Daz 3D's Generations
Dartanbeck
Posts: 21,543
The Daz 3D Human Generations
I'll need to be talking about the various generations of Daz figure as we go along, so I've started a page that I can keep tweaking as I go.
I have a decent start, if you'd like to take a look.
Funny thing: I've lived a 3D hobbyist life through this, so I recall most of what I wrote from memory.
I wanted to see if I could find some facts - years, details, etc., and I found an immensely awesome thread in the forums about just this very thing! I was already well into it by then, but I put a link to his thread at the top and again at the bottom of my article.
After discovering Scott's thread, I was relieved to see that they don't clash. Mine is more an article, the way I write stuff, and his is more of a really cool, concise and factual list - so I think they work well together.
Anyway, have a look if you like. Feel free to offer up comments, suggestions, questions, etc.,
Just please realize that this is a WIP and is intended to become a resource toward working with each of the generations in and perhaps out of Carrara, but also just as a fun way to look back and see how great Daz 3D was right from the start, while also seeing how incredibly, impossibly far they've come over the years!
Much more to come!
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Comments
I may be a Carrara addict/enthusiast/evangelist/cheerleader, but I'd like to also acknowledge how incredible it is that we have such a thing as Daz Studio - and that it's as incredible as it is - and that it's... um... free? Yep. Free!
Born from a time when Daz 3D faced a possible trajic outcome for Poser software (which luckily never took place) - which could have a devastating effect on a company that makes its trade on making goods for this software, Daz Studio was little more than a library-reading render tool in its initial beta phase, if I remember correctly.
Somewhere on an old disc, I still have my first download of beta v.0.7, I believe it was. I thought it was cool, but it was no Poser yet.
Something about the fellow that was doing the software development on D|S - he always looked at the lastest tech coming down the pipeline.
I am no software engineer, or even guru for that matter, so I can't really go on further on that regard. I just recall reading about how much of a die-hard he was in pushing forward - always.
I hope you agree that it shows in what Daz Studio has become. By version 3, it was competing with Poser and had Basic (Free), Advanced (Low Cost) and Pro (somewhere over $100USD) versions available, and many of the tools within it now were sold by third party vendors as plugins.
When Daz Studio 4.0 was released, it's no surprise that it won all kinds of awards across the CG and 3D vibes. It was (and is) cutting edge!
The first software application to include a developed state of nVidia's Iray render engine!
Sub-D cage morphing with auto-follow rigging? I mean... yeah! And then to include the incredible tools to allow artists of nearly any experience level to be able to create... whatever... and be able to project the Genesis Triax rigging onto it and turn it into a conforming object! I'll never forget Mike Moir's fun example of this, and testing the Smart Content tab at the same time, by just throwing a glob of geometry at Genesis as conforming hair - and it worked!!! That's impressing tech!
I often admit that I just don't go into Daz Studio to render. Well since getting my Genesis 8 products recently (as I mmention in this post) I was already in there messing around with converting rigging to blended weights and such, in preparation to bring G8 content into Carrara, when I decided to turn Iray on as my working view drawing engine.
How nice! With a much better (but still nowhere near a Studio artist level) Graphics Card and computer than I've ever had before, I was treated with a speedy, yet beautiful rendering right here in my working view. I had it set to be quick while in this state, so it never did get to a 'finished' quality, which I thought was really impressive, how great it Did look!
The current Public Beta is quite the thing. I didn't read all about what all is in there, but they've been incorporating GoFigure's graphMate and keyMate into the timeline and have added this crazy-awesome new OpenGL PBR render engine to the working view called Filament. Is it ever FAST!!!
I haven't had the time to lay with the new animation tools yet - busy animating in Carrara at the moment, and I'm in a crunch - and Carrara is my comfort zone, so maybe when all of this starts catching up some, I will be able to do some studying/tweaking/animating in DS.
Why am I saying all of this?
Well because Daz Studio 4.0 was born from Genesis, and Genesis was born from DS 4. I am a Huge fan of Genesis and, use it or not, each generation of Genesis sees a Major increase in technological advancement toward the betterment of the artist. I look forward to trying out how Genesis 8's rigging automatically triggers musculature flexion? I didn't know it does that! I think that's really freaking cool!
Daz 3D also says that Genesis 8 is the most backward-compatible version of Genesis to date, offering backward compatibility through the entire genesis line! I never knew that either! What I do know is that, when I found that I didn't have any hair for my Genesis 8 Alita, I looked at my Genesis 3 library... still nothing.
I've been boycotting due to non-compatibility. I really have, like... Nothing! So I went to add some hair from Genesis 2 Female and it just auto-fit right on without issues. Pretty cool, I think!
I love my Carrara and always will. I just wanted to point out that I also truly respect and appreciate Daz 3D for all that they do to keep me in this game. I doubt I'd be able to be here if it wasn't for them. So again... Thank You Daz 3d!!!
A little fun from Daz Generations: Happy Halloween 2015!
...and I love this Introducing Genesis Promo! Check out the tech details he mentions - and just keep in mind that he's just scratching the surface - and that was Genesis 1. Generation 8 is a mind-blower!
Reminiscing the Carrara 8.5 Pro Beta/Genesis testing days!
wow that is amazing dart - my brain is already full!