Hi.  I've been away from 3d for a few years.  I really enjoy Daz Studio 3 Advanced and have a few questions before upgrading to Daz Studio 4 Advanced.

My first question and biggest concern is I already have a lot of content on my hard drive that runs OS 10.4 (and most of the installers have been lost due to hard drive failures) so when and if I install Daz Studio 4 Advanced on my OS 10.6 drive can I still have it use my content from my other drive without having to reinstall everything?

Second, I am running a first generation Mac Pro so will I be able to use the new 64 bit upgrades, or am I stuck with 32 bit?

Finally, how well does Daz Studio 4 play with Vue?  I have Vue 8 Infinete and am looking to upgrade to Vue 10 complete.

Thanks,

David

i would like to know this aswell. can you add a runtime like you can with poser? i am seeing some great renders being produced with daz 3d. if i can add my runtime to daz 3d i would seriously think about buying it...

Yes, you can add a new Runtime to DS - in version 4 you need to have the Content Library open, rather than the Smart Content palette, and then you right-click on Poser Formats in that and select Add Runtime folder. I can't answer most of Pedrith's questions as I'm not a Mac user and don't have Vue, but I think DS4 runs OK under 10.6 and you should certainly be able to link your old content directories and use them without having to reinstall the files.

In terms of the Mac Pro, all of the Mac Pros used Intel processors that will support 64-bit so that's not an issue. However, unless you have more than 4gb of ram you won't see any benefit from having a 64-bit application.

 I purchased my upgrade to Daz Studio 4 Advanced and am enjoying it.  My only concern is when I'm using the Fourth generation figures and content I can't seem to get the clothes to follow the morphes.  I know in Daz 3 Advanced there was a morph follower or something to that effect but I can't seem to find it in the new version.

Also PW shaders (toon, ghost etc) are they compatible with DS 4 Advanced or do I need to purchase them again?  What about Light Dome Pro?

Thanks,

David

Not sure about the morphs situation, I know that most (all?) of the PW shaders were updated to support DS4, should just have to make sure you have the latest version.

I'm pretty sure Light Dome Pro hasn't been updated for DS4.

IIRC, Morph Follower is called the Transfer Utility in DS4. It's on the Edit Tab under "Object" and "Figure."

 You can also apply mesh smoothing by selecting an item in the Scene window and  clicking the options button (looks like ruled paper w/ a triangle - upper inner corner) Then click Edit, Apply Smothing Modifier.

Now, in the Parameters window, you'll see a Mesh Smoothing section. Go there and set Collision to the desired figure. Small pointies (spikes, nipples, fingers, strange lumps) may require that you set the Collision Iterations (immediately below collision item) a bit higher.

The successor to Morph Follower is labelled Transfer Active Morphs - the Transfer utility is a rigging tool, in DS pro or DSA with the Content Creation Tools, for initially rigging clothes and other conforming items. Transfer Active Morphs should be in the Edit menu, and on the menu when you right-click a piece of clothing fitted to a figure.

I bought DS4 Advanced a few days ago during the sale- unfortunately it crashes like crazy. It was able to pose Genesis without trouble. Then I tried loading V5! After 5 tries I got her loaded. I then loaded the "gens" CRASH! Restart. Loaded again. OK. Got some lights on-selected Uber Shaders Uber Lights, Uber Environment Hit render. She looked like she had black fungus! I tried the free version a month or so back-with only a few crashes.

I hear THIS version works best on OSX 10.7.2. I have 10.5.8 on my first generation MacPro--and other programs that dont work with 10.7.2! I MIGHT have been OK a few updates ago.

I'm really tempted to return at this point. I do have a copy of 10.6 but am searching for work-and cant afford down time if something goes awry!

In terms of the "black fungus" when you're using the Uber Environment lights there are quality presets. On the lower settings, you get tons of splotches but they render much more quickly, for final renders use the highest quality preset to eliminate them (at the expense of render times).

 Thanks! If I can get the figure loaded again without crashing-I'll give this a try!

Quote - In terms of the "black fungus" when you're using the Uber Environment lights there are quality presets. On the lower settings, you get tons of splotches but they render much more quickly, for final renders use the highest quality preset to eliminate them (at the expense of render times).

I like Daz Studio 4 Advanced, I think it's an improvement over the preceding version.  I don't think all of the older content is compatible with it though.  I think Light Dome Pro will work as I did some test renders with it and it seemed to do okay, as I would expect Portrait Studio by the same company should work.