Lol.
So DAZ is aiming at the "professional" market with V4.1 then ?
Splendid.

Yeah, right. Let's use that DAZ Vicky chick for some professional work 'cause she's got that 4000x4000 maps.
Never mind her proportions are completely off so she looks like a Marvel toon rather than a real human.
Never mind that she lacks each and any body detail like proper kneecaps or shoulderblades.
Nevermind that her thighs get all lumpy when you try to bend her.
But hey, she's HAWT so away with the stupid custom build photorealistic meshes professional Studios pay real CG artists to make and let's all use that DAZ chick that comes with a license as big as New Yorks telephone book.

Yeah right, I reeeeeaaaaallly see that happen.

In the professional world it's all about originality.
YOU DON'T USE SOMEONE ELSE'S STUFF, PERIOD.
Especialy not if it comes with a license plastered all over.

Seems too few people here are able to understand what I'm talking about, so let's try it this way:
The HotRod movement started in the 30's and came to a high in the 50's because of what ?
The Ford Flathead V8 and the Chevy smallblock V8 engine.
Two simple. powerfull engines everyone and his brother could modify and tinker with with a few simple hand tools.
It was completely DIY, it was a grassroots movement, it was for the common man and many talented people turned cars into rolling pieces of art.
A few people became professionals and sold speed equipment and opened shops, but they still were part of the community.

Nowadays ? Look under a modern car's hood and you can't even spot the engine because it's buried under a ton of gadget and gizmos and stuff that breaks for you and shifts for you and thinks for you and all the crap people are told they can't live without anymore.
Cars became fat and sluggish, and then they needed MORE power just to move as fast as the older cars could.

But hey, instead of HotRods and Customs we today have "Pimp my Ride".

Progress is nice, I'm all for progress in science.
But unabashed consumerism is not progress. Discarding old stuff that works perfectly just so you can sell new stuff is wrong.

And that's exactly what will happen here.
V3 was simple enough so everybody could be part of that new idea called Poser.
If you call that communism, so be it.
I happily admit that I put the "COMMunity" over the egoistical needs of some individuals.

And what the Poser community needs is at least one (1) PHOTOrealistic model that actually LOOKS like a human, BENDS like a human yet is simple and lightweight enough that EVERYBODY has the same chance at getting creative with her.

JUST ONE.

Once we have that, DAZ can churn out as many stylized cartoon chicks as they want.
I'm all for stylized cartoon chicks. But I call them AIKO or GIRL, not VICKY, because VICKY is supposed to be realistic.

MIKI 1 was a success despite her bending worse than RENDA because she was REALISTIC.
No wannabe "artist" smoothed and stretched her body to make it more "stylish" but the modeller just transferred A REAL WOMAN as good as he could into 3D-space.
THAT is good craftmanship.
Let the end user do the "art" part. All the modeller has to do is to provide a "blank canvas".

MIKI 1 had MANY faults, and MIKI 2 has still A LOT, but noone can say anymore that PHOTOREALISM won't sell.
That a PHOTOREALISTIC woman couldn't be sexy.
That a PHOTOREALISTIC woman is not what people want.

You can still stylize or toonify her as much as you want later, but FIRST give the people an ACCURATE model of a human being.
Don't force your "artistic vision" on everybody else and tell people that they could fix things themselves if they really wanted.
That's hogwash.

Had MIKI 1 bended like Apollo I seriously doubt DAZ would have that defacto monopol it has now.

DAZ thinks they know what people want just because they have good sales.
I say people buy their stuff because there is no real choice.

But as I said, it's wasted time.
I'm not that stupid to believe that someone at DAZ would really listen.

And it's not just DAZ, it's the whole culture they and others brought and which so many people were so eager to adopt
BUY MORE, CONSUME, BE HAPPY, OBEY !

Be gratefull to all those wonderfull merchants who bring you all that exiting wonderfull products for exitingly low, low prices.

Sigh.
There used to be so much talent in this community. Everybody was happy to share and to find out new things.

And now it's all a freakin'..I don't know what.
With winners and loosers and fanboys and consumers and gloating and whining and fractions and instead of combining all that talent to make a better Poser everybody's at everybody else's throats to make another buck.

Sad, just sad.

Poser took the elitism out of 3D-art, and DAZ is eager to put it back in.