Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
I generally will splurge on the base figure bundles but not on the character morph bundles, as I usually create my own characters. I am a clothing and interior freak though, so I occasionally pick up a bundle with good clothing.
Speaking of interiors, DAZ should include an appropriate interior set with figures (like a Parthenon-esque building with the Olympia bundle). That would make it a pretty sweet deal.
Have you considered producing multiple alternate pro bundles?
I think DAZ customers often have specific preferences. Thus, for example, one buyer might leap on a pro bundle that was full of 'cute' contemporary clothing, while another would go for one that featured science-fiction or steampunk or fantasy-themed material. And there's probably a vast, unserved population of customers who'd really like to see ordinary, practical clothing that real people might wear. If we'd had the choice of Stephanie 6 Pro Cute, Stephanie 6 Pro Sci-Fantasy, or Stephanie 6 Pro Oh My Goodness It's Not Skimpwear, you might have seen more Pro sales.
Of course you'd want to arrange things so people could also buy the extras as a bundle without the base figure, so someone might buy Stephanie 6 Pro Sci-Fantasy and then pick up the Stephanie 6 Cute Additions package as well.
Obviously, this increases the amount of work that DAZ and the PA's need to do before a figure can be launched. However, it might reduce the number of users who look at a new release and say 'Meh'. I've certainly bought a number of Starters or even Base figures recently - or even passed on a figure entirely - where, in the past, I might have bought the whole Pro package.
Of course no one has to buy anything they don't want. But sometimes purchasing the Pro bundle is a precondition for something else, such as the current 10% off March Madness bonus offer, or getting genitals for a figure (and yes, I realize that in the real world, we often have to buy impractical clothing and other things we don't need just so that we can have access to someone's naughty bits, but DAZ doesn't have to imitate reality quite so exactly).
Offering more choice would be more work, but might produce more sales/satisfied customers.
This really isn't an economically viable approach. It would be great if we could do it and make money, but what would happen is we would essentially triple our production costs and would only regain a portion of that in extra sales.
I'm stealing this idea and claiming it as my own in the next marketing meeting.
This really isn't an economically viable approach. It would be great if we could do it and make money, but what would happen is we would essentially triple our production costs and would only regain a portion of that in extra sales.
This is indeed the downside.
It occurred to me belatedly that one thing that might make it more feasible is if pro-style bundles included some previously-published content rather than being all brand-new content. DAZ are now producing multiple figures from each 'base' (G2F has spawned Victoria, Gia, Olympia, Teen Josie, and Stephanie), and content should theoretically fit any new figure derived from that base. So if you wanted to offer a 'sci-fi pro bundle' for Thuggetta 6 (your new curvaceous muscular teen G2F figure), you could conceivably pull together a selection of existing sci-fi themed products from PAs and DAZ and offer them at reduced prices as a bundle with the base figure.
Of course then you run into the problem that people who spend far too much money at DAZ (like me) then whine "But we already have all those". Can't win, I guess.
This really isn't an economically viable approach. It would be great if we could do it and make money, but what would happen is we would essentially triple our production costs and would only regain a portion of that in extra sales.
This is indeed the downside.
It occurred to me belatedly that one thing that might make it more feasible is if pro-style bundles included some previously-published content rather than being all brand-new content. DAZ are now producing multiple figures from each 'base' (G2F has spawned Victoria, Gia, Olympia, Teen Josie, and Stephanie), and content should theoretically fit any new figure derived from that base. So if you wanted to offer a 'sci-fi pro bundle' for Thuggetta 6 (your new curvaceous muscular teen G2F figure), you could conceivably pull together a selection of existing sci-fi themed products from PAs and DAZ and offer them at reduced prices as a bundle with the base figure.
Of course then you run into the problem that people who spend far too much money at DAZ (like me) then whine "But we already have all those". Can't win, I guess.
Yeah, Inwas going to point out that putting older content in bundles would suck for many of us.
I'm stealing this idea and claiming it as my own in the next marketing meeting.
If I can make a suggestion as well - I have a hard time investing in female content when there isn't a corresponding male item to go with it. So with something like Olympia with a toga, the inclusion of a male toga would make me more apt to purchase.
I'm stealing this idea and claiming it as my own in the next marketing meeting.
Help, help! My IP!
Help, help! My IP!
Well, you shouldn't just leave it lying around like that.
Well, I wouldn't say S6 did disappoint me - I wasn't really wowed by the Pro Bundle, but I guess I am coming to terms with the fact that half the clothing in the bundles will always be bobbie25 stuff - but really, DAZ, couldn't we have at least one black and one freckled base character? It seemed to be working for the old Elite skins - we even had Amy AND Katie.
And this -- nearly everything I do (when I do, I've been short on render-time for a while, but I'm still buying) involves a diverse range of people. Characters, clothing, whatever -- restriction to one side of the gender split is such a stumbling block that I rarely get much use until both sides are available, which means I'm more likely to put off buying until both sides are available (and are on as good of a sale).
I'm stealing this idea and claiming it as my own in the next marketing meeting.
Might as well add exteriors. Or maybe a vignette for each set?
I'm stealing this idea and claiming it as my own in the next marketing meeting.
As long as these interior sets get released separately, for those of us not interested in any of the Gen6 characters. Most of my DAZ purchases these days are scenery, props, vehicles, etc. I don't even buy much Genesis1 characters or clothes at present.
Ditto'ng this bigtime, especially re a black character so long as it's a good quality realistic skin texture -- the claim that such don't sell well enough lacks credibility when they're so seldom offered.
If I recall, I think it was said in that thread that an old texture that was pulled off the market didn't sell well, which was a separate discussion. I think it was stated that it's hard to produce many textures of people with color because there aren't many fresh references available to draw from.
I'd love more freckled characters and a revamp of the Elite Rob texture for G2M. One of my go-to skins.
OK, so if they're seldom offered, why do think that's the case? Is it that PAs don't want to make money and this field is wide open for the taking? Or maybe it's they don't make the money so they leave that area alone?
Two things:
1) Other PAs chimed in and said the same thing in that thread if I recall.
2) Things that sell well are offered frequently. Things that don't, aren't. But that only makes sense, otherwise you'd see more of them.
Considering my last three offerings which largely avoided that area blasted far and above the item in question in sales, two of those landing here, I'm in no hurry to fill that void with something that will have lower sales.
..some excellent ideas, comments and concerns.
I remember the base Steph4 included four or five (named) body and head shapes as well as facial morphs as well as several generic body shapes ("Petite" being one of them) With the addition of the NPMs, this made her useful for developing characters in their early to mid teens off of as there were no Gen4 teens and the figure mixer had issues (like high resultant poly count when combining say, V4/M4 with K4).
Granted with both Genesis and G2F we have teen characters as well as the Growing Up morphs for Genesis G2F and G2M.
Steph5's three body shapes (Base/Curvy/Model) were almost useless to me as none of them really fit my needs and there was no update of the NPMs Fortunately shortly afterwards the Young Teens5 were released.
So I'm a bit confused, are the four body shapes illustrated included with her or are those base G2F shapes? I don't see anything listed on the main product page save for the base Steph6 character. Apparently to get a true "petite" physique though, one needs SickleYield's Slender Steph6 morphs. Granted, the base G2F figure does have improved breast sizing and shaping controls compared to he original Genesis and especially to V4.
As some have mentioned the one downside I see as well is the separate UV map.
How are high def skin textures made? Nude models? Maybe there is a shortage of black models?
I have no idea how skin textures are made.
...same here. Been trying to find a nice freckled texture for my Leela character that will work with G2F.
Cute redheads without freckles? Just doesn't seem quite believable, especially considering all the hair content that has natural red & ginger mats.
Yep. Very good quality nude skin resources. A lot of vendors use http://3d.sk as a resource. Also, if a person is lucky enough to be very good at anatomically correct painting, that's an option too.
Yep. Very good quality nude skin resources. A lot of vendors use http://3d.sk as a resource. Also, if a person is lucky enough to be very good at anatomically correct painting, that's an option too.
...definitely a resource more for the serious content creator rather than someone who just would like to design a few custom characters now and then for personal use.
...definitely a resource more for the serious content creator rather than someone who just would like to design a few custom characters now and then for personal use.
If it's for personal use only and not for distribution of any kind, then you can just modify any skin you've bought.
If you plan on distributing freebies, save yourself the 3d.sk sub and a buy a few merchant resource textures that are allowed freebie usage.
There is also the option of nude resources from Deviantart. As long as the usage restrictions are okayed for usage outside of DA then it's fine.
Someone a while back mentioned how they used 'meat stamps' in photoshop to add texture to skins when they have to paint on the details. Literally taking a piece of meat and using it's 'texture' to make the skin more realistic. The ingenuity of skin makers continues to amaze and astound me, especially when the finished results look so lifelike.
The peel of an orange can make a decent bump map for pores.
...definitely a resource more for the serious content creator rather than someone who just would like to design a few custom characters now and then for personal use.
If it's for personal use only and not for distribution of any kind, then you can just modify any skin you've bought.
If you plan on distributing freebies, save yourself the 3d.sk sub and a buy a few merchant resource textures that are allowed freebie usage.
There is also the option of nude resources from Deviantart. As long as the usage restrictions are okayed for usage outside of DA then it's fine.
...only for use in my own works as I couldn't give away (or for that fact, sell) my characters as they are unique to my story and it would be like "giving/selling" my kids away.
Just not been satisfied with some texture sets I have (still no decent freckled skin for my Leela for example) and most I see are usually part of a specific character morph set. What I'd like to see is a set of different natural base skin maps kind of similar to what V4 had available.
I don't remember how old Leela is supposed to be, but take a look at Melanie for V4. http://www.daz3d.com/melanie-for-v4 Something about her caught my eye and I think she's the only freckled character I own. There's also Mercy for V4 by the same vendor who looks like she could be an older sister to Melanie. http://www.daz3d.com/mercy-for-v4 Her freckles are lighter than Melanie's.
You can also get away with using some snow brushes for freckles.
Katie is a nice freckled texture.
If I recall, I think it was said in that thread that an old texture that was pulled off the market didn't sell well, which was a separate discussion. I think it was stated that it's hard to produce many textures of people with color because there aren't many fresh references available to draw from.
But the weird thing is that we haven't had ONE SINGLE black character for G2M yet, and he's been there for about 5 months. And there has been ONE for G2F. Together with an army of Valkyrias, from which I bought one, since I don't feel the need to have 64 similar-looking ladies. But perhaps that's just me....
And what about the East Asians, the Indians, the Maori, the Arabs et cetera.
Katie is a nice freckled texture.
http://www.daz3d.com/bell-for-a4-and-v4
...thanks for the links. Of the four, I think Katie and Bell look about the best (Bell's head and face shape is even somewhat close to Leela's though to use the morph I would need the G2 update for GenerationX). I now remember Katie but never picked her up when she came out as I was working in 32 bit and rendering elite textures tended to be more than my system could handle when other factors such as hair transmaps and shadows were added.
A concern I have though with most character textures is they also often include makeup. I need a "natural" bare look (including nails) for a lot of scenes, particularly those that take place in Zagreb during the occupation and Seattle when she ran in the "shadows". Having been a "child soldier" a good part of her life, Leela is also not the most "fashion conscious" young lady.
The promo pic in the link below is very close to the look I am after. Unfortunately that particular texture shown is an old one which is no longer available.
http://www.daz3d.com/sugar-and-spice-for-genesis-2-female-s
Using a postwork brush or overlay as suggested has a few issues: first, it is not a part of the skin map itself so therefore has to be applied in postwork each time and it doesn't share the same bump/displacement map as the skin itself.(Leela is a recurring character), second, getting the colouration just right (particularly along the edges) is rather tricky so it doesn't look like the character has a case of the measles.