Most important new clue: American Flag is new Freebie! July 4 is still too far away for that and the US hasn't landed anyone on the moon lately, SO- this means that DAZ has likely AQUIRED a US based company or asset. Dan Farr has just also announced that: He is NOT the Walrus, (the Walrus was Paul), and most importantly he is NOT negotiating last minute corporate take-over deals in a small electronics store in Ginza! Rule OUT Japan, Alien Invasion, etc. as likely DAZ over-lords. Here (for Non-PC Members who cannot follow the massive and somewhat hallucinogenic thread over at the DAZ Forum)is a DIRECT QUOTE from Mr. F himself, QUOTE--- "DAZ is not being sold to another company. We are not raising our prices. We have not found weapons of mass destruction. We have not discovered the cure for cancer. We have no plans of going public (were way too small for that)." END QUOTE So run that through your Google and SPECULATE ON THAT! (Dan Farr did NOT rule out that his next broadcast clue might come from another galaxy, however- so DAZ may have discovered the secret to Photon Drives, which could be a future Platinum Club product for $1.99)

Pretty cool post. I'm enjoying the controversy though I did worry about a take over of DAZ causing prices to soar.

LOL...you know it could have something to do with the production that was aired on TV with the Dick VanDyke special about a month ago.....very cool, Dick Vandyke dancing with himself.....did you all see the clip...you should go see it....I bet it has something to do with that. Sharen

Perhaps all the recent sci-fi products has generated interest from an unmentionable galactic federation who have forced them to join the federation or risk intergalactic copy-right law suits for the design of thier models. This is a first contact event that will "influence the future" as Mr. Farr mentioned. (beware the "Mandroid") eh...ya never know Rawn

"This is a first contact event that will "influence the future" as Mr. Farr mentioned." ---And remember! Future events such as these will effect you, in the future... ^_~

I have noticed that NewTek Lightwave's "Inspire" software has "disappeared"... maybe over the past couple of years- it's no longer on their website.

I think it would be highly interesting if DAZ were to aquire "Inspire", probably for relatively few DAZ Bucks,
as it supported both Windows and MAC, and had all the main functionality of LW (up to LW 6 I think), except for LW animation features. It did accept MOST lightwave plug-ins and could load LW models, etc. NewTek tried, but apparently failed, to market it as a Lightwave-Lite package- since their channels was not on the Poser-Hobbiest level.

Anyway- INSPIRE would be an INCREDIBLY good fit for DAZ and fit NEATLY into their product line, production line, and be an IDEAL LOW-COST Lightwave alternative. It was selling for around $295 or something like that. If DAZ got it, upgraded it to LW 7.5 level, it would be a MARRIAGE made in HEAVEN for both DAZ and NewTek. DAZ could sell it for $199 or something like that (and be an INCREDIBLE LOW COST alternative to Poser).

And- "DAZ Studio" could STILL be the No-Cost Freebie Intro package that would be the link to "DAZ INSPIRE", which would be the link to LW 7.5"

Think about THAT!

LMAO!!! Movida :)

hahahahaha

ROFL!!!! Good One, Movida...

ROFLMAO

Found this description of Inspire 3D that NewTek has been "dumping"-- and what DAZ MIGHT be picking up...

"As a graphics professional, you're expected to create dynamic print ads, multimedia productions, and stunning visuals for the web. Inspire 3D, a powerful, yet easy-to-learn program designed specifically for the needs of the professional graphic artist."

• LightWave 3D rendering engine for photo-realistic graphics
• Compatibility with programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, QuarkXpress, Freehand, and Director
• Cel shader renders 3D objects in cartoon style
• "Bones" reshape objects in natural looking manner
• Animate and control dozens of scene attributes including: light, zoom in/out, motion blur, color saturation, surface glow, fog, morphing, object displacement, dissolves, lens flares, lighting angles, and more
• Drill, Boolean, and other tools allow any object combination
• MetaNURBS lets you mold objects like you would with clay - click on just a few points and modify the entire object
• Seamlessly import Illustrator files and convert to 3D model
• Includes a complete library of over 1600 models, objects, and other items.

AND- it could come with a REDUCED upgrade price for LW 8!Wouldn't NewTek be happy with all the NEW customers that
DAZ Inspire could deliver to them?

movida - ROTFL! caught me totally off there, that's hilarious. I think Animation Quest is the new deal, if you read Animation Quest's URL they are going to have contests, promote artists in a weekly tv show, produce CDs for Reels for animatiors that they showcase. They are also partnering with Daz, and all the pics so far on the Site are Daz products. Animation Quest site ain't got much on it, it says really really soon. Bet that's it. Doo a google on Animation Quest and read the pages there, make sence or am I wacked more than usual? OH and of course they have the keys to Area 51 and they are gunna give PClub members tours. those are my bets haha.

Certainly a top candidate, but I still don't see Animation Quest fitting into the strategic scheme of things as well as "Inspire" does. Dan Farr used corporate speak and biggest thing since breaking away from Zygote in his email and posts- and I don't think Animation Quest fits into that as well. Certainly being "partners" is a good thing and they are well related, but not "strategic". Obviously I could be totally wrong, but the more I think about the "Inspire" angle, the more I see it as a PERFECT fit for all concerned, and it would really make DAZ a significantly more important and better positioned company for the future. With e-frontier buying Poser and their plans to develope their own content, with multi-level Shade software, etc. A strategic relationship with NewTek is CRUCIAL for DAZ's longer range survival. And passing Inspire over to DAZ would do Lightwave a huge amount of good in creating a much bigger installed base with UPGRADE path. It all just makes too much good sense to me!

Well Inspire has been dead for almost 2 years, there have been lots of upgrades since. way out dated and would be so much work. I could see them doing Carrara or something old like that, however the Daz crew is lightwave driven kinda. Daz sells content, and the Daz Studio is the way that Daz is getting people 'outside' the poser world into buyin their products. dunno. I still feel the buy a PClub memebership and be shown on TV and get stickers for your demo reel. gets all the 3d college kids involved. next week we will all find out I guess.

I heard that Greenbriar Studios is working on a new modeler for Daz Studio. He's working on the Toolbox application to be able to use He's putting the entire Poser joint system (joint angles, matrices, bulge, etc) into ToolBox (with help from DAZ) and he will be writing out the obj and completed cr2 file for new meshes directly. ToolBox is going to be the official modeler for the new DAZ|Studio app.

I'm still chuckling about that damned horse!! LMAO Movida!

I'm still trying to heal :)

Don't know anything about Inspire but I would be thrilled beyond imagination to have a completely fool-proof way of getting all my Daz assets into Lightwave. I've been dragging my feet on the Greenbriar plug-ins because of skepticism and $ but being worn down by the experience of Poser I hope Daz will announce some alt route to upgrading to Poser 5. Sorry, I didn't get the horse-joke.

I bought the Greenbriar Plug-ins. I haven't had time to really do a lot with them; but gave them a try and they worked fine (I had intended to render a scene with a horse...)

I balked at the $$$ also, but finally did it when I had a windfall

Message edited on: 06/20/2004 06:48