Thank you Gill, downloaded and I will have a look at it when I have finished my present project! ^_^

Just a proposition to all vendors who don't have the time to learn D|S or have problems to use it:

Ask a D|S user to run a couple of tests of your product!

We may be of some aid to you, often a "Poser only" product needs just some slight changes to work well in D|S, you include the settings in the read-me (yes, I know, most people don't read them) and everybody will be happy.

Furthermore, those of us who have largely invested in plug-ins for D|S may work out ways to have them look right ("non-crippled") and you may include these tips in your pachage.

Maybe you will not see imediatly a change, but I think after a while the word will spread and a vendor who includes some basic aid for D|S will get a reputation and at least some additional sales.

Why not create a Poser ->D|S working group? ^_^

I am sorry keihan, if I made it sound as if I am after you for "bashing"!

I wasn't aiming this at you, it was meant for all those people out there who judge an image by the tool used to create it. So I hope you eccept my excuses if I hurt you by accident.

The point I was trying to make is, the moment you find a tool that fits in your hand and that does what you want to do why should anybody bother?

Here and at other places there is always this kind of "I use X and you use Y, so you are not an artist!"-attitude (liberately exxagerated!) which tends to drive me crazy. When I see a picture that makes me go "Wow! Beautiful!" I don't care much about the tool(s) used.

Personally I would love to see the gallery with only a 2D, 3D, traditional art and photography section to avoid that kind of  feelings.

As a matter of fact, you did well to correct the false statement in an earlier post.

With all this said, as I do love to use D|S, I actively try to promote this app and if it's for the only reason that it is the free entry card for the voyage into the adventure of story telling!

Again keihan, my excuses if I did hurt you!

As I stated earlier, if you create content, you have to use Poser (for the moment!).

If you create art (generic term for any kind of image) you may use Poser or D|S,  just as you may use an airbrush or a pencil to create an image. That is up to your personal preferences. It's the image that makes the artist, not the tool.

For me personally, Poser does not fit into my way of working, it is not fast enough and in no way "intuitive" (completely personal and biased statement, you may feel it just the other way round, it is ok for me ^_^).

Keihan, I am not sure about D|S being entry level, does that exist in 3D? But evidently it is (luckily) still under development, as most software I know (Photoshop CS3 next step CS 4?, Vue6 next step Vue 7, Poser 7 now Poser Pro).

But anyway as an artist, it is the final image that counts, no need bashing at others because they do not use your tool, pencil, brush, canvas, paper, axe, chainsaw .....

And don't forget: Insanity is the father of creativity! ^_^

and just have a look here: forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php ! (dear mods, no offence ment, I will ask Dreamlight to post here as well! ^_-)

It is very kind of you Stefan to include the Vue-version of  your Med streets!

I did some testrenders, Poser-import, DAZ (.obj)import, vob. file and there is a (big) difference!

As a matter of fact, I always tweak surfaces, in D|S I add always PWsurfaces and if it's only for the AO, in Vue I tweak a bit the bump and Highlight-settings, just to fit my personal taste.

As for Vue being in direct competition with Bryce...

I own as well Bryce, but the day I could grab Vue 6 Esprit,I uninstalled Bryce.  It's that interface (the same as Poser, or nearly) it feels like typing a letter with boxong gloves on your hands. So I guess the people over at DAZ  will know that more and more people will use Vue, so, why not taking the money  from them as well?

Congrats my man, largely deserved! 

Quote - ...I still use Poser as my primary program due to I create content. D|S still does not have the tools I need to edit my content....

That is for sure, sadly, when you want to create content you DO have to use Poser, but let's hope that'll change some day!

Highend apps NEVER decrease rendertimes!

You always throw in some highend features like volumetrics, fancy particle FXs and such things, so you will end with the same render time or even longer.

My experience!

Quote - Is toon rendering native in DS, or is it a plug-in that needs to be purchased?

There is a built-in Toon renderer, but ...  it's just plain dull, only good for test rendering.

You get the best results with surface-tweaking, and there are the default-shaders with a couple of toon-shaders which work very well.

Your welcome Mitchell, just have a try, look around and if you have a question, you see the button below?! ^_-

There you will find folks to give you a hand and answer your questions about D|S.

And looking at your avatar, have a look here, what you can do without any plug-in  and sketch renderer: www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php

Lighthorse: Great work with pwSketch, very well done!

I've done some work with Poser 7 at a friends computer, still own Poser 4, but browsing through the content is a PITA, as stated before, you can arange DAZ|Studio to your likings, which largely enhances the workflow.
Just placing the lights is easy, you look through your light and place it on the spotand if you use DreamLight's SpotlightPointer you even see the fall-off aera, makes lightning a fun part of creating. Now we are waiting for the pointlight pointer, uses the same tools for the pointlight.
You said "Don't talk money", but me and others  used their money to buy plug-ins for DS to make it even more effektif, I think I spend as much money for plug-ins as you did for Poser, but I have a tighter control over DS then you over Poser.
Posing is as well easier, using PowerPose or Puppeteer!
Need IBL, we got it and easier to use than in Poser. AO? pwSurface (you pay for it) or Pendragon, a free plug-in.
Want to use a tattoo on a skin without changing the original skin? Layered Image Editor.
Want to compare two different renders without quiting the program? Render Album.

Only things missing (for the moment!) are the Material Room (but you have a free plug-in to have a even greater control over your materials) and the Cloth Room(?), but this will arrive later.

You are talking about some sketch-style renders, as mentioned before, there is pwSketch.

And, one important thing, in DS I can create scenes with a higher poly-count than in Poser!

Ever tried to integrate a 3D-character into a photo? With shadows and reflections? Have a look at pwCatch!

Just my point of view!

The MaskCreator does not work well for depth masks, the best is to use MoodMaster!

Use the DeepFog, arrange the settings to your likings and click on the DeepFogControl icon, change the colour to plain white and crank up the brightness to 200%. Start the render and save the picture as "ZDepthMask" or something like that.

In Photoshop load your original picture and the ZDepth pic, duplicate the Background- or 0Layer-layer, add a Gaussian Blurr of 5-10 pixels and click on the Mask-icon below the layer-palette.

Activate the ZDepth-pic, Ctrl+a to select the whole picture, ctrl+c to copy it. Return to the original picture with the blurred layer selected, open the channel-tab and under the R-, G- and B-channel you find the mask-channel, select it, activate it (there has to be an open eye in front of it!) and with ctrl+v paste the ZDepth-pic into the channel. Return to the Layer-tab, right-click on the Layer-Mask icon and choose "Apply Layer Mask".

Et voilà, a nice depth-blurr!

Just to say, yes we can do a lot with free shaders, but can we expect that a merchant takes hours of chasing the free shader or plug?

All I (we) ask for is a simple notice on the product page:  Works in DAZ|Studio! Does not work in D|S! Not tested in D|S!

Most of the time a mesh just loads fine, the material-settings need to be tweaked, but for a beginner, she/he is not supposed to know that there are differences between Poser and D|S. And I do repeat myself, just ask a D|S user if he is willing to test a product and write a couple of words in the read-me, how to make a product work!

I guess it'll take only a couple of hours, but it may add some dollars to your accounts.

We do not use Poser, but we do buy stuff!

Update your cg driver and try again, without running 5 other progs at the same time! ^_^

What is your total ram?