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And the moral of this contemporary version is to be careful what you buy at DAZ from now on. Even if major characters are released with all install options, evidence now shows us that it is highly likely that supplementary releases (expressions, outfits, HD versions, etc) will be encrypted / DRM only.
Could be that it won't be long before it's going to be easier to run a thread that points out the items that aren't encryted. ;-)
I'm certainly glad I didn't get Aiko.
I'm reading it as 'develop a lot of patience and a long waiting list'. And if things don't decrypt or I no longer want something once the year is up, well, that's cool too, I just saved myself some money.
I did think seriously about returning the Kenji Pro Bundle because the HD addon was encrypted, but in the end I decided it wasn't his fault and I just wouldn't bother with the additional HD addons unless they were insane bargains in the future.
If everything is encrypted in the future it's going to make sales deals tough since they usually require a new release and even if you buy one just to get the deal (rarely worth it, but sometimes) they'll just say "ahh they are accepted!"
I did pick up a new PC+ membership since it was so heavily discounted but it may be time to head into freebie only mode if this keeps up (unless PC+ is going to stay exempt from Connect-only.)
If everything is encrypted it will make things simple and much cheaper. :)
Rendo will be happy though.
I really like Aiko7, actually more than Aiko6, maybe as not a fan of the manga/anime eye style; I don't think its look translates well to 3D.
Updating DIM to download metadata separately, the way Connect does, would probably divert resources (potentially considerable resources, depending on how DIM works) from other work that is adding to functionallity. For those on metered connections Connect is already a potential boon as it allows per-file product updates, which would probably (at least) require a complete rewrite of DIM (with a completely new set of bugs to squash) so, yes, by the nature of the beast the deck is stacked but it isn't down to deviosity, just the practicallities of coding.
Curious. If connect grabs the metadata for all your installed products (7649 with another 10028 ready to download) what is the CMS good for? Is DAZ killing that when it kills DIM?
I've not moved to 4.9 yet for several reasons and this is yet another one. I just don't feel DAZ has been honest with us by not telling us up front ALL that happens when we (1)install 4.9 and (2)after we first authorize Connect. We seem only to get (time limited) answers to specific questions and some bandaids for problems already found. It's a good thing that DAZ will release from bondage the encrypted content after a year but because of what it's done to programs we love (Studio and DIM), that's not good enough.
It seems to me that vendors have more sway with DAZ than customers.
DIM? It seems obvious that DAZ wants all files in the cloud. DIM doesn't get the files from the cloud which makes it more expensive for DAZ when we use it. DAZ could have solved that problem but went in another direction instead.
Thank you for clarifying.
Not like the considerable resources it took to add Connect and all it's functions to Studio. Come on.
They could easily have started with the download amd installation code from DIM, amd worked from there.
and then they wouldn't hae had the per-file updates, or the ability to use a distributed download service ("the cloud") - which would be why I would expect updating DIM to offer the same facillities to be at best difficult (and quite possibly not possible).
Well, first theer is no "when it kills DIM" - what Daz has said is that if the usage of DIM drops to a low level they might well stop using it, but it was (as I recall) a double cionditional - if this maybe that - not a black capped judge and a muscular guy checking his axe fro sharpness.
To the specific question, the CMS is what uses the metadata, however it is delivered - downloading it for Connect, so that the product list can be populated with all products rather than just those already installed, has nothing to do with using or not using DIM to download and install content.
It certainly is possible. If it was done in Studio, it could be done in DIM. DIM already knows each element of each product and where it is to update them. An added tab for metadata updates only. It already talks to the CMS. And work from there. For the cloud don't you really only need validation from DAZ that you are a legitimate owner of such and such products. That's in DIM already, tied to your DAZ account.
In fact I believe that would have been a possibility before encryption. With encryption, putting the capability of direct update of individual pieces was used as a carrot.
That's one of the reasons I haven't updated to 4.9 and another reason I'm sure DIM will go away sooner than DAZ soon. The list of available but not dowloadeded prods is now in Connect. Even if you don't use Connect DAZ will have little compunction to define "low level" of DIM usage lower than many customers would. After all, Studio does everything DIM does--whether you like it or not. Installs are always tricky but having to wait while the program grabs almost 17 thousand products worth of metadata taking up well over an extra gig is a bridge of annoyance waaaaaaaay too far for me.
Many don't know or, if they do, don't care about turning our favorite renderer into a database and bloating its footprint. Well, I care, care a lot.
I completely agree.
I did upgrade to 4.9 for the new Iray shaders, only to find that half of them haven't even been updated so it makes no difference whether you're in 4.8 or 4.9; a load of them will have to be manually fixed anyway. The Content Library items got their text boxes bloated for no apparent reason, wasting screen space without even offering anything in return. If there are a certain number of pose dials no scrollbar will appear but the bottom dial will be obscured offscreen. The mess that is Connect. I don't need a massive metadata database, thank you - especially not one that constantly wants to update itself. I just want to download a product package, have it securely sitting there, offline, as a backup, and be able to tell the program to use those files (as well as be able to browse to them myself without looking up a code guide. And edit them if they need fixing.) There was repeated feedback that Connect was fundamentally flawed, and in turn it spawned a whole new Installer tab and another entire new shortcuts system that creates extra link files.
I understand the desire to make things simpler for customers but this bloated mess isn't it.
It does make a difference, I upgrade my own, and the new IRAY stuff in 4.9 is worth having; I've said before, however, that I have uninstalled (or not installed) the SQL components. I don't want a database.
That depends on the item - the larger file info box allows for larger .tip.png files with a clearer preview of the item, or legible instructions on use, but only newer items will include the larger images.
Look at all that spaaace for that tiny tiny text. Whhhhhy
Ah, not what I thought you meant - and not something I had noticed. It may be related to the work on updating Qt to allow (amng other things) for UI scaling - I would suggest reporting it as a possible bug.
Half the time I can't even find any of encrypted content. I found a character for G3f that I didn't realize was encrypted and do you think I can find her anywhere in my studio? no. doesn't matter how I search, she just doesn't show up. So, I have a character I bought but cant' find. Half and hour is far too long to search for something I purchased. So I can't even install it because I can't find it. Things are NOT easier to find with connect and smart content. Typing her name does nothing, choosing any of the options smart content does nothing. Another reason I avoid smart content and encrypted. Far too frustrating to find my stuff. And honestly its not just encrypted only content I can't find with smart content. No thanks...
Daz Studio 4.9 offers a lot of ways to search for your content. You can display only the products that you haven't installed yet and sort them so that the most recent purchase is at the top of the list. That is what I do to quickly find new products I bought but haven't installed yet. This is how I do that.
In the Smart Content pane:
The order you do these things in is not important.
You can also just go to the Install pane which shows only items that haven't been isntalled at all, with no filtering, so just use the button at the top to set the sort order (Name, the default, or Order date are probably best), seelct the items you want to isntall, and click the Install Selected button.
Not sure if what you're describing is the same as I've seen in 4.8, but I love it when you hover over an item and the tool-tip that pops up includes a larger preview image. Provides a nice compromise -- smaller icons for a compact list, larger image when you want to see more detail.
That is even easier.
Likewise. Every time that happens, I send Daz Support a "how you lost a sale today" message.
Did all of these and she still didn't show up. I eventually found her in the Alphabetized Products listings. Hence my frustration. I should be able to type the name of the product into the search bar under the right spot and have her show up. But she didn't. Sorted newest first, no show. Available, no show. double checked to make sure I had filter by context unchecked still no show. Most of the time I can eventually find things but this time, she was nowhere to be found.
And I find this very disturbing. Going to have to check mine but there is no way I can re install at this point, I'm not about to do all of my categories from scratch. If this is true I will not be a happy camper. I don't want my stuff on the cloud, I like my stuff to stay where it belongs which is on my computer.
It's still possible, since most of what Connect does as far as downloading the content is part of DIM. All that would need to be done is to provide DIM users the OPTION to download the difference between the existing file and the one on the DIM download server and install from the updated file after doing a CRC/MD5 hash check to verify the integrity of the file.
"The Content Library items got their text boxes bloated for no apparent reason..."
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Performance could be considered a very good reason.
It wasn't just Content Library that was changed, it was every instance of an Asset View in the entire application. The Asset View widget, used in quite a few places, was made to have consistently sized items because Qt (the cross-platform framework that Daz Studio and Install Manager are built on) performs faster and is more memory efficient when that option is used; it doesn't have to calculate/store the size of each individual item in the list when all items in the list are known/expected to be the same size. The folks that develop Qt believed in the performance gains so much, it is part of the framework (http://doc.qt.io/qt-4.8/qlistview.html#uniformItemSizes-prop)
I'm usually fully onboard with DAZ and LOVE using DIM but I simply can't get Connect to work for the simple fact that *my* 'Smart Content' just absolutely refuses to work. Had it up and running once for a few minutes then something happened and I'm back to manual directories (perhaps it was around the time I installed Carrara?). I've tried this, tried that, did this, these, those and whatever else I found in the forum, even with supervised help we just finally gave up. No joy. No luck. (Yes even install/uninstall/reinstall of DAZ as well as firewall this and that and blah blah blah until I was sick of the whole mess. I USUALLY manage to get things working - ALWAYS actually, but this just sucked the will to live right out of me.) So, without a super simple, very bullet-proof system it will exclude lots of people. I don't care about it being locked down and I'd like to help protect DAZ assets, but *I* don't pirate or give stuff away but I sure am paying a price. The irony - hacked stuff WOULD run for anyone. Legitimately purchased stuff sits in some secret bomb shelter underground wasting away and neglected for lack of ability to use it. And I'm peeved at myself right now for having just bought something and failing to notice that it was Connect only. Grrr.