A few of the DAZ employees are in Japan and they'll be meeting with Kozaburo and holding a bit of an interview with him which will later be posted online for everyone to read. They're also very interested in meeting with Quarker, who we believe is located in Japan as well. However, his currently listed email address doesn't seem to be active, and no one's had any luck contacting him. If anyone has any idea of how to get in contact with Quarker, we'd love to hear about it. If we can reach him within the next week, then perhaps we can have a similar interview opportunity as well. So, if anyone can help us out, we'd appreciate it. Thanks, Steve Kondris DAZ Productions, Inc.

sorry, not sure how to contact Quarker, but the DAZ emplyees better bring back enough of that fantastic Japanese 'chewing gum' for everyone!!!

tell Kozaburo from me, Many many HUGE thanks for all the fantastic free hair.. Its the only hair i use.. Oh and don't talk him into stopping and only selling.. LOL ;) Of course i do think his work is worth paying for, but i'm thrilled he has been generous enough to share his talents with everyone.. It makes his work even more magical.. Its a GREAT day when i see that Digital Babes has updated.. -SimderZ- xXx

My Gallery

I second that emotion, Simderella! His hair and cuts of my real wigs are all I use on my renders. He is truly a kind giving person and I commend him. bows gracefully

This is Quarker's e-mail address from his "Seductive Zip-Up" README. I corresponded with him about a problem I was having, so I know this address WAS good. Yes, he is from Japan. quarker@mbg.nifty.com DAZ -- Please don't charge us too much for their stuff.

[DAZ -- Please don't charge us too much for their stuff.] Please don't hold your breath, you can bet y' boots DAZ will get all they can. I'm hoping that Kozaburo and Quarker will not give in to DAZ's fancy talk.

Attached Link: http://www.vmmg.net/

I also pray that DAZ doesn't "make them an offer they can't refuse" Is there any way to warn them? It isn't that I would mind paying for their work, it is that I hate seeing a juggarnaut turning into a monopoly. If DAZ has its way, and buys all the merchants, we will have no choice... and then watch those prices rise!!! Oh, and if you think I'm being alarmist... you ought to know the ***real*** company values. (Forget quoting Kahlil Gibran.) That entails knowing how much each of us is likely to spend, and how much profit they can make from each customer, and how to milk that profit machine to make as much money as possible. The link is to Bryan Brandenburg's site. It makes for fascinating reading. I'm sure glad that my pennies are contributing to his millions. "Ive spent the last 20 years imagining, dreaming and planning on how I could increase my income as a computer consultant each and every year. In 1980 after I was discharged from the U.S. Air Force I got my first technical job, repairing Commodore and Apple computers for $30,000 a year. After a year and a half and a 10% raise, I started my own company, because I wanted more. Year after year I was able to increase my income by not 10%, but 25-50% a year. By the end of the 20th century I had reached my goal of making over $1,000,000 per year in the computer consulting business." Most of us have goals. But is a single-minded focus upon accumulating money really the point of life? Carolly

heh. Amazing how a few hits can send an interview into hiding...

thou and I, my friend, can, in the most flunkey world, make, each of us, one non-flunkey, one hero, if we like: that will be two heroes to begin with. (Carlyle)

I have heard Kozaburo is kinda wealthy(maybe more than kinda) so who knows if money even matters. Well if they end up at Daz I guess I won't be doing hair either. :( Going to have to sit and figure out what is left. :)

-Anton, creator of ApolloMaximus: 32,000+ downloads since 3-13-07
"Conviction without truth is denial; Denial in the face of truth is concealment."

NEW The Poser FaceInterMixer

Maybe Koz will buy DAZ and give everything away for FREE!!

lol@nakamuram!

Just don't forget that darn chewing gum!!!

Anton, [ I was out doing dishes when this thought occurred to me and I came back to email you the link to the thread. :( ] DAZ already has DarkWhisper and JimBurton, and they were going to have Anton with his amazing productivity... that's a lot of hair. Add the Japanese modelers (Koz, Maya and Quarker) and that is most of the hair made. Not all of it, but almost all of it... especially since Neftis has gone on to humanoids, leaving hair pretty much behind. I get that stench of the Hunt Brothers trying to corner the silver market. Do you know what would have come of that? Silver is essential for certain processes like film and x-rays as well as jewelry. We all need hair for our figures. If DAZ is the only source for it? That is a sobering thought. Furthermore, since DAZ|Studio isn't going to work the same as Poser and since products optimized for Studio probably won't work very well in Poser, if at all, everybody will have to buy all the add-on packs for Studio in order to have figures with hair... at whatever price. Clever marketing, huh? Carolly

Hey Folks, don't forget cubed (or whatever that scottish company is) Their products shown so far seem to be far superior than anything I've seen daz done (outside brokered stuff...but that little baby looks pretty amazing). Anton, you really should forget daz and start out on your own someplace.... DAZ has become just another marketing entity.....but without good inner communication (thus all the crazy flip flop crap that we keep seeing). They'll probably keep a hefty source of dough coming in, but there is far greater talent elsewhere, as long as they can find a suitable home. eric

arg...too tired...done=from daz:)

Just wild speculation on my part

E-frontiers President has announced the study of technical synergy between Shade and Poser. If Shades animation, rendering and rigging engines are somehow merged into Poser 6, it will instantly gain the functionality of future versions of D|S with plug-ins. The only element the Japanese 3D giant would lack in order monopolize the market would be DAZs historical bread and butter content tailored for the Poser market.

What would you do if you were DAZ?

Who cares about the politics of it for now? An interview with Kozaburo & Quarker are going to be essential reading for me :) I have immense respect for both & Koz's hair is never far from any render that I get done, can't wait to read all about them :D

I'm a hair addict and these two make fantastic hair love it all and Anton please don't stop I would love to see the changing ponytail for V3 and S3 :)

I can't say that I'm not grateful to Kozaburo for his never-ending generosity but if he decides to sell I'll support him. I mean, we buy all this other stuff that I don't see why Kozaburo "owes" us to keep it free :) And Anton, please reconsider! I mean you're virtually a Rennaissance man of Poser, you've done it all - human figure, beasts, animals, textures, clothes, scenes, props, lights, etc - and you've done it all successfully. Why you would want to limit yourself is beyond me!

bookmark

Koz doesn't owe us to keep it free, but if he decides to sell, I hope he doesn't go to DAZ, of all places. They're too big already. In the long run, a monopoly won't be a good thing, for merchants or customers.

'I also pray that DAZ doesn't "make them an offer they can't refuse"' That reminds me of the guy who was contacted by the Welsh Mafia. They made him an offer he couldn't understand. LOL. mac

You may want to throw your eyes back up yonder and re-read what Migal just wrote... he has a solid point. (OTOH, you can get Poser functionality right now with Carrara's Poser plug-in for CS 3. Peek fer yerself: http://www.eovia.com/offers/3dcommune_tp.jsp ) I suspect that there will be two big forces at play here... once Poser regains its feet and gets integrated into the Shade Collective (err, Star Trek imagery, anyone?), it will become the force to be reckoned with, so long as it doesn't wind up coming out with a four-digit pricetag. Part of why DAZ|Studio came about in the first place is a reaction by DAZ to avoid becoming marginalized by Curious Labs, or to end up getting buried in the same grave as Curious Labs when it looked like CL was about to die any day... I honestly don't blame DAZ for getting as much talent as it can into the stable; it's growing by leaps and bounds, and has the room and initative to get as much of the community on board as possible. Now, all cheerleading aside, yeah, there is a legitimate worry that one or the other will become a dominant force, or that both will start tearing the Poser community in two. OTOH, there is something that gets forgotten in all of this: anybody can go get a cheap modeller (there are several very ncei free ones out there too) and build their own hair, clothes, etc... No one is stopping folks in here from improving themselves, and building (then selling) their own perfect projects, eh? /P

I can understand everyone hoping that kozaburo will continue to make his fantastic hair available for free. But if he did decide to start selling it, could we honestly and truly complain about it? Up until now, he's given this community, without a doubt, the highest quality hair around for free. Who could blame him if he wanted to sell it? As for selling it through DAZ. Well, first of all, almost everyone in this thread has jumped to the unwarranted conclusion that DAZ are somehow trying to 'tempt' kozaburo into becoming a commercial money-grabbing enterprise (How DARE he make money! The very IDEA!!). I see NO evidence whatsoever to support that assumption. Secondly, what if he did broker through DAZ? Is that somehow worse than him selling through his own site? You all seem to assume that a) DAZ sets the prices for the brokers (untrue), and that b) these prices would be higher than what the broker would normally ask (also untrue). If DAZ were to buy his products outright, then they could set their own prices. So, are you all going to tell me that DAZ have wildly overcharged on Vicki and Mike? I don't think so. Some people seem to forget recent history very quickly. DAZ was one of the main reasons we poser users made the leap in quality from Posette to Vicki. If it was up to CL, we'd all be using Judy today. Think about it.... mac

Yes they are great in hair styles. I think DAZ would like to have quality hair styles in their store. Kozaburo and Quarker are not the only great hair creators. Have you saw Catwalk hair 2 by Dannae and Glorious Hair by 3Dream. They are fantastic.Greets.

jorgeluso

I'll go even further: I only bought Poser because DAZ' products were available for it. I never tried the Studio alpha that has been made available a few months ago, but if it become a reasonable stable beta with a rather well defined path to follow, I might try it. But, imo, P5 with sp4.1 and without the CL stuff that comes with it, and without the ContentRoom is far from bad. If a company wants to contact some talented people who produce quality add-ons for its products, I can see nothing wrong in that. And if those artists decide to work with that company, exclusively or not, then that is their business. If you don't want to buy, then don't. And if you get something for free, say thank you, but don't ask for more.

I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now I'll be mad. (Rumi)

Huh Here you all get a chance to ask questions of Kozaburo and instead it turns into a bash daz thread. Typical. and many of the names I see do this on a regular basis. On topic I'd like to know if Kozaburo has plans on doing more conforming hair. :back to lurking:

I will be watching for the interviews...and I don't believe that Koz will be dragged into the great dollar-signs in the sky race. He is a craftsman who gains satisfaction from creating and seein his work displayed on the majority of gallery postings. As for all the rest covered here: I am satisfied with Poser4 and have enough characters, props, etc., archieved to keep me playing for a long time without having to spend more big-$$s to keep up with the Joneses. I honor any creator's decision to go from free to market, unless it is due to pressure from the big stores based on greed.

I got from a very reliable source that Koz will indeed buy DAZ and give everything away for FREE!!... Oops, I was only dreaming...

I too would like to thank Kozaburo first. Then my question for him is if there is a particular reason why he make mainly female hairstyle.

I don't begrudge Koz the opportunity to sell his work, but I think there is a growing concern of seeing free stuff rapid disappear. When Koz gives out his hair it is usefully for a number of different figures, but DAZ often gives out free stuff to support one of their products (ie a texture for a book).

Kozaburo and Quarker have to be among the top DAZ competitors for hair products - does anyone REALLY think DAZ are stupid enough to do an interview with either/both and NOT make an attempt at getting them to broker through DAZ instead? DAZ are blatantly about making money - to throw such an opportunity away wouold be bizzarre beyond even DAZ measure.

I see peoploe leaping to conclusions about why people might prefer Koz/Quarker/anyone sell direct or broker through another party other than DAZ. It may be unwise to generalise and assume that people with such objections - light-hearted or heart-felt - are doing so for reasons you make up. To paraphrase:- I see no evidence that price is the reason that people are concerned about Koz brokering through DAZ.

Cheers,

Cliff

PS I'd have thought DAZ have a great many questions lined up for an interview with Koz. Could be quite interesting.

All this speculation because DAZ said they wanted to meet up with Kozaburo and Quarker? Call me nieve, but I find that it is wisest not to speculate until I know both sides of the story (which I don't! LOL). And Migal, I agree ... "what would you do if you were DAZ"? Remember, not long ago, everyone was complaining that Poser 5 was buggy as heck and predicting that Poser would die. DAZ developed DAZ Studio partly as a solution to keep their company alive. Now CL has announced their merger and development of Poser 6. I think these developments, coming from BOTH companies, are sound business decisions.

Deecey on 4/10/04 12:56 Remember, not long ago, everyone was complaining that Poser 5 was buggy as heck and predicting that Poser would die. DAZ developed DAZ Studio partly as a solution to keep their company alive. Well, actually, DAZ started working on DAZ Studio somewhat in advance of that, at least the January before Poser 5 was released if I remember correctly.

LOL Rendy: I got from a very reliable source that Koz will indeed buy DAZ and give everything away for FREE!!... Oops, I was only dreaming... But that was the same source who said that "Bin-Laden would buy United Air Lines" -- a couple of years ago.

Well, folks, I cant understand some things posted in this thread: 1st: If you dont like DAZ, simply dont visit their web, no on is with a gun over your head to visit their web or to purchase their prods 2nd: If Kozaburo and Quarker want to be daz brokered artists, thats their choose. I love Kozs hairs too, but the final word is theirs not yours. Cheers.

Yeah, buy out Koz and then treat him like you did poor Dmentia! I am sure you'll tell him all about those practices, Steve, yes? Thank heaven the almighty Dollar rules! :-/

L'ultima fòrza è nella morte.

...lay off the caffeinated stuff. 3 dupes in a row is baaaad. /P

Maybe they can also interview Taruru, MayaX, DigitalLoveDoll, ISOP and others while they're over there :D

LOL, Peng... damn server hiccups struck! First, nothing, then a freeze followed by THREE posts... Gotta love it!:-))

L'ultima fòrza è nella morte.

Well, Nathaniel, I don't understand your post. If you don't like this thread, why do you read it and post in it ? May be you just had to voice it, even if that doesn't make a difference ? May be that's the same reason why people posted in this thread ?

What's the difference between Kozaburo selling his stuff through his own site and brokering through DAZ? If he sells through his site I know damn well every penny I spend goes directly to him for his hard work Easy enough to figure out, it's not exactly brain surgery though I know many of the members here need a thinking brain dog to figure stuff out for them especially if it involves words of two syllables or more

don't you Rubbermatt? :P thinking brain dogs, funny grins

You know what would be really funny? This DAZ interview with Koz turns out to be just that, an interview. You know, like one of the many online interviews with other Poser-celebrities?

Just an interview g I think people are seriously jumping to conclusions, here.

They also might be asking him to help with content for the Studio. Curious Labs went to the community for content for P5, which they were happy to provide it at no cost (or a plug on the splash screen). I don't like some of the sales tactics DAZ is taking myself these days. shrug And they know that by the amount of money I don't spend in their store.... and even the freebies I don't download anymore. I'm sure Koz has been approached many times to sell his fantastic contributions for Poser, and thus far he's resisted. Koz is an honorable man, and I think he will do what he thinks is best. Whether that is going commercial or not, or is even asked has not been established. Just another few pennies to add to the pot :)

What we do in life, echoes in eternity.

E-mail | Renderosity Homepage | Renderosity Store | RDNA Store

Yer prolly right... but I gotta ask you one thing: Who is it that I'd have to kill to get a junket all the way to Japan, just to get an interview or two? ;) /P

First, Koz and Quarker do great work. They've provided us with stuff that most of us use everyday. I'd have paid top dollar for the hair and hair textures I've gotten from Koz. Second, Daz provides great products (usually) at a fair price, and they have a return policy for the things you don't like. No one forces anyone to buy from them. Or to broker with them. Some people have had problems with Daz. Some are the broker's fault, some Daz's fault, and some are even caused by a full moon. Daz usually tries to fix them. Sometimes they can be clumsy, sometimes impersonal, but they do make an attempt. However, Daz is a profit making company, and does have to take care of it's interests. It's not a charity for us Poserholics. They make decisions based on how their corporate structure and philosophy work, with a sharp eye to the profit margin. Sometimes we lose fact that it's not our good buddy, but a profit generating machine. That is called capitalism. My only real gripe is I can't buy stock in the company. Third, if Daz wants to recruit Koz and Quarker, more power to them. I'd willingly pay for the stuff they produce, and am more than happy to put money in their pockets. That's really between Daz and the artists themselves, and what kind of deal, if any, they can work out. Koz and Quarker are adults and can evaluate the situation on their own and will do what's best for them. Finally, for all we know, the Daz people in Japan are on vacation and just want to drop off a thank you gift to these guys. Or maybe an interview for the Daz site with pictures. I don't think the Daz folks are mafia hit men gunning for Koz and Quarker or right wing republicans trying to get Bush donations. If they do recruit them, I hope Koz does some more men's hair though...

A few more pennies for the pot, and a secret ;) Kozaburo HAS worked for Daz making hair in the past ;) It is one of those little known secrets. I'll let you all figure out which hair he made ;p He did not want money for his work though. Instead, being the person that he is, he wanted store credit as it were, so that he could give gifts to those who are his friends in order to make them happy. I think... and this is my own personal speculation, but is also somewhat backed up by a conversation I had with Dan Farr about it and other matters tonight, that the trip is other business, but happens to take them close enough that they wish to visit several of the Japanese artists on a mission of goodwill. I also think that naturally, as would any site, they do hope that eventually this mission of goodwill will result in products being made and sold on Daz by the Japanese artists that they are visiting, whether these products be for Poser, or for the launch of Daz Studio when it goes out in all it's glory :)

Or may be DAZ is out in Japan to meet the guys who own Poser now ? Or they'll open a Hentai Club at DAZ ? Hmm, forget the last one...

.

Mehndi, THANK YOU for putting a different spin on this speculation.

Thanks Liz for sharing those thoughts. One thing that I would like to add is that this whole trip was based around a couple of guys who lived in Japan for 2 years wanting to justify a reason to go back (Ryan and Josh) by meeting with people in the development community. We also felt that it would be a good time for us to meet the new owners of Curious Labs (that is why Bryan went along). On top of that there is a Lightwave 8 release party where Newtek invited to show our Lightwave Mimic. There were these reasons plus the fact that those guys have been putting a lot of effort in lately. Nakamuram wrote, "Maybe Koz will buy DAZ and give everything away for FREE!! " Not such a bad idea either:) Dan Farr

Well, since you're sending people over to Japan, maybe you'd like to send a very inexperienced new broker too, just to give a different viewpoint and personality to the mix. I'm not doing anything pressing right now... (grin).

Ah, dan. The voice of reason at last. I'm glad you chipped in, partly to point out the obvious (that the trip is just a trip and interview, not a mafia hit), and partly because this thread prompted me to post something in the DAZ broker forum on this subject. You might want to have a look at that thread and add your thoughts there too. Not on Easter Sunday, of course. Take a break, please! cheers mac

I'd like to tag along with pdxjims ... I could use some training also. 8-)

I hope the meetings in general are good, but especially with the new owners of Curious Labs. Cliff

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in those meetings. :)

Calypso Dreams... My Art- http://www.calypso-dreams.com

Renderosity Gallery

Hrm...well..there's always postwork to cover any hair or clothing problems when one chooses NOT to purchase items from certain sites. Might not be as simple as buying a hair "set" or an outfit, but there's no end to the creativity of a paintbrush methinks...best of all...postwork fits everything!

Now if someone came out with auto adjusting graphics tablets and custom airbrushes designed for the different MilFigures.....hey where's Dodger anyway?

Rendo Store | Freebies | RDNA Store

Hey, I have a five hundred frame animation saved as still images. It needs some postwork on the hair. I could mail it to you if you feel like having a go and you aren't busy for the next seven years. Hee hee. Maybe postwork doesn't fix EVERYTHING.

Damit Dan/Mehndi you spoiled the whole cloak and dagger/conspiracy theory entertainment thing we lurkers had going here. :)

...... Kendra