AofA Lights in Studio 4.11 Beta
zombiewhacker
Posts: 684
I've used Age of Armour's lights for years in Studio 4.9 with no problems, but I've noticed they don't work at all in the 4.11 Public Beta I recently installed. The AofA duf icons are there when 4.11 is running, but when I doublecliick them nothing happens.
Do I have to install an AofA update to get the lights to work in 4.11, and would doing so break their compatability with 4.9?
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Did you have a beta installed before installing the 4.11 one?
No, the 4.11 Public Build is the only Beta ever installed, so there would be no conflicts with older versions.
You know, it's been so long since I first installed AofA Lights for 4.9, I can't even rememberr now, do you have to enter a code to activate it, like Animate2 and other plug-ins, or should it work automatically?
There's no special code, but those lights are shader-based, and install files in the scripts and shaders folders under the folder with the DAZStudio executable. I've never tried to use a Beta, so I don't know how to get these lights installed again. Maybe manually copy the files? I'm sure someone has done this before.
Simply uninstall and reinstall should do the trick.
Yes, these (among others) plugins need some of their files installed into the D|S program folder — in a first-time beta install, the files don't exist in the beta program folder, only in the release program folder. Uninstall and run the installer again, and the files will be copied to both locations.
Hi sorry I know this isnt the best spot for this but cant seem to find a better one. I just got the AOA Advanced lighting Bundle and it says its compatible with 4.12 but theres no light being shown in the viewport regardless of what settings I use. Is it really compatible with Iray?
Not in Iray, they are 3DL shader-based lights. It was inferred that the OP knew that, since he had been using them for years.
No, it's not, those are for 3DL. Just because it lists 4.12 as compatible software doesn't mean it's compatible with Iray.
So Iray renders them obsolete. That would have been nice to see in the notes. Thanks looks like I'll have my first DAZ return experience.
Like a good part of Daz product catalog, those lights were released way before Iray was added in DS, which is why the product page doesn't mention Iray.
Just because they do not work in Iray does not mean they are obsolete, just not compatible. They still work very well with 3DL renders. Iray compatibility is invariably mentioned on the product page, and has only been around for a few years. Anything made before then (unless explicitly updated for it) would not have known about Iray, so if it doesn't say Iray, it isn't, as a general rule.
Where can I find products release dates? https://www.daz3d.com/advanced-daz-studio-light-bundle
If its compatibilty is set to DAZ Studio 4.12 (Not "Daz Studio") which uses uberbase as default shader (Uberbase not the Ubersurface noted in the user manuals?)
" Please note that the lighting and occlusion will work on any surface but some of the advanced, surface flagging features will only recognize materials which use the DAZ Studio Default, Ubersurface, HumanSurface, SimpleSurface or the AoA Subsurface Shader. These shaders are used for the overwhelming majority of DAZ Studio based materials so it is rare that a user will encounter any limitation with the light."
If you are rendering photoreal (the purpose of this lighting) in 2019+ then chances are good you are using Iray over 3Delight.
If theres not going to be an Iray update, then isnt it... honestly, obsolete? or IDK should it atleast have a note added (ONLY WORKS WITH 3DL or LEGACY Shaders)?
Im really not trying to be a butt about it even if thats how I might be coming off.
There were, oh, I'll go with 20 thousand, or so, products before Iray appeared, so going back to add notes for every one of them would have been a daunting task. Add to that the acquisition of thousands more from RDNA, and that's a lot of documentation. Then again, only shader-based products or those made for a specific render engine would really be incompatible with little or no chance of conversion to Iray.
As for release dates, there is (supposed to be) a readme file for every product (but not bundles, unless they had a bonus item) in the Documentation center (start here) that contains, among other things, release dates. There are a lot of gaps from the early days, but the earliest references to Iray are from around May 2015. (I'm sure there's a note somewhere in the DAZ Studio release notes that would pinpoint that date). It would be safe to assume anything before then, and a buffer after that as artists started to adapt, is exclusively 3DL in its various forms unless explicitly stated (some older products have been updated to include Iray, and they say so).
Incidentally, this is another clue to whether something uses Iray. Looking at the SKU number, if it's under about 21000 then it's definitely not Iray. Anything released with an SKU of about 22000-23000 might be Iray (some items might have been completed pre-Iray but not activated in the store until later). Anything newer than that ought to at least say on the store page whether it's Iray.
Note that there's also a big difference between plugins and content. Plugins (especially shaders or lights) made for 3Delight are more likely to fail in an Iray render. 3Delight content won't exactly fail, but the materials will probably need some adjustment.
That field always lists the latest version of DS4, that doesn't mean it was made for that version or for iray.
@Sven Dullah and Spottedkitty:
To clarify then, when you say uninstall then reinstall, you're talking about the AofA lights -- not the Studio Beta 4.11 itself?
Yes, reinstall the lights so that the needed files get installed to the beta folder too.
Alright Ill hang on to them, they can still be used as preview lighting in complex scenes and the occasional stylized paint toon 3delight render. Still stinks they dont enhance Iray as I thought originally.