On day, after working excellent for a decade or more, The Photoshop Bridge between Daz Studio (4.21) and Photoshop (any version-CS5, CS6 or CC) suddenly began throwing up this error message "Unable to UpdateScene in Daz Studio." It just freezeswhen I go to activate the render.

Has anyone seen this before? 

I reinstalled all new versions of DAZ, Photoshop and The Photoshop Bridge and it still stymies me.

Any ideas?

At a total guess, it could be an OS update has blocked access to the Program Files or other folder where the current DAZ scene is located? Are you on Windows or a Mac?

I am on Windows 11 Home. That is an interesting suggestion, I just have no idea how to overcome this. Roll back my recent updates in Windows?

I tried uninstalling the last Windows 11 update but it had no effect. I still can't get it to work. Thanks for the suggestion HartyBart.

Is it possible you recently updated DAZ Studio? And/or Photoshop? You mention "all new" versions. That could be the problem?

The ideal install, for full functionality of the Bridge, is Photoshop CS6 32-bit and the 32-bit version of the DAZ 3D Bridge plugin. When using 64-bit versions the Bridge will only partly work. These two 32-bit versions should work fine on a 64-bit OS, but there may come a time (now?) when the OS itself refuses to run 32-bit software. But Windows should not do so, at least not yet.

Thanks for the advice. I'll check out using the 32-bit bridge and maybe reinstall Photoshop CS5 and see if those two can connect. The bridge is so vital to my work. The results are spectacularly sharp, much sharper than anything I've been able to generate just using Daz 3D alone. And they come in to the Photoshop as layers in a PSD file. I really have depended on the Photoshop bridge for a decade or more.

I forgot to say that 32-bit Bridge will likely refuse to install unless it can find a 32-bit Daz on your PC. I installed an old 4.12.x 32-bit, the install of which did not damage my latest 64-bit version of Daz.

The full workflow is...

1) Install an old 32-bit Daz Studio on your PC. 4.12.x 32-bit is suggested, though perhaps earlier if you also want to use other older plugins.

2) Install Photoshop CS6 32-bit on your PC.

3) Download and install the official 32-bit DAZ Photoshop Bridge installer from your purchases list at the Store. This should still be free, and requires a 32-bit Daz to be present on your PC. The target folder is... 

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6\Plug-ins

4) Also install the latest 64-bit Bridge to your regular Photoshop (e.g. CC 2018) and latest Daz Studio.

5) Load Photoshop CS6 32-bit, launch its 32-bit DAZ Bridge (Top menu / File / Automate). 

6) CS6 should auto-launch the latest DAZ Studio 4.20.x 64-bit, rather than the old 32-bit. It then seems that the 32-bit CS6 plugin can happily talk to the latest Bridge script/camera in the latest 64-bit DAZ Studio. It's all script-to-script talk now, and bit-parity on the .exe's no longer seems to be a problem.

7) Test "Update" and "Autoupdate" in the Bridge's UI, and they should now work perfectly - which they don't in 64-bit. Importing an iRay render into Photoshop also works fine.

The workflow for then setting up matched backdrops ('backplates') in both Daz and Photoshop is...

1. Launch Photoshop. Open your target Background as a layer, and optionally make it an unlocked layer (Right-click layer, "Layer from Background").

2. In Photoshop, File / Automate / Daz 3D Bridge. The Bridge panel loads. Give it time to auto-launch your Daz Studio 64-bit. If using iRay for rendering then you probably need a fast render (ideally no more than 60 seconds), so now's the time to drop a superfast render preset on DAZ.

3. In DAZ, now run this free helper script, which you will have copied and saved as a .DSA script file...

4. This launches the Backdrop picker in DAZ. Just tick "Active Backdrop" and then "Browse". Choose exactly the same Backdrop picture you already have on a layer in Photoshop.

5. The script then continues, auto-matching Viewport ratio and render dimensions to the new picture, and setting the Backdrop to be invisible in renders. 

6. You now have the same sized and matched 2D backdrop in both tools. Render direct to Photoshop!

Ideally there would be some way to add into the above workflow the excellent Intel AI-powered free offline 'OIDN' denoiser. But, amazingly, no-one has yet made it into a Photoshop plugin. But even if they did, it probably would not be 32-bit. OIDN can be had in Daz via mcjDenoise, but that can only work on the folder of 'recent renders' within Daz.

An example use situation would be rendering iRay renders directly into a series of layered comic-book panels in Photoshop. With an OIDN plugin they could then be denoised 'in place' as they come in from Daz Studio's Bridge.

I guess the workaround there is that you get all the renders arranged into one .PSD in Photoshop CS6, save it, then open the same .PSD in Photoshop 2018 or higher for more postwork. Where you can then at least use the Topaz Denoise AI plugin.

What a stunning reply to wake up to! I will study everything and try it out. THANK YOU

I did everything you suggested and I am certain we are close, however now I can open Photoshop CS6 32bit and then File/Automate/Daz Studio 3d bridge.

The menu opens in the upper left and immediately opens Daz Studio 4.21 64 bit but the bridge is not activated.

When I go as Photoshop instructs me to Daz3d, there is an error message:

"Could not open file: scripts//init 3dbridge.dse. File does not exist."

Sooooo close....

I notice that I cannot open the photoshop bridge when in Daz 4.12. The choice does not appear and the bridge is not listed as installed.

Both the above problems suggest that you have not yet installed the 64-bit as well as the 32-bit Bridge? See step 4 of the workflow. You install both the 32-bit and the 64-bit Bridge installers, found in your Product Library at the Daz Store. Sounds to me like it can't find the 64-bit Bridge, that should be installed to the current 64-bit Daz Studio and 64-bit Photoshop.

I am assuming that the order in which 32-bit / 64-bit Bridge are installed doesn't matter, but I guess it might. I would have had the 64-bit first, and then later the 32-bit wrangling was done.

Thank you so much for all your help. I am acquiring a copy of the magazine as I can't read it. It won't blow up from your note.

I think I know what happened to mess up my system that I have used for years. On some product I was looking at in my content menu, I remember clicking on an image thinking it was the .duf for  prop but then realized it said "Render Settings". Nothing happened and I went on with my work but I'll bet that link rejigged my render settings in some way that I can't sewe or undo. Nothing else really makes any sense. It worked perfectly and then an hour later, it didn't.

HartyBart, when I finish the current project, I will follow all your suggestions. If that doesn't work, I am going to do a clean install of Windows 11 and reinstall Daz and Photoshop.

When I last looked/downloaded, the latest official free Photoshop Bridge 32-bit installer (2022) in the DAZ Product Library was 1.13.0.17_Win32.exe

But I see that at July 2023 the current 32-bit installer there is now DS4_3DBridge_1.14.0.5_Win32.exe - so they've updated it from when I last looked.  Not tested, as I don't want to disturb my working setup. 

Access the installers via: DAZ Store | My Account | Product Library, search for Photoshop.  There's no changelog (both 64-bit and 32-bit are updated), but presumably something has changed from 1.13.x to 1.14.x

The Daz plug-ins (as distinct from those developed by PAs) are always given new compiles for each new build of DS. The change log should tell you when or if there are substantive changes, rather than just a recompile.

Thanks, I did look at the main DAZ Studio changelog, but found no mention of the Photoshop Bridge. Perhaps it was just a re-compile, then.