i thought of opening a thread for the new daz studio 4.

lets share the experiments we make.i would suggest sticking to the basic first like installing navigating and handling the application.

the more in deep knowledge about lightimg,ueberl,and all the special things i would like to adress later maybe another thread.

here my first impressions after 2 days.

installation runs smooth.

i installed of course in a different folder to keep it away from my daz2 and 3 installation.

just pointing in the preferences to the directories of the runtime i want to use.

customizing and preference settings took about lets say +-30 minutes to work out,and as everyone works slightly different i think each one has to find its way of personalizing the application.

so far loads and renders fast.

parenting various items  for example in my street scenes is a bit of a pain,maybe need more experience with the interface.

frequent crashes when loading props.

i updated the videodriver but still the same.

some hair load but dont show (lol)and they are a mile away from the characters head.

i deactivated also the daz content managing service as i have set up my folders the way i wanted it ,no need to me for a service running in the background.

ill get back later take a little break and walk the dog.

How to get your DS3/Poser runtimes into DS4:

The default for DS3 is to use the Content Manager database (Category view), rather than the Folder view which shows the files and folders as they are on the hard drive.  If you click the little triangle at the upper right of the Content tab in DS3 you can see which option is checked.

When you first run DS4 it should ask you if you want to "Import Mapped Folders" and if you want to "Migrate the Content Database".  You can access these options by right clicking on the tab that says "Content Library" in DS4.  

First "Import Mapped Folders".  If you then look at the Content Library tab you can click on "DAZ Studio Content Folders" or "Poser Content Folders" and see the folders as they are on disk, equivalent to the Folder view in DS3.

"Migrate the Content Database" isn't working properly for some people, but what it's supposed to do is import the Content Database used in the Category view in DS3.  After you do this, clicking on "Categories" in the Content Library tab in DS4 will give you the equivalent of the Category view in DS3.

According to this bug report, fixing the Migrate Content Database has immediate priority and has been assigned:
https://bugs.daz3d.com/view.php?id=42106

yes but i did not migrated i just mapped the folders and they show up and i view them as tree wich is for me the most comfortable view,but everyone is different and can switch as desired.

daz contenmanager service i disabled by using service.msc and set the service to manual.i see now you can also deactivate/activate in the start-programs-daz folder

i dont know how precise this is i used pc wizard 2010 to check my pc components

running msn,firewall,av,popmanager (mail)roboform

no daz version running

4 cores 40-44 º

MoBo 43º

HDs 45-48º

activities on all 4 cores +-1%

.................

daz 3 running

4 cores 50-54º

MoBo - 43º

hd 46-48º

activities 13-15%

.....................

daz 4 running

4 cores 58-60º

mb 43º

hds 47-48º

activities 20-70%

.............

even with the content management turned off it seams to eat ressources and heat the mobo and processors up.

Hope my install goes as well

how do i add my runtime items into catagories? and products?

sorry i dont know that as i dont work that way.

i structured my runtime my way and i just point in the preferences (directories )the path

where they are located ,and i never ever let daz look for content.

new content always shows up automatically in the folder where i put them

ie victoria 4

clothes

mat-morph

props

they only thing i installed quasi by default is the new content daz4 specific that goes in the folder my library in the daz 4 folder.

something else i never install my applications on the system drive.

daz is on a separate partition and each version 2+3+4 in a separate folder,(away from each other).

i go and have a look in the daz3d forum and when i come up with something i will post here.

I am a long time Poser user and i used also Daz Studio from the beginning(now version 3 advanced edition 64 bits with many plugins)¸ 

I have installed Daz Studio 4 32 bits without problem and so far i liked it 

My principal complaint about version 3 was the libraries browser Hate it because many times i must locate manually the contents i want ,especially when i have used Poser files (yes all directories was indicated in preferences) 
BUT in DAZStudio 4 no problem like this using old ds scenes, pzz Poser scene,load prop lights poses etc from differents Poser runtimes All were working. I like it 

New interface: i am ok with it no problem using it 

Genesis people ok for now even it is limited in this free version 

Rendering :enough fast and comparable to Poser according to me 
I hope that Reality plugin will be adapted to this new version (joined a rendered image reduced for Poser imported file) 

Plugins : auto it seems very good but i prefer to wait and see if it will be included in advanced edition 
Hope dynamic clothing plugin will also be adapted and working good (in DazStudio 3 32 bits many times i was unable to reload a scene with a dyn cloth inside without error) 

Overall i am happy with this new version and plan to use it more than the old one 

yes and i agree with martial,the more i work with the better it is and the better i can handle it.

now i was talking about parenting in the daz forum and also here with my uploads but i think i used the wrong words.lol,sometimes i think and talk too fast add some pc-chineseand daz japanese lol,and nobody can understand.

what i meant by parenting was:

i often use plots and terrains and houses from different sets and vendors wich are really not meant to be parented together,and i prepare myself this way a giant prop wich i can rotate and place wherever i feel like.

now i took a different approach and parented within the same sets.

for example ironman13's new house or pgmeri01's kazonika appartment.

this works fine but in the first place when loading it does not parent even if you click on parent to,then i go and parent manually, (uncheck the box parent in place)and it goes where it belongs.

so far i have figured this out.

of course it will take a bit to get used to,also a recommendation is to create a second camera as the perspective view is in fact not a camera,that way when reloading the scene it comes back the way it was last when open.

the rendering is very fast even with shadowmap and the quality of the new renderengine looks very good to me crisp so to speak.

of course i do have to experiment more with the lights(i was never a pro in lighting even in the earlier versions)so this is not a daz issue but thiis is a thing i have to solve on my own.

overall i am very satisfield,a few minor crashes while parenting things, but nothing severe.

after a crash the scene loads very fast,and i can continue.

and yes lets wait and see what will be in the advanced version i do hope the viutal plugins are included,such as auto fit.

oh yeah and i miss the male genitals lol,and i wait for some more morphing.

about dyn cloth,i am known as the artist who uses not much clothing lol,and i never got the hang on dynamics,but who knows what the future will hold.

.

DAZRand over at the other forums has stated Studio 4 should not be run with CMS turned off, that is will cause stability issues and even if that is not the case now it is likely to be the case later. That being said I turned it off, I have no need for it.

For hardware based renders Daz Studio 4 uses OpenGL, which is all video card, RAM and CPU come into play as well. For the software renders (which are the much more detailed ones that take longer) DS4 may be licensing 3Delight 9 instead of 8.5 which was used for DS3. Software renders are stricly CPU and RAM, the video card is used to update the image on the screen but unless its a rendering engine that supports GPU acceleration your Video Card is sitting this opperation out (both 3Delight used by Studio and the current implimentation of LuxRender via Relalty do NOT support the existing GPU option in these engines) Any software based render performed by Studio is passed off to 3Delight to perform (or if you use Reality it goes to LuxRender). Keep in mind 3Delight, and LuxRenderer are not developed by Daz. 3Delight is it's own company. Lux is open source, Reality is a purchase plugin but well worth the price.

Lights for 3Delight in Studio is an artform in itself and continues to be. If lights are a nightmare to you, and to a good portion of other Studio users the Reality plug-in for Studio to render to Lux simplifies this to the level of joy. Unfortunately Reality does not work with DS4 and no ETA on the development of a version of Reality that does. The good news is the developer is an amazingly talented developer and artist as well so I expect it will be soon and for both the Windows and Macintosh platform.

Loading content menus and loading files feels slightly faster than it did in DS3. I'm on a quad core i7 an running off my SATA 3GB/s which is going to be faster than running it off a USB2.0/3.0 or FireWire 400/800 drive external but the lags in DS3 don’t seem to be there. That being said I set up my content by hand, I'm not letting Studio manage it, EVER.

The interface is broken into smaller subsections to try and limit clutter but it's bigger, it got very limited customization at this time and it often takes more steps to do the same thing as it did in Studio 3. That being said I know one of the developers over at Daz was working on a "classic" interface for DS4 but no ETA as to when it will be available.

thansk very much Klown (lol)for the useful information.

i have turned off the contenmanager as well,and i structure my runtime the way i want.

as for the interface i customized it the way that i have the content,parameter,scene on my left hand and that leaves me the right part of the screen free for my scenes.

i render in 1550x871 all my images working on a 22" lcd.

I'm on a 25" and 19" LCD there are some issue with the dual display but I have reported them as bugs to Daz and can only wait to see what happens. I've moved my palettes to the 19 which gives me a large field of view on the 25 since. It's pretty much a wide open canvas which is a little more inspiring than a cluttered window but that's my own preference.

I just came from being on the DAZ website forum for most the day. Gotta say, there are some who are sticking to D3. D4 is just to complicated and aggrivating to figure out. some of it has to due with the loss of workspace pending how you customized your prior D3 workspace compared to D4. Some had to do with loss content. In the end, the final render is no better in 4 than it is in 3. I'm remainig loyal to 3 for now.

I only hope and pray that those who make content for DAZ and similiar programs will kindly continue to make content that will still work with DAZ 3.

i do hope so as well,what i have had over the last few days was only a couple of hairs wich dont show up in the scene.the rest of my "old"content"works fine in daz 3,and mostly in daz 2.

The only advantage to DS4 at the moment is that it behaves better with bigger scenes, in terms of moving around the interface, DS4 feels slighty faster loading and saving, but when rendering those scenes the speed is the same as DS3, the quality is the same as DS3 and I've gotten it to crash as well. So interface has loads of room for improvement, there is no reality render option, there is a new light option; Linear Point Light, and I just found this which looks pretty neat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW1JrQ0BNV0

thanks for the youtube link and i saw there are many more videos to watch,very interesting ,and i saw this new light as well but have not played yet ,i will this afternoon.thanks for your contribution.

I'm running a pretty modest machine with Win7 64-bit, and I've had no trouble at all out of DAZ Studio 4 so far. I think the new UI really cleaned things up. I also love the new Genesis figure, and I can't wait for the morph and character packs to hit the market. I'm also anxious to see which tools are going to be updated and which are not. The only negative I can really point to is that I think DAZ rushed DS4 out the door before they were really ready: there should have been at least a few components available to flesh it out. Instead, all there is at the moment is the AutoFit Tool (which costs $50 on sale) which I STILL have not gotten a firm yes or no as to whether it will be included with DS4 Advanced or DS4 Pro.  

yep tentacle3d you are right,but in the software business its like this ,just have to see windows or browsers or anything you want, half ripe versions to make the buck,thats the way the bizz runs and maybe we will stay forever betatesters.

as for me i am getting more and more addicted to daz 4 and i can wait for the genesis i have over 300 gig content enough to play with,and i discover even things wich have been included in daz 3 and i had no clues about ,imagine,i am working in daz3 since it came out lol.

funny how things turn sometimes.

I've had plenty of issues with D4, mainly the Ui interface. I'm VERY particular and I'm use to how I have it set up on D3. There are complaints galor on the daz forum over at daz. I deleted D4 because I was not comfortable with using the new layout. As said over at daz, like the saying goes, "if its not broke, don't fix it"' well...they broke it alright. There appears to be an issue with the mac version as well. Until there is a 64bit version, I'm remaining loyal to D3. it works for me and I know it. Also, the render in D4 is no better than d3. Its the same. Also btw..to answer the question above, YES, the auto tool will be part of D4 Advance and Pro. IF, they get their act together.

I have a hard time using outdated products -- it grates on me to use an old tool when a newer one is available. I loved Poser 7, and I was really stuck when Poser 8 came out: I HATE Poser 8 with a passion, but I couldn't make myself go back to the older version. I plugged away at Poser 8 off and on for months and got nowhere with it, and after a lot of mucking around, finally took a whack at DAZ Studio 3 and got pretty comfortable with it. Similarly, despite DAZ saying that Victoria 4 is far from obsolete, I'll probably never use her or Michael 4 again, now that the Genesis figure is available. I just wish that the DAZ way of doing business wasn't so haphazard (for example, I believe they STILL haven't released the user manual for Carrara 8 yet, and trying to get a definitive answer out of them about something is next to impossible). The only other real worry is, like you said, all the content that I've acquired over the last couple of years (how much will I be able to use with DS4, how much will it cost to upgrade or replace tools and components, etc.). I've spent more than I could really afford over the last year or so on my content library, and I'd like to end this year with a paid-off credit card.  

Othher thing to remember, there is but 1 figure. That V Genesis. Thats it right now. Luckily all 2,3 and 4 content is suppose to work. But again, nothing is written in stone.

i  just had 2 pairs of hairs wich did not show up in the scene so far,the rest all has worked up to now.

i have not really been involved with the genesis figures yet.thsi will be the next step.

we are preparing to fly from europe to las vegas our 25th wedding anniversay so for the time beeing i stick a bit with what i have there for sure will be news about  the continuum of daz4 when im coming back.

btw nice to meet you here.

Safe flights and congarats ;-)

thank you

Many thanks renecyberdoc for starting a DS4 discussion here.

I'm getting a clearer picture now what's going on. The Daz forum is getting confusing with 50++ pages to slog through. And I still don't understand why the DS4 discussions are in their "Commons" forum instead of their "Daz Studio" forum. All very confusing.

I have yet to load DS4 on my machine. I'm waiting for the 64bit version to be released. I think why most users don't notice much change in reander speed between DS3 and DS4 is because DS4 is currently only 32bit which limits the ram usage during rendering. Anyway we'll all have to wait for the 64bit version to test out that theory.

I had zero problems installing DS4. I works really well for me so far. However, I did find something interesting when looking through the root directory. There is an .exe called 'Designer.exe'

It seems to be an app to build your own UI. How strange is that? Anyone else find this file? 

I was won over by the Genesis figure from the beginning.  As a DAZ tyro with little investment in earlier versions of Studio, I had little to unlearn and am comfortable with the UI.  The clincher was when I discovered that Gen4 skin textures will run on the Genesis figure.

I installed DAZ4 today. It seems to work and render very fast in the limited time I've had to play. I am having problems finding all my old content and Poser stuff but I'll tackle that later.
The interface I like, very easy for forever noobies like me.

I don't see any products yet for the Genesis figure, unless I didn't look hard enough?

Quote -  

I don't see any products yet for the Genesis figure, unless I didn't look hard enough?

The Anubis figure has been released.  RawArt has released a large set of fantasy morphs, and a female character is available.  There is also a new Genesis hair prop.  Expect many more products soon.

Thanks Doc.

Overall I am liking DAZ 4. The rendering speed is much faster than P8, and the interface is less clunky. One thing I don't like is when changing the colour of lights, hovering the mouse over the colour palette doesn't give a wysiwyg change in the scene like the way Poser does. You have to click on a colour and if it isn't what you like you have to try again.

I have been using Poser and DAZ since the beginning and I must say I have been quite convinced by DAZ 4

One major problem though (for me anyway) is I use a lot Vue for landscapes and so far I cannot manage to import DAz figures into Vue. Although the Collada files are supposed to take care of this it seems not to be the same "Collada". If anyone had suggestion, I would be glad to share experience