Thx to MakeUseOf for this find:
DAZ Studio 4 Available For Free Till August 31st
posted on August 14, 2011 by Tim Brookes
3D figure design and animation software DAZ Studio 4 will be dropping its retail price of $49.99 to free for the remainder of August. The software, created by DAZ 3D, is used for the creation of artwork involving human models, animals, props and environments both still and animated.
The software is compatible with a large number of other suites and model types, and introduces one of DAZ 3D’s proudest features: the Genesis series of figures. Playing on the advancements made in the current version, Genesis enables users to create virtually limitless figure shape variations from a common base.
Note: free offer requires registration and free newsletter subscription for download. (Download is 435-462Mb)
It was impossible to download from the company's homepage; the file never reached more than 35MB (should be 435MB), so in the end I got a copy from CNet. I was surprised to see the alarms and bells that started from my security program during the installation, but I was in good faith, so I allowed it all to happen. I guess
this was the problem, included in one of the 3 EULAs:
This application installs a small program which runs in the background called the DAZ 3D Content Management Service. Installing this service requires administrator privileges and you will be prompted to enter an administrator user name and password during the installation process. This program does not connect to the Internet; but it will access ports on your computer. Antivirus programs and firewalls may show you an alert when this happens, so please allow access for the Content Management Service to function properly.
The DAZ Content Management is a database service that DAZ software uses to index, locate, sort, and associate content products. This allows a program like DAZ Studio to use product information files (called metadata) to associate one product file to another, such as a texture pose knowing it only works with a certain dress figure. Metadata is delivered by product installers at the time of product installation, and not through an outside service such as a network or the Internet.
The DAZ Content Management Service is being run as a separate process to make content indexing available to multiple applications, and to make the database service more fault-tolerant and robust. If a supporting application crashes, the content database will not be affected or corrupted. Running DAZ 3D software without this service will result in the loss of this ease of use content database service inside these supported applications.
Software uninstallers such as DAZ Studio, Carrara, and so on do not remove the DAZ Content Management Service, as this service is intended to remain on the computer between upgrades, to maintain the database service for all applications.
The DAZ Content Management Service is only uninstalled by running the DAZ Content Management Service Uninstaller, located in the Start Menu, or in the DAZ Content Management Service install folder.
The product database files created by the DAZ Content Management Service remain in the install folder after an uninstall, and must be removed manually. This ensures the DAZ Content Management Service itself can be upgraded without losing product database information.
Uninstalling the DAZ Content Management Service will result in a loss of this content database to all supporting DAZ Software applications.
QuickStart_Guide_to DAZ_Studio_ 4.zip