Hi for what it's worth I was looking at Studio to upgrade to have P4.03 at the moment and after hearing all the hassels people have had with P5 I think I'll pass some of the 'features' (hair etc) seem like good ideas but lack implementation correct me if I'm wrong. D/s seems to me to be a better idea in that you should be able to use your Poser content in a similar program and as such the competition should strengthen both. I say should because at the moment I have issues with the import of Pz3 files. If I were to upgrade from P4 at the moment I think I would go to Propak. The lack of python scripts may be caused btw by most people having P4. hey well just my 2 'penneth Dave

People keep commenting on the lack of D|S content. It's still Beta. I'm sure the finished product will have plenty of content, but right now, we're testing the functions of the program. Content will come along in due time. Melanie

I just read in the Daz support forums that the base version of D/S will always be free! -pk-

I also think the lack of Python scripts available has much to do with the fact that users have to have Pro Pack not just Poser 4.

Considering how DAZ butters its bread, I have my doubts about how much content a free application is going to come with. /just sayin'

aeilkema, to answer at least two of you questions... There are NO plans to charge for the base DAZ Studio program. It will remain free even after coming out of beta. As to content. I'm not at liberty to give specifics, however I can tell you there will be significant new DAZ material included with the Studio "Gold" release.

Thanks, does Gold mean we have to pay gold too ;)

So the gold one will be good and the ordinary one will stay a bit crappy?

"Gold" is simply a term for a software package that is out of beta

I didn`t know that :)

Thanks for clearing that one up for us; I used to work in embroidery digitizing where you could buy digitizer suites piecemeal and "Gold" usually referred to the most expensive, top-tier package the vendor offered.

no problem... it first came into use because usually the "master" copy of a finished software product was burned onto a series of special gold colored CDs. Over time it became a generic term for any program that was ready for general release.

Having a proprietary file format would seem to preclude (prevent) users from doing much file hacking. I mean with the text based files in Poser you can add ERC controls to existing models for your own use. How is this going to happen in a 'chunked' format. (at least it looks like it to me) Control of its operating software will also give DAZ the ability to add features that are incompatible with the competition. 'Yes it is a great model but you need DAZ STUDIO 9.4 to use the features' Where have we seen that sort of thing before. Also competition in a field does NOT always result in a good outcome for consumers, especially if the competitors choose not to be fully compatible, and you can see that is NOT happening with DAZ. 1. No support of poser5 in daz studio. 2. Import poser to bryce only through DAZ STUDIO. How long before Bryce will ONLY allow DAZ STUDIO format imports. It will be interesting to see if DAZ makes its file formats available freely to content and utility developers. p.s I have tries DAZ STUDIO Beta. On my system 45 minute load time - 2 hours plus to get the Dragon in, move the mouse, anything up to 10 minutes for the screen to move. Simply not a real application. Maybe on a 2.4 ghz + processor with winxp.

Attached Link: http://www.MacDesignPro.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=26564

Attached Link: http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=5680

Heck, I'm just trying to get some sort of understandable instructions on how to do ANYTHING in Studio. I can't get it to properly recognize my Poser library, it won't show anything in the view windows for poses, figures, props except for the Egyptian stuff that came with it, I can't figure out how to select a figure and finally muddled through how to bring a new figure in from the Poser library through the toolbar at the top. The .pdf file is pretty, but not very useful. I think there's potential here, folks, but it's not idiot friendly yet.

"I thought I had taken care of that problem: http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=5680" That's a nice start.

Ok. I've just tried this dog out again. Why in hell do I bother? Nothing works. (Yes, I realize everyone who loves it will disagree, but this is from a Poser user point of view, not from someone who has used Lightwave since they were out of baby shoes.) I cannot use half the stuff I have on my system and that includes the latest "Ultimate Ponytail" poses. I don't care what you tell me, but I'd say 90% of the hair does not do what it should in D|S. Posing is a complete and utter pain in the neck. The cameras are - quite frankly - crap. Slow, sluggish and near impossible to control. Do not tell me it's my system. That happens to have a GF4 4800ti in it, and 2gb RAM. I think that should be quite sufficient. Daz content doesn't even show up even after umteen times of loading, installing, reassigning it. Have they EVER heard of right click content menus? Files import rather crappily with little to no settings preserved. The outcome I've gotten out of D|S renders so far has been less than spectacular. If it does something half way right, it usually crashes at the end of it. Yes, I know it's "Beta" but if you release stuff like the Bryce import from D|S to Bryce then I expect it to bloody well work when it imports the files into DS. It's not like I'm asking much of it. Figure - V3, no custom morphs, bog-standard P4 settings on the texture, wearing the new Ponytail. V3 comes over ok. And that's where it ends. That ponytail is all over the place, so I reconform the darn thing and it's still all over the place. The poses sold on Daz don't work at all. Nothing happens. I try another Hair figure, 3Dream this time - same deal. It's all over the place. If I have to go and pose everything in Poser, then import it to D|S then realize half my stuff went out of whack and I can't use it like that anyway... What is the point? I'm loading up Vue again and that's that. D|S can go take a long walk off a short pier. God help the newbies who are trying to get to grips with this. At least I have some idea of where to look and what to do, but this is ridiculous. It shouldn't be on open beta release, let alone have plugins being sold for it yet. Maybe they should put a note on the box saying 'Imports most files as long as the figures are naked and bald' Yep you guessed it. I've just ripped it out of my system and drop-kicked that Bryce plugin into a bucket where it will stay.

If they dont do something about speeding up daz studio A LOT then they should just scrap it. It will not be very popular so slow. I thought that it was slow on my computer because my computer is a bit out of date. 128megabytes ram and 1.1 gigaherz. It is good to know that the program is not just slow on my computer. If I had vue I wouldnt even bother with bryce. Vue seems to me at least, a far superior program to bryce.

"I thought I had taken care of that problem:"

It's just the same foolish route as DAZ has taken, not being able ro import native Poser scenes onto Bryce 5. Read carefully what people want, most of the Bryce users want native Poser scenes support in Bryce 5, just as Vue 4 has.

I've asked DAZ about that too in their forums and from their reply ( http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=6190 ) it's clear their not going to do it. I do really find that a blow in the face of Poser/Bryce users who have been dreaming a long time for direct support from Poser files in Bryce. Now they are being forced to use something like DAZ studio to make their dreams come true. Well I did wake up from that dream realizing it will always be a dream, there will be no native Poser support in Bryce.

I've decided to stop using Bryce and D/S after the comments DAZ made.

A. "Curious Labs has the information they need to add the new information to the MTL file, so you'd have to look to them for that." DAZ is blaming Curious Labs for not being able to create native poser scene support in Bryce. Clever move, but when one thinks about it, it's absurd. DAZ is trying to create Poser suppurt not Curious Labs. DAZ should get their act together on this matter, not someone else.

B. "Most Poser stuff imports into DS with no problem." It seems like DAZ is using a version of D/S that is far ahead of v0.9.6.0.

C. I dislike companies that force me to use all of their applications to get something done in only one application. DAZ could have easily done without D/S to get Poser content into Bryce. They've choosen not too, but decided to force Poser/Bryce users to use D/S. I don't like that, especially if their's really no need for it.

I love Bryce, I love DAZ products, but DAZ has lost my support. No more Bryce, no more D/S beta testing, no more money to DAZ products. A company that deals in such a way when taking over an application is not worthy of my support at all. Yes, I'm slightly ticked off with DAZ for forcing all this junk on me as a Bryce users.

Also seeing the mess DAZ is creating in developing D/S, I'm fearing for Bryce's future, will Bryce become a mess too?

Farewell Bryce, hello Vue. Now that I've got Vue 4, I wonder why I dodn't get it much earlier, it far ahead of Bryce and importing Poser 4/5 native scenes works great! With Vue 5 coming up very soon, I'm afraid Bryce 5 will only be a mere toy. So if anyone is interested in Bryce 5 PM me, perhaps we can arrange someting. I'm through with it. That's not Bryce's fault, but DAZ has to be blamed.

So, here are my final comment on D/S after getting the latest beta version (0.9.6.0). It's a lot faster the previous one, but still slow (even on a Maybe on a 2.4 ghz + processor with winxp.) Things like hair, conforming clothes (even DAZ original products) and others are still one big mess. D/S hates foreign figures (like Sixus1 Behemoth for example). It takes ages to render them, while Poser does it in a blink of an eye. Guess DAZ dislikes everything that's not created by them......

I'm sure one day D/S will become a real application and Bryce may catch up with Vue d'Esprit, but as a company DAZ has lost my loyalty, I've switched allegiance.....

"One day D/S will become a real application and Bryce may catch up with Vue d'Esprit" yes and I will grow wings and fly ;)

Haven't you done so already? I have :)

The problem with import and export is that without limits it suddenly becomes export to Bryce, export from Bryce to Poser and the content control has faded away. Realized that when I was checking on import and export stuff (to work on something in Poser, pop it over to D|S, put it back, etc. to compare with the same item).

We are, of course, assuming that only DAZ can create or release a Poser import plugin for Bryce. Which is kind of like assuming we couldn't do anything nifty with .CR2s and .PZSs without full cooperation and documentation from Curious Labs. DAZ has the choice of doing it themselves or watching someone else do it to them, er, for them. [sound src="GameOverMan.wav" loop=true]

aeilkema, you should read that link more carefully.

The answers posted to your questions came from someone moderating the forum, not a DAZ official spokesperson. That means all your issues with DAZ are based on a person's opinion. Yes, that person is affiliated with DAZ in the sense that they are a moderator on the forum, but they aren't an in-house employee, as far as I know. I believe they are just artists that became affiliated with DAZ and ended up being part of their moderator team when DAZ opened their forums.

As far as I can tell, the only true thing you have based your dislike of DAZ on is that you actually like Vue better than you like Poser, which is completely fair, but doesn't reflect on DAZ as a company one single bit. It only reflects on the product, which DAZ just bought and had nothing to do with past development. The rest appears to be information that you take meaning from and claim it as fact. That is a bit unfair.

You may want to contact DAZ and say that they lost a customer because of some comments by some of their forum moderators. If they validate all the comments, then you have good cause to shun DAZ and go another route completely. If they don't validate the comments, then I would think that you need to seriously consider whether you have a good reason to turn your back on them.

I understand that those that are looking for a Poser killer are disappointed in DAZ|Studio. It appears that it isn't a Poser killer. I don't see DAZ running ads where they say "Switch from Poser to DAZ|Studio and we'll give you $100 cash!"

For those that do want a Poser killer, guess you will have to wait and see what sort of add-ons appear for Studio in the future.

Anyway, write to DAZ. I'm sure all of us here are more interested in fact than the sort of information running rampant in forums.