GUIDE - What To Buy On The Daz Store?

124

Comments

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,673
    edited September 2020

    I just made a restore head pose to remove expressions. It sort of depends on how it is made. 

     There is also Ultimate Zero, which has the ability to restore lots of things back to default... .Although you may find some unpleasant suprirses. Such as I found someones's character imbedded in one of mine, even though I had none of his elements dialed in. werid.

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • LenioTGLenioTG Posts: 2,118

    I just made a restore head pose to remove expressions. It sort of depends on how it is made. 

     There is also Ultimate Zero, which has the ability to restore lots of things back to default... .Although you may find some unpleasant suprirses. Such as I found someones's character imbedded in one of mine, even though I had none of his elements dialed in. werid.

    I haven't asked for a refund for Ultimate Zero, because it can be useful for some stuff, but I wouldn't suggest it for that purpose: it's slower than "restore default pose" and, at least in my tests, it leaves the expressions sliders on.

    If you try that freebie I've linked (that sadly doesn't work on expressions), it's instantaneous!
    Restore default pose, on the other hand, is crazy slow on big libraries.

  • Serene NightSerene Night Posts: 17,673
    edited September 2020

    Yeah, I pruned my library   and all restore functions are optimal. So time constraints aren't an issue

    Post edited by Serene Night on
  • I will said like nothing has said before:

    LenioTG: THANKS!, for your guide. laugh

    now, I just buy Bundles and utilities, but always open to other products like your guide made me rethink priorities, Thanks again!

  • doubledeviantdoubledeviant Posts: 1,186
    edited September 2020

    4. "Bundles."  Daz won't like me saying this, but a lot of the bundle purchases are justified with the "I'm saving money by spending even more!" psychology, and the purchaser ends up acquiring one or two really useful items bundled with items which go largely unused.  "But I got this Purple Banner deal . . . !"--I know you did.  Also, many of the hair and clothing items bundled have limited texture options, so they incentivize purchasing texture expansions.

    The way that I evaluate bundles is:

    1. Take a good look at the contents of the bundle and any additional items required to get the best price on the bundle.

    2. Determine the total number of items that are actually desired.

    3. Compare the number of desired items with the total price of the bundle and the additional items. For example, if the bundle is $36 when purchased with three $6 add-ons, and I want nine of the items, then I'm effectively paying $6 per item ($54 / 9 items = $6 per item).

    4. Purchase the bundle if that price per item is acceptable, or wait for a later sale if not. Buying individual bundle items on release isn't usually a good choice - you'd often pay as much for three or four items as you'd pay for buying the whole lot (assuming purple banner - this might be different without the usual extra discounts).

    Post edited by doubledeviant on
  • 2. "Textures." Hair texture expansions are utterly unnecessary, given that you could acquire one or two hair shader preset packages that will work on any hairstyle.  Words like "suckers," "saps," and "easy marks" come to mind.  It's less true for clothing, as those expansions can save a lot of time.  But I do resent when we're presented with an outfit with only one texture, only to have the same vendor (or a colluding collaborator) put a texture expansion for that outfit up for sale at the same time.   This happens often with outfits included in bundles.

    There's still older hair for sale that doesn't use the vertical UV mapping that's a prerequisite for all of those shader packages. Some of it is pretty unique and it would be unfair to dismiss it just because of age. I recently bought an old V4 ponytail to kitbash because nothing new looks quite like it, only to discover that it's mapped horizontally. Universal shaders simply don't work on it, I'll need to make custom maps based on the shader I decide to use on the other components in the style and if I change my mind about color or tiling or literally anything else, I'll have to make a whole new map.

    With that said, I completely agree that in general it makes more sense to invest in universal shader sets. There's such an amazing selection of universal options for a good 95% of stuff, both new and old. The caveat is that buying style-specific expansions is still the right/only choice for some products, but you probably won't know until you get a look at the maps. Buy the hair first to find out, you can always come back for textures.

     

    4. "Bundles."  Daz won't like me saying this, but a lot of the bundle purchases are justified with the "I'm saving money by spending even more!" psychology, and the purchaser ends up acquiring one or two really useful items bundled with items which go largely unused.  "But I got this Purple Banner deal . . . !"--I know you did.  Also, many of the hair and clothing items bundled have limited texture options, so they incentivize purchasing texture expansions.

    4. Purchase the bundle if that price per item is acceptable, or wait for a later sale if not. Buying individual bundle items on release isn't usually a good choice - you'd often pay as much for three or four items as you'd pay for buying the whole lot (assuming purple banner - this might be different without the usual extra discounts).

    It's very different. I don't get purple banners, except when Daz releases new bundles full of old content and undervalues the bits I already own, so it's almost always cheaper just to buy the individual items that I want if I need them right away. Even with three or four things, the per-item price usually doesn't work out well since I don't get all the extra discounts, because I don't buy enough bundles, because I don't get good discounts, because I don't buy enough bundles... People talk in the character release threads about these cheap bundles in their carts, but those same bundles in my cart are $60-70+ after any discounts from owned items or add-ons (but not including said add-ons). One of Tara's was over $100! Daz was puffing on something that day, and I passed. I did so much math during the Tara event and the numbers were never in my favor.

    Of course there are exceptions, like when Ashan 8 debuted during the summer PC+ event. $28 for the Ashan 8 pro bundle (people with banners paid closer to $22), and $10 for all three of my add-ons combined, including one of the loveliest characters I own (Ytar). Eleven out of twelve items in the pro bundle were highly relevant to my interests (buff male mages, paladins, and clerics). I paid around $2.55 for each wanted bundle item and a little over $3 for each add-on, none of which were discount filler. Fifteen items, fourteen of which I actually desired. Plus, Daz was handing out a free G8 pro bundle when you bought Ashan's.

    Then the event ended, bundle prices skyrocketed for those without the banner benefit, and I stopped buying them except when a heavy discount was offered as an incentive. To be fair, that got me an even better deal on Valentino 8's, I wanted eleven out of thirteen products and at $20 for the pro bundle (after tax) that amounted to $1.82 each.

  • 4. Purchase trice per item is acceptable, or wait for a later sale if not. Buying individual bundle items on release isn't usually a good choice - you'd often pay as much for three or four items as you'd pay for buying the whole lot (assuming purple banner - this might be different without the usual extra discounts).

    It's very different. I don't get purple banners, except when Daz releases new bundles full of old content and undervalues the bits I already own, so it's almost always cheaper just to buy the individual items that I want if I need them right away. Even with three or four things, the per-item price usually doesn't work out well since I don't get all the extra discounts, because I don't buy enough bundles, because I don't get good discounts, because I don't buy enough bundles... People talk in the character release threads about these cheap bundles in their carts, but those same bundles in my cart are $60-70+ after any discounts from owned items or add-ons (but not including said add-ons). One of Tara's was over $100! Daz was puffing on something that day, and I passed. I did so much math during the Tara event and the numbers were never in my favor.

    Of course there are exceptions, like when Ashan 8 debuted during the summer PC+ event. $28 for the Ashan 8 pro bundle (people with banners paid closer to $22), and $10 for all three of my add-ons combined, including one of the loveliest characters I own (Ytar). Eleven out of twelve items in the pro bundle were highly relevant to my interests (buff male mages, paladins, and clerics). I paid around $2.55 for each wanted bundle item and a little over $3 for each add-on, none of which were discount filler. Fifteen items, fourteen of which I actually desired. Plus, Daz was handing out a free G8 pro bundle when you bought Ashan's.

    Then the event ended, bundle prices skyrocketed for those without the banner benefit, and I stopped buying them except when a heavy discount was offered as an incentive. To be fair, that got me an even better deal on Valentino 8's, I wanted eleven out of thirteen products and at $20 for the pro bundle (after tax) that amounted to $1.82 each.

    That's interesting. I don't know exactly how purple banners are determined. I know you can skip bundles and still get banners - off the top of my head, I skipped Angharad, Kayo, Kwan, Celani, and Tara, but I continued to get purple banners. But I do have a lot of Pro bundles in my library thanks to various sales - which could be helping me qualify for the banners.

    I can definitely see how the value proposition would be different without the banners - the extra discounts are often quite significant when the base price is $135 or more.
  • WonderlandWonderland Posts: 7,040

    4. Purchase trice per item is acceptable, or wait for a later sale if not. Buying individual bundle items on release isn't usually a good choice - you'd often pay as much for three or four items as you'd pay for buying the whole lot (assuming purple banner - this might be different without the usual extra discounts).

    It's very different. I don't get purple banners, except when Daz releases new bundles full of old content and undervalues the bits I already own, so it's almost always cheaper just to buy the individual items that I want if I need them right away. Even with three or four things, the per-item price usually doesn't work out well since I don't get all the extra discounts, because I don't buy enough bundles, because I don't get good discounts, because I don't buy enough bundles... People talk in the character release threads about these cheap bundles in their carts, but those same bundles in my cart are $60-70+ after any discounts from owned items or add-ons (but not including said add-ons). One of Tara's was over $100! Daz was puffing on something that day, and I passed. I did so much math during the Tara event and the numbers were never in my favor.

    Of course there are exceptions, like when Ashan 8 debuted during the summer PC+ event. $28 for the Ashan 8 pro bundle (people with banners paid closer to $22), and $10 for all three of my add-ons combined, including one of the loveliest characters I own (Ytar). Eleven out of twelve items in the pro bundle were highly relevant to my interests (buff male mages, paladins, and clerics). I paid around $2.55 for each wanted bundle item and a little over $3 for each add-on, none of which were discount filler. Fifteen items, fourteen of which I actually desired. Plus, Daz was handing out a free G8 pro bundle when you bought Ashan's.

    Then the event ended, bundle prices skyrocketed for those without the banner benefit, and I stopped buying them except when a heavy discount was offered as an incentive. To be fair, that got me an even better deal on Valentino 8's, I wanted eleven out of thirteen products and at $20 for the pro bundle (after tax) that amounted to $1.82 each.

     

    That's interesting. I don't know exactly how purple banners are determined. I know you can skip bundles and still get banners - off the top of my head, I skipped Angharad, Kayo, Kwan, Celani, and Tara, but I continued to get purple banners. But I do have a lot of Pro bundles in my library thanks to various sales - which could be helping me qualify for the banners.

     

    I can definitely see how the value proposition would be different without the banners - the extra discounts are often quite significant when the base price is $135 or more.

    Many times I’m not interested in the bundle at all, but if it comes with several incentives like free products, store credit, gift card discount, etc... then it can be a great deal! I had no intention of getting the Twosret bundle but after cart jenga, it ended up completely free, even adding extra store credit to my account while giving steep discounts to many items I did want with the right stacking. I look at the Daz store as a crazy strategic game and if I can’t get a good deal, I just dump the cart and wait for a future sale (that sometimes could be the following day!)

  • LeanaLeana Posts: 11,830
    I don't know exactly how purple banners are determined.

    It really depends on the banner. Usually it's "owning a required number of qualifying items", but "qualifying item" can refer to different things, for example "any pro bundle from that generation" (in which case not purchasing recent ones won't prevent you from qualifying), "one of the N most recent pro bundles", "previous generations of that character", or even specific items.

  • Cora ReginaCora Regina Posts: 731
    edited September 2020

    4. Purchase trice per item is acceptable, or wait for a later sale if not. Buying individual bundle items on release isn't usually a good choice - you'd often pay as much for three or four items as you'd pay for buying the whole lot (assuming purple banner - this might be different without the usual extra discounts).

    It's very different. I don't get purple banners, except when Daz releases new bundles full of old content and undervalues the bits I already own, so it's almost always cheaper just to buy the individual items that I want if I need them right away. Even with three or four things, the per-item price usually doesn't work out well since I don't get all the extra discounts, because I don't buy enough bundles, because I don't get good discounts, because I don't buy enough bundles... People talk in the character release threads about these cheap bundles in their carts, but those same bundles in my cart are $60-70+ after any discounts from owned items or add-ons (but not including said add-ons). One of Tara's was over $100! Daz was puffing on something that day, and I passed. I did so much math during the Tara event and the numbers were never in my favor.

    Of course there are exceptions, like when Ashan 8 debuted during the summer PC+ event. $28 for the Ashan 8 pro bundle (people with banners paid closer to $22), and $10 for all three of my add-ons combined, including one of the loveliest characters I own (Ytar). Eleven out of twelve items in the pro bundle were highly relevant to my interests (buff male mages, paladins, and clerics). I paid around $2.55 for each wanted bundle item and a little over $3 for each add-on, none of which were discount filler. Fifteen items, fourteen of which I actually desired. Plus, Daz was handing out a free G8 pro bundle when you bought Ashan's.

    Then the event ended, bundle prices skyrocketed for those without the banner benefit, and I stopped buying them except when a heavy discount was offered as an incentive. To be fair, that got me an even better deal on Valentino 8's, I wanted eleven out of thirteen products and at $20 for the pro bundle (after tax) that amounted to $1.82 each.

     

    That's interesting. I don't know exactly how purple banners are determined. I know you can skip bundles and still get banners - off the top of my head, I skipped Angharad, Kayo, Kwan, Celani, and Tara, but I continued to get purple banners. But I do have a lot of Pro bundles in my library thanks to various sales - which could be helping me qualify for the banners.

     

    I can definitely see how the value proposition would be different without the banners - the extra discounts are often quite significant when the base price is $135 or more.

    It definitely varies a lot. Some people seem to get every one, and others (usually those who own fewer bundles) just get them when they're advertised as a sale incentive for something they bought. I only own five Genesis 8 pro bundles right now because of that and often joke about how one day I'll finally have accumulated enough through various sales and giveaways to get a purple banner... and that will trigger Genesis 9 to drop and I'll have to start all over again, lol. Part of me wishes I'd used the Icing coupon on pro bundles, and I'd buy a couple today if it could be used again, but I needed other things.

    I did get one purple banner, now that I think about it. I'm pretty sure it was an advertised benefit tied to Ashan 8, 20% off of the pro bundle for the next character release. No indication of who that might be, naturally; I seem to remember it turning out to be Kayo. There was (and still is) literally nothing of use to me in that bundle, and since the PC+ sale had ended it was 20% off a much higher starting price. So I passed.

    Haven't gotten one since, apart from a rather insulting pittance on Tara for already owning something like 35% of the bundle. I would have bought the bundles for Scar, Celani, and Twosret if they'd given me purple banners for them, but they didn't and so I didn't.

    Post edited by Cora Regina on
  • HylasHylas Posts: 5,070

    4. "Bundles."  Daz won't like me saying this, but a lot of the bundle purchases are justified with the "I'm saving money by spending even more!" psychology, and the purchaser ends up acquiring one or two really useful items bundled with items which go largely unused.  "But I got this Purple Banner deal . . . !"--I know you did.  Also, many of the hair and clothing items bundled have limited texture options, so they incentivize purchasing texture expansions.

     

    The way that I evaluate bundles is:

     

    1. Take a good look at the contents of the bundle and any additional items required to get the best price on the bundle.

     

    2. Determine the total number of items that are actually desired.

     

    3. Compare the number of desired items with the total price of the bundle and the additional items. For example, if the bundle is $36 when purchased with three $6 add-ons, and I want nine of the items, then I'm effectively paying $6 per item ($54 / 9 items = $6 per item).

     

    4. Purchase the bundle if that price per item is acceptable, or wait for a later sale if not.

    This is exactly the approach I take.

    I would add that, when counting the desired items, I only count the items I really want. I don't count items that I would use if I have them, but don't have a particularly strong need for.

  • LenioTGLenioTG Posts: 2,118

    I will said like nothing has said before:

    LenioTG: THANKS!, for your guide. laugh

    now, I just buy Bundles and utilities, but always open to other products like your guide made me rethink priorities, Thanks again!

    You're welcome Zilvergrafix! :D

    Leana said:
    I don't know exactly how purple banners are determined.

    It really depends on the banner. Usually it's "owning a required number of qualifying items", but "qualifying item" can refer to different things, for example "any pro bundle from that generation" (in which case not purchasing recent ones won't prevent you from qualifying), "one of the N most recent pro bundles", "previous generations of that character", or even specific items.

    Thanks, I didn't know that!

  • @LenioTG I feel so honoured you mentioned me, thank you so much :)

  • LenioTGLenioTG Posts: 2,118
    P3Design said:

    @LenioTG I feel so honoured you mentioned me, thank you so much :)

    It's my pleasure to have the chance to use your beautiful figures! :D

  •  

    LenioTG said:

    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.

    Thank you very much for the effort and explanations, I agree with most of it.

    I am using Daz since 2015, and these are some things I would add as useful (i.e. I use them a lot):

    Bone doctor for converting poses

    https://www.daz3d.com/bone-doctor-pose-control

    My favorite G8 female character

    https://www.daz3d.com/ly-zara-hd-for-genesis-8-female

    My favorite G8 male character

    https://www.daz3d.com/dylan-for-michael-8

    My favorite jungle

    https://www.daz3d.com/jungle-construction-kit

    My favorite HDRI

    https://www.daz3d.com/dry-mud-desert-iray-and-add-ons

     

     

  • LenioTG said:

    I just made a restore head pose to remove expressions. It sort of depends on how it is made. 

     There is also Ultimate Zero, which has the ability to restore lots of things back to default... .Although you may find some unpleasant suprirses. Such as I found someones's character imbedded in one of mine, even though I had none of his elements dialed in. werid.

    I haven't asked for a refund for Ultimate Zero, because it can be useful for some stuff, but I wouldn't suggest it for that purpose: it's slower than "restore default pose" and, at least in my tests, it leaves the expressions sliders on.

    FYI, it zeroes the expression sliders if you have "Zero Properties" checked.

    LenioTG said:

    If you try that freebie I've linked (that sadly doesn't work on expressions), it's instantaneous!
    Restore default pose, on the other hand, is crazy slow on big libraries.

     

  • LenioTGLenioTG Posts: 2,118
    edited September 2020
    LenioTG said:

    I just made a restore head pose to remove expressions. It sort of depends on how it is made. 

     There is also Ultimate Zero, which has the ability to restore lots of things back to default... .Although you may find some unpleasant suprirses. Such as I found someones's character imbedded in one of mine, even though I had none of his elements dialed in. werid.

    I haven't asked for a refund for Ultimate Zero, because it can be useful for some stuff, but I wouldn't suggest it for that purpose: it's slower than "restore default pose" and, at least in my tests, it leaves the expressions sliders on.

    FYI, it zeroes the expression sliders if you have "Zero Properties" checked.

    LenioTG said:

    If you try that freebie I've linked (that sadly doesn't work on expressions), it's instantaneous!
    Restore default pose, on the other hand, is crazy slow on big libraries.

    Now, that's VERY useful, thank you RiverSoftArt! :D

    Yes, like this is fast, and that's what I hoped to achieve in the first place!

    It could be faster in the script loading phase, but it's probably faster than manually zeroing the sliders in the end.

    alienarea said:

     

    LenioTG said:

    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.

    Thank you very much for the effort and explanations, I agree with most of it.

    I am using Daz since 2015, and these are some things I would add as useful (i.e. I use them a lot):

    Bone doctor for converting poses

    https://www.daz3d.com/bone-doctor-pose-control

    My favorite G8 female character

    https://www.daz3d.com/ly-zara-hd-for-genesis-8-female

    My favorite G8 male character

    https://www.daz3d.com/dylan-for-michael-8

    My favorite jungle

    https://www.daz3d.com/jungle-construction-kit

    My favorite HDRI

    https://www.daz3d.com/dry-mud-desert-iray-and-add-ons

    You're welcome @alienarea! :D

    I've wishlisted the HDRI!

    Post edited by LenioTG on
  • Because there are so many older products in the store that still look like they should be fantastically powerful but have been replaced by better tools or broken by a newer version of DS, just having a recent list of things people have good experiences with would have been enormously helpful when I was starting out. I did forum research but it was really easy to fall down a hole (the forum search is imprecise and I have ADHD).

    I'll definitely be passing this guide along to some folks I know who are interested in the program, thank you! :D 

  • LenioTGLenioTG Posts: 2,118

    Because there are so many older products in the store that still look like they should be fantastically powerful but have been replaced by better tools or broken by a newer version of DS, just having a recent list of things people have good experiences with would have been enormously helpful when I was starting out. I did forum research but it was really easy to fall down a hole (the forum search is imprecise and I have ADHD).

    I'll definitely be passing this guide along to some folks I know who are interested in the program, thank you! :D 

    Thank you for your kind words plasma_ring, I'm glad you're finding it useful! :D

  • ZaiZai Posts: 289

    Dunno if anyone has mentioned this yet, but my favorite lights the Cake One Click N Render HRDIs. They really are one click, then just rotate the dome to taste. Nice to have a subtle neutral backdrop with the dome on plus great lighting if you turn it off and do composites. 

    https://www.daz3d.com/click-n-render-ibl-set

  • NylonGirlNylonGirl Posts: 1,931

    When I first used Victoria 4, I wish somebody had told me don't get the Elite Body Shapes because nobody is going to support all three. And you can create very similar shapes with Morphs++, which you're probably going to need anyway. I guess non-standard morphs don't matter as much now that the clothes follow whatever shape the character is. But I think telling people what not to buy, and why you shouldn't buy it, might be more helpful than telling them what to buy. Or at least equally helpful.

  • You do not need the original product if you just want to use the HDRIs of the Dry Mud Desert Iray Add-On. The Sunset HDRI had the best light for soft portraits IMHO.

    Two things to add that are not from the Daz store:

    Paper Tiger's Quick HDRI Lighting Vol. 2 

    - it is easy to use and renders fast

    DxO Photolab (www.dxo.com)

    - I bought this a year ago for postwork, the NIK collection of filters is included. It is not a subscription product like photoshop and I'm very happy with it.

     

     

  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,905

     

    Reading the multiple thousands of posts in Novica tips and product reviews will certainly help in the knowledge department  https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/394586/new-novica-forum-members-tips-product-reviews-pt-13/p1

    Appreciate the shoutout. Yep, been doing product showcases going on seven years, with wonderful forum members contributing their experiences with the products and providing renders. We all make sure to emphasize it is our opinions and tell what we like, and if we don't like an aspect of it.  :) 

    I like having a thread with just the products referenced in a tidy list,wishing the thread much success!  yes

  • LenioTGLenioTG Posts: 2,118
    Zai said:

    Dunno if anyone has mentioned this yet, but my favorite lights the Cake One Click N Render HRDIs. They really are one click, then just rotate the dome to taste. Nice to have a subtle neutral backdrop with the dome on plus great lighting if you turn it off and do composites. 

    https://www.daz3d.com/click-n-render-ibl-set

    That's a great set, I use it! :D

    NylonGirl said:

    When I first used Victoria 4, I wish somebody had told me don't get the Elite Body Shapes because nobody is going to support all three. And you can create very similar shapes with Morphs++, which you're probably going to need anyway. I guess non-standard morphs don't matter as much now that the clothes follow whatever shape the character is. But I think telling people what not to buy, and why you shouldn't buy it, might be more helpful than telling them what to buy. Or at least equally helpful.

    You'll find the not to buy section before the to buy one! :D

  • Hemi426Hemi426 Posts: 226
    Zai said:

    Dunno if anyone has mentioned this yet, but my favorite lights the Cake One Click N Render HRDIs. They really are one click, then just rotate the dome to taste. Nice to have a subtle neutral backdrop with the dome on plus great lighting if you turn it off and do composites. 

    https://www.daz3d.com/click-n-render-ibl-set

    I love this also and use it very often!

  • hwgs1971hwgs1971 Posts: 131

    Thank-you very much for writing this! I've been using Daz for almost a year and wish I'd learned all of this a long time ago. It was very helpful.

  • LenioTGLenioTG Posts: 2,118
    hwgs1971 said:

    Thank-you very much for writing this! I've been using Daz for almost a year and wish I'd learned all of this a long time ago. It was very helpful.

    You're welcome hwgs1971, thank you for appreciating it! :D

  • hwgs1971hwgs1971 Posts: 131

    The area where I've felt like I wasted the most money was on tutorials. I've purchased a few more than I care to admit, and only one was worth the money. I started buying tutorials because Youtube videos only go so far. I'm curious if you have opinions on which tutorials are worthwhile,

  • LenioTGLenioTG Posts: 2,118
    edited October 2020
    hwgs1971 said:

    The area where I've felt like I wasted the most money was on tutorials. I've purchased a few more than I care to admit, and only one was worth the money. I started buying tutorials because Youtube videos only go so far. I'm curious if you have opinions on which tutorials are worthwhile,

    I've never bought a single tutorial!

    My learning process has been "trial and error".
    I used to browse the forum a lot (and there are many experts here), and I always chat on Discord with other Daz Studio creators.
    Sometimes, if I need something specific, I google it, I look for videos on YouTube or I just try to come up with a solution myself!

    So, I'm not the best person to express an opinion about paid tutorials!
    What surely is true, is that Daz, even if it's an easier software, requires more work to learn, due to lack of resources, compared to software like Blender, where the Blender Guru channel alone can give you a pretty great start (and no, the Daz YouTube channel is useful, but it's more for beginners).
    I had actually opened a Daz Studio tutorial channel myself a while back, but then I noticed my time was much more well spent on creating content myself, and I was sick of comments about my pronunciation: I get it, I'm not a native speaker, no need to point that out. So I closed it!

    Post edited by LenioTG on
  • hwgs1971hwgs1971 Posts: 131

    There are a couple of areas where I have not been able to improve. One is file types. There are many options under File > Save As. I only figured out Scenes and Scene Subsets. I'm sure there are many useful things you can do with other file types, but how? Where do you learn? That's why I bought tutorials. For example, I have been working on a scene that has 15 different scene subsets (so far). I just found newly released hair and clothes in Daz Store that fit the story I am trying to tell much better. Also I want to remove some LIE settings and remove some rings from a character. Now I face the task of opening and making the same modification to 15 different scene subsets, one at a time! Surely there is a more efficient way. Like in Visual Basic programming, you have a class object and changes to the parent cascade down through the child. I purchased a tutorial that promised to help you learn how to write comics. While overall it was good, they did not even mention these file types. How disappointing. Another area is organizing objects. My scenes exceed my 2080ti's 12 GB graphics card so I have to manually hide and unhide off-camera objects every time I change cameras. Surely there must be a more efficient way to do this, like marking them as being visible per camera. (Yes, I do use Groups.) I've purchased a dozen tutorials and none have helped with these basic workflow tasks. Haven't found YouTube videos that help explain this either.
    I've been a SQL and Visual Basic developer for 25 years and just found an interest in 3D modeling as a hobby last year. There is SO MUCH MORE to this than my real job. You have to understand photography, some physics, lighting is a skill all to itself, etc. That's why I have a ton of respect for graphic artists. It requires a rare skillset of art, science, and engineering. Learning this is going to take many years, that is obvious. After I get good I may try making YouTube videos myself. All I want is one that goes through each toolbar menu item and explains what it does. That's such a basic and fundamental thing, yet I have not found any tutorials or videos that do this.

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