Suggestions for "End of 2024" discount purchases for new users?

Narkon

I have read a few "Genesis 8 vs 9" discussions already so I won't open another topic; I am open to both. The only thing I know for certain is that I have zero experience so I have no idea what I need to start and that I don't want to become a pro, so I am looking at it as a creative outlet. Nothing more, nothing less.

I am fully aware that a cool and expensive asset in the hands of a beginner won't necessarily produce a great result, but I also believe that having shortcuts or assets that make your life easier when you start can produce results that can encourage you to continue trying.

With that in mind, is there an asset/bundle in the current "End of 2024" sale that you think is worth its price? Something you wish you had from day 1 if you were starting now? For example, something like Shape Shift for Genesis 9, Genesis 8 Body Morphs, textures, hair-related assets, or even a full character bundle to test and play with?

Thank you, and I wish to all of you a happy and prosperous 2025.

 

Halcon Bluesky

Narkon Start little by little.

Don't rush!

When I started, I wanted everything I would like to start with.

Now, you can start with free items, these are available here every two weeks in the https://www.daz3d.com/free-3d-models

There are other places that offer free items as well, you need to have a membership and be able to get the items you need.

When there are offers with discounts, if its good, go for it.

Everything is needed, Environments, Props, Characters, Hairs, Poses, Tools and so on.

I do enjoy using Daz Studio, there are so many things to do with it.

My latest project is a birthday picture.

So I have very limited time to complete my project.

Whatever you want to do, do it with what you have, then buy what is needed later.

barbult

Welcome to the Daz forum!

V3D Iray Light manager Pro and V3D Super Save are some of my most used utilities. They are in the Grab Bag Sale. They are probably not things that a brand new user is looking for, though. You are probably more interested in content that you can render in your scene. The advice to start out slow is good advice. Make sure you want to keep using Daz Studio, before making a huge investment in it.

Here I some things to consider before you jump in too deep:

In the "old days" I would have recommended joining Daz+ right away, to get 30% discount on all Daz Original items. There used to be occasional sales where you could get a whole year's membership for $35 or less. That isn't true anymore. Daz has raised the price to a non-discounted $9.99 per month subscription. That makes it less of a good deal. Daz has also created a higher tier subscription with more perks for $18.98 per month subscription. Think about how much you intend to buy each month and determine whether any of these benefits are economical for you. Still, starting slow is good advice. There is a saying (and even a forum thread) "There's always another sale". Don't let yourself be intimidated into buying too much too soon. Add things to buy later to your Wishlist.

The two main render engines currently used in Daz Studio are Iray and Filment. Iray is the more realistic render engine and Filament is more cartoon-like. Filament is only available on a PC at this time (not available on Mac platform). To get efficient use of Iray (avoiding many hour long renders) you need a fairly good NVIDIA graphics card.  Only NVIDIA brand cards will accelerate Iray rendering, because Iray is an NVIDIA product incorporated into Daz Studio. An NVIDIA 12 GB RTX3060 is often recommended as a good entry level card for price vs. Performance. 32 GB of RAM on your PC motherboard is also a good starting point, although you may "limp along" with 16 GB on your motherboard. The Filament render engine uses the PC's CPU and renders almost instantly, but is generally not photo-realistic.

When you shop in the store, the product page should say whether the product contains Iray materials, Filament (FilaToon) materials, or the much older seldom used 3Delight materials, which will be listed as "Daz Studio Materials". Know what you are buying.

Daz has a 30 day return policy, which can get you a refund on something that you buy that doesn't work for you. The refund an item, you submit a help request to the Sales department.

Go right away to https://www.daz3d.com/free-3d-models and "purchase" the free content that interests you. Just put it in your cart and check out for $0.  The free Genesis 9 items are a particularly good deal for a new user. The Daz Horse 2 Starter Content is also a good deal in that same section. Be aware that clothing and hair products for older character generations may "auto fit" to later generations, but the quality of the fit will vary. Clothing and hair for the character generation you are using will almost always be a better bet. Daz calls this page of free items "Weekly Freebies", but they only change them every two weeks.

When shopping in the Daz store, be aware that almost every day there are advertisement typos, unclear fine print, coupons and offers that don't work. If you find something that doesn't seem to work as advertised, it is par for the course. Report it in the forum thread https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/685096/new-year-new-sales-thread-report-issues-here-reporting-only#latest and forum administrators may be able to get Daz to fix the error before the end of the day's sale. Keep an eye on that thread for reports from other people to alert you errors they have found.

Read the Forum Terms of Service  so you follow the forum rules and don't get your posts deleted!  Administrators are vigilant in enforcing the rules. Many of us have had a post or two (or more) deleted for statements that were deemed unacceptable or images with nudity. If you need to post a nude image to demonstrate some problem, it must be an untextured image (no skin, just gray for example).

AsuCafe

The only problem for me with 8 or 9 is money, tons of tools with the same functionality have to be purchased again.

It is not difficult to use clothes or hair in different generations, but there is no way to morphs and skin, you can only buy it again.

https://www.daz3d.com/200-plus-head-and-face-morphs-bundle-for-genesis-8-female-s-and-male-s

https://www.daz3d.com/shape-shift-bundle-for-genesis-8-female-s-and-male-s

https://www.daz3d.com/fit-control-bundle-for-genesis-8-females-and-males

A few months after I bought these for the G8, I bought the G9 version, of course, you can also choose similar products from other PAs.

https://www.daz3d.com/directors-lights-and-camera.

https://www.daz3d.com/iray-ghost-light-prop-kit.

The lighting tools I often use, of course ghost lights can be made by myself, but I'm lazy.

As for other things, it is recommended to buy them only when you encounter difficulties in making them.

Oh, and that Render Queue you can't buy, I'm sure there are alternatives.