Quote - "The real CG pros I know have no problem with buying pre-made content as time is money to them and building models from scratch is the last thing they want to do if they can buy it pre-built."

But those pros tend to buy premade content
premade for THIER specific programs
and in a native, ready to use format,
Like THIS Autodesk MAX figure
and price is no barrier as it is built into the costs charged  to the client
I dont know of anyone working on a Big professional animation contract who would install DS4/poser pro
Export via some hosting plugin,re-rig with a proper Ik rig for animation  and create shaders for Vray or mental ray
when they can buy a rig already built for their program or properly create one from scratch customized for the specific project.

Cheers

Hey the link to the wonderful model I found! :)

No the really Big time pros with Big budgets won't be using Poser and DAZ (yet) and would go with models for their programs, but until Eva came along, there weren't really any models for sale better than Vicky. I know 'cuz I looked. Most were butt ugly. But look at the small timers using, yes, the bigger programs, but with crap budgets and even worse clients. They will use what they can. Run through the Carrara forum over at DAZ and there are a few there, as I'm sure there are here, too, doing commercials and the like using these programs and low budget content.

The big trend has been lately to save as much money as possible when doing production projects. I get less and less Voice Over work because my lower rates aren't low enough. For example, Comcast used to pay good money for VOs but it's dropped to insultingly low rates like $20 for a bunch of tags. That's ridiculous! You used to get $50 for voicing a :30 spot and $25 for a single tag for them - and that's low for cable and definitely way below broadcast rates. I recently quoted a rate for a project to a new possible client, and they had already seen the rates posted on my website, knew their script length, yet they thought I wasn't low enough. There are guys I know who haven't had VO work in a long time. And I know that Detroit area producers, where I live, have been investigating ways of finding less costly animation. So maybe SM and DAZ know something from their questionaires/surveys that we don't. Maybe they are getting more agencies and smaller production houses buying their software and content. Those folks don't tend to troll forums. They're too busy. And who knows how well they are doing overseas in areas where we don't look because it's  in another language.

Since they keep beating the drum, I would think they both know more about where their business is coming from than we do.