer loading window
- open up the " IMAGE BROWSER" to load textures from folders in a special user interface
The benfit of the image browser is that it is also possible to display image formats that would not be previewed in windows explorer like HDR images.
The Image browser is also a very efficient way to show and browse all the rendered images of an animation sequence.
Note: I used some product preview images instead of showing maps or textures in this screenshot
A similar solution could be developed for DAZ Studio with the added feature that the Image Browser would "rebuild" a logicial way to browse and display all textures and maps that are spread over different SKU folders.
While the downloaded product assets would still all remain in one fixed location in the SKU folder an Image browser would give the users a new option to browse their unencrypted textures and maps in a logical way.
Basically all the tags and metadata that is added to the product could also be added to the textures and maps so it is possible
- to sort textures and maps by product
- show textures and maps for addon products
- show textures and maps by the same artist
- show textures and maps working with the same UV
- show textures and maps under the DAZ Original license
In addtion the DS IMAGE BROWSER could be connected with allready existing features like the photoshop bridge to make searching, editing and saving of user edited textures and maps even more time efficient.
- - -
I follow a different work flow, that worked great in versions 4.5 to 4.8, but NOT SO MUCH in 4.9
Although my process differs from yours, I get the same result, the product is empty and I have to re-import the meta data in order to populate it.
Now, since updating the 4.9.0.29, I not longer see a 'LOCAL_USER' product, I simply don't see the content until I re-import the dsx file. It would appear that we need to wait until the dev team has a chance to finish the refactoring in this section of the code stream before any of this is going to work smoothly.
Okay, this confirms my earlier opinion.
I will never, ever use Connect in any way, shape or form. This extreme change to a system that has been standard for many years is stupid.
Why can't there be a single /textures/ folder?