DAZ studio was created at a time when the continued development of Poser looked to be in danger. It was created by a company that specializes in producing content and needed to insure that their market remained intact.

It's base is free, however to approach some of Poser's more advanced functions you'll have to purchase add ons. At this time, even the purchase of all available add-ons will not create an end application with all of the abilities of Poser 6 or 7. Yet.

As for what it can do for you-- only you can decide. A number of people feel that the interface is easier for them to work with. I intend to try it again because I've been impressed with the quality of light that I've seen in DS renders. I won't know until I muck about with it a bit whether that's the skill of the artist, or the method in which DS handles lighting.

DS seems to be aimed at primarily two markets, people new to 3D or people frustrated with Poser. The import into Bryce is easy with DS and no doubt, future versions of Carrara will import DS since DAZ purchased that application as well. But in the end, most experience Poser users may use DS but they don't get rid of Poser because ultimately there are things such as joint adjustment, boning a figure, dynamics, animation and more, that DS can not handle... at least, not yet.

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