DAZ Studio Installation Guide Mac
DAZ Studio 4 Installation Guide
Contents:
1. Determining if your computer is 32 or 64 bit
2. Installing DAZ Studio 4
a. License Keys
b. OS 10.8 Security Settings
c. Content Management Service
Determining if your Mac is compatible for 32 or 64 bit
In order to install DAZ Studio 4, you have to determine which installation file to run. Follow these instructions to determine which file your Mac hardware and OS will be compatible with:
1. Select About This Mac from the Apple icon.
2. Select the More Info... button
3. Select System Report
4. Open the Hardware heading
5. Locate the Processor Name
6. Compare your Processor Name to the specifications below to determine 32 or 64 bit compatibility
7. Run the appropriate installation file to begin installing DAZ Studio 4.
Installing and Running DAZ Studio 4
License Keys
Upon running DAZ Studio 4 for the first time, it will prompt you to enter a license key. You may run DAZ Studio 4 without a license key as a demo edition. However this will limit some of the functions and features that the full program will offer.
You may access a DAZ Studio 4 Pro Edition license key free of charge fro a limited time through the online DAZ 3D Store (follow the hyperlink above). After completing the check-out of the DAZ Studio Pro product from the store, access the license key from the My Account page under the My Serial Number menu option.
Copy and paste the License Key into DAZ Studio 4.
Mac OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion) Security Setting
Mac OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion) default security settings prevent unidentified developed applications to be installed on the Mac OS 10.8.
If you do not adjust this default setting in your Security Settings, you will get a warning window when launching the DAZ Studio 4 installation file.
In order to install DAZ Studio 4, you will have to adjust the default security setting.
1. Open System Preferences
2. Select Security & Privacy
3. Under Allow applications downloaded from:, select the Anywhere option
* After installing DAZ Studio 4 you may return the security setting to it's default.
Content Management Service
If you choose the Custom installation option, the install wizard will prompt you to also install the Content Management Service. This program provides many features and functions that make DAZ Studio 4 easier to interact and render with different content packages (plugins, skins, clothing conforming, etc.). If you did not choose the Custom option, then this program is automatically included.
The Content Management Service is not required to run DAZ Studio 4. However it is highly recommended if you wish to enjoy the full complement of features and conveniences offered by DAZ Studio 4.
The following pictures added may be out of order, but they can be helpful in the process. Sorry if they are not appearing in the right order, it is a problem with images in the forums right now.
Comments
this needs to be updated because most new macs are 64bit - and running on newer operating system
I saw something interesting that was using eGPU connected through thunderbolt. They had an NVidia card running that way. I wonder if Iray would use it
I bought a BizonBOX with a NVIDEA TITAN X in it, and it sped things up a lot. But when I updated to the High Sierra OS, it quit working. I'm sorting that out now with the BizonBOX techs.
This thread got me there with my eGPU.
Thanks for the Info, so when you say sped it up a lot, I take it that the Iray renderer saw the GPU and utilized it.
Im Startuing to believe Daz3d Studio Needs to be honest and simply say WINDOWS systems RECOMMENDED As there are so many issues with MacOS support mostly due to Apple's and NVidia's rift and the reliance on NVIDIA Iray. You can run Daz3d on Macs (As I do) But it is not ideal and has iuts limitations and they more numerious with each new relase.and Apple's continued lack of support for all things NVidia. But thanks for at least some MacOS support.
As Macs increase in popularity, support from DAZ seems to diminish.
Frustrating really. At least there is the competition that runs on the latest OS to keep me functioning. Of course, that is kind of a bad lesson to be teaching customers. They seem to have made a lot of upgrades since my last serious swipe at them.
I am extremely disappointed with the Mac support from the developers. A year of beta testing with announcement for Big Sur and still no usable version available. Apparently they don't place much value on Mac users anymore. Other software vendors were better prepared and provided updates the same day Big Sur was released. I would like to free myself from this dependency and am now looking for an alternative.
Buying windows and using Boot camp is not a viable alternative, at the very least I would like to bridge my content over to blender to run but this solution wipes out 1000's and 1000's of dollars spent on content. So I dont care if Iray isnt there. Who ever suggested this should turn there developer/IT card in. It would be easer possibly cheaper to buy a used windows box somewhere only run dazstudio on it and move all content over there to bridge to real software. If I wanted to spend money I would do something like parallels or a VM box perhaps but still have to buy windows.
I had another though tp try since I am now mostly looking at bridging to Blender with the cast array of content for rendering. Has anyone tried to run DazStudio under Cross over by code weavers? I effectivly runs a window app. I dont need rendering except the display port since I want to export it and I could export it to window blender under cross over and save the file and then load it in native blender
I own a Mac, and I spent a lot of money of Daz 3D assets. I am getting frustrated at how long it's taking to create a solutuion so I can use the software again.
Well, it's now past "mid-2021" and no update to make DAZ 3D compatible with Mac Big Sur and no reply from developer. I, too, spent a lot of money on DAZ 3D assets. So, WHEN will the update be available?!?!?
Does the current version of DAZ Studio run reasonably well on Catalina? I have recently bought a refurbished 12-core Mac Pro and a 4k monitor and I would like to have Studio on my system again after a gap of years. I develop Poser products and would like to produce proper DAZ Studio versions but I have Catalina on one SSD and Big Sur on another. I am not going to install any earlier OS.
I'm on a Mac OS 10.16 and I get this error message no matter what security features I turn off.
Error running open "/Applications/DAZ 3D/DazCentral1 64-bit/DazCentral.app": LSOpenURLsWithRole() failed with error -10810 for the file /Applications/DAZ 3D/DazCentral1 64-bit/DazCentral.app.
Has anyone been able to get DAZ Studio installed or running on a Big Sur Mac? It's not working for me.
I tried "Daz Central." It starts up and I log in. When installing Studio, it gets to 50% and then locks up. Nothing gets installed.
I entered a ticket with support, but they can't provide any answers. First, they gave me un-install instructions for Windows. Then, after explaining all I did to uninstall, they tell me to un-install. :) Their direction for un-installing software also leaves out plenty. Daz software leaves multiple files all over the system (even when using their un-install software)... support simply says to delete the one app file.
According to Daz, Studio is supposed to work on a Big Sur machine. Any ideas?
Has anyone actually been able to get Daz Studio working on the current Mac OS (Big Sur)? As far as I can see, it doesn't work.
I filed a ticket and after some inappropriate answers, support ghosted me. I'm guessing that's because they don't have any answers. I wouldn't mind so much if not for all the content I have that is now useless.
Daz was never much for Mac support, but at least you get _some_ use out of the software. Is it time to simply give up?
I have Daz running on Big Sur and its running like a dream. No problems what-so-ever.
My Mac spec is:
Model Name: Mac mini
Model Identifier: Macmini8,1
Processor Name: 6-Core Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 3.2 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 6
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 12 MB
Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled
Memory: 64 GB
System Information for Application:
DAZStudio_4.12.0.86_Mac64:
Version: 4.12.0.86
Obtained from: Identified Developer
Last Modified: 24/09/2019, 18:02
Kind: Other
Signed by: Developer ID Application: DAZ Productions, Inc. (F2ZDN632UP), Developer ID Certification Authority, Apple Root CA
Location: /Volumes/Daz Stuff/DAZ 3D (Misc.)/DAZStudio_4.12.0.86_Mac64.app
Get Info String: DAZ Studio 4.11 (64bit) 4.12.0.86
There is a new Mac OS available, Monterey. Is it safe to install this or will doing so brick Studio?
I installed Monterey on a 16" MBP. Daz Studio crashes on start up. The loading screens shows up, It then quits (vanishes) to the finder. You may want to hold off upgrading to Monterey.
**update** rebooted machine again and Studio started right up and works correctly! It will sometimes crash when I first start the app but if I restart studio it works. I did some simple scenes with 2-5 figures and renders. Everything seems to work so far.
Since I couldn't get DAZ to work on Big Sur (constant, unrelenting PostGre sign in issues, I decided "What the heck" and installed Mac Monterey. After re-installing DAZ Central twice, it hangs up while I'm trying to sign in to that.
Would love to get to my library of stuff.
I've got the latest Studio 4.16.3 to open on a new M1 Macbook Max running Monerey 12.0.1 but there are loads of issues.
The worst one so far is the missing Pose dials (Expressions mostly) and the fact the onse that do show up don't have any effect on the model when you try to use them.
Very frustrating, I've spent well over 3 hours thinking I'd messed up the install or put the foldrs in the wrong location.
They seem to have a funny interpretation of 'sped it up'. This latest version is pretty much unusable. It's nothing but a slog-fest and RAM hog.
With the amount of $ I (and many other folk) have spent on assets for this product, it would be actually nice to be able to see progress and use them without system crippling resource usage.
I am running the newest DAZ Studio version on my MacBook Pro (M1 Pro) and the magic mouse is causing so much trouble. Sometimes the interface feels unusable and I am currently trying to just use my trackpad instead of the mouse which is not good because I am actually using two monitors and and external keyboard.
I wish this would work much smoother. I feel like with my last project I lost around 50% of my time just because of issues with a lagging interface and buttons not working as they are suppose to.
I really wish I could get a decent pieces of software with DAZ Studio. I spent probably around 2k USD in the DAZ store and I would like to make better use of these assets and have a good user experience but how it feels at the moment, the current DAZ Studio version is quite buggy on my MacBook Pro (2021).
So far the performance and user-experience in disappointing.
To illustrate my issues I have recorded a screencast that I am also going to send to the tech support now.
https://somup.com/c3eUfUTSFY
I wish I could say that it is a dream. For me it's more like a nightmare.
I may update this soon as I am trying to work with another mouse instead of the magic mouse I am using. I have the feeling that most issues may be because of this mouse.
@endlessloving When I went to @2:55 minutes into your screencast video, I saw that you had several apps open in your dock including: Google Chrome web browser, Adobe Photoshop, Daz Studio (of course), Amphetamine, and Screencast-o-matic. Google Chrome, Photoshop, and Daz Studio can all take up lots of memory. So, my first question would be home much RAM does your M1 Mac have? Since Macs render iRay with the CPU and RAM, you need a lot... I would recommend 16 GB minimum, but more than that if you can afford it and/or you want to have other apps open at the same time.
When working in Daz Studio and using the Viewport, you should also use a less-intensive viewport draw style, because Nvidia Iray can also give you lag. Use something like Texture Shaded, and when you have built your scene, then you can switch to Iray to see how it looks.
The first thing I would do, is to go to: Utilities-->Activity Monitor
Check the Memory Tab to see how much RAM your apps are using (also keep an eye on the CPU tab).
While running Daz Studio, check the bottom of the Activity Monitor to monitor your Memory Pressure.
To summarize, your lag and Daz Studio interface glitches may be due to a combination of low RAM availabe to Daz Studio and lag from using the Nvidia Iray draw style in the Viewport.
Hi Robert,
thanks for your reply.
I may indeed have to reduce the applications I am running as well as use another draw mode. It is also my mouse that causes trouble and it seems that particularly some dForce hair products are hard to handle with my current setup.
I can't add more than the 16GB RAM that I have. It's all I can add into this MacBook. I was actually expecting a better performance but I have to work with this now, at least for a while.
Thanks again for your recommendations.
@endlessloving Yes, 16GB is usable with Daz Studio, but best not to multitask with other apps when running DS and especially while rendering. When Daz Studio 5 comes out, and IF it supports rendering on Mac using Metal, then we will see a big performance boost on Macs. As for your Magic Mouse... trying using other cord or cordless mice, and see if they work better.
I've been running Daz on my MacPro (late 2013) for years now without issue, even though I upgraded OS all the way through to Monterey over the years.... last week I upgraded to a Mac Studio with M1 Ultra (2022).
I did a fresh install of the DIM, relocated my install directories so I wouldn't have to download everything again, and then let the install do it's thing. All good except none of the bridges wanted to install and there appeared to be a Daz Studio update that wouldn't install either. I tested by opening a large scene (Down Town Favela) and was really impressed with the speed of both moving around and rendering. I wanted to bridge to Zbrush though so I uninstalled everything again so I could set up my content libraries better, installed ZBrush and Blender, installed DIM and started the process. Unfortunately DIM will not install Daz studio or the CMS... "Failed to install".
Has anyone had success with an install on a similar system?
I am hoping this will be quick fix as I am really looking forward to see what Daz projects I can push around this beast.
@TreeDee Other Daz users have been running Daz Studio successfully on an M1 and some with a Mac Studio. I'm running DS on an older Mac and also on a PC. I hope to get an M1 or M2 Mac sometime later this year.
As for your CMS problem... This can happen if you have Daz Studio open when you try to install the CMS using Daz Install Manager (DIM).
Try these steps to fix it:
1. Back-up the DAZ 3D folder that has the CMS Database content in it... Mac HD/Users/you/Library/Application Support/DAZ 3D/
2. Close everything and restart your computer.
3. Uninstall the CMS database using DIM (or run the CMS uninstaller if available).
4. Reinstall CMS (if using DIM, makes sure Daz Studio is closed)
@robertswww thanks for that... the library was the issue... seemed to have some artifacts in there creating the problem.
The Mac Studio definitely speeds everything up. Looks like none of the bridges are compatible yet though.