Monday, January 25th, 2016 Posted by Jim Thacker

Daz 3D ships Daz Studio 4.9

Daz 3D has released Daz Studio 4.9, the latest update to its figure posing, animation and rendering software, adding Daz Connect: a new integrated system for buying and managing content from its online store.

The release also updates Daz Studio’s Smart Content pane, making it easier to customise the way content is filtered and displayed; and updates the software’s integrated versions of the Iray and 3Delight render engines.

Daz Connect: buy content directly within Daz Studio with ‘some measure of DRM’
The main feature in Daz Studio 4.9 is Daz Connect, a new live link to the user’s account on Daz 3D’s online store, making it possible to browse, buy, install or upgrade stock content directly within the software.

The system, which comes with a lengthy online FAQs document, has caused some debate on Daz’s forums from users who don’t like the way it automatically organises content, or the fact that it involves DRM.

Content installed through Daz Connect is encrypted, and cannot be shared with other users – already part of Daz’s EULA, but enforced automatically under the new system.

At the minute, most content on the Daz 3D online store, including the firm’s flagship 3D characters Victoria and Michael, can still be installed manually.

However, Daz says that new products “may begin to be offered through Daz Connect only”, with this forum post listing six that are now only offered in encrypted versions.

Scene files saved from Daz Studio aren’t encrypted, since they only contain references to the actual assets.

More streamlined browsing for stock content
Other new features in Daz Studio 4.9 include a new “product-centric workflow” intended to make it easier to filter and display assets within Daz Studio.

(And, crucially from Daz’s point of view, to buy it – this being a product whose business model is to make the base software free, but to charge for stock content.)

You can read more about the new workflow in the online documentation for Daz Studio 4.9.

Updates to Iray and 3Delight
There’s very little in the update in terms of new creative tools, though it does bugfix the implementation of subsurface scattering within the Iray render engine, integrated into Daz Studio in version 4.8.

The built-in 3Delight render engine also gets a few bugfixes and updates.

Pricing and availability
Daz Studio 4.9 is available for Windows and Mac OS X. Daz Studio Pro 4.9 is nominally priced at $249.95, but if you register on Daz’s website, you can download it for free.

Read more about the new features in Daz Studio 4.9 on Daz’s website