Daz Studio 5 development update

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  • bytescapes said:

    I am wryly amused that @DAZ_Rawb's announcement has reversed the usual order of things: the Mac users are happy, and the PC users are complaining.

    Reading between the lines, the PC users should also be pleased by this announcement. The "major foundation change" probably refers to upgrading from an ancient version of the Qt toolkit (I think DS4 is based on one that shipped in 2015) to a more modern one, and possibly other changes as well. While the immediate obvious benefit is that the Mac version will go from "does not work properly on recent Mac OS's" to "works on recent Mac OS's", having a PC build based on a newer Qt should also pay off for PC users as well. The short-term impact will be smaller, but in the longer term this move may bring benefits such as greater stability, a more responsive interface, and faster development cycles. And given that DAZ are probably also making other changes to support their long-term plans, the foundational change could be good news for everyone.

    I don't work for DAZ and don't have insider knowledge of what exactly they're doing. But based on my interpretation of what they have disclosed, it sounds as if this is good news for PC users too, even if the payoff isn't quite as immediate as it is for Mac users.

    I'm a PC user and certainly wouldn't complain! The way I see it, the more platforms it supports = more users = more revenue/growth for Daz. I just hope the growth also equates to them hiring more people, lol.

  • outrider42outrider42 Posts: 3,679

    I don't see any reason why hardware specs would change going to 5. What drives the spec you need is going to be what models you use, and Iray itself, and I suppose dforce simulations. While Iray may may change some, the fundamental requirements for it will still be the same. Switching to DS5 is not going to suddenly require a new computer if your existing PC is totally fine with DS4. It is possible using modern software might even slightly reduce the overhead DS runs.

    The only reason specs may change for you is if you use more dense models with more textures. That's pretty much it. Even if Daz suddenly switched rendering engines out of the blue, which they will not do, any PBR render engine is going to have similar requirements.

    If you have particularly ancient hardware or maybe Windows 7, the new Daz may require new drivers that you cannot use because of your hardware or operating system choice. But that is on you, and if driver updates are a problem for you, then they will be a problem if DS4 was still being updated. It is 2021 guys, technology marches forward. Even so, as they already stated, DS5 will not replace DS4 on your PC, and DS4 will continue to be available to download for some time. So in the absolute worst case scenario you can keep running DS4 as long as you desire to do so. Nobody is being forced to upgrade, and even if you do, DS4 will still be there for you.

    Daz needs to lay the groundwork for their future. DS5 is going to be a very important release for this company, as competition is simmering up in this field. While Daz is largely an asset store today, there is no question that Studio is a major driver of those asset purchases. It is fantastic that they have recently warmed up more to exporting Daz assets into other programs. This is important as well, but it is still vital to keep Studio users engaged with compelling features that will make them want to continue buying assets and other products for Studio. There are more than assets to sell, as Daz specific products are big sellers, too. It would hard to sell Iray lighting products if people are using other render engines all the time. Daz needs to be able to keep both types of customers happy, those who simply want good assets, and those who use Studio as their workflow. Doing one well but not the other would be problematic for Daz long term. I personally do not think Daz can do well if they are strictly an asset seller as Epic and other companies begin to push their own asset stores. But they will also struggle if they try to keep everything inside Daz, as companies (again, like Epic) strive to give people a good reason to use their software.

    They have to have a balance of both, and that flexibility can carry them through the next decade.

  • N3p3nth3N3p3nth3 Posts: 130

    Happy mac user here, I've been holding off upgrading my OS and was starting to feel I might have to leave daz behind for a while. Guess it's time to comvert all the vicky 4s to genesis 3 and upgrade.

  • CypherFOXCypherFOX Posts: 3,401

    Greetings,

    I'm explicitly not upgrading from Catalina to Big Sur because my MacBook Pro has 3.5TB on-machine of DAZ assets.  It would be...painful to not be able to run DAZ at all (as it just doesn't work on Big Sur) and to have to rely on my Windows box (essentially the render rig) for all my DAZ work.  I'm _VERY MUCH_ looking forward to this version, warts and all.

    Plus Dforce has stopped working on Catalina with a recent-ish patch, and...well, I just feel the pain in a BIG way, of not having DAZ Studio working on Big Sur.

    @DAZ_Rawb I know that the focus is making it 64 bit with QT5 and all the other work necessary to make it 64 bit clean, but can you say whether dForce will work again on the Mac in DS5?

    Thanks VERY much, again!

    --  Morgan

     

  • fred9803fred9803 Posts: 1,564

    scott762_948aec318a said:

    We'll have to see.  It's hard to get excited about it with no real features announced (outside of it working for M1 Mac users).  laugh

    And I don't see any point in bugging the mods about any new features that might come with DS5. They prpbably don't know themselves ATM. New features will come with an official announcement and not on the boards.

  • GoggerGogger Posts: 2,389

    SnowSultan said:

    I'm glad the 5% or so of Mac users here will be happy to hear this news, but you could have told us Studio 5 will have a new splash screen and it would have been a more exciting annoucement than this.   ;)    Thank you for the coupon though.  :)

    HA HA!
    But would that new splash screen announcement have been all that exciting if it featured an image of a Mac? 
    Nothing against Mac users, I just ain't one of 'em.

  • ricovnyricovny Posts: 2
    hello ... i have to buy a computer within three, four months. i am working on a 6 year old imac currently which does not recognize my graphics card. (rendering iray very long) my questions are as follows. i really like working on mac .. does daz studio work well on the latest imac m1? if not, which pc config would you recommend for a budget of 1300 euro? thank you
  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 10,024

    namffuak said:

    Mystiara said:

    i remember windows 3.1.  never a 1,2 or 3.0

    i remember a stephanie petite 3.0

    One of my co-workers experimented with windows 2 - pretty much a gui layer on top of DOS. 3.0 was better, but not by much. Windows 3.1 was pretty much the first viable version.

    Windows 3.0 was just something you opened to get Excel running 

  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 10,024

    Mystiara said:

    CARRARA NINE??

    If you look back... They have bought Carrara, Bryce, Hexagon, without doing much updating to them - Why, as those were not competitors of DS?...

    When was the last time any of those programs received any attention? Did they buy those programs to incorporate some parts/ideas in them into DS?

  • MendomanMendoman Posts: 404
    edited July 2021

    @DAZ_Rawb Hmmm, I'm actually quite concerned about these news. I'm sure that 5% of your userbase is happy, but I'm going to be selfish and think how this is going to affect my workflow and my wallet? If all the plugins and scrips will be broken, who will fix them, when and is it free?

     

    For PAs like Zev0 and HowieFarkes, whose products I'm using a lot, I'm sure this kind of change will cause a lot of extra work. Are they really willing to upgrade everything for free for DS5? If they update all their products, and when plugin/script is finally recompiled/fixed for DS5, is it going to be an update or a new product? If it's a free update, what if I decide to stay with DS4 at first until major bugs are ironed out, since new DS5 offers us PC users nothing but new untested core, new bugs, and broken plugins and scripts, do those updates break my DS4 install or will install manager know that this is DS5 update, don't update it for DS4. As far as I know, there's very little information visible for me as a user to make that decision myself. If it's a new product, do I get some 20% off like usually, and have to spend hundreds of dollars to keep using the products I have already paid for once. I think that is a quite deep price to pay for PC users. How are you going to handle this issue?

    Post edited by Mendoman on
  • galiengalien Posts: 137

    doubledeviant said:

    DAZ_Rawb said:

    - Anyone who has Daz Studio 4 in their account will be able to keep it. You'll be able to continue to download and use it for the foreseeable future.

    That's appreciated. The current (and only) general release of 4.15 is six months old and lacks significant fixes included in the current beta (for memory leaks, etc). Can the 4.15.0.14 beta be promoted to general status, please, so we have a proper manual installation for a stable 4.15?


    I'm interested in Studio v5 of course, but in the meantime I'd like to try 4.15 for Filament and Genesis 8.1, but the lack of an up-to-date 4.15 has put me off (and cost Daz the sale of several products that would have otherwise interested me).

    I would second this.  We need a solid and stable 4.15 release before moving to 5.

     

  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 10,024

    scott762_948aec318a said:

    We'll have to see.  It's hard to get excited about it with no real features announced (outside of it working for M1 Mac users).  laugh

    Note that they are releasing Pre-Beta, something usually tested and developed behind closed doors by people that could build a super computer from a pile of paper clips with their eyes closed and hands tied behind their back...

  • kyoto kid said:

    PerttiA said:

    richardandtracy said:

    If I can make a plea for continued Win 7 support I'd like to make it. Or at least don't put in something un-necessary to break Win 7 support. There are still a number of Win 7 machines with a reasonable life left and sufficient grunt to cope with what can currently be thrown at them, and can probably cope with future stuff adequately for a few years. Shortening their useful lives would be a shame.

    Same plea for continued Windows 7 support and/or adding Linux to supported operating systems. 

    ...+1 particularly for Linux. Love to dodge the whole W10/11 issue altogether.

    Another +1 for linux support.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,035
    edited July 2021

    ...well looks like I'll be stuck on the 4.12 beta.  I thought of going the VM route with W7 as the VM and Linux up front, but that is still about an 800$ - 900$ investment which on what I receive today is a hefty "big ticket" purchase (and that is still using older tech). Of course there's the Nvidia driver issue so even that may not be an option, particularly if Nvidia dumps Maxwell support with a new Iray update. Even moving to a 3060 (if the price ever comes down close to MSRP) is just as moot again because of the driver issue as prices likely may not come down until after W7 driver support ceases .  

    The only way W10 ends up on my system is If I can wrangle the Enterprise LSTC version which cuts out all the nonsense, rubbish, and 6 month updates.

    Otherwise the only other hope is if Daz adopts Linux.

     

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • richardandtracy said:

    Mystiara said:

    i remember windows 3.1.  never a 1,2 or 3.0

    i remember a stephanie petite 3.0

    I saw an A4 scanner in 1987 that only worked on Windows 2. The interface was almost identical to the Apple 2. Then came that massive step overlaid on DOS, Windows 3.0, Networking was added to make Win 3.1

    It was actually 3.11

    And thus the joke of the Linux kernel 3.11 called "Linux for Workgroups"

  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 10,024

    RemiliaSutton said:

    What will the minimum and recommend specs for hardware be? Will maxwell gpus be supported? Because some of us (like me) aren't rich and can't afford that RTX nonsense 

    Maxwell support has already been announced to be ending, when it happens depends on Nvidia (as in Nvidia Iray)

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/6200861/#Comment_6200861

    4.14.0.8 (November 10, 2020)

    • NVIDIA Iray
      • Integrated Iray 2020.1.1 (334300.4226); see this thread for more detail
        • REQUIRES: NVIDIA Driver 451.48 (or newer) on Windows; see NVIDIA Driver Downloads
          • NVIDIA recommends installing Studio Drivers
        • Adds support for Ampere GPUs (SM 8.0 / GA100)
        • Support for SM 3.X/Kepler generation GPUs has been removed - due to CUDA 11
        • Support for SM 5.0/"Small" Maxwell generation GPUs are marked as deprecated - matching CUDA 11

     

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,035

    PerttiA said:

    RemiliaSutton said:

    What will the minimum and recommend specs for hardware be? Will maxwell gpus be supported? Because some of us (like me) aren't rich and can't afford that RTX nonsense 

    Maxwell support has already been announced to be ending, when it happens depends on Nvidia (as in Nvidia Iray)

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/6200861/#Comment_6200861

    4.14.0.8 (November 10, 2020)

    • NVIDIA Iray
      • Integrated Iray 2020.1.1 (334300.4226); see this thread for more detail
        • REQUIRES: NVIDIA Driver 451.48 (or newer) on Windows; see NVIDIA Driver Downloads
          • NVIDIA recommends installing Studio Drivers
        • Adds support for Ampere GPUs (SM 8.0 / GA100)
        • Support for SM 3.X/Kepler generation GPUs has been removed - due to CUDA 11
        • Support for SM 5.0/"Small" Maxwell generation GPUs are marked as deprecated - matching CUDA 11

     

    ...so what does "small Maxwell generation GPUs" and "depreciated" mean?

     As I mentioned above, I have a Titan-X and if that loses support, I do not look forward to going back to glacial CPU rendering as I cannot afford an RTX card at the ludicrous prices being asked today.. Even a 3060 (MSRP 329$) is going for nearly as much as a new Titian-X did back in 2015.

  • Silas3DSilas3D Posts: 565
    edited July 2021

    This is fantastic news, I've had to hold off upgrading my iMac for the last two OS versions and also hold off upgrading hardware because of no DS support. Amazing!

    For those asking for continued Win 7 support, bear in mind that Microsoft marked it EOL (end of life) January last year, so you really ought to think about upgrading if you want your systems to stay secure. Even Windows 10 has been marked as EOL for Oct 2025, barely four years away.

    Post edited by Silas3D on
  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 10,024

    Silas3D said:

    This is fantastic news, I've had to hold off upgrading my iMac for the last two OS versions and also hold off upgrading hardware because of no DS support. Amazing!

    For those asking for continued Win 7 support, bear in mind that Microsoft marked it EOL (end of life) January last year, so you really ought to think about upgrading if you want your systems to stay secure. Even Windows 10 has been marked as EOL for Oct 2025, barely four years away.

    Does not matter what MS thinks we should be using - We would update, if they came up with a version that does not treat users with 30+ year experience on MS products like little children.

    If DS would replace Windows 7 support with Linux support, that would give us an upgrade path we would accept.

  • PerttiAPerttiA Posts: 10,024

    kyoto kid said:

    PerttiA said:

    RemiliaSutton said:

    What will the minimum and recommend specs for hardware be? Will maxwell gpus be supported? Because some of us (like me) aren't rich and can't afford that RTX nonsense 

    Maxwell support has already been announced to be ending, when it happens depends on Nvidia (as in Nvidia Iray)

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/6200861/#Comment_6200861

    4.14.0.8 (November 10, 2020)

    • NVIDIA Iray
      • Integrated Iray 2020.1.1 (334300.4226); see this thread for more detail
        • REQUIRES: NVIDIA Driver 451.48 (or newer) on Windows; see NVIDIA Driver Downloads
          • NVIDIA recommends installing Studio Drivers
        • Adds support for Ampere GPUs (SM 8.0 / GA100)
        • Support for SM 3.X/Kepler generation GPUs has been removed - due to CUDA 11
        • Support for SM 5.0/"Small" Maxwell generation GPUs are marked as deprecated - matching CUDA 11

     

    ...so what does "small Maxwell generation GPUs" and "depreciated" mean?

     As I mentioned above, I have a Titan-X and if that loses support, I do not look forward to going back to glacial CPU rendering as I cannot afford an RTX card at the ludicrous prices being asked today.. Even a 3060 (MSRP 329$) is going for nearly as much as a new Titian-X did back in 2015.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deprecation

    In several fields, deprecation is the discouragement of use of some terminology, feature, design, or practice, typically because it has been superseded or is no longer considered efficient or safe, without completely removing it or prohibiting its use. Typically, deprecated materials are not completely removed to ensure legacy compatibility or back up practice in case new methods are not functional in an odd scenario.

    It can also imply that a feature, design, or practice will be removed or discontinued entirely in the future.

     

  • y3kmany3kman Posts: 794
    edited July 2021

    I already have scripts that do not work on version 4.15 that were perfectly fine in older version like 4.10 or 4.12. I could probably fix those scripts if they were not encrypted. I guess that's the end of my scripts and plugin puchasing until further notice.

    Post edited by y3kman on
  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,035

    ...so above it also recommends "Studio Drivers" but when I check on the Nvidia site for which one is available for the Titan-X it comes up with "No Drivers Found". I then entered  "RTX Titan" and it still gave the same message.

  • I am hoping that the PC DS5 Version does something to reward those who have spent tons of money/have large Character Libraries... specifically, address the load time penalty for those with lots of assets.  There are several threads here at the forum discussing extremely long load times...5, 10, 20+ Minute load times.

    The only work around currently is to shed assets and/or NOT BUY MORE.... 

    Most of us have multi-core processors, I am hoping that DS5 takes advantage of Multi-threading capabilities...   or sumthin'

  • y3kmany3kman Posts: 794

    kyoto kid said:

    ...so above it also recommends "Studio Drivers" but when I check on the Nvidia site for which one is available for the Titan-X it comes up with "No Drivers Found". I then entered  "RTX Titan" and it still gave the same message.

    471.11 Studio Driver supports the Titan X. I think that's the latest one. 

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,035
    edited July 2021

    ...all I get is the "Game Ready" one when I put in the GPU information.

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • y3kmany3kman Posts: 794

    Titan X (Pascal) has a studio driver. Titan X (Maxwell) is the one with just the game ready driver. Do you have the Maxwell?

  • juvesatrianijuvesatriani Posts: 556

    Great news . I hope DAZ studio does not abandon 3Delight. 

    Yeah ..  I think I`m more of pwToon - AoA light and 3Delight Ouline rendering fanboy than IRAY   :)

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,035

    y3kman said:

    Titan X (Pascal) has a studio driver. Titan X (Maxwell) is the one with just the game ready driver. Do you have the Maxwell?

    ...yes. 

  • shadowhawk1shadowhawk1 Posts: 2,195

    Here are a few things that I saw in the announcement that concern me and haven’t been properly addressed yet:

    No backwards compatibility… Is this just for the add ons or will this also mean that all products going forward will be 5.0 only?

    Cost/Subscription… In this world of cloud based software subscriptions is 5.0 going to remain free, or will daz be following the market trend and going cloud based subscription as well?

    If it is going to be a cloud based subscription, will there be a free version that has reduced abilities and a Pro or subscription version that gives you full access to the program?

    Core support… Currently Studio only uses the first core and the more advanced the cores like the i9 are actually slower than the i7, will this be addressed in 5.0?

  • Ghosty12Ghosty12 Posts: 2,058
    edited July 2021

    While exciting to see what is coming, I am in the wait and see camp before I get too over hyped about DS5..  One interesting thing is how we have news now about DS5, not long after the announcement of Win11 as well, even though the info so far is about Mac..

    juvesatriani said:

    Great news . I hope DAZ studio does not abandon 3Delight. 

    Yeah ..  I think I`m more of pwToon - AoA light and 3Delight Ouline rendering fanboy than IRAY   :)

    Hopefully they don't as 3Delight can do things that iRay can't do..

    shadowhawk1 said:

    Here are a few things that I saw in the announcement that concern me and haven’t been properly addressed yet:

    No backwards compatibility… Is this just for the add ons or will this also mean that all products going forward will be 5.0 only?

    Cost/Subscription… In this world of cloud based software subscriptions is 5.0 going to remain free, or will daz be following the market trend and going cloud based subscription as well?

    If it is going to be a cloud based subscription, will there be a free version that has reduced abilities and a Pro or subscription version that gives you full access to the program?

    Core support… Currently Studio only uses the first core and the more advanced the cores like the i9 are actually slower than the i7, will this be addressed in 5.0?

    Hopefully they don't go that direction, was not so long ago that Daz Studio was a paid for software package that came in two flavours Advanced and Pro if I remember right.. The problem was is that it was expensive and clunky, and was trying to compete with Poser.. Where Poser stood out was that it had options such as dynamics and many other things, that Studio at the time did not have..

    Anyway we will see what comes of DS5 hopefully it is good..

    Post edited by Ghosty12 on
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