GUIDE - What To Buy On The Daz Store?
LenioTG
Posts: 2,118
It's been almost 3 years since I started using Daz Studio, and almost 2 years since my first purchase on the Daz Store.
During this time, I've spent maybe too much money there, sometimes with smart purchases, sometimes with dumb ones.
I've checked every single product of the last years, and I check the new releases every day.
So, I thought it would have bee nice, both for new and for older users, to write this guide.
I hope it'll help you to spend your money in a wiser way, to see a real improvement in your workflow and in the quality of your art.
If you're just starting to use Daz, my suggestion is to check freebies all around the web: you can learn with those, then choose if you'd like to make more with Daz!
This guide is about Iray, Genesis 8 and static renders, because that's what I've done thousands of times, while there surely are better users than me to talk about previous generations, 3Delight and animations.
Furthermore, I use Daz Studio to create stories set in a contemporary setting: that explains my focus on workflow and reusability of assets. I think that people interested in making a few artistic renders every once in a while may have a different opinion about some parts of the guide.
It's hard to write such a long guide, and I've tried to keep it organized.
Sometimes I've stated my opinion as facts, and that was to not repeat every time that everything I've said is subjective and based on my personal experience.
I've written a brief description of most products, because this is not a list of things to buy: read the description, and choose for yourself what you need and what you don't!
I hope you'll find this guide useful, and feel free to contribute in the comments if you think there are some great products I haven't listed here!
I care about your feedback and opinion, and I've already changed some parts of the guide based on that.
INDEX
- General Tips
- Daz Deals
- Gift Cards
- Platinum Club
- Store Sales
- What Would I Avoid?
- Too Many Figures And Morph Packages
- Textures
- Too Heavy Products
- Bundles
- What Would I Buy?
- Utilities
- Shader Presets
- Figures
- Morphs
- Expressions
- Poses
- Environments
- HDRIs
- Lights
- Hair
- Wardrobe
- Accessories
- Props
GENERAL TIPS
Daz Deals
If you're interested in spending money on the Daz Store, the first thing you should do is to install the Daz Deals browser extension.
It will allow you to see if the current price is a good one (like Keepa or CamelCamelCamel for Amazon), and you can even set email notifications to be alerted when a specific product has reached the price you wanted, or when it's at his 1/3/6/12-months best price.
Keep in mind, that the price you could have reached special sales is not shown there. Indeed, to see those prices, you have to put some specific products in your cart at the same time.
And one of its most useful features is that you can filter the store by wishlisted items, or by PC coupons.
You can also receive mails for flash sales (Daz doesn't send them).
Furthermore, you'll be notified about daily Daz sales hours before Daz will do it. To me, that means I can check new releases when I wake up, instead of maybe losing sight of them throughout the day.
Plus, with Daz Deals you'll find, on every product page, links to gallery renders that have used it, and to forum threads where it has been mentioned. That will help you to clarify what the promos and description are not specifying.
It's free, so there's no reason not to install it!
Gift Cards
When I see a 10-20% gift card sale, I always buy some store credit, even if I'm not going to purchase anything in the near future.
This allows me to combine that discount with other sales.
Sometimes you'll be even able to purchase gift cards at a 30% discount: that's when you really want to stack up store credit.
Gift card sales often need a new release in the cart.
To find the best item, just search for "new" in the store, and it'll show you every product considered new.
Then, you can filter it by wishlisted items, or just find one that you like. If they cost too much, just grab a 2$ texture set, and it'll probably be worth it thanks to the store credit discount.
Platinum Club
If you regularly purchase products from the Daz Store, this is the best purchase you can make.
Every month, you'll get
- 6$ coupon to use on many products
- 6$ coupon to use on even more products, but only if you're spending at least 18$
- Freebies. Sometimes they're great (like an electronic store), other times it's stuff you don't have a use for. But it's always free stuff.
- A lot of relevant discounts on most products in the store.
- Often, there are specific sales for PC+ members.
Now that you want to join the PC club, what membership should you aim for?
The 3-months one makes little sense, unless you just want to try it out, because it's 8$/month, while the annual membership is 5.8$/month.
On top of that, there are sales when you can purchase the memberships with a 30-50% discount.
They're more frequent for people who don't currently have the PC+ membership, but sometimes (maybe every 6 months) there are also flash sales for already members.
In the best-case scenario (50% discount on the annual PC+ membership, 30% gift card), that means you can get 12$ worth of coupons, freebies and a ton of sales and discounts for 2.04$/month.
Store Sales
Chance is you probably need a specific plugin ASAP, but you can wait to get that new hair.
Daz marketing stuff is seriously great: every day a new sale is on, with wonderful graphics etc.
But most of the sales are just not good in practice.
If you can wait, it's best to wait for huge Store Sales, which usually happen 2/3 times per year.
On those occasions, the whole store can go on sale.
Some premium products won't be discounted by more than 50% in a small window of time, but that's still better than full price.
Other products, like i13's huge library, often reach something like 90-95% discount.
Be aware when you spot a great gift card sale: a store sale is probably coming.
WHAT WOULD I AVOID?
Too Many Figures And Morph Packages
Something I've recently discovered is that, with Genesis 8, the more morphs you have installed in your library, the longer loading and clearing times will be.
It doesn't matter if you're not using them on a specific figure: it will take longer both to load it, and close Daz Studio (very important fact, now that we need a script to open more than a single instance)/clear the scene afterward.
It's very sad to say, but I'm currently not using 2/3 of the figures and of the morph packages I had bought.
And I'd uninstall even more of them, if I hadn't already used them in story characters I still need.
So, avoid figures who look very alike, and absolutely avoid morph packages you're not planning on using.
Textures
There are a lot of awesome texture packages around, but the chance is, you can apply shaders yourself for a fraction of the price.
Furthermore, you can use shaders everywhere, but you can only apply textures to the relative products. And you don't even see them, unless you're in Smart Content->Files. And trust me, as your library gets bigger, you'll forget about most products you have in it.
Please note, this is a controversial thesis: some people have different opinions about textures for specific products, and they have expressed them in the comments.
Too Heavy Products
I'm a huge fan of SSDs, and I don't have a single HDD installed in my build. I've discussed this choice in other threads, and since this one is already going to be pretty long, I'm not going to discuss it further.
The problem is that SSDs cost a lot. Especially if you have your Daz library installed on an NVME one, like I do.
So, I have to think about storage space too.
In particular, this is one more reason why I'm not fond of texture packages.
And I'm not fond of dForce hair too, in general: they look great in the final renders, but sometimes they make my whole interface sluggish, they are not viewable in the Texture Shaded viewport, and, first of all, they sometimes can occupy more than 1GB of storage.
Bundles
Almost every day there's a new bundle, both in its "Pro" and "Basic" version.
Honestly, since most products in those bundles are not useful to me, there was never a time when I've thought "this is a good purchase".
Plus, if you have already purchased a few products from that bundle, you'll still have to pay for the whole thing, differently to how bundles work on other platforms like Steam.
The only bundles I've purchased are those for charity, and one with a male and one with a female figure, because it's the only way to receive the relative Anatomical Elements.
I've also purchased bundles that contained all products I needed, and I've regretted doing otherwise when, for example, I've purchased separately the male and female versions of the same addon: it would have been wiser to save for the relative bundle in that case.
So, in the end, just wishlist the specific products you'd use, and don't let that majestic marketing techniques go to your mind.
For example, you need some specific figures to use other figures in the store.
The most important ones are Victoria, for females, and Michael, for Males.
Please note, this is a controversial thesis: some people love to purchase pro/basic bundles.
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Comments
WHAT WOULD I BUY?
Finally, let's take a look at what I think are the best and smartest purchases you can make, at the right price.
They are mostly in random order, as I recall them, or as I check my library.
Utilities/Tools/Plugins
Before starting to talk about utilities, I'd like to clear my way of thinking, instead of explaining the same things multiple times.
I know you can do almost everything by yourself, with some procedures or scripts. But renders are my hobby-job, so if I can achieve a slightly better result, or if I can spend even a couple of seconds less doing something, I think the purchase of that product is worth it. I see it as an investment, that will pay for itself in the future, since it improves your productivity and it makes your work more pleasant.
This is the case, for example, of Ghost Lights: of course you could do them yourself for free, but the relative product makes them of a better quality (most of the time, unless you're a true master professional), and it's faster and easier to use.
Furthermore, you use a utility multiple times, probably even every day in some cases, while sometimes you use an outfit just once. So that allows you to spread the money spent on a much larger span of time.
I'm not saying I'm right at every cost, I just think it's right to point that out, because that's one of the rational below some of the following purchase suggestions.
Mesh Grabber
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/mesh-grabber
Addon: https://www.daz3d.com/mesh-grabber-rotations-add-on
ManFriday is surely one of my favorite PA, and they have brought a lot of value to Daz Studio, increasing the number of things that is possible to do with it.
Mesh Grabber is a quick and easy tool that will let you shape anything.
Its most useful uses are fixing clothing pokethroughs and adjusting sofas/beds when someone sits/lays there.
The addon lets you use rotations too, and that can be useful as well.
Render Queue
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/render-queue
I guess everyone already knows this one.
It allows your PC to render while your're not there, as easy as that.
But it's a game changer, that drastically improved my workflow.
Over its older competitor, Render Queue completely closes Iray every scene, freeing up your VRAM.
Plus, it can wait until the scene has settled down, avoiding "hair in the air" issues.
Turbo Content
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/turbo-content
You can probably survive just with Smart Content and Content Library, but Turbo Content improved my workflow a lot.
Now I can just use a keyboard shortcut (or click on the menu) and quickly choose between all my "standing" poses.
Basically, it uses metadata, but it doesn't have many flaws of Smart Content (like losing the filter when you briefly select other stuff), it's much faster and it has much bigger thumbnails.
Content Bookmarks
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/mf-content-bookmarks
With this, I can finally use Content Library.
I've set many bookmarks to the products I use the most, and now I can quickly find them, without losing the Smart Content filter I'm using.
I also use it for custom files and for specific categories, such as Iray Shaders (I find them easier to use in Content Library).
Of it, I don't like that I have to set them every time I update Daz Studio, or I format Windows, because they're not saved properly as custom actions.
Scene Optimizer
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/scene-optimizer
You only need this if you have VRAM problems.
As you probably already know, Iray won't work if your scene doesn't fit your VRAM. (Actually, your CPU will render it instead, but CPUs are so slow in Iray that I don't even check the option, so that I can use my PC while it renders without any performance hit).
It allows you to quickly reduce the textures size. You can even see how far each surface is from the camera, and choose what to do with it.
It also allows you to reduce other parameters, to ultimately drastically reduce your VRAM consuption.
Its main downside is that it needs to save the reduced textures elsewhere: in my experience, when I've formatted Windows, or switched to another PC, I've lost them. So, when I opened old scenes where I had used Scene Optimizer, I had to re-apply the default materials. Not a huge deal, but I think it's worth pointing it out.
Another tool you may find useful if you have VRAM issues, is Iray Memory Assistant.
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/iray-memory-assistant
It's not very clear to use, since you just need a single number shown in its interface, that corresponds to the VRAM usage of your scene.
It's not perfect, since it's a calculation, but my testings have shown that it has just a 10% margin of error. I use it when I'm working on big scenes that may not fit my available VRAM.
Look At Me Pose Control
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/look-at-me-ii-pose-control
I don't know how I'd set up my scenes without this tool from RiverSoftArt.
No more spending minutes to look for the right pose, that will never truly satisfy you.
With Look At Me Pose Control, you can make someone look at the camera, at something, at another character, or even make two characters look at each other.
The first version only worked on eyes, head and neck poses, while this new one works on the torso as well.
I'm sorry to see that the first version is not available anymore: I actually use them both everyday. Yes, you can move the neck and head only with the 2nd version too, but the next time you'll want to move the torso, you'll have to readjust every slider.
Adjusting the slider is a problem, because I feel like at 100% they move the body too much, especially if you apply them multiple times, as another figure/prop/camera moves, so I use them at 25%. But if you zero the slider, then you have to reapply the 25% to all the sliders again.
This way, I use the 1st version when I've already set the body pose and I want to only move the head, and the 2nd one in the other cases.
I even have 8 small shortcuts for these two products in my interface, because I use them basically in every single render.
It's not perfect. I hate that it has "move eyes independently" checked by default, and when you uncheck it sometimes it doesn't remember it.
If the eyes move independently, all of your characters will be cross-eyed. It's not a problem if you're looking for that, but it is a problem if it's not done on purpose.
That said, I still think it's one of the most important tools you can put in your library.
Iray Ghost Light Kit
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/iray-ghost-light-kit
New version: https://www.daz3d.com/iray-ghost-light-kit-3
I've not linked at the 2nd kit because I never use it.
Lighting is the most important, and also the hardest, part of setting a scene for Iray.
Having a proper HDRI is a good starting point, but I feel like, for indoor scenes, ghost lights are necessary.
I put a ghost light, from the 1st kit, on every light source (windows, glass doors etc.).
Just remember to play around with the included warm and intensity settings, to make it look more natural: for example, it wouldn't be realistic, most of the times, to have the same light strength on both sides of a living room, since the light rays from the Sun won't enter the room with the same intensity from both windows.
For that, I prefer the 1st kit, because the ones from the 3rd kit look a bit too strong to me.
A cool tip I can give you is to make instances (Create->New Node Instance) of the first ghost light, and to move them on the rest of the light sources from that wall: whenever you'll edit the first one, the other ones will be edited as well.
At night, just remember to turn them off making them not visible.
When I make a scene, I like to put all the ghost lights and their instances in the same group, parented to the environment group, so that they'll move together, and that I'll be able to turn the lights off at night with a single click.
Skin Blender
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/skin-blender
This is a situational tool, so not everyone of you will need it.
It allows you to blend two skins.
I use it during transformation, and I wouldn't suggest using it as a stable solution, since it has some artifacts.
Genesis 8 UV Swap
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/genesis-8-uv-swap-male-and-female-base
Have you ever wanted to use a female skin on a male character or vice-versa? This will fix all artifacts.
Skin Builder 8
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/skin-builder-8-for-genesis-8-females
With Skin Builder 8, you can create your own skins, apply the details (freckles, veins, moles) and the makeup you prefer to any skin, and you can also save a specific skin as a separate file.
The latter is useful when you have included tattoos etc., that create scattered files in your library, that you may lose when you format your PC.
I often start from already made figure skins, but I often edit them, adding fine details with Skin Builder 8.
It's also very easy to find the perfect eyes color, makeup or brows with it.
Brow Remover
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/brow-remover-for-daz-studio
If you want to use different brows, and the starting figure doesn't have a no-brows materials option, you can remove the brows with this tool.
As always, remember to backup the new material files if you're planning on formatting your PC.
Then, to replace them with new brows, you can use Skin Builder 8, browse the Anatomy category (to see if some of your figures products have universal brows), or use one of these nice sets:
https://www.daz3d.com/beautiful-brows-for-genesis-8-females
https://www.daz3d.com/super-natural-brows-merchant-resource-for-genesis-8-and-3-female
https://www.daz3d.com/bold-brows-fibermesh-for-genesis-8-males
By the way, toph has just made me notice that beautiful brows, the 1st of the 3 products I've just mentioned, has a script for the removal of brows included: it works as intended! So, if you get that set, you don't need brows remover, at least for female figures.
Ultimate Iray Skin Manager
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/ultimate-iray-skin-manager
Honestly, you probably don't need this one, but I use it a lot.
It makes the standard parameters of the skin you're using more accessible, in order to edit them fastly with in a simple interface.
Differently from the above-mentioned tools, it doesn't create new files, so it's easy to open the same scenes after you've formatted your PC.
There are similar tools for lights (Iray Light Manager Pro) and for cameras (Camera View Optimizer), but since I don't use them, I won't link at them.
Wet And Tanned Skins
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/wet-and-tanned-skins-for-genesis-8-bundle
You can already make tanned skins easily with Ultimate Iray Skin Manager (or playing around with the Translucency parameter), and Skin Builder 8 already has some tanning lines options.
Plus, there are some freebies options to make the skin wet.
And it creates custom files that you may lose without a proper backup.
But, overall, it's a nice tool.
Beard Boss
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/cc-beard-boss-for-genesis-8-males
This is all you need to make proper beards/mustaches/goatees. No more buying a figure just to get his beard!
Shave This
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/cc-shave-this--body-hair-for-genesis-8-males
I think that male bodies without body hair look very unrealistic. This fixes the problem!
Just remember to hide the hair when your character has clothes covering them, otherwise you'll have to hide them in Photoshop.
For women, you can find Vellus on the store, but I don't really use it. Anyway, these are the links:
Face: https://www.daz3d.com/peach-fuzz-facial-vellus-hair-for-genesis-3-female-s
Body: https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-vellus-hair-for-babina-8
Fit Control
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/fit-control-add-on-for-genesis-3-and-8-bundle
Just apply the morphs to the relative clothes, and you'll be able to lengthen them, to fix some pokethroughs etc.
After Mesh Grabber, it has become less useful, but it still keeps its role as one of the best Daz utilities.
If you really like it, and you want to spend more, there are some addons for it, that will give you a more detailed control, but their value/price ratio is lower.
Be careful to not overuse it, because, as with dForce, it creates custom geometry that will be saved with the scene, and you may end up with huge save files of over 100MB.
Ultimate dForce Bed
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/ultimate-dforce-bed
Single bed: https://www.daz3d.com/ultimate-dforce-single-bed
Don't let the name fool you: the bed itself is not dForce, but the bedsheets and the duvets are, and they look great.
You could use a primitive plane, apply a cotton shader and the dForce modifier (Right click on the Simulation pane->dForce->Add dForce Modifier: Dynamic Surface), but with this product the final result will probably be better.
Sometimes the material from the bottom of the duvet compenetrates the upper part, so you'll need to fix that in Photoshop.
In every house I use, I replace the original bed with this one. But I have to hide it for scenes not set in the bedroom, otherwise it's very heavy and it requires a lot of VRAM.
In general, if you move the characters and you want to simulate again, just clear the Simulation: you don't need to save a scene before the simulation.
Lately a squishy mattress has come to the Daz store (Link: https://www.daz3d.com/dforce-squishy-mattress), but I've found it quite slow and hard to use (it requires animations), and the results are not optimal, so they require constant tweaking. But it's probably the best way to have a proper dForce mattress.
Still, I prefer the bedsheets and duvets from Ultimate dForce Bed.
Honorable Mentions
I check the store every day, but I still haven't tried out some products that look promising.
Maybe you have, in that case let us know in the comments please!
Then there are some products I do like, but that I don't use very often, such as
Shader Presets
ColorWerks Hair Shaders
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/colorwerks-hair-shaders-for-iray
Blending: https://www.daz3d.com/colorwerks-extreme-hair-texture-blending-for-iray-and-dforce-hair
I wouldn't suggest to you to purchase hair texture products. All you need is ColorWerks Hair Shaders.
These packages basically have any color you may ever need, and the 2nd one even allows you to create fashion blending options.
I love to use the same shader presets on the hair, brows and body hair, to have a very consistent color.
Others
Basically, check JGreenless profile, they are the best and they have made a ton of high-quality shader presets for basically everything, that you can often find in great sales: https://www.daz3d.com/jgreenlees
If you need the links to some specific packages, I'd pick these ones in each category:
I've linked a ton of shader presents, but I probably use more than that. Many products (like environments) have some shader presets, and with time your library will grow.
I find them much more useful than textures, since you can easily apply them everywhere, and they're mostly high-quality.
Be careful, some products weight a lot, because of the huge variety of big textures they include.
It would be nice if the Daz store indicated the storage space needed to install each product.
Figures
Not much to say here. Basically, most figures from these creators are top-notch:
Morphs
Basic Ones
The following morphs were made by Daz itself, and they are used by many other products, so they're the first ones you should buy.
They have stuff like height, fitness, weight etc., so I can't imagine using Daz without them.
If the default range is not enough for you, you can always edit it (click on the wheel on the top right of that parameter->parameters settings->edit min and max values).
RareStone's Face Morphs
Female: https://www.daz3d.com/rarestone-s-face-morphs-collection-for-genesis-8-female
Male: https://www.daz3d.com/rarestone-s-face-morphs-collection-for-genesis-8-male
They're basically all you need to get almost any face you want. Best buy.
200 Plus Head And Face Morphs Bundle
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/200-plus-head-and-face-morphs-bundle-for-genesis-8-female-s-and-male-s
If you want even more morphs, this set from Zev0 is great as well.
If you already have the basic morphs, RareStone's, Zev0's and some figures you like, you probably don't need more for the head/face: remember the introduction about loading times.
Bend Control
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/bend-control-bundle-for-genesis-8-female-s-and-male-s
I use it to give a more realistic look to hips and knees when the character has an unusual pose.
Shape Shift
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/shape-shift-bundle-for-genesis-8-female-s-and-male-s
These morphs are for the whole body, and they have most of what you'll need.
Growing Up
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/growing-up-bundle-for-genesis-8-female-s-and-male-s
If you want to have a younger character, you don't need to buy specific figures: this set, always from Zev0, will allow you to apply youth morphs to any figure.
Aging Morphs
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/aging-morphs-bundle-for-genesis-8-female-s-and-male-s
They are the opposite of Growing Up, for your old characters!
Killer Legs Morphs
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/killer-legs-2-0-morphs-for-genesis-8-female
If you care about legs a lot, this is a great morph package.
Expressions
When it comes to expressions, a must for me is that they have to be sliders.
This way, I can mix multiple expressions as I like them.
And I can quickly zero an expression going to Posing->Currently Used while having the head selected (to quickly find the head, maybe because you want to frame the viewport/camera on it, select the figure in the Scene pane, and click on the head in the PowerPose pane), instead of resetting the pose normally, since, with many morphs installed, it takes an eternity to do that with the head.
Then, I don't like it when PA include partial poses (either in expressions or body poses), because their only function is to disorganize my library.
I know expressions are technically poses, but I think they deserve their own category.
The most important products, once again, are those by Daz itself. They are used by many other products, they're amongst the most expressive ones, and you can zero them out very quickly:
My favorite products are (in order of what I like the most)
Then, basically anything from JWolf, the master of expressions: https://www.daz3d.com/jwolf
The only problem with JWolf is that they are the ones doing expressions for all those bundles, so every set is thought for a specific figure: they'll be usable on other ones as well, especially if you have that figure installed, and they'll look great too...most times. Because some times they look different, or they're not totally compatible, with other characters, especially if you used many morphs to create them.
Poses
Interacting Figures
These sets of poses are useful if you want to have a "plug-n-play" pose for two/three different characters that are interacting.
Sadly, you'll still need to fix a lot of stuff yourself, because your characters will probably have different shapes than the ones used by the PA to make the poses.
By the way, to easily fix the hands and fingers pose, just frame the viewport/camera on the hand, and use the PowerPose pane.
When you choose a pose package to buy, don't let yourself be fooled by the number of poses included: first of all, if they're not of proper quality, you don't need them; then, sometimes products may be inflated by mirror and partial poses, that you can easily apply yourself. Some products only flood your library, without adding any value.
I know that, because I had to check every single product I had installed, and delete most of them. That resulted in a snappier and easier experience.
If you want to apply a total-body pose to just part of the body, select that part, and CTRL+click on the pose you've chosen.
My favorite are (in random order)
Other Poses
I think this category is where the Daz Store could improve the most: it's not easy to find poses that look natural.
It's easy to find model poses for pinups, but I usually look for natural ones.
These are my favorite (random order):
Environments
General Tips
There are no specific tips to give about environments: whatever you like and fits your needs is probably a good purchase.
The only products I regret buying are single rooms: when I create my stories, I need complete and cohesive houses. I have no use for a single bathroom, kitchen or bedroom: when you mix them together to create an actual home, it shows.
Even worse than those are sets with just part of a room.
There are, of course, exceptions if your goal is to render specific pinups.
I'm generally not fond of using HDRIs instead of actual environments, because I think they look worse and less realistic in general.
So, I can't list for you everything that's worth buying, because that will depend on your needs and preferences, but I can list some of my favorite creators of environments: whenever they release something, it usually ends up in my wishlist, if not directly into my cart.
Specific Products
But there are some specific products that I really like, and that can be used multiple times
HDRIs
As I've said in the previous chapter, I don't use HDRIs as environments: that's very resource-efficient, but I don't think it gives good results.
Instead, I use them as skies and general light source. Indeed, I almost never use distant lights, spotlights, point lights etc.
And because of that, I don't use HDRIs that have some sort of background, but only skies.
I definitely dislike using flat planes with photos, a tendency that I notice is spreading in the store. Again, resource-efficient, but very poor results, in my opinion.
Quick Iray Outdoor Presets
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/quick-iray-outdoor-presets
This set has two problems: the blur is too strong, so I deactivate it every time in Render Settings->Environment; it has no clouds.
But with it, you can quickly get appropriate general lighting, for every part of the day.
You can easily create great-looking clouds with this other product, but they are quite heavy, if you don't have high-end hardware: https://www.daz3d.com/cloudscape-creator--hero-clouds-for-iray
Cloudscape Creator - Bare Sky HDRIs For Iray
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/cloudscape-creator--bare-sky-hdris-for-iray
The creator of the previously mentioned clouds creator, has also made this cool skies packages.
They look completely neutral, so this is not the right package if you want to look at the sky. But if you have privacy glass on your windows, it's pretty good.
If you want to add already made clouds to it, DimensionTheory has also made this product: https://www.daz3d.com/cloudscape-creator--sky-cover-for-iray
SY Sky System Iray
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/sy-sky-system-iray
This set is not as good as the previous ones, but it's still one of the best!
Winter Moon
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/orestes-iray-hdri-skydomes--winter-moon
I like this set for night skies better than Quick Iray Outdoor Presets solution.
Abstract Style
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/orestes-iray-hdri-abstract-style
Orestes has made many great "surreal-looking" HDRIs, but this one is my favorite.
Lights
I've already talked about Ghost Lights in the Utilities chapter.
Now, let's talk about my favorite lighting sets. I've tested countless of them, and there are some nice options that I won't mention, because the following ones are my favorite.
LI Incandescent
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/li-incandescent--portrait-lighting-for-iray
The only bad thing about this set, is that it makes everyone create gorgeous renders, being completely plug-n-play.
The set also includes a great camera and light props that you can use everywhere.
iRadiance
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/iradiance--light-probe-hdr-lighting-for-iray--expansion-5
There are several slightly different sets with this name, they're all good, and you don't need them all.
LY Leonine Pro
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/ly-leonine-pro-hdr-lighting
This is another great set.
Film Noir Portraid Studio
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/film-noir-portrait-studio
If you're interested in making black and white artistic renders, this is the way to go!
Yes, you can get black and white renders lowering the saturation, but it won't produce the same results.
Wow Lights
Link: https://www.daz3d.com/studio-light-pro-hdri-iray-wow-lights
This is a great set for outdoor lighting where you don't need to show the sky.
I have to say I completely disagree with the suggestion to remove the roof in indoor scenes.
Hair
It looks like creating hair is one of the hardest things in 3D modeling, because few creators can create astonishing hair, and I think that hair for previous generations look really old nowadays.
From time to time, I use the strand hair tool myself, but the results are only usable if I'm looking for a "horror look", or if the hair is very short.
Of course, this advancement comes with resource-intensive hair, especially if we're talking about dForce ones.
Again, I can't list here any product that's worth buying. Instead, I'll link at my favorite hair creators.
Wardrobe
This is one of the spheres where Daz shines, since there are many great PA who create clothes, and it's basically impossible to list them all.
Some of my favorite PA are
Accessories
The Daz Store is full of great accessories, and I have no intention of listing them all.
Instead, for this chapter I'll list a few specific products that I was happy to buy.
Keep in mind that many outfits you'll buy will already have some accessories included.
Eyeglasses
Alt Style Glasses: https://www.daz3d.com/alt-style-glasses-for-genesis-8-males-and-females
There are other viable sets, but this is the one I use the most.
Watches
Male: https://www.daz3d.com/luxury-watches-for-genesis-8-male-s
Female: https://www.daz3d.com/stylish-watches-for-genesis-8-females
There are not many watches sets around, but these two will cover most situations.
Rings, Necklaces, Earrings etc.
Esha has made several great sets: https://www.daz3d.com/esha
I like MikeD's Rock Jewelry:
- Female: https://www.daz3d.com/md-rock-jewelry-for-genesis-3-and-8-females
- Male: https://www.daz3d.com/md-rock-jewelry-for-genesis-3-and-8-males
Hand Salon can be useful, and it also includes some nice shader presets: https://www.daz3d.com/hand-salon--fake-nails-and-jewelry
Mattymanx has realized some nice jewelry: https://www.daz3d.com/mattymanx
Gorgeous Rings is a set for male: https://www.daz3d.com/gorgeous-rings-for-genesis-8-males
Piercings
Female 1: https://www.daz3d.com/piercing-collection-for-genesis-8-female-s
Female 2: https://www.daz3d.com/alternative-piercing-pack-for-genesis-8-female
Male 1: https://www.daz3d.com/piercing-collection-for-genesis-8-male-s
Male 2: https://www.daz3d.com/alternative-piercing-pack-for-genesis-8-male
I don't use most of these piercings, but I've used some of them countless times. It's a nice set to cover that part of your library.
Props
I don't have any particular tips about Transportation, so I won't write that chapter.
Props are such an enormous topic that it's hard to summarize here.
One tip I feel you may found useful is to check the description of environments you're considering purchasing: some of them have great props included, that you may use however you prefer.
I have already mentioned dForce beds in the utilities chapter.
A creator who has saved me more times than I can count is maclean, since with his "Everyday" series he has realized countless useful props: https://www.daz3d.com/maclean
I feel the need to shoutout at esha, who has created the most detailed props product I've ever seen. It's about computers: https://www.daz3d.com/computer-gear
Sometimes I've found it useful to have some lettering sets at hand, like these ones:
THE END
After 7 hours of research and writing, to put my personal experience regarding Daz Store purchases black on white, this guide comes to an end.
Everything that has been said, as stated in the introduction, is subjective: your experience may vary, and you may find useful just part of this guide.
Because of this, my guide continues in the comment section, where you can read the opinion and suggestions of different people, with different experience and needs! :D
I hope you'll find this useful, and I wish you a great day!
This is completely subjective and new users should be aware of that. Maybe change the tilte to what "I: would buy since half of what you mention I have no interest in or use for.
Thanks for your contribution, FSMCDesigns.
I have added that it's subjective in the introduction. I'm sorry if I hadn't specified it more before, I thought there was no need for that.
You're welcome if you want to share some good products, or if you want to say precisely what products I've mentioned you find useless or of bad quality, because I've tested them all personally, and I think they're all very useful and masterfully done.
This is not a list of all the products I've used, but of the ones that I find the best.
I'm not telling anyone to buy everything, otherwise I wouldn't write the relative descriptions.
If you don't need clouds, don't buy the clouds products. But if you need them, there's the one that does a better job, according to me.
I'm not trying to fool anyone: the first paragraph explains that I have "only" 3 years of experience.
I see you have at least 10 years of experience, and that you've worked for Electronic Arts etc. But I don't recall any buying guide from you that has helped me.
I don't recall any guide of that sort, so I had to figure it out all by myself.
So, I think this is a steady starting point for new users. Otherwise I wouldn't have put so much effort into writing it.
There's nothing you can do in life without receiving some criticism. "There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing" Aristotle.
I've decided to put a lot of effort into this guide, that will require, in the end, around 10 hours of my time, so I guess we agree that it's only fair that I choose its title.
I could have spent that time on my work, instead I've decided to use it to help others that may need these suggestions.
I would have paid for a guide like this 2 years ago, it would have saved me so much money, and my renders and workflow would have been so much better!
Of course, it's still my personal humble opinion.
In all fairness, FSMCDesign didn't say he found anything useless, or of bad quality, just that many of the items in your list were not of interest or use for him.
Personally, I find myself agreeing with part of your list and there may be things I will check up a bit more later on, but I also find myself disagreeing a fair bit. The biggest one is when you claim that plants are useless (the part of pc+ freebies). They may be useless for you, but they certainly are of much use for me :) Still, there is some things on the list that I am going to check up, so thanks for that :)
Which is exactly the point FSMC was making.
I'm confused now, I'm well aware that was his point, I just wished to give my opinion as well, not sure if that was wrong though *somewhat confused*
I was emphasizing it for Lenio's benefit, not disagreeing with you.
Ah, that explains it. I was a tad bit confused lol probably have too little coffee in me still :)
You're welcome, letting people explore new things was one of the reasons I chose to write this! :D
I consider something useless TO ME if I don't have a use to it.
Sorry guys if I don't add a subjectivity assessment under everything I write, but the guide is already very long, and it would be even longer if I had added them!
Regarding plants, I have taken the freebies, but I have not installed them. That means that I don't mind having one more freebie, but I don't find it useful to me right now.
Sorry if I won't answer comments related to that particular quote, my focus now is on completing the guide!
I'd be happy to hear if there are some wonderful products, according to your experiences, that I have missed!
I agree with this, there's hell of a lot in the list that isn't neccassary and a lot I would never use some of the things there you don't need to buy you just need to learn how to do it in DS itself.
Mesh grabber for example why not learn dformers first before buying things.
And I won't mention that the list Shaders hasn't got a single shader in it, they are all shader presets.
Using phrases like 'Never Buy Texture Sets' is so subjective I'm sure the texture artists are thrilled to read that.
As for Lighting again subjective
I realise that you are trying to help but you really could be stearing people in the wrong direction, you constantly state your opinion as fact. What to buy and what not to buy depends so much on what the end goal is.
My biggest two disagree
1) Useless plants.
2) Avoid bundles.
This is a very interesting point scorpio, thanks for making it! :D
I had already specified that I use Iray, Genesis 8 and static renders. I'm going to specify that I make stories as well. That's why I consider shaders sets much more efficient than single texture packages: I can't use the same hair/outfit twice, while I can use those shaders basically anytime I want to!
You keep talking about shaders sets when what you actually referring too are Shader Presets.
As for 'making stories' that's quite open to interpretation in itself - do you mean animation, comic books, or do you mean you hope and want your single images to tell a story.
Thank you Galaxy, I've removed the mention to plants, and I'm glad you found them useful as Carola, I was probably wrong about that! :D
Thank you scorpio, I've fixed that! If you have other feedback, I'm all ears!
I've already specified that I don't make animations, but I do all kinds of the other media you've mentioned.
Insted of avoid bundle how to buy a bundle guide is useful. Bundle saves extra. I always look for bundle first even if it contains only two products.
I've already regretted deciding to write this guide when I've passed the 2 hours mark. Now I am at more than 6 xD
So I won't write that guide, also because I don't have much experience with bundles.
If you want to write one, I'd read it!
Yes, sorry, I was referring to the bundles that come out with new characters. If you need, for example, fit control for both male and female, it makes no sense to buy them separately!
I need to fix it, thank you again Galaxy, I love feedback from polite and respectful people! :D
Exactly. Same for textures, bundles or large products.
The reasons you give for not buying those yourself are totally valid reasons, but they don't apply to everyone.
You like using shader presets? Fine. That doesn't make texture sets useless. You can do very different things with textures, you're not limited by material zones for example.
You don't like items in bundles? Fine. Other people do, and for them bundles are great deals.
You have a small drive so you don't buy large products? Fine. But if you don't have drive space problems, they can be very useful.
So listing them as a general "what to avoid" is not really good advice.
Another script I find very useful is this one: https://www.daz3d.com/visualmenus. This gives me one click access to all my favorite scripts, shaders and other products (many of which you have listed above).
I would also mention Ultra Scenery, which is one of the most amazing products to come out for DS in the last year or more. However given your opinion on plants, I doubt you would have much use for it.
Hi Havos! :D
I've tried Visual Menus, but sadly I couldn't get accustomed to it!
Ultra Scenery is indeed already included in the list, and the brief mention to the plants freebies has been already removed!
Hi Leana! :D
I've changed the bundles part.
What I've said there is based on my personal experience: I regretted buying textures, because I used them very few times, considering how much they cost; I didn't consider space a problem at the beginning, but 2TB SSDs are pretty expensive already, 4TB ones are even a bigger investment. I value more having the library on SSD than having a few more items.
Since I had to spend days cleaning up my library browsing every single product I have installed, I just wanted to tell people to consider that aspect as well.
Of course, I have high respect for your opinion, as you give very valuable support on the forum.
I know those tips may not apply to everyone, but that's what I think, and so far I haven't changed my mind about them! It may happen in the future though, who knows.
Whether it's a good idea to purchase product specific textures or not depends on a lot of things:
1. How good are you at photoshop, or do you have suitable seamless textures available?
2. How are the materialzones arranged on the item? Does the item even have multiple materialzones in a suitable configuration?
3. Is the texture product more or less what you're looking for?
It boils down to: how much time will it take to create your own textures, and is that time worth more or less to you than the cost of the texture product. I'm pretty bad at photoshop, and not all outfits have an extensive material zone layout that would make the use of seamless textures possible. Effectively, that means it could take me a day, or even several days, to create a new texture for it. If a texture product offers me something suitable for ten bucks or even less (quite common with discounts), then that's totally worth it to me. Rather that, than spend ten hours making something myself that might not be as perfect as I'd like.
Hi Drip, what textures are you talking about?
I often purchase textures, in shader presets packages.
When I refer to textures in the guide, I'm talking about specific packs that are only usable on a specific outfit, hair etc.
In that case, to me 10$ is a lot of money for such a product. I think that people who have that budget on something that they'll use on just a couple of renders don't need any guide, because they make very few renders as a hobby, or they can afford everything they want on the store, good for them! :D
Honestly people do all sorts of things pigeonholing people really isn't at all helpful and a bit insulting.
For example if you are telling a series of stories where one character always wears a black coat then using a texture set often looks better than a shader preset as the texture set will have details included that the shader preset won't and thats hoping that if you want a rib or stripe for example the coat has been made so the rib stripe will run the correct way. Shader presets are not the solution to everything especially some of the ones you linked to.
Of course you could save even more money and make the shader presets yourself. They take a matter of minutes.
What is pigeonholin? Sorry, I'm not a native speaker. I read the word "insulting", and believe me, insulting anyone is really not my goal. I've just spent 7 hours to gift people something I would have really like to read when I started.
I have talked about the "making things yourself" in the guide.
Yes, textures may look better sometimes. I had already added the "please not this is controversial" to the guide, so new users won't be misled by my way of thinking, and they'll read your comments as well and find what best suits them.
Please, can you specify what shader presets I've linked to you don't like?
I've linked to shader presets I use all the time.
That said, I have no problem at all changing my mind when I am wrong. For example, when I first started I believed converters were great, but I don't use them anymore.
But I need more elements than this to realize if I'm wrong.
How about what not to buy.
... Or to be more accurate, what to be careful buying.
Add-on texture sets for clothes - and even hair.
HD morphs that are paid extra when there are tons of characters that come with HD included. Two reasons, rediculously expensive imo; they are not split (seriously!) into head and body.
Character morph packs that only provide a character morph (especially when made up using morph sliders).
I absolutely agree with you nicstt! :D
I had originally written that, but I've changed it to respect other ways of thinking.
I'd like this to be the best possible guide to help new and old users.
But I'm also having the feeling that listening to everybody may lead to just say you can't say anything. Sometimes it's better to trust your gut and to stand for what you think and what you've experienced.
Sorry your English is excellant, I didn't realise it wasn't your native language. I know you aren't trying to insult but when you talk as if the things you find useful etc are ''the thing to do'' ''the right way'' it can come across a bit like that
I'll try to explain - its putting things people ideas etc into a certain box leaving no room for variety.
Sorry I'm not very good at explaining things.
pigeonholing
1.
assign to a particular category, typically an overly restrictive one. (from the concise OED.)
Thank you very much scorpio! :D
I'm from Italy. I always read every comments. At the beginning my English was horrible, but many people have helped me along the way.
I see!
It's the same thing my friends say to me, so I assume you're right.
For this reason, I've added some sentences and notes to the guide to respect that. It's not my intention to mislead anyone, I just want to present my experience, hoping that as many people as possible will find value in it. That said, it's always my experience, I can't avoid being heavily influenced by what I've experienced.
For example, when I discovered SloshWerks hair textures I regretted every single purchase of hair textures I had ever made. Not only because I think that product is top-notch, but also because I now can make brows and body hair the same color of hair. And I can keep the same color when I change hair, maybe because the character got a new hairstyle.
So, I've presented that experience of mine, so that people can consider it. If they then decide to purchase specific hair as well, I respect their will!