How Many Figures Do You Own vs How Many Do You Use?
nelsonsmith
Posts: 1,336
Was recently scrolling through Smart Content looking for a figure I'd just purchased when it occurred to me that I probably haven't used a figure below Genesis 7 in years, and of the gen 7 figures I have I really only use a handfull of those, and yet it has never occurred to me to ever uninstall any of them.
The same also goes for the occassional environment that is exactly what I might want, but turns out to be optimized for 3Dlight.
I'm seriously thinking about cleaning house and simplifying my search time as well as disk space, but I was wondering how many other people have ever thought about this.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2024 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
I have a ton of V4 and M4 content (DAZ and lots of poser content), some Genesis content, some Genesis 2 content, loads of Genesis 3 content, bucketloads of Genesis 8 content, lots of Genesis 8.1 content, and a pretty good amount of G9 content. I never use smart content and still have a pretty good idea of what content I have just from the amouint of time I have been using DS. I also have a TON of saved scene files, so uninstalling content isn't an option really as it might break some older saved scenes if/when I revisit them, which I do often. Many times I may need something (props, clothing, hair, textures, ect) for a scene that I can't find in the various stores, so I have to get creative and either kirbash it or create my own, so older files come in handy at times like that. Besides, I payed for it, so might as well have it available if needed...
I've been here since late 2005 and am a semi-compulsive completeist with more dollars than sense. So I have most of the generation 1 through 4 female and male characters; roughly half the Genesis 1 through 3; and by actual count over 220 G8F.
I've used, over the years, around 20 male characters and maybe 50 of the female.
In my defense, a great majority of the characters came as a result of bundle deals that were just too good to pass up.
I have a massive amount of disk storage, so I've kept the downloads - but I've un-installed generation 1,2, and 4 and hidden the files in DIM, and I'm seriously considering doing the same with the Genesis 1, 2 and 3 characters just to clean up the content lists.
Hadn't even considered that aspect, since I do often revisit and upgrade a scene where the clothes, or environment, or even the figure wasn't what I really wanted when I made it, but I was working with what was available, or what I had.
Character models? Well, I have a license for about 160-180 characters, going back to Generation 3 (another ex-Poser user) models--none currently installed. 80% of my Generation 4 and Genesis characters are uninstalled. I generally keep about 80% of the characters, hair, wardrobe, and accessories from Genesis 2, 3, and 8 installed. I haven't really invested in Genesis 9, yet, and might never do so, and I'm using Genesis 8 about 70% of the time.
90% of my rendering is done using 15-20% percent of my content library. Favorites and standbys. Sounds somewhat wasteful, but a lot of that content was either free or purchased for less than $4, so there wasn't a major investment in the first place.
I can't imagine anyone doing this for more than a couple of years without culling their content library from time to time. Over the years, you're going to obtain low quality and obsolete/superseded items. Plus, I think most of us get bored with some genres or concepts and move on to other stuff. And sometimes I've bought period costumes but the environment and props needed to maximize the wardrobe's use never appear, so some items are underutilized.
I assume you mean characters, not figures. And yes, probably a lot - especially as there are numerous characters that came as part of the older, bigger Pro bundles and the like.
I author and illustrate digital comics using DAZ. A lot of my most liked charcters are G2 and G3. I tried updating them to G8 but my readers prefer the original look to them.
New main characters are G8 but secondary characters are G3, G2 and even G. I haven't gone any further back than that.
I log characters and morph packs onto a Google spreadsheet and that is up to 2,375 lines now. I joined midway of Gen 3, or 7, so only had a few Generations 3, 4, G1, G2, but with free bundles they have expanded. But there is one G2F I love, and the base females of G3F, G8F, G8.1F have turned out to be repeat uses for morphing from. I am not as crazy for the base G9, too pudgy. But I haven't explored all the new free characters now in the G9 Starter Essentials. I have absolutely started to slow down buying every character I see now in the store.
Last time I did an upgrade I used it as an excuse to clean up and get as much stuff as possible off the boot drive and on to a secondary drive as possible. I used dim and keywords to get most of it and then skimmed the list for anything else I wanted. My cutoff was G3 and up and scenes and props that were likely to have native iray support. I only installed the DS beta as well. Hardest thing was clearing up the lost and found folder. I have got runtimes for other stores and some older stuff that I still use in separate folders.
I still use mainly Genesis 1, 2, sometimes 3.
I have way too many because I view purchases as a form of vote/aid supporting artists I like and encouraging them to make more. The only reason I buy new characters is for the skin. I could care less about the body and head shapes. I wonder why there aren't more skin-only assets like "Perfectly Imperfect Skin". Seems it would take a lot less time to develop a skin than to go through the hassle of sculpting a complete charcter, although I've never attemted to make either one. Then don't get me started on the PA's who release the same charcter over and over again with different lighting and hair. I don't know why Daz allows them to clutter the store with the same obviously repackaged model.
Basic figures I own: M2, V2, M3, V3, F(reak)3, Aiko3, Hero3, M4, V4, F4, Gn(esis), G2M, G3M, G8M, G9
Currently use: M4 10%, Gn 50%, G2 20%, G3 29%, & G8 1%
I have tons of content, all the way back to original Vicky 1 and Mike 1. Of the generations before Genesis, I probably have more for Vicky 3 and Mike 3 than any of the others. I no longer use them. Of the Genesis line, I have only Mike, Vicky and David from Genesis 1. I still use David from that era. I also still use other figures from Genesis 2 all the way up to Genesis 9, with Mike 6 probably being the most used of the older figures. I use Genesis 8 and 9 characters the most these days.
As for sets, my favorites are, of course, Stonemason's sets. I use even my older ones like Back Alley a lot. I just convert them to Iray ;). Other favorites are AntFarm, Fugazi, Sloshworks, Polish and The Management. Oh, and Faveral - wherever he's gone ;)
There's so many good content creators at this place that I have content coming out of my ears. LOL.
Too dang many. I use maybe 50% G8/8.1, 30% G9, and 20% G3. Nothing previous to G3. I have somewhere around 200 purchased figures, and nearly 400 that I have dialed up (many of those were used only a couple of times). Too many props and sets...my plans seem to vastly exceed my available time.
I re-use maybe 50 figures on a regular basis
no idea, but a whole lot of them. Over time, I would say I used V4 by far the most. Lately, with the Genesis base figure, be it 3,8,9 ... I usually work with the base model, even though I have a ton of G8 characters. With the base I can modify it to what I;m looking for in a character. There are tons of morph packages, poses, skins, etc etc for 8 especially.
I just uninstalled two dozen figures I never use. Most G3, but some G8 too. When I started DAZ I went nuts buying figures. I'm trying not to fall into the same bad habit with G9. I.e. not buy a figure just because it's cheap.
I have stuff going all the way back to Aiko3 and Hiro3. I'm pretty much solely working with G8 now; but sometimes I go back and grab some ancient stuff to kit-bash. There are still some pretty neat old costume pieces that can be used mostly by parenting instead of fitting and doing a little manipulation. I never actually used V4/M4; or Genesis. On the advice of friends I invested into G2 when G3 had recently come out because the friends felt G2 worked better in many ways. I skipped G3 and jumped to G8. Somehow I spent an obnoxious amount of stuff on G8; I think I purchased nearly every single bundle that came out. I don't think I'll ever even get to use all my G8 stuff at this rate. My character tab is nearly two full collumns long. The future is going to have to be a LOT more restrained. I've been too much the kid in the candy store. Even those ancient 3Delight scenes can be reused with the iRay shader to at least do a basic material conversion. Then tweak them a bit to taste.
I have a metric ton of stuff for G1/G2, but right now I am focusing exclusively on G8.
I keep a folder of promo shots for things I buy. I was clicking through it recently and saying "I have no memory of that" quite a lot. Maybe I should shop on my hard drive instead of at the store.
My stuff goes back to the first generation Mike and Vicky, but I was only a poor student then and don't have tons from the eras 1-3. I left 3d for a while when Vicky 3 came out, came back in when Genesis 8 had just been released (my, what a CHANGE! DS was suddenly really really nice to use!). I bought a lot of Genesis 2 at first, because of all the historical clothes, but couldn't find many characters I liked. Then switched to G3, but soon, G8 had just so much more content, so that's where I own the most characters. I also use these the most, especially 8.1 because I like the eyes better. I've bought quite a few G9 by now as well, as there are some great-looking characters in that generation, but am kind of slow to use them yet. Dunno why, maybe just taking time getting used to their new looks.
I use iSourceTextures skins a lot, because they have these lovely pale tones, although I almost always exchange brows and eyes, and I have no use for most of the tons of makeup they always come with. For morphs, I tend to start with BlueJaunte, but try to get rid of that kind of mopey base look many of their characters have.
I have no ideal. Probably a couple of hundred and use, consistently, 2 dozen,
I mostly use toon characters or varient versions of making avatars loosely based on myself. I don't like using non-celebrities in art, as some people are sensitive about being portrayed in art (and if you've seen some of those paintings in the Prado National Museum and other museums in the world you'd understand why some people are sensitive about their likeness being portrayed in works of art. I respect those feelings.). Sometimes I try to do toon characters of TV shows or movies. Nothing serious, mostly exploratory about my own abilities and the flexibilble technical abilities of the DAZ models.
With that said, what is new and possible that I like about AI art is it helping me generate random fake faces. Facegen Artist Pro can generate random faces too for those not in the know. Will those faces resemble someone? Probably somewhat, but it won't be intentional and I won't know who so it's pretty useful for those of us that don't like unnecessarily stepping on other's toes.
I don't have the originals or version 2 of the models, however I have every model Daz released since then.
When I got started I took a liking to Genesis (first gen), and maybe also a small bit for some "wrong" reasons but ey... Point being: I never believed in the "latest = greatest" vibe and always went with what I thought was nice to have. For example: when 9 came out I had an awesome time picking up more on Genesis and G8 assets, often heavily discounted.
Thing is... when I finally discovered "Lost and Found" (the category) I was already a bit too late ;)
I once bought a nice plant filled outdoor environment, only to discover that if I had looked a bit deeper into my content library (so the physical Daz Studio library vs. the smart contents sections) ... then I would have seen that I didn't really have to buy anything!
So yah, I have more figures and props and such than I use but I can also honestly say that being able to chose also helps my creativity a bit. ... usually.
G3 / g8(.1) - no idea, but more than I'll ever need. I'd say I use about half. I don't have installed characters that I'm not interested in, things that came in bundles, that I bought to unlock discount or simply early on because they were really cheap and I didn't have many characters (or knew what I was doing) at the time. Sometimes I do salvage some things, like partial morphs or some skins with interesting tats or make-ups.
G9 - I did get a few, but I'm very selective. It's been about a year since release now, and my impression of g9 is jutst as bad as it was on release. I'm only buying characters I find exceptional (as far as g9 can be, that is), or if they're really cheap and needed for discounts (they may or may not be installed); enough time passed for me to be sure I'll mostly only use g9 for portraits and if I want to use specific items made for it, that I can't get to work satisfactorily on g8.
How many do I have? Way, way too many. How many do I use? Well, I build libraries of characters to use in illustrations, and I have more than one iteration of that library, since I have rebuilt my main G1 library with G8. I do have a secondary library which is still primarily G1, but that one is only about 20 characters and rarely gets used.
The one of G8 characters currently has about 80 characters in it, and there is also a group of about a half-dozen G3 characters which get used for one particular older project which occasionally gets an update. Additional characters do get added periodically as various projects require them. And there are a handful which have alternate iterations like semi-'Toon, or not. Or kid versions of adult characters.
No clue, but it's well up in the thousands, I'm sure. As to how many are currently in use.... that's hard to say as I never use a commercial figure as-is, and a lot of sets I buy are just for the skin textures, an included fiber hair add-on, or even just the eyes, and they're constantly rotating.
I do this. I'm generally not interested in the morphs unless it's something really unique. I'm usually buying for textures or included fiber hair. And I have also bought just for eyes or eyebrows.
Right now I use Genesis 8 as my go-to figure. But I own and have used every figure since Viki and Mike 1.0 ( when DAZ was Zygote).
Same... When I got fed up with the loading times, one of the first things I did, was going through every character, dialing them to the textureless Dev Load figure and found some 40% of them to have either unbelievable geometry or looking just too bad to be used.
Removed the morphs but kept the material presets for some. Things that struck out, was how similar some characters were and how some characters didn't change the base figure much at all.
That's a good idea! I stopped buying from some vendors a very long time ago because there was barely any difference in the morphs from one character to the next and sometimes the same textures (including makeup) were used for multiple characters. No point paying over and over for something I already have. That being said I'll use any generation, even Poser 4 characters. But I'm much, much more selective about what I buy now.