I was just curious to know if Octane 2 and 3 will support the new Daz Studio. I'm also curious to know if the new Content Encryption will affect how we interact with our databases.
----------------- Intel i7-4790K, Asus Z97-A, Corsair 32GB DDR3 1866MHz CL9, 2XAsus STRIX GTX980 DirectCU II OC 4GB, 4XSamsung 840 EVO Raid 10, Win 7 x64 Pro.
I'd also like to know how 4.9 is working with OcDS. I've not upgraded to 4.9 yet so I'm waiting for some other brave soul to try it out and feedback.
Not sure about the encrypted content as I always manually install content. Is it possible to have both manual and encrypted content in the same database? Based on comments in the DAZ forum many others are finding this confusing and not certain what benefits 4.9 brings other than encryption (if that could be described as a benefit.)
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme, i7 3770k, 32GB RAM, 4 x GTX760 4GB, Win 8.1 x64.
Spectralis wrote:I'd also like to know how 4.9 is working with OcDS. I've not upgraded to 4.9 yet so I'm waiting for some other brave soul to try it out and feedback.
Not sure about the encrypted content as I always manually install content. Is it possible to have both manual and encrypted content in the same database? Based on comments in the DAZ forum many others are finding this confusing and not certain what benefits 4.9 brings other than encryption (if that could be described as a benefit.)
The 4.9 part doesn't bother me... It will work with older content. Will OcDS support iRay textures?
I'm very concerned with directory structures. I rearrange everything all the time. Poses go with their associated props. I flatten the texture directories.. so its not Materials/3Delight Materials/Iray, its just 3Delight, and iRay. (Fewer clicks if you go back and forth.) I remove boutique directories, like 'i13'. I also never ever install into my core database. I do that in a test database which I clean up, and... test the product. Then I merge it.
The only feature I really want from Daz is a revision number on the damn files.
I also have no idea how I access encrypted textures. Are we even getting jpgs any more?
----------------- Intel i7-4790K, Asus Z97-A, Corsair 32GB DDR3 1866MHz CL9, 2XAsus STRIX GTX980 DirectCU II OC 4GB, 4XSamsung 840 EVO Raid 10, Win 7 x64 Pro.
I have used all the last test builds of OcDS 2.x and 3.x with the latest DAZ Studio 4.9 Public Release / Beta builds.
With the latest releases there are no issues with OcDS that would be caused directly by DS 4.9.
Therefore I can only recommend upgrading.
The benefits of installing and updating products with DAZ connect directly inside DAZ Studio are huge compared to installing with the DIM or just manually.
- - -
New folder structure for encrypted products
I am not going to comment on the ethical and business reasons for or against encryption. Both sides have valuable points that have been discussed at length in the last months...
As far as I am concerned the current implementation of encrypted geometry with unencrypted textures and image maps is not interfering with my past workflow.
All import and export options are the same. If I want to edit geometry I can still do that the same way as before by using GoZ or exporting .obj.
The only real change is that together with the encrypted geometry all textures and maps are now located in a separate product folder named with the SKU number of the product.
Personally I have come to the conclusion that I do not have the time and energy to manually move around files. So I trust in the category and file system that DAZ3D implemented and work with that as it is.
This also means that I completely uninstalled all DIM versions of products and reinstalled those products I intend to use directly inside DAZ Studio with DAZ Connect.
- - -
Some more practical 4.9 infos for those interested:
DAZ3D released a video that gives a great first impression how you can install and update your products directly in the Smart Content tab.
Smart Content in Daz Studio
- - -
Filter by Context
At the left bottom of the smart content tab a filter was added named "Filter by Context"
- With a checkmark set smart content behaves as before. Only those products are displayed that are directly compatible with the selected item in the scene. Example: Genesis 3 female is selected in the scene and you browse to wardrobe shirts. Then only shirts compatible with G3F are displayed.
- With the checkmark removed ALL your products of the selected category are displayed.
Example: if you select wardrobe shirts all shirts are displayed no matter if they are for V4, Genesis, Genesis 2 or Genesis 3.
- - - Installing your last orders directly in DAZ Studio
There are now advanced filter options for the smart content. Just browse to the available tab to show all products that are not yet installed. Set the filter options to display your recent orders first. Make a selection with mouse or keybord (CTRL+A) and click install.
- - -
Display additional product information directly inside DAZ Studio
Right click any product and select "more information" to display the product wiki page directly inside DAZ Studio.
- - -
Login or work offline
You can change between an online or offline modes with the click of a button.
- - -
Practical Example: Installing only products compatible with Genesis 3 Female
On my laptop I have only limited HD space. Installing all products is not an option. In the DIM it was still time consuming to find products that only work with one generation of figures like Genesis 3.
With DAZ connect I can now simply add Genesis 3 Female to the scene and with "Filter by Context" activated all available products are displayed that are only compatible with G3F. Make a selection with CTRL + All. Rightclick install. Wait for the downloads to complete. Done.
Doing the same task manually or with the DIM would have taken me several days to figure out which items are Genesis 3 compatible and which are older G2, Genesis or V4 items...
- - -
From my point of view DAZ Studio 4.9 is a huge leap forward in making it much easier to install and update selections of a large amount of licensed products.
I have 500GB of models. Most of which comes from Daz. With my bandwidth restrictions upgrading Smart Content alone will take 12 months. (I'm capped at 100GB/month, and I'd like to use the internet as well. It would cost me $300 to upgrade my service.)
I don't use 'Smart Content' or whatever that is. When I originally asked Daz, they said there was no manual that means I've got 2 years of unmanaged mess in there by now. Apparently to use it I was also not permitted to change directories... (I really truly don't want to become a database admin. When there already is one called a 'file system'.)
Since I use the directory structure to access my files, a video demonstrating that would be valuable. As I said I don't know what Smart Content is.
What I need to do is download and install content to a test library. (Daz can do that just fine, I'm good.) I then need to change all the directories around to suit my needs. For instance I merged Skyler and Rayne since their clothes will likely fit, and in this case, all the clothes\hair are co-located in the character directory. Clothes\Hair are also located in the Hair and Clothes directory as well. C:\Daz 3D\My Library\People\Genesis 3 Female\Characters\Skyler&Rayn
As I said, I'm not concerned about encryption so much as the ability to access files. I'm also glad to hear that 4.9 is working.
----------------- Intel i7-4790K, Asus Z97-A, Corsair 32GB DDR3 1866MHz CL9, 2XAsus STRIX GTX980 DirectCU II OC 4GB, 4XSamsung 840 EVO Raid 10, Win 7 x64 Pro.
updated and removed original answer to keep this shorter anything I write might be obsolete already anyway. So it may be better to check the official answers by DAZ3D staff on the DAZ3D forum...
The confusion is due to the fact that this is another kind of content distribution, storage and filing system on top of others that were introduced in the recent past. The 35 Connect FAQ's are more like a manual than a succinct summary of the facts. I don't use smart content either because it never seemed to work properly nor did it make searching for content much easier. It felt a lot safer installing everything manually once I had a couple of content folder calamities using DIM.
I realise that DAZ survives on its content sales but it's annoying that this is being imposed upon us while neither my NLE or DAW require such convoluted methods to store and access content. If Sony suddenly decided to introduce encryption on all its audio/video sample content then I think there would be similar frustration among Vegas Pro users to say the least.
ASUS Maximus VI Extreme, i7 3770k, 32GB RAM, 4 x GTX760 4GB, Win 8.1 x64.
so... will it be possible to get unencrypted file structures like it has been all the time or is that not possible any longer from now on? i need to edit textures and stuff most of the time so everything else would be a big problem