Favorite Stores? 3D Resources
Hey guys,
A quick question: Aside from the obvious source: Daz3d.com, what would be your first choice on a preferred store to buy from? For the most part I go to http://www.runtimedna.com , they have some awesome quality stuff on there at a very fair price. Only draw back is they seem to have not even half of what the daz store has to offer here, but what they do have is very competitively priced, and good quality. I'd say for me personally that would be my second choice after daz.
Then there's Renderosity.com, Great store, LOTS of goodies and a good "freebies" section as well. Most of their products have HORRIBLE thumbnail/promo pictures though, Not sure why... You'd think they'd doll them up like DAZ so you'd at least get the impression is was high quality before buying (DAZ over-does their products IMO putting LOTS of post-work into their promo pictures without revealing all the 'touchup" work they put into it, Another thing that runtimeDNA DOES tell you, down to the props in the background used). http://www.contentparadise.com is another great store, but again seems quite limited compared to good 'ol daz.com, but they've got some great items.
OnTarget3d.com is a decent place, but I always feel lost when I'm there. Usually I stumble accross some random item I think looks kind of cool and usually find a free version of it later on. lol. Great site, good products (once you find them): Horrible layout and site design.
Last is a place I've never bought from... Mostly because a single product of theirs costs more than buying poser pro itself... http://www.the3dstudio.com. I've been searching high and low for very highly accurate and detailed military vehicles such as apc's/tanks/etc.
like this one here: http://www.the3dstudio.com/product_details.aspx?id_product=201640 most of their models are well over a hundred dollars, but as far as I've found.... They're the only "realistic" 3d model store I've found so far with lots of detailed work. Most of the vehicles on the popular 3d stores are fantasy oriented or "almost right" models where the car looks.... well.... Almost real, but it's just missing a certain pattern or whatever. The3dstudio.com will have a very highly detailed car of whatever type... Just be prepared to pay more for that single model than you did for your copy of Carrara 8, lol. (example: http://www.the3dstudio.com/product_details.aspx?id_product=526310 yep. $588.00 for that single model... rofl)
So I guess I would say when it comes to paid products these are my main sources:
DAZ3d
RuntimeDNA
Renderosity
ContentParadise
OnTarget3d
And if the cost was ever justified:
The3dStudio.com
Have I missed a good source for 3d models that come in compatible formats for poser/Daz (primary when buying products, not looking for freebie stuff)? I'd like to know!
Comments
I have stayed with the big 3. DAZ, Rendo and RDNA. I have bought the occational item from a few other stores including Faeriewyld and Turbosquid but its always been the big 3.
It all depends really on what that store offers and what you're looking for. I have been a huge fan and user of Aiko3 and have sought items for her more then any other figure. However, once I have exhausted all that I need or desire from a store, then I stop spending there. I have bought all the A3 items I want from RDNA and as a result, stopped spending money there. Rendo is better off as I have not yet bought all the A3 items I want and there are other non A3 items I like, mostly hair, that I know I want to buy but I am in no big rush either. DAZ has fared much better and has been my primary choice but I will admit, when the Gen4 came out and A3 stuff stopped, I really started loosing interest in new stuff. I did however see much more potential in Gen4 males then the Gen3 males so I did invest a little there. With Genesis and DS4, though it did not appeal to me right away, it has grown on my quite abit and I do see great potential in the figure and the technology surounding it. An example of the great potential Genesis has is the 3DU Toon characters made for Genesis. Previous Toon figures that were their own base figure did not recieve a lot of support. Now with Genesis, that is no longer a concern for the end user or 3DU.
A3 is one of my favorites as well! She has never been the same after that, and will live on forever! And thanks to the genesis concepts her morphs and etc. can continue to live on :) I rebelled (And perhaps still have some reservations) against Genesis and the Gen5 figures (mainly because I use Carrara, and I'm afraid DAZ will pull out the "you must buy C8.5 PRO to use genesis" card). I do love the way Genesis figures work in DS and the ability to mix and match all the morphs for virtually limitless possibilities. If I were to hear a confirmation that both standard and pro versions of 8.5 included Genesis support I'd probably go buy up all the add-ons right now. I agree as well: Rendo is an awesome source with so many quality items, I just wish they presented themselves a little better. The site itself feels dated, one thing I think DAZ3d has above all other stores: clean layout, easy to navigate store lists and search box, etc. Not to mention forums and other elements. Funny you mention Gen4 males: I didn't invest any money what-so-ever in any males until Gen4 and genesis. I think through the use of shaders and etc. I've seen a lot of potential, and more diverse items up for grabs. As for the toons: man don't even get me started! The current Genesis toons are incredible! Absolutely love 'em!
Faeriewyld and Turbosquid are two stores I have never heard about, thanks for bringing them up, I'll go check them out and lure my wallet out from hiding.
Turbosquid is not a Poser content store. They sell models for other apps mostly. I only purchased a few models from there cause there is to date NO true Lamborghini look-a-like in poserdom. I know there is a convertable out there that is simular, but it does not come close to the 3 lambos I have.
As an A3 fan, you will just love Faeriewyld. You will find a good number of Thorne's & Sarsa's A3 girls there.
EDIT:
I meant to say FaerieDreams, not Faeriewylde. FD is the store while FW is the forums.
Some other great (smaller) stores
Most Digital Creations
http://www.most-digital-creations.com/
Over 1000 freebies, and extremely reasonable prices on EVERYTHING
Poser Direct
http://www.poserdirect.com/
Several freebies, and some awesome products, including Ruined City for very low prices.
(Last year, they ran a special where you could get any 25 products for $20 or something crazy like that. EDIT: http://www.poserdirect.com/1010.html it's still going) The site owners are/were very active around here, and extremely friendly.
If I can recall any more, I'll post, but definitely check these guys out. You'll probably recognise some of their products from Renderosity, where they also sell.
Poser direct is MrSparky, and yes he posts lots around the forums here, (forum name is mrsparky)
http://www.poseraddicts.com
-MJ
Along with the main 3, DAZ, Rendo and RDNA, I also buy a lot from Xurge3d.
Coldrake
Other than the ones mentioned here,
Poserworld
It cheap to join and the guys take requests. Usually the stuff is well made and having access to all the stuff that they have made in the past is a very good reason to join for unlimited access.... that and it's half price in September. I joined and downloaded over 50 models in their archives straightaway. I then asked them to make a certain model and they knocked that out within a week or so. Nice bunch of guys.
Oh, and Xurge's armor is AWESOME, coldrake. You got that one right on the money. Beautiful. Wish he made stuff for Genesis.
Redacted
I know the one you're talking about, lol. I've been there a few times: They have some cool things.
Some cool store resources I've never heard of, and some I forgot to mention (Like MostDigitalCreations, my FAVORITE freebie site, their paid stuff is cool too).
Matty: I checked out turbosquid, man they are quite expensive, like the3dstudio, but again: Quality is top notch. I'm still on the lookout for some realistically scaled, detailed real-world military vehicles and helicopters. Since it was mentioned here: I found a nice apache at turbosquid: http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/3ds-ah64d-longbow-apache-ah64/601331 , though i'm going to look around to see if I can find a bit more of a budget friendly model (--Edit-- May go for this model instead, less detailed though: http://www.ontarget3d.com/site/Products/872-apache-helicopter-for-poser.aspx). Still looking for LAV's and apc's as well (Again none-fantasy, but real-world models of modern models or recent ones (recent meaning wwII or newer).
I also checked out Faeriewyld, yeah I found the store link on their home pages :) I don't know if you've helped me or cursed! :) So many A3 goodies!!! I thank you, my wallet does not :p lol
Might I ask what the main risks are in buying models intended for other programs would be? Is it mainly texture alignment, or bones/rigging not working correctly, or a combination of both? I noticed TurboSquid offers many model types of their vehicles. I've done rigging in C8, I find it easy and wouldn't mind re-rigging model parts to move (Though my renders are stills anyways, but I have no problems slicing and dicing models to make something move like it should, for posing sake). I DON'T have virtually no experience in re-texturing models...
I'll definately swing by poser direct and poseraddict as well. and Xurge3d is one I completely forgot about. I remember that place now.
thanks for all the posts! I hope others can stumble onto this thread and find some great resources. Personally I love the kit-kat series for A3 from RuntimeDna, she is so cute & Sexy!
Be very cautious when you purchase from Turbosquid cause looks can be deciving. I say that cause I have 3 Lamborghinis from there. Though one was a gift from the creator of the model, each of the Lambos are of different quality but all sell for around the same price (one is actully gone from the marketplace) The one that is no longer available was the most detailed and by that I mean i could have rigged it so the each button on the dash so it could be pressed and all the buttons lit up like they do in the real car. This guy was very detailed. But even then not all parts of the car were 100% sealed or complete but its still the best one for its level of detail. The second one I picked up was not all ther either in terms of all parts of the car that are visable to the eye. Could still be rigged very well but it was missing a few items. The third one, the one given to me can be rigged, but the creator did not have real world use in mind. In short, they are all intended for exterior shorts and not people involvement in the image. So for the $100 that you pay, you still get an excellent vehicle but just dont expect the same functionality that you will get with cars here like the Uzilite D 207 or the Dreamscape Creation cars. Speaking of my lambos, I am tempted to redo the first one. I have to redo the second one thanks to bad UVs and the third one I have not finished rigging. If your wondering, the 3 lamborghinis are 2 differnt Gallardos and a Sesto Elemento.