What the heck is Tafi?
McGyver
Posts: 7,066
I was looking at DAZ's blog... Which I often forget that I forget exists, and while I was there I noticed this Tafi thing, which I apparently did not know existed or once again I've found myself in a parallel universe where Tafi is the only difference between this and my original universe... eh... anyway...
I get that it's for creating Avatars for VR Chat... but why? For what exactly... where would you use them (I know- "VR chatting")... Is that something like SecondLife? What's the thing about "monetize" them... Also it seems like it's an app ("Get the App")... do you buy the app or the avatars... can they be used in other things besides VR chatting (whatever the hell that is)?
Too many questions... and I haven't even asked why this universe seems to lack the personal goat butlers everyone in the last three universes had... anyway... I'm sure this was probably asked about many times in the past, so excuse me if this is a really overasked question.
Anyway, feel free to ignore this or add enlightenment to my day... either way... thanks.
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Comments
Isn't it what we British call toffee?
This....? https://www.maketafi.com/
As questions go, that's a toughie.
Word to the wise: in this universe, I strongly advise against bringing up the subject of goat butlers. You never know who might be listening.
Haven't a clue what these would be for or who would use them, I don't do VR (which, to my view, isn't) or any of the SL or other equivalent whatever-they-ares. In any case, if I do need an avatar for some such I'll use The Question or Rorschach as a model.
https://vrchat.com/
Thanks - not for me. Curmudgeon that I am, I've been on-line since 1983 and I've avoided real-time interaction the entire time.
cannot blame you, a lot of crazy out there
If it is well modded and a non-toxic community, it can be absolutely wonderful.
They are meant for use in games and other apps that allow personal avatars to be imported via the internet (or local storage as well). It's an old concept that's been around a while now. As far as the models they are sort of a simplified take on a modern toon style that is morphable with changable clothing, textures, and such. The models are pretty good. So it's like a vastly pared down DAZ 3D.
FB and just about every social media business invariably introduces 2D avatars multiple times over the existance of those social platforms as well as have 2D avatars available from 3rd party businesses you could download and use as well, tafi is just a 3D version of that same concept (although I've not seen tafi on FB I've not been in FB's Gameroom).
And usually it fails at being one or the other or both... or at least virtual reality... as it's just one or two smaller screens put in front of your eyes to make it kinda 3d-ish which doesn't even come near what was promised to us by William Gibson
Thanks everyone... I guess the thing about these avatars being used for "games and other apps that allow personal avatars to be imported" is the part I was looking for... Every game I've ever played where you have an avatar, it's created within the game, there was no importing of a third party character/avatar, so I didn't realize that was actually a thing.
Which sounds kinda cool and I can see the appeal if it's done right and if enough games and apps allow you to do that.
As far a VR Chatting... fluck no... I've had enough of the Facebook characters and other loonies out there, I don't need to have them virtually in my face like a 3AM subway excursion on Psychopaths Ride Free night.
But that's irrelevant, there are probably places where that works, moderation is okay and people behave... I'm probably too old to care about that sort of stuff anymore or virtually dressing up isn't fun (I'm wearing a gorilla costume with a pirate hat right now, so dressing up in real life is still appealing to me).
The home page for Tafi seemed to assume you know more about the subject and are coming there intent on using it... I'd say to DAZ/Tafi (because there seems to be a partnership there) that in the case of Tafi the homepage there should be a little more information about what I'm looking at... this is relatively new technology, not everyone has a VR set and not everyone already knows what your product is... like two sentences of info could draw someone in... instead the first thing you see is "Get The App" and "Enter your Email" and much of the other info I was able to find was unclear if this was for developers or the public... but, I know nobody at DAZ reads, browses or is aware the forums exist so saying the previous part is pointless.
Anyway, thanks for the info and I hope at some point your universe gets those cool and quite adorable goat butlers like the others had.
Yeah, I was only vaguely aware of Morph3D after a certain point and the one time I suggested it to someone and went to find a link to it, it was gone... I remember Morph3D being "a thing" briefly, but it sure disappeared without a trace or mention... I was kinda wondering if Tafi held some sort of link or kinship to Morph3D... you'd think there would be some mention here at DAZ about it so it perhaps doesn't go the same route as Morph3D.
Had I not decided to look at DAZ's blog and read DAZ's Juneteenth statement, I'd have probably never noticed or known Tafi existed... weird that aside from a company statement mentioning DAZ and Tafi, there is no other mention of them at DAZ.
I'm starting to wonder if Tafi is the missing puzzle piece in my Illuminati Ninja Penguin Peanut Butter Conspiracy Theory... Think about it... why else would DAZ who's parent company is run by alien cats and staffed by bigfoots, not want the world to know about Tafi, which clearly is a riff on the name of the ancient Babylonia deity Tafishzida (lord of peanut paste and second cousin to Ningishzida, god of vegetation and the underworld)... I'm not saying it's suspicious, but it's kinda suspicious.
You have highlighted important points about your theory.
I was also puzzled by the name change from Morph3D to Tafi avatars in Unity Asset store.
I am glad to report, that https://www.daz3d.com/mcs-mega-bundle
still works in Unity game engine, even after that name change.
To secure further knowledge, I have bought recently McGyver bundle of the original episodes,
so I can enjoy digging in the world of the most innovative man in the human history.
Agreed, wish I could spend more time in there than i do.
It's funny seeing some of the reactions to VR (virtual reality) in this thread and to be honest, it sounds like me to a point before i got my headset last year. Since then my Steam game library has increased to over a hundred games, I don't play any non VR games any more and I get into VR almost daily (I am typing this right now in my virtual beach room).
I truly wish DAZ would get involved more into VR other than avatars for VRchat. I already use DAZ models in other VR apps (which is amazing working with lifesize victoria), but would love a VR option for DS.
i just preordered a new HP Reverb G2 and if it lives up to the hype, it will be a game changer for me.
@Artini I suggest eating breakfast cereal while watching those episodes. https://www.sharecg.com/v/37761/Poser/Chupacabra
@McGyver I am takingf a serious risk telling you this. The reason we don't have goat butlers in this universe is because of the chupacabra mafia.
I agree, there is a lot of preconceptions on VR out there and experts who never even tried a headset or even worse tried Cardboard VR and it made them sick so now they hate all VR lol
I fell in love with VR the moment I tried it and never looked back. It is a huge untapped market and while its out of most people's price range at the moment I can see it going the same way as mobile phones that went from Nokia bricks to current mobile phones that's pretty much a computer in your hand.
Daz users are not really the Tafi market target so no reason for them to be active on Daz forums or even Daz3D in general.
Currently their market is avatars for users in VRChat who don't have the skills or inclination to learn Unity to set up their own avatars and want a quick and easy intro.
VRChat is not for everyone - but its turned into a lifeline for people who are in niche groups or struggle with direct social contact like autism - it opened up a whole new world for some.
Don't knock it until you tried it and keep an open mind - you might be pleasantly surprised :D I got my 82 year old mother an Oculus Go a couple of years ago and according to her it gave her a whole new lease on life. She loves playing 360 youtube videos travelling around the world without having to leave her front room. She certainly seems a lot happier and engaged with life.
You guys are gonna get us all in trouble. I'll give you one more piece of advice and then I'm heading for my underground bunker. If at some point you bought a Director's Cut of any of the Planet of the Apes movies, I'd advise yu to burn it. Even if you never bought one, check if you have one anyway, You never know what one of your counterparts from another universe might have brought here. Besides, you don't really want to listen to a director blather on, do you? Let's face it, directors aren't right in the head. They get their jollies ordering everyone else around, and they're still not satisfied, so they make a director's cut just so they can talk about how much more they wanted to order everyone around. And let's not even talk about their silly outfits, or the way they like to hire giants for their films just so there's someone who can carry them around on their shoulders all day. So really I'm just trying to save you from the boredom of listening to their nonsense, not because they might actually be talking in code about secret conspiracies or anything.
So, last one in the bunker is a ... well, better we just never mention them again.
The Miku Miku Dance craze has also fueled custom avatar production.
I agree with what you said. Although the first time I tried any of the recent VR headsets was around the time Oculus first came out... it was at a local BestBuy that has a demo area for new tech... it kinda sucked and the demo unit (in retrospect) probably wasn't working great (it was only in use for one day at that point, so very little wear and tear)... the "amazing demo game" was lame and the person supervising the area was no help with using the unit... overall I walked away unimpressed as it didn't seem that big an improvement over the older tech I've tried (though waaaaay lighter and smaller).
Between then and last year, little things I've seen and read here and there had piqued my interest, but not enough to go and buy one to find out if it's worth owning now.
This past holiday season, my close friend had received an new oculus as a gift and had set up a large area in his basement as the play area. He insisted I try it and fairly quickly I could see the vast difference between that early demo model and what's current. He had a couple of games, but the shooter was the one I got sucked into... it was a very plain looking game, no textures, no great looking details, almost an Atari 2600 equivalent of VR... but... Daaaaammmn... That was fun. I got into it enough that I tried to grab a spawned gun by diving under a virtual desk, with the intent of using the other virtual furniture nearby to stop my momentum... the key to stopping one's momentum in VR is the stuff you intend to use for that should actually exist in RL... Luckily the steel support pole for the house stopped me from not bashing my shoulder into anything soft. I decided to call it a night after I punched the corner of the entertainment center just outside the playing area because in VR one of the baddies was occupying that space... So I went from "Megh... okay, I'll try it again"... to... "I haven't had so much fun hurting myself in years" in the span of just 45 minutes... normally it takes me at least fifty minutes to hurt myself diving under stuff or beating up furniture.
That definitely sold me on the tech and once we prepare a playing area big enough, we are probably going to get one too... and to me I still feel like this is in its infancy, almost like when the Atari 2600 first came out (but in a totally good way).
I think for this type of tech, it's really hard to judge until you try it... a crappy demo unit could make or break the experience, the liability and resources behind any retail store having a decent demo set up is probably prohibitive and realistically the only way to try it out is if someone you know owns one (or you break into your neighbor's house while they are out and try their's, but that's usually frowned upon)...(also if the play area isn't calibrated properly you'll end up breaking all their furniture)... (though you could probably make it look like their cat did it)... Otherwise the only option is to just get one and risk not liking it... I think that's a big barrier for it's growth... Because without a way to try it you are just taking some random person's advice... 2D video does not do the experience justice...
Imagine if video games started out that way, with that kind of barrier, it probably would have taken an additional decade or more for them to have become mainstream.
Geez... you were right... I've found at least twenty copies of PoTA... and that's just in the bathroom... I wonder what the other mes are up to...?
Probably nothing good... you should see what I've done to them.
McGyver - your experience with your friend's VR points up my main objection to the tech - the name. Even with a haptic glove there's not much reality in VR. What VR provides is a fully immersive 3-D experience; but I want the Reality part. Objects have mass and inertia; firearms generate recoil when used - I want those aspects available to me in the virtual environment if it's called 'Virtual Reality'.
I would absolutely love to see a real 3D movie using VR - I consider the so-called 3-D TV and movies inadequate as there's nowhere near enough action taking place in front of the screen.
Yes, I am a known curmudgeon.
"Real-time interaction on-line" is literally what happened when we talked through a telephone when we were kids.
Yeah, yeah, I know, quaint practice still used by curmudgeons but the modern form of the corresponding practice has gotten rid of a lot of the lines.
I will say that VR got much easier to deal with once I got a set of prescription lens adapters so I wouldn't have to try wearing the headset over my glasses.
I've played one VR game via Google DayDream headset I stuck my iPhone it. It really turned a mundane game genre that had been done over & over again into something fun and new. Soon as I get my other things done I'm definately going to play more VR games.
There are other external avatar businesses as wel. Tafi isn't the only one. One, I forget the name of, has been in the Unity store I think since 2012 or 2013.
With that, do you mean prudish and absolutely afraid of nipples and stuff that more realistically resembles the human body?
Because pulling away anything that makes a human human - fx sexuality - then you might as well be a 3D cat, penguin or parrot.