And personal opinions. lol

I was reading that issues thread on the DAZ forum and have to wonder how few carraraests are using C8.5, Genesis, G2F/M, and Studio. I've said it before, I'll say it again, if you aren't using Studio you are missing out on what is perhaps the best content tool around. But that list, for all it's posters is sadly lacking. So here is my list of common daily issues for me.

C8.5 can not read the texture addresses in a DUF from Studio. 90% of the time when I load a Studio 4.6 staged figure I get the "can not find" error and have to retexture everything. A solution is to do it in Studio, yes I know that makes no sence. If I apply a mat in studio it usually gets saved with an address carrara can read, but carrara can't read the address of the texture that loads with the item. I'm not putting this one high on my list even though it is a constent issue. I have to reset all the shaders anyway and it is just a few extra clicks to reapply the textures. You could always apply a mat once in carrara, but more often then not you'll get the dreaded "an error has occured while".

Autofit CMS dependency. Tell me this isn't DAZ trying to shuve CMS down carraraests throats. Beta worked just fine with out it. Now some people may not have an issue with DAZ sticking it's nose up your ... But I do. I will not have this DRM on my machine. Regaurdless of that, I really have no need of any help finding/using my content. This should be my sig "I know where my content is because I put it there"

Despite my opinon of it, it should not be mandidtory to have it installed to use autofit. Autofit works just fine in Studio with out CMS, so I stage my figures in it to use autofit. Mandetory my lilly white ...

New content in DUF quite often errors out in C8.5. Seems no poses, or mats made/released at DAZ in the past 6 months work in carrara.

G2F/M compatability. Actually G2F; so far, works well in C8.5, as long as you don't use G2F poses or mats; see above. I know some aren't too concerned about the next gen figures, but they are the next gen and do look so much better posed then the mil4 figures; to me. But if DAZ wants me to buy in to G2F/M they need to work as well in carrara as they do studio. G2F came out long before C8.5 was released so there is no excuse for it not to be much more compatable.

No updates. When I buy an app I expect bug fixes and updates. I don't expect to be blown off and ignored, that is not what I am paying for. C8.5 was released being incompatable with the latest DAZ content. Meaning DAZ was losing customers for the latest DAZ content from carrara, the day it was released. More over, when a file format is updated/changed I expect the application that is suposed to be using it to be updated so it can.

Noncommunication. This just makes a bad situation worse. Take 2 years tinkering with an update, release it with more bugs then the last beta build, then ignor the community for months on end. Yup, that is how you whip up community suport

I'll add to this as I bump in to issues that have slipped my mind at the moment.

I'd also appreciate it if someone on the DAZ forum would PM DAZ_jarad{?} with a link to this thread. Thanks.

Yes, I too am saddened by what has happened to the Carrara platform. When I first got into 3d, Carrara was a MUCH cheaper alternative than VUE and consistently turned out images nearly on a par with that expensive platform. My original platform WAS Daz Studio and it was great for what it was at the time and I loved it: A free, forgiving to noobs, easy to use 3d platform. When I was finally ready to step up, there was that beautiful Carrara with dazzling features and renders. And I loved Daz content as it was universally high quality and bulletproof - it just plain worked. That was then.

So where are we today? Studio is now so bloated it is no longer the great entry-level tool it was. And Carrara is all but ignored. And as you point out, Carrara no longer works with everything Daz is releasing today. I've pretty much given up on using any Genesis-era figures and props because the vast majority of it just does not work with Carrara. And yes, I'm kinda chapped by being forced into CMS too - I have my runtimes organized the way I want them thank you very much.

The way things are going, I figure I'll use C8 as long as I can, then will look at other options when Daz lets it die. And I'm thinking Studio is going to be a ways down the list because I just don't want to feel manipulated on one hand and ignored on the other by this vendor. Call it scar tissue.

You could always add you voice to the thread on Daz, more the better

Add losing props. I have had props be replaced by cubes several times now. So far practically every prop I use in a scene in Studio becomes a cube when I open it in carrara. More studio not writting a full address for content used in a scene. This appears to be the same issue as textures that wont load. Carrara can't find the prop because Studio doesn't write the address so it can.