My 3D Art Hobby May Be Dead

[Nyghtfall]

DAZ 3D, the company behind the program I use to create 3D art, is introducing Digital Rights Management to the next version of DAZ Studio in an effort to protect content vendors from piracy. This will eliminate the ability for experienced artists like myself to manually organize content bought from their store, thus crippling our workflow.

On a positive note, I can focus squarely on my clip site, and finance more custom videos.

[Jason]

Well, I hope that is not the case. Like you, I find it MUCH easier to rename folders and move them around -- much faster to find what I am looking for that way.

I use Poser, and with Poser I simply designate a new "library" in addition to the hard-wired file structure that comes with any new version. So I can just point to my old file structure. Or I can just move a top-level folder by hand into someplace more useful. I don't know if DAZ has these features, but something to consider before you give up entirely.

[DaleCar]

I hadn't heard about this. But there must be a work around. Locking out the 3rd party vendors would seem a stupid move. And some things are available at more than one vendor. Also, quite frankly. Daz doesn't have enough content to satisfy every need. I just don't see how it would work if you bought something from rendorosity, rendorotica, RDNA, or content paradise amongst others. All that stuff has to be manually installed. It might cause Daz users to switch to poser. And theres a few other programs that would work though not as easily.

[Nyghtfall]

Here's the FAQ on DAZ 3D's upcoming new cloud-based service. I didn't include it in my original post because I didn't want to risk confusing anyone with an info-dump.

4.9 BETA Release Notes:

http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/ ... n-4-9-0-21

What is Daz Connect?

Daz Connect is basically your connection to Daz 3D. As your connection, it allows you to take advantage of a collection of new Daz Services. This list (which will grow over time) currently includes:

• * The ability to browse products you own, whether they are installed or not

• * The ability to install or upgrade products from within Daz Studio with ease

• * The ability to automatically download products that are missing from a scene you are working with

• * The ability to see suggestions for related products to supplement what you are currently working on

• * The ability to easily download your products as needed to whichever computers you work on

• * The ability to purchase new products and to add new free products to your account directly within Daz Studio

What are the goals of Daz Connect?

• * To help users find, install, and update the products they own, as well as browse new product options directly within Daz Studio. Basically all of your products will be visible to you, and with little effort is installed and ready to be used in your scene.

• * To consume less disk space, making it easier to keep products in the Daz cloud until you actually need them, as well as no longer store zip files for products on your local computer.

• * To help the artist community, which suffers from seeing its hard work stolen and published on pirate sites, by making purchases easier and more streamlined, while making piracy more difficult by encrypting products.

How do I get my purchased products now?

Once you have installed Daz Studio 4.9, log in to your Daz 3D account from within Daz Studio and go to the Products page of the Smart Content pane or the Products section of the Content Library pane to see products. If this is your first time launching this version, you may need to wait for Daz Studio to finish migrating product data from the previous version and/or retrieving data from the cloud. The product icons that are grayed out are available for you through Daz Connect. Double-click a product to install it. It is just that easy.

How can I get new products through Daz Connect?

At the bottom of the Smart Content pane you will see a page titled “Store.” This will show you the most popular products related to what is selected in your library and scene. For example, if you are looking at hair in your library to choose one for your scene, the Store page will show you some of the most popular hair items that you do not own yet and may want to consider.

Are all products Daz Connect ready? (I've highlighted the bad news in bold)

New products, as well as a huge selection of older products, will be offered through Daz Connect right away, with more of the older products having Daz Connect support added in the future. Our plans are for existing products that have been offered through non-Daz Connect methods to continue to be offered in those ways as well as through Daz Connect. New products will begin to migrate toward a Daz Connect-only delivery.

Will the products I already own keep working?

Yes, any previously installed products will continue to work. When you update to Daz Studio 4.9, all products that are compatible with Daz Connect will be highlighted. If you decide to install the products through Daz Connect by right-clicking and choosing “Install,” the upgraded version will be installed and will benefit from in-application update notifications from that point forward. If you decide not to upgrade a product, it will continue to function as before. Products not supported by Daz Connect will keep their previous functionality and must be updated through existing workflows, such as Daz Install Manager.

Will products from stores other than Daz 3D keep working?

Products from other stores will continue working the way they did prior to Daz Studio 4.9 and will not benefit from any of the Daz Connect features.

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.

Does this update make it easier to find content I can use with Auto-Fit in Smart Content?

The Smart Content pane can now be set to show all content instead of only those it deems compatible. With the “Filter By Context” option disabled, you have a new unfiltered view of your content.

Can I use the Content Library pane with Daz Connect?

If you prefer to use the Content Library pane, it has also been updated to support Daz Connect.

Does Daz Studio 4.9 require me to use Daz Connect?

No, you are not required to use Daz Connect services in Daz Studio.

Does Daz Studio 4.9 require me to be online to use Daz Connect installed content?

You are not required to be online to use products installed using Daz Connect. You are required to connect at least once to validate your account, but you can work offline from that point forward. However, working offline will not allow you to benefit from using live product and metadata updates, installing content from the cloud, or using the Store page in the Smart Content pane.

I use my content on multiple computers. Can I still do that?

Products can be installed and used on multiple computers, but you can only be actively logged in on one computer at a time. In fact, using Daz Connect makes this easier than before, as any computer you log into will have access to your purchased products directly within Daz Studio. There is no need to carry around your installation files—simply login and download your products on any machine.

I have multiple people in my household who share content with each other. Can we still do that?

No. Using content for more than one person is not allowed by the Daz 3D End User License Agreement (EULA). When you log into Daz Connect through Daz Studio, you will see and be able to use products that are tied to your account but not products that are associated with someone else’s account.

Is the encryption associated with Daz Connect essentially Digital Rights Management (DRM)?

We strive to add great benefits to being connected while limiting the impact to the user experience. Although we have included file encryption to protect our artist community, the primary target is to provide a better experience for our users. Daz Connect delivers and updates products more efficiently but relies on the fact that files are in a location and format that is maintained by the application. In this sense, Daz Connect provides some measure of digital rights management.

Can I copy products installed using Daz Connect from one computer to another?

The preferred workflow is to log in to each computer and install the desired products using Daz Connect. If this is not a workable solution, please contact Customer Support for potential alternatives.

Products downloaded and installed through Daz Install Manager or directly from the online store will continue to function as they currently do.

I like to move files around on disk to organize them differently. Can I still do that?

You cannot move files around for products installed through Daz Connect. You can change the drive and/or path to which products are installed using Daz Connect, but you cannot manually re-organize the files within the product.

If your goal is to change where the files show up in Smart Content based views, the location is driven by categorization. The proper way to change organization of these products is to add your own categories—you can create your own categories and reorganize the content to your heart’s content without touching the files on disk.

If your goal is to change where files installed using Daz Connect show up in the Content Library pane, you can create custom categories and arrange them as you wish.

What will happen with the content already on my hard drive(s)?

Your previously installed content remains untouched after installing Daz Studio 4.9. Content that is not available through Daz Connect will remain untouched. Content available through Daz Connect will indicate they are installable using Daz Connect. If you decide to install these products using Daz Connect, then they will be managed by Daz Studio and will benefit from live updates to metadata and files. If you decide not to install these products using Daz Connect, then they will continue to work as they did before and will not benefit from live updates.

What will happen to my custom metadata?

The first time you launch Daz Studio 4.9, any data—custom or otherwise—that exists in the content database is migrated so that it can be used in Daz Studio 4.9.

Can I still custom sort my files?

Yes, you can still customize how your files are categorized by adding your own categories.

If the content is stored encrypted, how do I reinitialize morphs?

Files provided in Poser formats that use ExP technology are not encrypted. However, the directory structure has changed in an incompatible way when installed using Daz Connect. If you continue to install those products through Daz Install Manager, they will continue to function as before. For now, products that require this functionality will not be made available through Daz Connect.

Will Daz Install Manager and Daz Connect work side by side? Can I choose one or the other?

Yes, both Daz Install Manager and Daz Connect can work side by side. Planned updates to Daz Studio and Daz Install Manager will help coordinate installation methods.

Do I have to re-download all of my products?

No, but if you choose to update a product to benefit from the live functionality, the latest updated version of the product will be re-downloaded through the Daz Connect service. Daz Install Manager product updates required you to re-download the entire product. Daz Connect allows you to get incremental changes, making updates more efficient. Once installed using Daz Connect, Daz Studio keeps you notified of available updates as well as other content to consider.

Does having the Daz Connect service mean that all content will finally be Smart Content capable?

We are updating most of the content available from Daz 3D to include metadata. We will provide a much more consistent categorization of files and products with live updates and enhancements to existing products.

Does Daz Connect work with plugins?

Not at this time. Daz Studio application updates and plugins still need to be installed through Daz Install Manager.

Will my saved scenes also be encrypted?

No, your saved scenes are not encrypted—you can continue to share them if you like. Scene files do not actually contain assets—they contain references to the assets. In order to load a scene, you need the assets to be locally available.

In Daz Studio 4.9, if you attempt to load a scene file that requires assets you own but are not installed, you will be prompted to install them using Daz Connect. If the required assets are installed through Daz Install Manager or manually, the scene will load without prompting you. If the required assets are installed using Daz Connect and also installed by any other means, the Daz Connect installed assets take precedence.

How do I add content that I have created myself to Daz Studio?

The same way you do now. Your custom built content is not encrypted.

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.

Does Daz Connect support 32-bit operating systems?

Daz Studio 4.9 provides the ability to use Daz Connect services and is supported on 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows Vista or later and OS X 10.6 or later. Keep in mind that our default renderer, NVIDIA Iray, only runs on 64-bit operating systems and on Mac requires OS X 10.7 or later. If running on a 32-bit operating system, make sure you read the product descriptions before making a purchase.

Will this update work with products like ZoneAlarm or other software firewalls?

The PostgreSQL based Content Management Service (CMS) used by Daz Studio 4.9 for storing and using metadata will not work with ZoneAlarm. This is unrelated to Daz Connect but is a known issue.

Most firewall applications do not cause any issues with Daz Studio or Daz Connect, although you may be prompted to allow access if you have very strict (non-default) settings.

Will this update eliminate the Hexagon, Bryce, GoZ, or Photoshop bridges?

No, the bridges maintain their existing functionality.

Will the DSON Importer for Poser plugin work with products installed using Daz Connect?

The DSON Importer for Poser plugin will not work with encrypted files downloaded and installed using Daz Connect.

The plugin will continue to work with products installed through Daz Install Manager.

Will this update keep zip packages on my computer like Daz Install Manager does?

No. Daz Studio only downloads the portion of products that have changed using Daz Connect, and it only stores that data on your computer. This improves the performance of downloading as well as the local footprint of products.

Is there a reason to upgrade to 4.9 if I do not plan to use Daz Connect?

Yes, Daz Studio 4.9 has a lot more to offer. It includes updates to both native renderers (NVIDIA Iray and 3Delight), as well as many stability fixes, and a greatly enhanced Smart Content workflow.

[Nyghtfall]

This is the latest dev thread from the DAZ forums, posted Nov 5:

---- Begin Text ----

Hey all, in an effort to keep the other threads clean, all concerns with encryption, philosophical or theoretical thoughts, speculations (within reason that wouldn't normally be moderated), etc., are going here. Feel free to continue the discussion in a civil, professional, hopefully rational, manner here and not derail any of the other threads. To kick it off, I'm going to address some of the big points that were brought up that might have gotten lost in all the discussion.

• * Encryption will require authenticating to the Daz Connect servers at a minimum of once per computer to get your personal key. We currently don't have an offline method for getting your keys, but is something we will be discussing and see if there is a good method that we can do for smaller patch releases beyond the initial release.

• * There will be an offline mode to install Daz Connect content. It involves downloading a Product Authorization file and a Daz Connect Package, putting it in a place Studio knows about it (will be explained in future documentation), and then Studio processing it at either start up or when triggered by a command (still being worked out).

• * Daz 3D has a planned "fail safe" or "poison pill" that will either unlock all your content or release all the content in unencrypted ways in the event Daz 3D is no longer solvent. The executive team at Daz has confirmed this and we will be updating our EULA to reflect that at the point that we release Studio 4.9 for public release.

• * All previously released content will always be available unencrypted. We know that its already out there, encrypting it now doesn't buy anything. Because of that, either in the public release or first patch we will be making it so that encryption of products during the install through Daz Connect is a per product thing. So content that is already unencrypted will stay that way once we get it working, even when installed through Daz Connect.

• * Again, this might not be in the first release, but definitely the first patch release shortly after at the latest.

• * Exporting content will always be there and not hampered in any way. This, we feel, isn't a fast and easy way around the encryption as someone won't get the original product that way, but a lossy derivative of it. Depending on the format for export, you potentially lose rigging, skinning, JCMs, or other things that make it an inferior product.

• * There are no current products planned for release as Daz Connect only, meaning only available encrypted. We don’t have a firm date on when 4.9 is going to ship because we’re still in Beta. It will definitely happen though, and the rate it happens is going to be dependent on a number of factors we’ll keep an eye on to make the transition as smooth as possible.

• * You do not need to use Daz Connect or encryption with 4.9. It is completely optional for use of your current content. There will be a requirement for it when Daz Connect only content is released, however acquisition and use of that content is not required.

To add a bit of light on all of this, we feel the best way to fight piracy is make the convenience of doing something legally more so than the inconvenience of pirating. That is why we made finding, downloading, installing, and loading content in Studio as streamlined and easy as possible while making getting a pirate-able copy of the original product harder. The type of pirate we are focusing on is two fold, the casual pirates who upload to torrents is one. The bigger one is people who create multiple fraudulent accounts per day, commit credit card fraud to purchase content, and then put those up on their own sites on servers operated over seas where we have no legal recourse and sell subscription services to it or are essentially "pirate for hire" where someone makes a request for a product and they fraudulently purchase from a content site and give it to you for a small fee. We don't think all our users are thieves or potential thieves, and don't want to treat anyone like that. Any measure to deter actual the actual thieves has to be done on a technological level, so has to be built into the software everyone has to use to get the content.

We also have the theory that encryption in this industry, as opposed to music or movies, will have a different impact than those other industries due to its niche nature and less broad of a base between people interested in this hobby and those with the technical skills and moral ambiguity to both break the encryption methods and have the desire to pirate. Where as every DRM structure that has been conceived has been cracked when attacked, there are numerous cases of software or types of content out there that is niche that haven't because they have never been concertedly attacked. We figure the types of pirates we are most concerned about will put in the most effort by probably hiring professionals to crack it, but we have to at least take this first step to determine what additional steps we can take, while making it as transparent and as little user-impact, as we can so that there literally aren't thieves profiting off of the hard work of our PAs. We don’t have delusions of this stopping piracy, we do have delusions that this will make it a little harder and take a little longer so as to help start curbing it versus the ease of just uploading zip files containing unprotected files. We might be completely off on this, and speculation into if we are 100% wrong or 100% right or somewhere in the middle is mostly useless as opposed to doing something and seeing the actual impact of it.

The conveniences and ease we are adding along with the features to make using Studio a better experience we hope will make it make less sense for those that bother downloading illegal content, thus hopefully lowering the demand a little. The encryption we have setup to make it harder to take content out of Studio in its original format, not stopping the use of pirated content at all, and we are trying to do it in a way that it has next to no impact on the actual usage of the content. So with that we hope to also start decreasing the supply. It’s the combination of the two that we think will have an overall positive impact for us, the PAs who are tired of seeing their content being blatantly stolen minutes after it is released, future PAs who decide to take the plunge into content creation, and hopefully the end users (mostly the convenience and ease for the end users).

---- End Text ----

[Nightposter]

I will continue to use 4.8 and 3rd party stuff....

[HeroDeath]

I may be wrong; but this doesn't sound like they're going to block 3rd party content:

"Will products from stores other than Daz 3D keep working?

Products from other stores will continue working the way they did prior to Daz Studio 4.9. These products do benefit from features that have been added by Daz Studio 4.9, but they cannot benefit from any of the Daz Connect specific features."

So, it looks like they're only going to encrypt future DAZ Connect content. However, DAZ users won't be able to move protected content around.

[Nyghtfall]

So, it looks like they're only going to encrypt future DAZ Connect content. However, DAZ users won't be able to move protected content around.

That's correct, and the problem.

[HeroDeath]

I see, have you tried using file shortcuts? (I'm not sure if that's the name in Windows; in *nix systems they are called "symbolic links")

If your only concern is not being able to move your files around, you might still be able to "move" files by using shortcuts to them.

The idea is that the actual files would stay wherever DAZ wants them to be; but you would create and manage your own directory structure by using shortcuts instead. This wouldn't duplicate any files, because shortcuts are just references to files, and I'm guessing this should also be transparent to DAZ for the same reason.

[Nyghtfall]

I see, have you tried using file shortcuts?

Yes, I'm familiar with them.

The idea is that the actual files would stay wherever DAZ wants them to be...

... and where Studio can see them.

I appreciate the thought, but shortcuts would quickly turn into a confusing waste of time and effort trying to maintain multiple file systems.

Maintaining control over content isn't just about being able to move files around myself. It's about not having to rely on a separate database to keep it all organized, or worrying it breaking.