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Uhm ... you do know that the horizon is an imaginary line that moves further away when you try to get nearer?
Sorry, not helpful.
Not helpful but very insightful. Thank you for pointing out the obvious that is often overlooked. I love it!
Very few, if any, script based products will function at all when installed inside Studio with Connect.
As far as I know, Connect can't install plugins either.
Connect really isn't useful for much and is a fossil from a time when Daz sold encrypted content.
I wish DAZ would remove Connect from DAZ Studio as even thugh I install all my content via DIM, for some reason the odd product I've bough & already installed via DIM winds up becoming installed, or portions of it, via Connect, or winds up as available to install via Connect even though it shouldn't because it's already installed via DIM.
Don't log in to DAZ from Studio. Set your Preferences (Startup) or Menu -> Login, and remove the login credentials and uncheck "Automatically Login". That way, you can't "accidentally" Connect, which is unnecessary if you only use DIM. If and when you get the login prompt, you will know that you did something that wants to Connect.
Whether or not scripts run correctly will depend on how they are written.
No, only content and addons that install like cotnent (most scripts and shaders). There was also an issue with the ExP system, though I'm not sure whether that has been resolved via an update to Power Loader.
Connect is useful for people with limited bandwidth as updats can be performed by downloading the changed files only. I like it because it keeps all the files for each product separate, which simplifies tracking them down for modification or trouble-shooting.
DAZ Connect is useful for the installation of content because it groups content to whatever filters/categories are used in Smart Content. However, it's also incredibly broken because it can't sort by Purchase Date back when the store broke during the migration to the new storefront -- which means it's (almost) impossible to find recently purchased products to install. Even worse is that if I install something through the DAZ Installer, because Connect will override a lot of the (purchase date) metadata that it pulls from the DAZ servers.
The workaround is to sort the uninstalled items by Install Date, which will, weirdly, sort the recently purchased items first.
This is tangentially related to the OP too -- DAZ doesn't have enough people on staff to address technical issues. I've passed this ticket onto DAZ several times, to the point where I stopped using DAZ Connect sometime earlier this year when it was still broken.
Smart Content is not DAZ Connect. Smart Content is a metadata-driven database function, and you get the same metadata from Connect as you do from DIM/Central. You do not need Connect to use Smart Content. Connect is a method of content delivery, nothing more. It has certain functions that might appeal to certain users, as Richard mentioned.
... I don't think anyone is saying that Smart Content is DAZ Connect?
Having said that, DAZ Connect (and even DAZ Central) definitely does retrieve different metadata, especially purchase metadata, from DAZ's servers -- or at least the server throws back a different UTC code than what is actually stored in the server itself because DIM definitely shows the correct information. This can be proven by installing something in DIM, then logging into DAZ Connect and checking the metadata that was overridden with something different. Poking into the database with PostgreSQL verifies this problem.
This has been an ongoing issue, with a recent thread back in November-ish that detailed the still-existing problem.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/604761/daz-central-arbitrarily-changes-order-on-items/p1
Smart Content organizes/categorizes the content based on the metadata, wherever it comes from, and whatever it might be, good or bad. If Connect and DIM retrieve different metadata, well, that's just wrong (timecode notwithstanding).
Wouldn't they need to have different metadata? They have different folder structures?
Not sure about Central, but Connect certainly uses different names for the folders.
Back when I used to allow Daz Studio to log in and when I used Daz Connect, I personally witnessed DIM metadata and Daz Connect metadata having different content for at least one product. The Connect metadata was bad and the DIM metadata was good. Of course, as long as I allowed Daz Studio to log in, it would use only the faulty Daz Connect metadata. I don't know if the differing metadata issue still occurs, because I never let Daz Studio log in now.
I'm going to rant now. Feel free to ignore me
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Asset location is one thing, the files cannot be ignored, but the associated data (Content Type, Default Category, Compatibilities, etc.) should be the same. I do not know how DAZ manages it, but if it doesn't come from a common source, there will be no end to the chaos.
And, what @Barbult said...
I am sorry. You ask for too much. The PA died. These things happen. There is no obligation to provide support for this product. You've already expended a multitude of effort way beyond the original value of the product.
The files are in the same place relative to their content directory, the system doesn't need special metadata beyond isntallation method to tell it where to look in each case.
The difference I saw in the case I referenced,was a difference in data such as compatibility, category, etc., i.e. the guts of what makes Smart Content smart.
If it's broken and they know it's broken, they should not take money for subsequent purchases of it until it can be fixed. If it's never fixed, it makes not one more red cent. Regardless of how the PA became unable to continue work on it. It either goes into an as-is freebie category, or gets retired.
Strictly speaking, it is only broken for Apple users. I believe the installer works fine for Windows users, so technically, it isn't a broken product but a product with broken installers for a minority portion of the customer base. Granted, an outsized portion since a fair number of creators still use Macs but... the product itself isn't broken
...yes it has worked well for the customer character development I've been doing all these years but G3 is pretty much the end of the line for that process. I only mentioned that this was why I had little incentive to adopt to G8 as there was no way to combine the new generation's characters into the "pool".
Another not really helpful fact, which is often overlooked: Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel might also be that freighttrain coming closer rapidly...
Good ideal. I will do that, next time I clean install Windows 11, although I did make a feature request at the DAZ Help Desk to have DAZ Studio automatically read one's serial numbers from their DAZ 3D online account and use them to activate the appropriate plugins automatically in DAZ Studio.
Actually, a great response! A good chuckle! :)
Expecting a reply is somehow "too much?" Really? Wow! Again, I was unaware the original content artists had passed away. But even if that wasn't the case, I know the reality is that sometimes support on an older product isn't possible. However, if either of those was the case, then why couldn't DAZ simply say that. No, they waited TWO MONTHS to respond at all, and that response basically just was a re-ask of the information I had already provided! It has been more than a month since then, and I am now only seeking a valid serial number for the product I bought. The expecation of getting an actual response, and now getting a valid, working, serial number for a product I purcahsed does not seem like I am expecting "too much." It seems you either have a ridiculously low bar for what should be provided, or you are imagining expectations on my part that I do not have.
Your serial number should be at https://www.daz3d.com/downloader/customer/serialnumbers
Yes, it should be. As I explained, the products in question had been sold indoviually as well as in a a later bundle. While I have managed to extract the files and get it installed without any response from DAZ, the product that is currently downloadable from them in my account is the bundled (which is fine, this included the products I own). However, the Serial Numbers I have are for the individual products, and these are not being recognized by the installed product.
crikett said:
Understood. I suspect that the installer does more that simply place folders and assets in various locations. It may also create a registry, for example, so that you might have most of the right pieces and the right serial numbers but it still might not work since there might still be missing pieces. I have tried installing pieces of it myself and suspect there are some "invisible" things to thwart bootlegging.
I wondered that as well, though there is no registry in this OS, and I do think I've replicated all needed settings in any related files from looking at the installs on a fresh VM... but yes, things can wind up being different. That said, I am able to replicate this issue on a VM installing from the same packages from within DIM - the files install and show up as the Bundle package under plugins, and do not accept the serial numbers I have. So while it is possible that my install method may have missed something, the issue that is the current sticking point is clearly the need for a valid serial number (or, as it has been from the beginning, somehow finding a way to get an actual response from DAZ).
I have some interest in this problem since I still have one component that doesn't work (the plugin to go to G3; fortunately, this hasn't been a problem since vendors have products to bring those morphs to G8). I realize I still have questions.
The first is do you have a valid serial number that doesn't work or you have no serial number since those are two different situations. From other experiences such as Reality or Headshop, the PA provides the serial numbers which is an issue since the PA is dead and can no longer provide those. It isn't clear that an alternate serial number would work.
The second is how do you know that your VM is a 100% percent accurate replica of the original OS? I suspect that there is some behind the scenes hashing and checking of the serial number to thwart piracy. This is something that the PA would have created rather than Daz3d and we can't ask since the creator is dead. From my limited experience, the plugin adds external folders, internal folders to Daz Studio, folders to the user library application support, and the the main system. I used registry in a general term and I don't know if it is stored in the program, application support, or any of the myriad location one might hide such things to thwart pirates.
This morning I looked in the mirror and did not see myself dead. As the HeadShop creatort I'd like to assure you that if you buy my product from DAZ, the serial number is available to you through My Account/Serials. You can also reach me at abalonellc@yahoo.com for tech support or help with installation. I live in California, so it is PST.
Sincerely,
Laslo
Ah, you are the perfect person to ask! Do you generate the serial numbers for your products or does Daz3d?