Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12356&Form.ShowMessage=1391631

As I said in the above post, bills are starting to pile up and I'm planning to put some unique characters for V3 into the Marketplace, some beautiful, some "real world." In the spirit of flexibility and affordability, I'd like to use the default V3 texture/makeup paks which I (rightly or wrongly) assume most people own. Changing skin tones and makeup are already features of those paks. Check the link above to see the head previews and let me know how much not getting a custom texture would influence your buying.

Are you asking if people would be interested in just buying morph packages? If so, I would depending on the morphs offered. If they're simply dial settings using existing morphs, chances are I wouldn't be interested. There's only one set that I bought and I was annoyed to find out that that they weren't morphs but dial settings. The settings were really well done so I didn't ask for a refund but I did complain that the ad was misleading. (It wasn't at Renderosity, btw.) Hope this helps, Cres

A good texture (in as far as I can tell the difference) might sell a themed package but I don't buy that many character packs. As Crescent says, just dial settings with nothing else wouldn't get my money, but new morphs (especially if they were made up of mix-and-matchable new sub-morphs, plus exisiting dialed-in morphs as needed) might well do so, with or without a texture.

Well if somebody did a decent "smile" morph, or morph set that might be worth it, and by that I mean the whole face in one dial, not just the mouth. I tend to buy just the ultrarealistic textures these days like the stuff from SteffyZ and the like, Got the Daz ones, as well as one called "April" from runtime DNA. So no, textures aren't that important to me. If you're looking to pay the bills go with whimsy, Koshini & Laroo etc. are selling real well at the moment. Perhaps that's worth a look. later jb

I agree with Praxis about Full-Face expression morphs that are quality. I don't need any character faces, I do my own and always feel creepy using someone else's anyway (unless they are celeb morphs, which nobody seems to be doing anymore anyway). All I need are more body types and more functionality, such as the Sarah Spriteling package. IMO, all character packs should be done like that, with magnets, so that the clothing fits the new characters perfectly. Most clothes that come with morphs come with exactly the ones I don't need and not the ones I do, which means a whole lot of work on my part. New face morphs would be good too. Just not full characters. To answer your original question, don't bother with a new texture unless it is totally remarkable. I think we've all got our favorite textures by the dozens by now. -WTB

My target market is professional artists who don't have time to roll their own characters and need stock types for mundane applications. You'll notice that in the last fifteen or so character head morphs I did in Freestuff, none were monsters, aliens, cyborgs or faeries; this isn't a coincidence. Those markets seem saturated by experts. I'd rather carve my own niche. It may seem like a tiny market, but it's what Zygote built itself on and I think it's underrepresented currently. I could be wrong.

Well, I like your characters Duane, and even though I probably have nearly all V3 morphs and character paks available I will always buy more if a new character appeals to me- and I think many other people out there will also. I also think you have a fresh outlook and since you aren't after the sex-fiend monster-goth 14-year-old hooker market you should go with what you like to do.

Crescent: There are a handful of good reasons for using dial settings to develop and distribute V3 characters. First and foremost, DAZ is cracking down on people who distribute morphs based on those dials and I have to respect that. Secondly, some of the things dial settings can do, morphs cannot (like repositioning eyes and sockets simultaneously). Thirdly, V3's dials are too useful not to use in developing a character. The morphs I plan to create have to do with unsupported skull shaping, jawline work, aging and more nose types. Almost all the anatomical complaints I had about V1/V2 are completely addressed by V3. In all likelihood my V3 characters are going to be a synthesis of dials and a few custom morphs, but the time, effort and fine tuning will be the same even if the application method is not.

A synthesis of original morphs and dial settings is something I might buy. And, again, it's a personal thing with me not buying dial set packages. I don't see anything wrong with a commercial dial set only package - it's just something I probably wouldn't buy myself. I know some people spend a lot of time creating their characters, crafting them very carefully for their packages, but it doesn't hold the same interest for me as other items. Cheers!