Someone brought up this program in the 3dsMax forum today, so I wanted to see what it was. So it's basically another Poser program I take it? Are people comparing it to Lightwave and 3dsMax, because it seems to only be a render application for poser figures. Is there something more I'm missing? What are the comparisons exactly? Does it have a modeling engine?

Attached Link: http://www.daz3d.com

>> So it's basically another Poser program I take it? More or less... it's in alpha currently and being developed by Daz, who's primary bussiness is in content creation. You can find out more by digging around at the supplied link. >> Does it have a modeling engine? Nope. Whether that's planned in the future is not public knowledge. The current program seems to be aimed at loading/posing/rendering pre-modelled content, though they have hinted at dynamic hair/cloth type future plugins.

"Are people comparing it to Lightwave and 3dsMax, because it seems to only be a render application for poser figures." The GUI seems to have been inspired by Lightwave otherwise there is no comparrison yet. In time it may develop into a sophisticated animation/rendering app but Daz haven't revealed their long term plans for it. It's still an Alpha at the moment. I doubt it will ever have a modeller - Baz

Are people comparing it to Lightwave and 3dsMax Only one person was doing that. It's targeted as a Poser replacement/competitor. They don't want to replace max or LW, infact they have announced that they're developing a LW plug-in so you can use Daz Studio content in LW. I haven't seen an official announcement on max, but I would guess that they're doing the same for it as well. -Mark

No, DAZ isn't trying to REPLACE MAX or Lightwave, as they already do serious business with these customers. I would say that a MAX and LIGHTWAVE and C4D link would be very likely in the cards for the future. DAZ has stated that Daz Studio is NOT a replacement for Poser, either. This is why I have dropped into the various MAX and Lightwave forums to give people a heads-up on this software, as it appears to me it is aimed at a NEW 3D niche that is somewhat Poser-like, Vue-Bryce-like, and serves as a link to high end render software as well. It's a pretty interesting 3D strategy, I think. The software is just BARELY getting started as an Alpha version, and will go into BETA maybe later this month, but DAZ hasn't stated this officially yet.

DAZ has stated that Daz Studio is NOT a replacement for >Poser They can say that if they want, but the users will decide (they always do) wheter or not it is a replacement. -Mark

(cough!) OpenGL (cough!) What more reason do you NEED to ditch Poser? Poser is the most sluggish, clumsy piece of crap of a program I've ever worked with. If I could easily import the Daz figures int C4D or LW, I'd use that instead. I only use Poser because I have to use Poser. Curious Labs is losing a customer once the D|S beta comes out.

Where can i get this alpha version...i went to the Daz site and registered but could not find it to download. am I missing something here? It would be really nice to have a plugin for Cinema4D as mentioned above. I render many .obj from poser in Cinema now and native C4D files would be just great!

First, to get the Alpha you need to be a DAZ Platinum Club Member. These were dropped into PC member account boxes on Christmas Eve as a little Holiday Goodie. But there was still a problem with the MAC version, so as far as I know, that still hasn't been released. (A day or so later the Alpha was also handed out to DAZ Model Brokers so that they could begin testing it with their own current or planned future releases). The BETA version will be the actual "Official" start towards DAZ Studio 1.0 How DAZ plans to handle that is not yet completely clear, but they had previously suggested that the BETA would be widely distributed for FREE via their website. But they may have been thinking in terms of the FINAL version, since the ALPHA alone has caused a certain amount of "Freaking Out" as users discover that YES, it actually has some BUGS (as DAZ said it would) and that there are DRIVER issues, most commonly fixed by getting the latest ones AND upgrading to a MODERN OS- like XP or Win2KPro. It sure surprised me how many people have had to be convinced (as some still aren't) that using a modern 21st Century Operating System would make both DAZ STUDIO and Poser run a lot better. Windows 98 was created in the late 1990's, for God Sakes! As far as supporting other higher-end software like C4D, etc. DAZ has (or soon will) release a software SDK so people can write Plug-Ins. This means too that companies that write Plug-Ins for MAX, LW and C4D could then create and offer their own Daz Studio to "Software X" solution. Also, people who make Cel-Shade and Fur-Hair Plug-Ins could use the SDK to offer their SFX and rendering solutions to DAZ Studio users. So expect DAZ Studio to be a "Busy Intersection" of Plug-In offerings by a variety of 3rd Party groups. I personally think that Poser itself will be around for quite some time as a software UTILITY for Daz Studio. And for those can't afford modern OS's and graphics cards, they might just want to remain with Poser "artist" (as the older P4 version is now called by Curious Labs) and NEVER even go on to DAZ Studio. I think Daz Studio is a "Cut Above" Poser as a modern 2004 program and some people will be LEFT BEHIND. However, DAZ will be picking up LOTS of people who use higher-end software (and spend more money on RAM, Graphics Cards, Fast machines, etc.- so it's a smart place to be headed as model content gets more detailed and complex.) DAZ Studio will be GEARED to that marketplace.

windows xp and 2k are crap. They are not "modern operating systems" some of the bugs in windows xp were in windows 95. The pc itself could be a lot better if someone else made a better operating system and dos written in machine code and not like windows in any way. I doubt that poser will be a utility for daz unless daz does things very differently, and so far, from what I have seen, there is not very much difference between poser 5 and daz studio renders. Poser started off being a utility for people to have figures in the pictures that they rendered so the renderer in poser wasn`t the best. OpenGL is okay if the computer is working perfectly but with windows that is not too often.

Is there any reason you're spouting such pointless drivel here? It's really too bad; this was an interesting thread... since I am quite curious about Daz Studio. Oh well.

Veritas777, please calm down... okies.. yes some are using 95/98. ask yourself why ok? some it's hardware, (I keep a 98se machine for playing games on since my joystick / throttle are not supported in 2K or above - the company went bust), others it's software (not everything works on NT based code!), or it's just that they prefer it. does that make them stupid? nope.. where I work, there's a mix of Dos, (Production machines( Circuit printing and Database) where windows is a waste of time!), Win95, 98, 98se and XP. there a lot of company's here that run that kind of mix.. why? it's more efficent... btw... windows 98 was created in 98 and is still supported (web only) by Microsoft.. it's interesting to note, while 98 is still in the support (till the end of this year), ME was dumped a year ago ;)

Attached Link: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5138328.html

DAZ Studio (not in the link, that's for something addressed below) is a compositing proggy, but not in the sense that Poser is a compositing proggy. DAZ is working with Newtek, Discreet, Alias (I think? Not 100% sure), Eovia, e-on software, and a whole host of other high- and middle-performance CG program houses. This is to make D|S more useful to folks on the higher end, as well as make it useful for folks who don't feel like shelling out the bucks for pretty pictures :) As for details of what's coming exactly, I'm afraid I can't divulge that because of NDA (I'm just condensing what has already been said by DAZ anyhoo), but suffice it to say that if even half of what they're looking to do comes to pass, it will impress the hell out of me, the regular hobbyist, and prolly even the folks at CG Talk. Khai sez: *"btw... windows 98 was created in 98 and is still supported (web only) by Microsoft.. it's interesting to note, while 98 is still in the support (till the end of this year)..."* Err, some side info, Khai: Microsoft is dropping all official support for Win98 at the end of this month. Hit that link up top of my post for details as to why, and what Win98 users have for options.

lol I realised that later when I saw your post over at Poserpro's ;) I forgot we've moved on a year.....