I just saw D/S mention in a thread and went to look at it. The copy doesn't realy tell me anything. It seems it is some sort of way of pushing content to people without them having to buy Poser. But I can't even tell if it only takes pre-configured scenes (.pz3s?) or if any and all Poser format content can go into it... What is this program? What are its pros and cons? Does any one use this program? Thank you.

It's Daz3D's version of "Poser". Currently it's free because I think it's in Beta testing. For the most part it's interchangable with Poser and it's files. There are some items that can be used in Poser that you can't use in Daz Studio though. Not sure which. But that's about all I know about it. I've never tried it myself.

You dont have to use pz3 files, it can use most poser files apart from cloth room clothes and dynamic hair. Its pros are it is free and it has a better renderer than poser 4. A major con is that it doesnt use the poser format for figures and props etc. I dont use it very much because it is a bit too slow for me and I dont like the interface much.

DAZ|Studio does not take dynamic cloth or hair, but other than that, it's been fine for everything that I've got. It all comes down to personal preference, and what you're trying to do. I love it for a lot of things, and I love Poser for a lot of things. If I have an idea, and I want more figures and props, I use DAZ|Studio. If I want to use my scripts, or Global lighting (I haven't figured that out in Studio, but I will ;) ), I use Poser. Now, most of the stuff I do in Studio, I can do in Poser, but I have a POS computer, LOL, so if I want to be able to use my computer for...oh, let's just say web browsing, while I render, I go for Studio, because it's less dependent on all of my hardware. But, that's my personal experience. The best way to find out, is to download it and experience it yourself. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't. MS

I use DAZ Studio for just about everything except creating free Poser content now (and that's only because Poser cannot read D|S content). For me, it's very stable and a big step up from Poser 4. Poser 5 and 6 have more features at the moment, but I really think that once the development kit is made available to the community, it's features will quickly grow. If you just want to load Poser content in and render scenes without a lot of extras, DAZ Studio is a very useful program. The DAZ Studio forum at www.daz3d.com has much more information and plenty of tips for new users if you're interested. Thanks, take care. SnowS

Thanks... I had set up for a download but my dial-up is so misserable and my drive space so limited I wanted some input before going ahead with the download tonight. Sounds like it is worth checking out. It takes Poser files but saves in its own? That isn't the best. But I would love a nice "light" render option so... Thanx

Just an Added Note: DAZ has said time and time again, that D|S Base Program will always be free. Even though it is currently Beta, they do not plan on charging for the Base Program, which includes the current features and maybe some more!

Yeah, it saves files in either .daz (for scenes, like a pz3) or .ds (which are text files, similar to Poser's poses or cameras). The one advantage is that DAZ Studio doesn't care where they go, so you can stick cameras, poses, lights, poses for lights or cameras (you can save poses that only affect them), and scenes in the same folder. You can't save props like you can in Poser at the moment though, so keep that in mind. Whatever objects or figures you want to save have to be saved in a scene file. You can import scenes into each other though (like importing a CR2 in Poser), so it's not too bad. Thanks, SnowS

Actually D/S is in Alpha. I understand it is close to a 1.0 release. Yep, is is always suppose to be free.

"It seems it is some sort of way of pushing content to people without them having to buy Poser." Well, this is the bottom line. After that, it's all matters of personal tastes... It never worked for me, unlike Poser 4/5/6...

The Alpha stage was internal and the limited release to Platinum Club members. the public release has always been described as a beta version. Magnets are another Poser thing that D|S won't do, so no Wyrmaster sets and no pulling poking-through clothes out of the way. It doesn't use IK, so the posing workflow may be different depending on your approach. The animation controls are stil, I believe, more limited than Poser's (though you can do key-frame animation with it).

I Just made the massive download. I don't know what I think. The render is weird because of OpenGL somehow. I like the interface but I the idea of importing content from Poser seems daunting. i don't know how much of my content is in D/S install packages. The content handling is strange for me. I like the user interface although the tools I am still getting used to. If I could iron out the render issue it seems it could be a way of posing and test rendering .pz3s. I don't know. Thanks.

You can also choose to render in 3Delight, which, IMHO, is a much better renderer than the OpenGL. (You set it up in Render Settings) If you need any help, you can post in the DAZ|Studio forum here, at DAZ, or you can IM me, and I'd be glad to help you out ;)

Morrigan is right, the OpenGL is basically just for the preview window and you should use the full 3Delight renderer for your final render. I like the OpenGL preview much better than Poser's because you can see transparencies the way they should look and textures show more detail before rendering. Remember that highlights, shadows, and bump/displacements won't show until you use the 3Delight render though. You need to set up DAZ Studio's content directories to look for Poser stuff in Poser folders and DAZ Studio content in it's own folders. This confuses a lot of people, but if you keep the two formats in different folders (I just keep Poser stuff in the usual Runtime and D|S stuff in it's own 'content' folder), you shouldn't have much trouble. You can IM me if you need help too. :) SnowS

Message edited on: 04/25/2005 10:12

Thank you guys. What I am looking for is something that I can do a quick "CPU light" render in, and I do like the interface alot. I'll have to try the 3Delight and check out how to point to the Poser directories. I will take you up and IM if there is something more I need help on. Thanks :)

Be sure that your video drivers are up to date as that tends to be the biggest source of irritation

Momodot,

This might help you with understanding content in studio. It's from a help file for the DS version one of my products.

Daz studio is a very different program from poser, and in many ways it's much more flexible. Apart from obvious things like the interface, there are some fundamental differences between studio and poser which are important. Firstly, in terms of library content, anything at all in a scene is treated as an object. This means figures, props, hair, lights and cameras. Studio doesn't treat figures and props differently, (nor does it assign them fixed numbers, other than to identify them in the Scene pane). Of course, each type of object has it's own properties. Figures have bones, props don't. Lights shine and cameras see. But every item in the document window is an object, and all these objects can be added to any library you like.

Secondly, studio only has two main types of file - one for content (.daz scenes) and one for presets (.ds scripts). Scenes can be saved with single or multiple figures, props, hair, lights or cameras (objects), or entire scenes with all these elements. Presets are saved as materials, poses, lights or cameras, but the file type is the same for them all. When you choose the type of preset, all you're doing is telling studio which part of the scene you want to save. And by selecting individual lights or cameras, you can save only the ones you want.

One of the benefits to the user is improved file and library management. For example, it's no longer necessary to follow the old poser system of having all your figures, props, hair, lights, cameras and poses in separate folders. In studio, you can create one folder per character and put all related files into it. Of course, since studio has unlimited library capacity, you can make as many folders as you want, and nest them ten-deep if you like.

A more important benefit is in scene-building. Studio scenes aren't like poser .pz3 scenes, which you can only open one at a time. In studio, each scene is added to (merged with) the document window you're working in. A library scene file can contain a single figure, prop, light or camera, or all of these things in any combination, and when you double-click it, it's contents will be added to the current document, instead of replacing it. In other words, all content is saved as scenes, regardless of type, and in any combination you like. All presets are one file type, and you only need to tell studio which part to save. And both scenes and presets can go into the same folder. I've kept scenes, props and presets separate in this pack, but that's only because there are a lot of files.

One function in studio which makes a big difference, is the ability to select multiple objects. By using ctrl + left-click, you can select multiple items in the Scene pane or the document window, and move/rotate/scale them together. This function can be very useful with multiple body parts which have the same properties. For example, in a room with several doors, you can multiple-select the doors and open them all at once.

Perhaps the best use for multiple selection is with materials. If you want to apply the same texture to 10 materials, use the Copy/Paste function in the Surfaces Pane. Copy it from one material, multiple-select the others and paste it to them

mac