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Carrara F.A.Q (Last Updated: 2024 Nov 21 9:55 pm)
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Subject: BEFORE you install Daz4.9 and DazConnect
DAZ is obsessed with security, keeping their content from being shared for free (this is understandable). They are willing to lose a set of customers if the new program doesn't work for them. When their security and mine conflicted (they embed i.d. information into your system) during the release of DIM, I realized that I could make do without their products. Thank goodness for other vendors!
tsartist wrote: "...What happens to my Bryce and Carrara content?"
"Products created for Bryce and/or Carrara can still be purchased through the website and installed through Daz Install Manager. Bryce maintains the ability to use Daz Studio content through the Bryce bridge. Carrara cannot currently consume encrypted files installed using Daz Connect. Your options for Carrara are to either export FBX or OBJs out of Daz Studio or use unencrypted versions of your content downloaded and installed through Daz Install Manager."
The real importance is in this one of many FAQs (listed above) about "DAZConnect" and Daz's new DRM products. "The first is the line:Products created for Bryce and/or Carrara can still be purchased through the website and installed through Daz Install Manager" As we all know, DAZ does not have very many product created ONLY for Carrara.
Secondly: "Carrara cannot currently consume encrypted files installed using Daz Connect." All new products will eventually be (according to their FAQs) encrypted (DRM) for use with primarily DAZStudio. You MAY be able to convert THROUGH DAZStudio 4.9 to FBX or obj files after DAZStudio 4.9 has decrypted BUT if you run the "DAZConnect" feature on DAZStudio 4.9 (and this is according to their vague FAQs) that feature will, as updates become available, render already owned DAZ products that are installed in certain folders, unusable to Carrara through it's browser. The forum topics over at DAZ about this are mostly found in the DAZStudio area, but the Carrara/Poser/Bryce users there are talking of backing up all their owned content on drives other than the one that contains DAZStudio. Are many paranoid for no reason? Wrong! My first DAZ product was purchased thirteen years ago. I own thousands of DAZ products and I have always backed them up on CDs, DVDs, or external RAID drives. Now I'm glad I did. I like DAZ3D, but when it come to trust your not going to find it on the internet.
BTW - DAZ is also talking of future "cloud" based product storage (meaning you can only link to your purchases through their site). They claim this will relieve the users of using up so much storage at the local level. Are you kidding? Terabytes are so cheap nowadays, everyone could store the Library of Congress on their desks. They (the DAZ FAQs and forum administrators) even state they intend to put a "poison pill" trigger in their encryption should DAZ3D go out of business then those using DAZStudio will have non-encrypted access to the DRM products they have in their product libraries.
Bottom line is that I would be surprised if DAZ3D currently has more than 100 Carrara ONLY products which wont be affected by the new DRM policy. And for new characters, clothing, etc. a Carrara user will have to export this new content from DAZ3D through DAZStudio4.9 which means I would have to have DAZStudio4.9 installed and "DAZConnect" invoked by my own "OK" key-press and that gives permission to DAZStudio4.9 to make product updates (with encryption) my older DAZ content that is located in library locations known to Studio.
Carrara users ...Caution Caution Caution. To "Sueposer"... you are so correct in your statement, "Thank goodness for other vendors!"
I can't believe you guys are still hanging on to a dream that will never materialize. Let me spell it to you loud and clear:
Carrara is dead, as dead as can be. There will never ever ever ever ever (did I repeat it enough times?) be a Carrara 9. Nobody at Daz is working on Carrara. Daz made a very lame attempt at making us believe that Carrara is moving forward by making a pathetic buggy release of Carrara/Ingres SQL. This 'release' was obviously done by a part-time junior programmer getting on the job training. And even this part-time kid has left the company long time ago, or he has been assigned to another project.
Don't hold your breathe for a C9 release because it will never happen.
dr_bernie posted at 7:00PM Sat, 23 January 2016 - #4250909
I can't believe you guys are still hanging on to a dream that will never materialize. Let me spell it to you loud and clear:
Don't hold your breathe for a C9 release because it will never happen.
Personally my concern isn't for a C9, my concern is that ALL new DAZConnect products will not currently run natively in Carrara OR Poser (Dson doesn't work either). Let's face it, some of their PA are first class and it is a shame that their new releases won't fly on or through anything but DAZStudio. That was all I was getting at. Jack Tomalin, as an example, a vendor whose products you have used, is on board with the DAZConnect releases and it would be much more difficult for some of us (me) to have to port his future products through DAZStudio (which I currently don't use) and then export them export them as FBX or obj into 3D programs we are (I am) more comfortable with.
I quit updating Studio and Carrara quite some time back for this vary reason. When the 2 stopped working well together I rolled them back and stopped updating. When content stopped working well in carrara I stopped shopping at DAZ. Then I gave up on all this out of frustration. DAZ did a great job of killing my enjoyment and interest in this. Thanks DAZ, you have saved me loads of money.
As long as people still use Carrara it will never be dead. Development of it may be, but the app will live on.
A common "technique" in industry is to buy whole companies and products, just to get the patents. Then the tech acquired can be applied to in-house uses or simply abandoned (to take it out of competition). I posted such a comment once at DAZ and it was pulled down again in minutes. I have always suspected some Carrara code was needed in Studio. Whatever [shrug].
manleystanley posted at 2:30PM Sun, 24 January 2016 - #4250994
As long as people still use Carrara it will never be dead. Development of it may be, but the app will live on.
That's how I see it also. I use Carrara on a daily basis, nothing DAZ is doing or will do affects that. And I have plenty of content (several thousand items) that work fine in Carrara, plus there are many new products coming out in Poser (and Carrara) format at various websites.
They think that will prevent the hacking? He He He! Adobe tried it since a very long time and all the versions are available for free on the Web… I know people who are programmers members of clubs and their great passion is to as quickly as possible crack a program or even a phone card or anything else. I am not programmer, but I think that it is like a challenge for them. and there are thousands of clubs in the world… DAZ is nothing beside Adobe and they have much less means to prevent that, the consumers will be bored and discouraged to buy their products … I agree with ManStanley too !
DRM as well as other protections may stop some people, but if history has shown us it's that it didn't help on DVD's, it didn't help on Bluray, and even Apple decided against it afrer a while. There are people out there who will crack it not because of monetary gain but purely to see if they can.
If major companies like Microsoft and others who pump millions into protections, who are still playing the cat and mouse game of fixing holes only to have people make new ones, I do not see how a small company like Daz will hold up.
I will use the older content I have as Daz still haven't released a version that can use Gen3 stuff, even though they claim they are working on one, I will just buy items from DRM free places
Not to worry guys. I am certain that DAZ intends to release a version of Carrara that will work with Genesis 3 and the new encrypted content right before Genesis 4 ships with DAZ Studio 5. Or maybe it'll just be a paid plugin to un-break the current Carrara.
They just have to let the dust settle before doing something else that will annoy their customer base.
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
Daz will eventually release a Connect version of Carrara, as soon as they find a part-time junior coder with minimal programming skills willing to work on a decrepit piece of software.
Then they will launch a lengthy public beta program for the users to find the bugs that the junior coder couldn't figure-out. After that they will release a buggy 8.5.x.x that will work for some and not work at all for others.
Other than that Carrara development is at a dead-end. Though Carrara is still a cute toy to play with occasionally.
MarkBremmer posted at 4:44PM Thu, 28 January 2016 - #4251516
Yo. Everybody has an opinion, including me, on the release schedule and handling of Carrara. But, this forum is really about helping each other work with the program - and it's a great program.
So, let's focus on the imagery, managing content, tips and tricks etc.
Don't make me stop this car!
Don't stop the car Mark.
Actually I started this thread so we would have a place to post information about what is going on with DazConnect in relation to Carrara.
The last thing I wanted is someone to "update" their software and have a catastrophe.
dr_bernie posted at 5:30PM Fri, 29 January 2016 - #4251877
The only way I might upgrade to a newer version is if Donald or Hillary are willing to bet their presidencies on it!
Dude. I would buy whatever was necessary in that instance.
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
dr_bernie posted at 7:56AM Sat, 30 January 2016 - #4251877
@tsarist:
Thanks for your concerns tsarist, but there will be no update catastrophes for me! The last good known version of Carrara is 8.1.1.12, and that is that!
The only way I might upgrade to a newer version is if Donald or Hillary are willing to bet their presidencies on it!
Can I ask what that is based on? I am using the most recent version (8.5.19 something something) and haven't run into any issues in it that were not present in earlier versions, plus I can now actually use smart content (I rarely do except for Genesis stuff, but I can) and it also seems to start a bit quicker. I agree with most people that it wasn't any sort of earth-shaking improvement over earlier versions, but I keep running into people who stopped at 8.1 and I don't understand why. Even if it was just for the few little bug fixes, why would you not use the most recent one?
MDO2010 posted at 4:40PM Sat, 30 January 2016 - #4252131
dr_bernie posted at 7:56AM Sat, 30 January 2016 - #4251877
@tsarist:
Thanks for your concerns tsarist, but there will be no update catastrophes for me! The last good known version of Carrara is 8.1.1.12, and that is that!
Can I ask what that is based on? I am using the most recent version (8.5.19 something something) and haven't run into any issues in it that were not present in earlier versions, plus I can now actually use smart content (I rarely do except for Genesis stuff, but I can) and it also seems to start a bit quicker. I agree with most people that it wasn't any sort of earth-shaking improvement over earlier versions, but I keep running into people who stopped at 8.1 and I don't understand why. Even if it was just for the few little bug fixes, why would you not use the most recent one?
I can't speak for everyone on this (I'm still running C7Pro), but when 8.5 was released a lot of people were having problems with it. Some things that were working became broken. Some functionality between Carrara & DS stopped working. This of course is not a universal phenomenon. Expert users seem to have had less problems, as did those who had better rigs.
I personally just stayed clear because what I had was working fine and I have had some bad experiences with Daz upgrades.
If C8.5 is working well for you, that is perfect and the way it should be.
I also stayed with Carrara 8 for a while, mostly because I was irritated that DAZ charged for the V8 upgrade while promising the updated documentation "Very Soon". So I bought it, then waited several years and got no updated docs. Then DAZ wanted more money for 8.5, which apparently was primarily for Genesis compatibility, something I have no interest in. Eventually the upgrade price got very low for a few days, so I bought it ... still just the C7 docs, and I think that's still true today. Other than that, I have had no real problems with v 8.5, but just a few advantages, like some timeline features. But you'll have to dig around the website for how they work ... and from what I've tried, the Genesis stuff can be a problem also.
If Carrara V8 is working for you, I'd only recommend paying for 8.5 if it is VERY cheap. I seriously doubt there will ever be a V9, but V8/8.5 work fine for me and I use it on a daily basis. Here is an animation that people seem to like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxcbh71VUlg
@MDO2010:
Regarding why Carrara 8.5 doesn't work for me I have extensively discussed it awhile back. If you search my posts older than 300 days, It could be interesting readings if you have extra time.
Everybody's mileage is different though. If Carrara 8.5 works for you then, by all means, keep using it. But don't expect Carrara 9 to ever see the light of the day. Carrara is dead. As dead as JFK, as dead as John Lennon, as dead as the dinosaurs. Daz is too small a company to handle multiple 3D apps at the same time. They have made a deliberate decision to concentrate on Studio and drop Carrara (and Hexagon, and Bryce, and Mimic). That makes us, Carrara users, vey unhappy, but Studio users are a lot better off.
I am hopping in the backseat too after getting booted off the bus for chirping up that they are hoping Carrara and Poser users will just go away ....speculation apparently (well not booted off yet just modded again but it is getting too frequent) I have only used connect thus far in the DS 4.9 beta on stuff that is connect only or Genesis 3 as it will not work in Carrara anyway, so far everything else is OK touch wood.
Hi Wendy!
This backseat is getting crowded...
Maybe if we take our clothes off we'll have more room?
...
What?
It's a 3 Stooges line! Really!! They were all crowded into a single berth in a train and Curly said it. I just thought it was funny enough to steal and use in inappropriate places.
I didn't get moderated as such, but they did make clear that my calling Genesis by it's True Name of Genocide was not welcome (Hey, it did KILL the entire species of stand-alone figures, so I stand by the name!).
Plus, I had to buy something here so just started posting. Poor Renderosity. They have no idea what they're in for.
Look For Silly Art on Sockratease.com!
I have been buying a lot here this past year.
I've lost count of how many times my posts have disappeared... apparently the latest they didn't like was what I used to do with thripenny bungers and crab holes when I was a kid... :-(
Find my Facebook Page Here -- or me on Twitter
yep.. was a dangerous time of the year but was fun... one of the reasons they banned fireworks from the public in New South Wales many years ago.. 
many a letterbox met its demise on cracker night!
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1, If anybody cares, I stopped at C8.1 because I don't render humans or animals or any Daz content. I only render my own content as I am a modeling nut job. Based on my limited experience, I think a lot of people didn't want to pay the money up to 8.5 because the added value for the money wasn't practical. Then there were problems with 8.5 but I think they patched a lot of it. Unfortunately, I think it kind of soured people on it. People on the fence got kind of shy about upgrading due to the entanglements with C8.5 and how content was managed. That's sorta what I understand caused most people to hold back on 8.5. Bottom line, if you're getting results with what you have, there's no real reason to take a chance that things might get screwed up.
2, I think it's good to warn us about installing software that might mess up Carrara. I appreciate that information and I think it could help a lot of people avoid problems by taking steps to keep things straight (just in case).
3, Is Carrara dead? Well, if there is still a living community running it, it's alive. As a complete hobbyist who doesn't want to invest a big effort into learning a new package, I will probably run it until some version of Windows 1 billion won't run it anymore. Will we see C9? I don't have practical data to know for sure. Daz has no active links to C or Bryce from their front page. You have to very seriously hunt to get to it. That sends me a very hard message that C (and probably Bryce) is not going to be moved forward by Daz anymore. From a development point of view, dead. From a user point of view, we are still here and I'm still happy with it because I'm still making art with it that I love.
4, Since there are a few of us out here, there are content alternatives. A little patience can provide the time to find stuff. Plus, if it's a serious problem, I'll bet you can ask around and somebody will make a model for you. Content is out there in some form or another.
-Kix
@kixum and you are a very good modeler... I wish I had your skills, I try but crap out with what I really want to model :-(
Find my Facebook Page Here -- or me on Twitter
@Wonga, Thanks for the comment about modeling. I guess it's something that I've learned over a long time because of my crazy desire to make that "perfect" Enterprise starship render. I'm still trying to get that figured out!
Making a detailed model also takes some serious time which isn't always easy to find. Even the amazing Mr. Bremmer uses purchased or acquired models sometimes cuz it takes time and it isn't always easy.
-Kix
one advantage not DAZ model related with the C8.5 upgrade is the softbody bullet physics is much better so you might consider it for that and the improved FBX import if it still works, I believe the last build broke it, I do not know as I still use the one that does not use PostgreSQL either.
I guess complaining helped after all. This is a positive step in the right direction. Now, I guess we will have to only wait a year to get anything that is Connect only.
DAZ Connect Encrypted files will be unlocked after 12 months
__
It has taken a bit of time, researching of numbers, and technical development and testing, but we feel that the jist of the idea above is not only doable, but does indeed address a significant number of concerns of Daz, the interest of the PA's, and customers. As such, Timmins, I want to say "We hear you", and furthermore "We thank you" for your suggestion.
Effective immediately we are rolling out functionality that will cause Encrypted products to become un-encrypted 12 months after launch. This will be through a process that runs on our servers and replaces the encrypted content with a non-encrypted one. Anyone who buys or updates the product after that point will get the non-encrypted version. This means that even if you buy it during that first year, at the end of the time period you will be able to get it as an update without encryption if that is of concern to you.
This change is effective now. Any encrypted content that has or will release will automatically decrypt after 12 months after its launch date.
The folks at Daz`
tsarist posted at 4:14PM Mon, 29 February 2016 - #4258302
DAZ Connect Encrypted files will be unlocked after 12 months
That's good news, and it inspires an idea :
Quick!!
While they are actually listening!
Everybody go over there and Demand that they release The Millennium Cow!!!
MOOOO!!!
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A member alerted me to some somewhat disturbing new developments with the new Daz Connect offered with Daz 4.9
So BEFORE you install this new Daz product, please read these FAQs from Daz because if you "update" some things might not work. Plus, going forward, any Daz Connect items won't work with Carrara.
Does this mean Daz will be dropping support for Carrara or will this be a feature offered in C9 ?
Can I use products installed through Daz Connect with other software?
Products installed through Daz Install Manager keep their previous functionality. Products updated to Daz Connect will not function with Carrara or the DSON Importer for Poser due to an inability to interface with Daz Connect web services, but all bridges (e.g. ZBrush, Bryce, Hexagon) and exporters continue to function as they have.
Products that are available in zip format or through Daz Install Manager will remain available.
What happens to my Bryce and Carrara content?
Products created for Bryce and/or Carrara can still be purchased through the website and installed through Daz Install Manager. Bryce maintains the ability to use Daz Studio content through the Bryce bridge. Carrara cannot currently consume encrypted files installed using Daz Connect. Your options for Carrara are to either export FBX or OBJs out of Daz Studio or use unencrypted versions of your content downloaded and installed through Daz Install Manager.