Heh, I just love how DAZ guys are promoting their product. It is either a blatant fraudulent advertising or an example of a very clever advertising.
On their main page when you scroll down to the cost comparison list you can see prices of DAZ and other software like Maya or Lightwave that feature some ludicrous prices between 1000$/730€ and 3600$/2360€. DAZ on the other hand is freeee! Weeee! (Well, it is sure.)
However you're in for a rude awakening when you open the software and suddenly find out that you have almost no content there. So what do you do? Pay big bucks to get all the bundles you need! ;D I think you really can go up to 1500$/1100€. :) That's just LUVLY!
Does not sound very Ethical what they do... ???
I guess it is like mmorpg.
Some you have to pay per month and i have access to full content.
And some are free but you realize that if you want to get full content, you'll finally pay thing after thing.
I think it's a matter of, are you buying a program to create content or something to use content? A program like Lightwave is specifically made to make content (and then create a scene/animation.) I haven't used DAZ Studio much but I believe it more for setting up a scene with posing, generally using purchased content. So it is a bad comparison but more for the specific use of the products and not the cost.
DAz is great if you know how to make your own stuff anyway. I use it to make base models of human figures. It saves me lots of time doing busy work. Then I move to Maya and get things the way I want.
I have not bought anything yet from Daz. But Im going to buy a few things to save me even more time. Basic things that Im tired of doing my self... Some poses, some clothes maybe. Stuff like that. mostly I want to make everything my self. But somethings are just better to buy.
I kinda like the Daz and poser buy/sell business model. It gives a lot of people a chance to make a few extra bucks. I just hope that Daz (and other retailers) do not take too much money from the content creator's sales. (?)
I really like this software because of the fact it is so easy and user-friendly. Why, I don't even use Poser at all to create human models!
It IS annoying all the same that every little byte that could help you out in DAZ Studio comes at a cost. Just yesterday I was looking for "Measure Metrics" that allows you to measure distances, height etc. only to find out that this pathetic, little plugin is worth 50$/37€! I mean... HELLO!? In TG we get this along with the software!!
@ Badger - When it comes to artists' royalties I think that it depends on whether they work regularly with DAZ or are just "one-time" contributors. If you plan on buying anything from DAZ I would definitely suggest getting Vicky, Steffi and Giani (but 6th generation only.) These bundles give a good array of possibilities.