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So... how broken is the current version of DAZ Studio?

CybersoxCybersox Posts: 9,082
in The Commons

I've been running 4.12 forever as I really haven't found the 8.1 figures to be very appealing, and everytime I start looking into one of the new builds, I would hear nothing but horror stories about the things that no longer work properly.  However, as a realist, I know that at some point I'm going to have to bite the bullet and upgrade eventually.  So, the question is:  is now the time?  I have a Titan RTX and don't seem to be seeing as many complaints lately, but is that because the current version(4.20) is working okay?  Or have I just not been paying attention in the right places? 

Comments

  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,753
    4.20 has nice new features, like VDB support. I think the main complaints are about the changes made by Nvidia that disabled ghost lights as we knew them. Opacity is now multiplied with luminance. I have been using 4.20 beta versions and am satisfied with them, because I don't load and rerender a bunch of old scenes with ghost lights in them. I recommend that you try the beta and don't overwrite your 4.12 release version. Save a copy of your 4.12 installation files and their corresponding 4.12 plugin versions, so you can later regress if you install 4.20 version and regret it.
  • barbultbarbult Posts: 24,753
    4.20 needs a more recent graphics driver than 4.12 does. Also Nvidia vMaterials 1.7 have caused issues that are solved by installing version 2 instead.
  • Sensual ArtSensual Art Posts: 645

    I was using 4.12 till I upgraded my PC. The Iray in that version started complaing about the new 3080. So had to move to 4.16.

    I didn't encounter any problems with 4.20 since I never needed  it. I don't see myself upgrading DS unless I am forced to upgrade the card.

    The way I see it, there is no concept of stability in the Daz universe. The old versions are just simply abandoned  immediately the very same day when a new version gets released. There is no concept of any assured support lifecyle for any Daz products. My experience with DS versions has been like jumping from one sinking raft to another while trying to stay afloat. I have abandoned all hopes of ever seeing solid ground here.

    (Also, just because there is silence doesn't necessarily mean that it is stable. Perhaps, most of the possible issues have already been encountered, discussed and their workarounds discoverable somewhere in these forums. One of the perks of crowdsourcing QA teams, I guess. Can't fully blame Daz, they are probably just extending the courtesy  that Nvidia is offering them.)

  • savagestugsavagestug Posts: 177

    I was sticking with 4.12 but have been kind of forced into 4.20. I got a new laptop with Win 11 and only 4.20 would run on it. Haven't run into any problems so far with 4.20.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,204

    wurger said:

    I was sticking with 4.12 but have been kind of forced into 4.20. I got a new laptop with Win 11 and only 4.20 would run on it. Haven't run into any problems so far with 4.20.

    ...so nothing below 4.2x will run on W11?  Interesting. One more reason to rethink that upgrade plan and stay with what I have (along with a few others after I've read on tech journal sites about changes to W11 policies).

    If you install one of the 4.20 betas it can be run concurrently with whatever older general release you have installed (the older version must be a general not beta)  For example I'm running the 4.15 general alongside the previous 4.20 beta and no issues. 

    I also have Daz 3.1 and Daz 1.8 installed as well, 3.1 so I can still use certain content and plugins (that were never updated for 4.0) and 1.8 just for fun.   

  • richardandtracyrichardandtracy Posts: 5,870

    I will confess that I manually install and have the following able to run in parallel: 4.10 4.11, 4.12, 4.14 & 4.15 all in different custom directories. I can go between each, and they all use the same library and registry settings. I do have to copy the plugins into different directories to get them to work with each version. The only interference between versions I have come across is that when you use dForce on a different version, it thinks the dForce kernels are out of date & re-compiles them for that version. 

    I think this is possible because DS is written so as to allow the beta to co-exist alongside the production issue. The same programming consideration allows different production standards to co-exist alongside each other.

    Regards,

    Richard.

  • XelloszXellosz Posts: 843

    It took me days to reinstall many of my things, I got CMS connection or something like that error.

    DAZ still starts with updating metadata and for 2-5 minutes program is not answering.

    It really should be a major update for me to touch DAZ again.

     

  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,169

    richardandtracy said:

    I will confess that I manually install and have the following able to run in parallel: 4.10 4.11, 4.12, 4.14 & 4.15 all in different custom directories. I can go between each, and they all use the same library and registry settings. I do have to copy the plugins into different directories to get them to work with each version. The only interference between versions I have come across is that when you use dForce on a different version, it thinks the dForce kernels are out of date & re-compiles them for that version. 

    I think this is possible because DS is written so as to allow the beta to co-exist alongside the production issue. The same programming consideration allows different production standards to co-exist alongside each other.

    Regards,

    Richard.

    I do this as well ;)

     

  • hacsarthacsart Posts: 2,025

    I'm  running 4.12 and 4.16 on Win 11 with no issues at all...

    kyoto kid said:

    ...so nothing below 4.2x will run on W11?  Interesting. One more reason to rethink that upgrade plan and stay with what I have (along with a few others after I've read on tech journal sites about changes to W11 policies).

  • DustRiderDustRider Posts: 2,785

    I guess it might depend on what you call broken, and possibly your hardware (as already mentioned). I'm primarily using the 4,20.xx beta and other than the bug fix that affected "ghost lights" I haven't experienced anything else I would call "broken". But your mileage might vary depending on your hardware and maybe the plugins you use?? If you use ghost lights a lot you might find 4.20 a bit frustrating (I don't use them much, only in environments/scenes that use them).

  • Dim ReaperDim Reaper Posts: 687

    I've got 4.15 running as my main program, and 4.20 installed as the beta.  Both run fine, but 4.20 is definitely slower at rendering, so unless I need features of 4.20 such as volumetrics, I stick with 4.15.

  • kyoto kidkyoto kid Posts: 41,204
    edited August 2022

    DustRider said:

    I guess it might depend on what you call broken, and possibly your hardware (as already mentioned). I'm primarily using the 4,20.xx beta and other than the bug fix that affected "ghost lights" I haven't experienced anything else I would call "broken". But your mileage might vary depending on your hardware and maybe the plugins you use?? If you use ghost lights a lot you might find 4.20 a bit frustrating (I don't use them much, only in environments/scenes that use them).

    ...I'm running the previous Beta of 4.20 (.143) on a decade old system (DDR3 memory and PCIe 2.0 using Windows 7 Pro), and save for one "freeze up" while loading a certian piece of clothing content. I have not experienced any instabilities 

    Post edited by kyoto kid on
  • TaozTaoz Posts: 9,971

    Is there actually any difference to the Ghost lights other than you have to multiply the number by 1000?  I did a test and couldn't see any visual differences.

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