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Daz Connect - FAQ

Daz SoftwareDaz Software Posts: 36
edited January 2016 in Daz Studio Discussion

Frequently Asked Daz Connect Questions:

Post edited by rbtwhiz on
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  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited November 2015

    • What is Daz Connect?

      Daz Connect is basically your connection to Daz 3D.  As your connection, it allows you to take advantage of a collection of new Daz Services.  This list (which will grow over time) currently includes:

      • The ability to browse products you own, whether they are installed or not
      • The ability to install or upgrade products from within Daz Studio with ease
      • The ability to automatically download products that are missing from a scene you are working with
      • The ability to see suggestions for related products to supplement what you are currently working on
      • The ability to easily download your products as needed to whichever computers you work on
      • The ability to purchase new products and to add new free products to your account directly within Daz Studio
    Post edited by DAZ_Vince on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • What are the goals of Daz Connect?

      • To help users find, install, and update the products they own, as well as browse new product options directly within Daz Studio.  Basically all of your products will be visible to you, and with little effort is installed and ready to be used in your scene.
      • To consume less disk space, making it easier to install them when you actually need them, as well as no longer store zip files for products on your local computer.
      • To help the artist community, which suffers from seeing its hard work stolen and published on pirate sites, by making purchases easier and more streamlined, while making piracy more difficult by encrypting products.
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited January 2016

    • How do I get my purchased products now?

      Once you have installed Daz Studio 4.9, log in to your Daz 3D account from within Daz Studio and go to the Products page of the Smart Content pane or the Products section of the Content Library pane to see products. If this is your first time launching this version, you may need to wait for Daz Studio to finish migrating product data from the previous version and/or retrieving data from our servers. The product icons that are grayed out are available for you through Daz Connect. Double-click a product to install it. It is just that easy.

      Note: Some products, like plugins, are not yet supported by Daz Connect and will need to be installed through Daz Install Manager or manually.

    Post edited by rbtwhiz on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • How can I get new products through Daz Connect?

      At the bottom of the Smart Content pane you will see a page titled “Store.”  This will show you the most popular products related to what is selected in your library and scene.  For example, if you are looking at hair in your library to choose one for your scene, the Store page will show you some of the most popular hair items that you do not own yet and may want to consider.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited November 2015

    • Are all products Daz Connect ready?

      New products, as well as a huge selection of older products, will be offered through Daz Connect right away, with more of the older products having Daz Connect support added in the future.  Products that have been offered through non-Daz Connect methods will continue to be available through those methods as well as through Daz Connect.

      New products may begin to be offered through Daz Connect only. This will be determined on a product by product basis.

    Post edited by rbtwhiz on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Will the products I already own keep working?

      Yes, any previously installed products will continue to work. When you update to Daz Studio 4.9, all products that are compatible with Daz Connect will be highlighted. If you decide to install the products through Daz Connect by right-clicking and choosing “Install,” the upgraded version will be installed and will benefit from in-application update notifications from that point forward. If you decide not to upgrade a product, it will continue to function as before. Products not supported by Daz Connect will keep their previous functionality and must be updated through existing workflows, such as Daz Install Manager.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited November 2015

    • Will products from stores other than Daz 3D keep working?

      Products from other stores will continue working the way they did prior to Daz Studio 4.9.  These products do benefit from features that have been added by Daz Studio 4.9, but they cannot benefit from any of the Daz Connect specific features.

    Post edited by rbtwhiz on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Can I use products installed through Daz Connect with other software?

      Products installed through Daz Install Manager keep their previous functionality.  Products updated to Daz Connect will not function with Carrara or the DSON Importer for Poser due to an inability to interface with Daz Connect web services, but all bridges (e.g. ZBrush, Bryce, Hexagon) and exporters continue to function as they have.

      Products that are available in zip format or through Daz Install Manager will remain available.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited November 2015

    • Does this update make it easier to find content I can use with Auto-Fit in Smart Content?

      The Smart Content pane can now be set to show all content instead of only those that are defined as being compatible. With the “Filter By Context” option disabled, you have a new unfiltered view of your content.

    Post edited by rbtwhiz on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Can I use the Content Library pane with Daz Connect?

      If you prefer to use the Content Library pane, it has also been updated to support Daz Connect.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Does Daz Studio 4.9 require me to use Daz Connect?

      No, you are not required to use Daz Connect services in Daz Studio.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited November 2015

    • Does Daz Studio 4.9 require me to be online to use Daz Connect installed content?

      You are not required to be online to use products installed using Daz Connect.

      You are required to connect at least once to validate your account, but you can work offline from that point forward. However, working offline will not allow you to benefit from using live product and metadata updates, installing content from our servers, or using the Store page in the Smart Content pane.

    Post edited by rbtwhiz on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited January 2016

    • I use my content on multiple computers. Can I still do that?

      Products can be installed and used on multiple computers, but you can only be actively logged in on a limited number of computers at a time. In fact, using Daz Connect makes this easier than before, as any computer you log into will have access to your purchased products directly within Daz Studio. There is no need to carry around your installation files—simply login and download your products on any machine.

     

    Post edited by DAZ_Jon on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • I have multiple people in my household who share content with each other. Can we still do that?

      No. Using content for more than one person is not allowed by the Daz 3D End User License Agreement (EULA).  When you log into Daz Connect through Daz Studio, you will see and be able to use products that are tied to your account but not products that are associated with someone else’s account.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Is the encryption associated with Daz Connect essentially Digital Rights Management (DRM)?

      We strive to add great benefits to being connected while limiting the impact to the user experience. Although we have included file encryption to protect our artist community, the primary target is to provide a better experience for our users. Daz Connect delivers and updates products more efficiently but relies on the fact that files are in a location and format that is maintained by the application. In this sense, Daz Connect provides some measure of digital rights management.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Can I copy products installed using Daz Connect from one computer to another?

      The preferred workflow is to log in to each computer and install the desired products using Daz Connect. If this is not a workable solution, please contact Customer Support for potential alternatives.

      Products downloaded and installed through Daz Install Manager or directly from the online store will continue to function as they currently do.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited January 2016

    • I like to move files around on disk to organize them differently. Can I still do that?

      You cannot move files around for products installed through Daz Connect. You can change the drive and/or path to which products are installed using Daz Connect, but you cannot manually re-organize the files within the product.

      If your goal is to change where the files show up in Smart Content based views, the location is driven by categorization. The proper way to change organization of these products is to add your own categories—you can create your own categories and reorganize the content to your heart’s content without touching the files on disk.

      If your goal is to change where files installed using Daz Connect show up in the Content Library pane, you can create custom categories and arrange them as you wish.

      There is also a new file type you can create which will give you a Daz specific link file that you can move around on disk to sort your content on disk still. You do not want to move the files downloaded by Daz Connect as it won't know where they are anymore to load or update if an update is available. The new file type is a Daz specific link files with the extension of *.djl. To create one you drag and drop from database driven views (Content Library, Smart Content, Preset pages, etc) to native folder containers (Content Library) to create link file that you can then move around on disk as you wish.

    Post edited by DAZ_Jon on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • What will happen with the content already on my hard drive(s)?

      Your previously installed content remains untouched after installing Daz Studio 4.9. Content that is not available through Daz Connect will remain untouched. Content available through Daz Connect will indicate they are installable using Daz Connect. If you decide to install these products using Daz Connect, then they will be managed by Daz Studio and will benefit from live updates to metadata and files. If you decide not to install these products using Daz Connect, then they will continue to work as they did before and will not benefit from live updates.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • What will happen to my custom metadata?

      The first time you launch Daz Studio 4.9, any data—custom or otherwise—that exists in the content database is migrated so that it can be used in Daz Studio 4.9.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited January 2016

    • Can I still custom sort my files?

      Yes, you can still customize how your files are categorized by adding your own categories.

      Note: We have added the ability to create stand-in shortcut files for users who prefer to use folders and files to organize content instead of categories. This allows the source files to remain in place and benefit from product updates, while also allowing users to keep a workflow that is similar to those they have already established.

    Post edited by rbtwhiz on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited November 2015

    • If the content is stored encrypted, how do I reinitialize morphs?

      Files provided in Poser formats that use ExP technology are not encrypted. The directory structure of products installed using Daz Connect has changed in a way that is incompatible with the current tools that provide ExP functionality. If you continue to install products that make use of ExP technology through Daz Install Manager, they will continue to function as before. For now, products that require this functionality will not be made available through Daz Connect.

    Post edited by rbtwhiz on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Will Daz Install Manager and Daz Connect work side by side? Can I choose one or the other?

      Yes, both Daz Install Manager and Daz Connect can work side by side. Planned updates to Daz Studio and Daz Install Manager will help coordinate installation methods.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114
    edited January 2016

    • Do I have to re-download all of my products?

      No, but if you choose to update a product to benefit from the live functionality, the latest updated version of the product will be re-downloaded through the Daz Connect service*. Daz Install Manager product updates required you to re-download the entire product. Daz Connect allows you to get incremental changes, making updates more efficient. Once installed using Daz Connect, Daz Studio keeps you notified of available updates as well as other content to consider.

      Note: If a product is already installed to a mapped content directory by any other means, installing the same product through Daz Connect will attempt to conserve bandwidth by copying the files that are verified to be "current" to the specified Daz Connect Data path instead of downloading the file again.

    Post edited by rbtwhiz on
  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Does having the Daz Connect service mean that all content will finally be Smart Content capable?

      We are updating most of the content available from Daz 3D to include metadata. We will provide a much more consistent categorization of files and products with live updates and enhancements to existing products.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Does Daz Connect work with plugins?

      Not at this time. Daz Studio application updates and plugins still need to be installed through Daz Install Manager.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Will my saved scenes also be encrypted?

      No, your saved scenes are not encrypted—you can continue to share them if you like. Scene files do not actually contain assets—they contain references to the assets. In order to load a scene, you need the assets to be locally available.

      In Daz Studio 4.9, if you attempt to load a scene file that requires assets you own but are not installed, you will be prompted to install them using Daz Connect. If the required assets are installed through Daz Install Manager or manually, the scene will load without prompting you. If the required assets are installed using Daz Connect and also installed by any other means, the Daz Connect installed assets take precedence.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • How do I add content that I have created myself to Daz Studio?

      The same way you do now. Your custom built content is not encrypted.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • What happens to my Bryce and Carrara content?

      Products created for Bryce and/or Carrara can still be purchased through the website and installed through Daz Install Manager. Bryce maintains the ability to use Daz Studio content through the Bryce bridge. Carrara cannot currently consume encrypted files installed using Daz Connect. Your options for Carrara are to either export FBX or OBJs out of Daz Studio or use unencrypted versions of your content downloaded and installed through Daz Install Manager.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Does Daz Connect support 32-bit operating systems?

      Daz Studio 4.9 provides the ability to use Daz Connect services and is supported on 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista or later and OS X 10.6 or later. Keep in mind that our default renderer, NVIDIA Iray, only runs on 64-bit operating systems and on Mac requires OS X 10.7 or later. If running on a 32-bit operating system, make sure you read the product descriptions before making a purchase.

  • DAZ_VinceDAZ_Vince Posts: 114

    • Will this update work with products like ZoneAlarm or other software firewalls?

      The PostgreSQL based Content Management Service (CMS) used by Daz Studio 4.9 for storing and using metadata will not work with ZoneAlarm.  This is unrelated to Daz Connect but is a known issue.

      Most firewall applications do not cause any issues with Daz Studio or Daz Connect, although you may be prompted to allow access if you have very strict (non-default) settings.

This discussion has been closed.