I recently put in a request at DAZ 3D concerning the availability of DAZ Studio 3.x. Today, Oct. 3, 2012, I received an answer. I am posting the information here for the benefit of all of the good folks in the art community in order to give a definite and truthful answer to the question "Is DAZ Studio 3.x still available for download?"

The answer I received indicates without a doubt that it is no longer available for download, nor is it supported at DAZ 3D. I know this may be bad news for those of us that do not have it already, but those are the facts.

**For those that do have it, I suggest keeping it if you wish to continue using it for some of the features that are not found in later versions. There is at least some good news to report here for you that have a version of DS3: It is possible to have a version of DS3 and a version of DS4 on your computer at the same time; At least for those with Windows OS. I cannot say whether or not this is true for Mac OSX, but perhaps someone using that OS will know and inform us here. **

Feel free to weigh in on this subject. Let me know what you think, and perhaps we could help the good people at DAZ 3D with suggestions for their next version.

Stay awesome!

Agent 0013.

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I run DS2, DS3 and DS4 on one of my Macs (MacPro 2008 OSX.5 Leopard), and DS3 and DS4 on the other Mac (Mac Pro 2011 OSX.7 Lion)   Yes, they all work fine. I must admit, I use DS3A the most, but slowy getting in to DS4.

If you have previously downloaded any of the versions, they should still be available to you if you do a reset from your Downloadable Products Page.

I have, but have not installed DS4.5 - I am going to wait on that a bit as I don't beleive in installing the latest version of anything until it's deemed stable enough.

-AniMajik

I have Winxp with both Daz3 (which I prefer)and Daz 4.5..HOwever my other computer is Win7 Ultimate and I'm unable to open any previously saved scenes. Seems certain items are missing. Keep Daz3 as very stable and easy installing..Daz/Studio/Content..

As it should be. Could you enlighten us as to what features are mmissing from the latest version? I ran version 3 for quite awhile and now run version 4 and find it more feature full than ver 3.

"I have, but have not installed DS4.5 - I am going to wait on that a bit as I don't beleive in installing the latest version of anything until it's deemed stable enough."

Same here. Not to make matters worse, but version 4.5 is a totally new file format than version 3 and 4, so once you start using version 4.5 none of it will be backwards compatible.*

I have, but have not installed DS4.5 - I am going to wait on that a bit as I don't beleive in installing the latest version of anything until it's deemed stable enough.
-AniMajik

I have DS4.5 Pro installed on my Toshiba Sattelite and as far as I can tell it is stable. If you have a different version of DS4.5, I would recommend downloading the Pro version now since it is currently being offered for free. All of my plugins are green except for AniMate 2. If you already have AniMate 2 in your versions of DS, there is an upgrade code available at DAZ 3D for it for use in DS4.5 Pro. 

Quote - As it should be. Could you enlighten us as to what features are mmissing from the latest version? I ran version 3 for quite awhile and now run version 4 and find it more feature full than ver 3.

"I have, but have not installed DS4.5 - I am going to wait on that a bit as I don't beleive in installing the latest version of anything until it's deemed stable enough."

Same here. Not to make matters worse, but version 4.5 is a totally new file format than version 3 and 4, so once you start using version 4.5 none of it will be backwards compatible.*

It came to my attention that certain things work better for DS3.x versions than for DS4.x. One is Collada file exports that will import into apps such as Blender with the armatures intact. This won't work right with DS4.x versions. I have DS4.5 Pro and when I exported a figure (V3) in Collada format from it, then imported it into Blender 2.63a, the armature was so messed up I had to delete it. Posing her created some nightmares.

DS3.x as far as I have gathered does not have this problem. I think it has something to do with the orientation issue (which axis represents up in the different apps). For DS3 all you have to do is rotate the Y axis of the whole model to get it to pose right in Blender, if my info is correct. Don't quote me on it, since I have not yet tried it myself. I only have information I gleaned from other artists who use these two apps. I will try the operation myself soon and get back to you with my results.

Quote - I have Winxp with both Daz3 (which I prefer)and Daz 4.5..HOwever my other computer is Win7 Ultimate and I'm unable to open any previously saved scenes. Seems certain items are missing. Keep Daz3 as very stable and easy installing..Daz/Studio/Content..

I had that problem at first, but it seems to have fixed itself. As for opening older files done in earlier versions, they can be opened but it is recommended that you resave them in the new format if you wish to work with them to create new images. I think the codewriters over at DAZ 3D decided to do a lot of new stuff for this version. Also,  if there are products missing or not working correctly from the DAZ store, you can reset the downloads for them and get the latest updates for them. One thing they have been doing for many of the older products is creating MetaData for them. This lets the product show in your Smart Content tab. Much easier to find and use that way.

Quote - I have, but have not installed DS4.5 - I am going to wait on that a bit as I don't beleive in installing the latest version of anything until it's deemed stable enough.
-AniMajik

I have DS4.5 Pro installed on my Toshiba Sattelite and as far as I can tell it is stable. If you have a different version of DS4.5, I would recommend downloading the Pro version now since it is currently being offered for free. All of my plugins are green except for AniMate 2. If you already have AniMate 2 in your versions of DS, there is an upgrade code available at DAZ 3D for it for use in DS4.5 Pro. 

I have 4.5 Pro, but from what I have read, the only thing 4.5 will do for me is the new file format and area lights.  Not pressing issues for me at the moment.  I do use AniMate2 (I was a beta tester) - I will still wait a while before taking the plunge, and then only when I'm not in the middle of rendering projects.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

-AniMajik

just wish they would put more effort into making a manual

Quote - just wish they would put more effort into making a manual

Yes, but to their credit, they do make a lot of video tutorials.

-AniMajik

Quote - > Quote - just wish they would put more effort into making a manual

Yes, but to their credit, they do make a lot of video tutorials.

-AniMajik

Video tutorials can be a pain to follow, but I have learned a good bit from them. Still, and I'm sure others will agree, document style tutorials such as PDFs are way better. I can get confused with video tutorials, because when trying to follow one that has a lot of stuff you have to do, you must pause the video, do the step, back the video up if you missed something, resume play, etc. Documents are easier because you can have them open right there while you are following them. I have them open in another tab on my taskbar and just click back to them when I need to look at something. Much faster and less confusing.

Quote - > Quote - > Quote - just wish they would put more effort into making a manual

Yes, but to their credit, they do make a lot of video tutorials.

-AniMajik

Video tutorials can be a pain to follow, but I have learned a good bit from them. Still, and I'm sure others will agree, document style tutorials such as PDFs are way better. I can get confused with video tutorials, because when trying to follow one that has a lot of stuff you have to do, you must pause the video, do the step, back the video up if you missed something, resume play, etc. Documents are easier because you can have them open right there while you are following them. I have them open in another tab on my taskbar and just click back to them when I need to look at something. Much faster and less confusing.

I'm more of a visual person, don't tell me, show me :)

What I do is watch the tutorial on another computer (or iPad) and follow along on my reqular screen.

I agree with you that a "good" manual is needed, when you need to get that one tidbit of info you need to look up.  I'd rather more time was spend on the development end, rather than the documentation side. Both are time comsuming.  Maybe Daz should consider farming out the creation of the manual to a 3rd party?

-AniMajik

 @ animajikgraphics "Maybe Daz should consider farming out the creation of the manual to a 3rd party?"

In response to your statement above: That is what they did from what I've found. There is a series of about 50 PDF documents made by various people that can be found and downloaded through one of the threads at DAZ 3D. They are made for the DS4.x versions; but, (and here is the rubs you the wrong way about it), they are all WIPs (Works In Progress). Also it looks as though they have been abandoned, because most of them have not been updated for nearly two years! I won't be posting the link to the thread here because it is not worth anyone's time to download most of them. A lot of important information has been left out; which originally was to be added as updates, but those updates never materialized.

Just for comparison's sake, I will mention the Bryce 7 Artist's Guide. It is a PDF document with well over 1400 pages of good easy to follow instruction and relevant screen captures covering just about everything there is in Bryce 7, and it is somewhat backwards compatible with B6.x versions. It calls itself a WIP, but I have not found any information to date that is missing from it. Because of this guide, I have been able to learn a great deal about Bryce 7. If you are interested in acquiring the guide, you can find the link in the Bryce forum in a thread I created called "The Bryce 7 Artist's Guide".

Anyway, my point is that it is odd that such a guide can exist for some apps offered by DAZ 3D, but for their most popular app there is only a series of woefully incomplete guides; which inadequately cover certain aspects of the software. Not that I don't think the app is great, but I am old enough to remember when quality and good instruction were important. It seems that these days, that type of thing is rare. Most people these days are about getting things done fast and forget about quality. Yes, I include understandable instruction as a big part of quality.

Sorry about that! I just needed to get it out.

Quote - I will mention the Bryce 7 Artist's Guide. It is a PDF document with well over 1400 pages of good easy to follow instruction and relevant screen captures covering just about everything there is in Bryce 7, and it is somewhat backwards compatible with B6.x versions. It calls itself a WIP, but I have not found any information to date that is missing from it. Because of this guide, I have been able to learn a great deal about Bryce 7. If you are interested in acquiring the guide, you can find the link in the Bryce forum in a thread I created called "The Bryce 7 Artist's Guide".

Can you post a link to this manual? As usual, I cannot find anything in the forums.

I would have sworn I had this manual, but with all my recent computer changes, I cannot find it.

Thanks!

Can you post a link to this manual? As usual, I cannot find anything in the forums.

I would have sworn I had this manual, but with all my recent computer changes, I cannot find it.

Thanks!

Though I have already posted this in at least two other threads here at Renderosity, here it is:

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/artzone/pub/software/bryce/start

I just had it open ealier today and found that it has 1257 pages rather than 1400+. So I am posting this correction here, and will do so in my other threads where I have the link posted. I did finally find something that is not in the guide, but it is easilty remedied if you know what to look for. I could find no reference to the Bryce 7 Pro Instancing Lab. Even so there is an excellent video tutorial covering that subject on YouTube's Bryce channel.It is one of the few video tutorials that are actually easy to follow. If you would like the link to that video let me know and I'll get it for you.

Sorry, what I should have said is that I have problems finding anything in these forums--not just this manual. = )

Thank you for the link. Looks like it was last update in 2011 which isn't too bad considering there haven't been many change to Bryce since then (if at all).

A link to the instancing would be great!

Here is the link to the video tutorial for the Bryce 7 Pro Instancing Lab.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnMpYrtfCv8&feature=plcp

I don't know if you know how to download YouTube videos, but in case you don't here are some simple to follow instructions:

1. Go to YouTube and find the video you wish to download.

2. Open a new tab at the top of your screen. A new window will appear. 

3. In the address text box type keepvid.com and then hit enter on your keyboard.

4. Click on the YouTube tab at the top of your screen to return to YouTube.

5. In the YouTube address bar is the address for the video you are currently viewing. Click on it, right click and choose copy to copy the address.

6.Now click on the KeepVid tab at the top of your screen to go back to that site.

1. Paste the address you copied into the text box provided and then click on the download button to the right of it.

2. Wait for the formats list to appear, and when it does click the one that is correct for your computer, most likely it will be either MP4-480P or MP4-720P. sometimes you will see MP4-1080P, though this is rare for now at YouTube.

The download should start momentarily.

The difference between 480P and 720P is the file size. 720P has about twice as much as 480P measured in megabytes of memory space. Usually 480P is good enough for most videos for most computers; but if you have a fairly large monitor screen I recommend the 720P. If you are using a laptop, 480P is fine.

Hope this helps. ;-)

Wow! Thank you very, very much. I did not know the information on downloading. This will be extremely helpful. I have a rather large screen so knowing about the formats is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the link also. I have subscribed to the channel. Looks like I will be able to find a lot of really good help there.

Happy to be of service. Practically all of what I have provided for you was provided for me by various other artists here at Renderosity, so I must give them the credit for the knowledge I pass on to you and others like you. It is one of the main things we are here for. Let me know if you have anything else concerning digital art you need help with. If I cannot help, perhaps I can help you find someone that can.

Careful what you offer. LOL. My current learning palette includes getting better with Poser and Photoshop and newbie endeavors into Bryce (although I have had it for years), DS, C4D, ZBrush, Illustrator, etc., etc.

I used to tell my students that I could not open up their heads and just pour knowledge in, but right now I am sure wishing that was a possibilty. = )

 Thanks again!

Software I can help with or help you find someone who can, are Bryce, DAZ Studio, & Blender. I am still learning to use UVMapper, Hexagon, Wings3D, & Gimp. Even so I have been able to do some fairly nice images, and a couple of short animations.

You are correct to tell me to be careful; however, most of us in the art community enjoy help each other, because it enriches what can and does get done. Plus we like having friends who are creative like ourselves.

This I suppose is my longwinded way of saying "You're welcome."