3D Models
3D Print Models
3D Scans
Animation & MoCap
Textures
Materials
Skin Textures
2D Game Assets
Sound Effects
Brushes & Tools
Reference Photos
Stock Images
HDR Images
3ds Max
Maya
Blender
Unreal Engine
Unity
ZBrush
Cinema 4D
LightWave
Marmoset
SketchUp
FBX
DAE
DXF
GLBFrom the point of view of a tinkerer, hobbyist, craftsman...
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Disclaimer/ a.k.a. to be clear: This is my (!) opinion (!) about software and content. There are many other people who have a completely different one. There is no reason to feel offended. I'm not here to upset anyone.
Hope it's helpful, hope it's the right part of the forum and hope my English is... sufficiently understandable.
tltr? "AI" can't do much yet, but it's already keeping people from learning something (new). I suspect that the mood will remain that way. That's why self-created 3D things and also such convenient software as Daz will have to rely more on tinkerers and hobbyists in the future. If you want to make these people happy, create multifunctional assets, give clear information about the product, don't try to copy AI and standardize (naming policy, license policy)!
The times are over when I bought and collected DS and other 3D-stuff every month. Even back in this time the render engine was a not often used. More often I tried to find something or to figure out what the product is or manipulate something similar so that I can use it in place of the searched-but-not-found. Or I tried to model something similar to learn how to do it.
And I rarely show things I've done, because if I'm using different products from different vendors, I have to (or: should) read their licenses in each case. Was I allowed to make changes? Does a name have to be mentioned? Or can I not use the products together at all because they are excluded from a licensing point of view, one insists on free and non-commercial, with the other it is forbidden? Do I know all "prohibited countries and entities identified in U.S. export regulations" and do I abide by them?
I can understand this. Because DS (and the creators' community) mostly sell the content independently of each other, the range of products is increasing and confusing. You as a customer can't count on products, product lines etc. Maybe there will be a relevant number of new dependent products for the purchased content (like V4, like G8 and some special character morphs), maybe not (like G8.1). And because there is little standardization (about presentation, tags, description, etc.) it's often hard to find something on the online platforms.
If you're looking for a single-use image today (and the small or larger details don't matter!) it is easier and faster to use words and online AI generators - easier and faster than finding, selecting, buying and installing a suitable product long before the real use can even begin. That's why I think that the 3D artists of the future who use DAZ will be more hobbyists who either like to do things themselves or want to have a very special result.
But for the world of hobbyists + do-it-yourselfers, DS isn't good prepared yet. And that leads to unattractive prices (I'm sure you won't hear it anymore, sorry for that, but I promise: I'll explain) for partly not very usable products in partly not very clear package contents.
You get thoughtlessly put together products.
You have costs and this is how you set your prices: You need better hardware if you create products for selling. But you should need it for your better workflow. If your better hardware leads to mindlessly putted together products, because they work well on your new, better hardware, you're leaving behind the (potential) customers who don't invest in the same new hardware every year.
What do I mean by that? A short visit to the DS shop itself showed: Simple clothes (a freebie last year), the material of which is divided into a dozen map files: A separate map for 2 buttons, a separate one for the collar, for the pockets and so on. And this noticeably reduced mental work does not lead to falling prices. Quite the opposite. Another one I didn't buy (it was enough for me to look in "Whats included"): 80 texture maps for 2.5 pieces of underwear. In one (!) new design, stretched by a few Photoshop clicks over 5 "new colors". Mindlessly put together. Cost? Over $15 for a texture pack.
Of course, you could and can pay about the same price for G3 texture packs, but that's for full body clothes, 15 different materials, 5 different colors, 5 different prints in just 25 manageable maps.
It's not clear what you're buying.
Additionally then and now I saw a big lack of transparency. For a product I would buy I wish not much just: a clay render, a wire(shade)d render, clear material zones and a rendered product without any post work or stuff whose is not included. Maybe an image frontally, from left and right, if a (face) morph is included.
You can make impressive promo picture, the product in different scenes, whatever attract attention or inspire. But please think about (new) customers like about artisans and tinkerers (not just about the easy-avatar-creator anymore): It's nice to see the axe you want to buy in different lights in front of different backgrounds in hands of different models. But at the end of the day what counts is whether the axe is stable, well sharpened and has a good balance. That's what interests me, especially with digital products where I can't complain about poor quality and return them.
If you were inspired by cultures other than your own, say so. I don't have a fundamental problem with it. But you want to make money with it, then be so good and read something beforehand or be open about the fact that your work is only "inspired by...". This is only fair and respectful towards customers and culture.
Not the 5th copy, please.
I understand that well-functioning products are often copied (and some platforms force vendors to duplicate their content). But there should be a point where this copying/ reinterpreting ends. How many maiden-outfits can the customers need? How many Sci-Fi corridors, how many poses of standing women, how many steel bikinis called "armor" could be used?
There are, of course, fewer people interested in niche products, but since there are already enough mass-produced goods (and AI that has "learned" from it and is now reproducing it), it can be worth it.
So: maybe try something special? No joke: Do your research.
Despite of many "medieval" labeled assets there are very few real medieval but a lot of horned helmets, riveted leather armor and shoulder furs (there was a real Middle Ages, long before Wagner operas and their sets).
And there are many more "gaps": a large Pre-Raphaelite gap, an 80s grunge gap, a baroque and an Art nouveau gap. Now there is not much about folklore, myths and legends, most Japanese, European and Lovecraftian. The non-white culture section, as mentioned above, is often uninformed and clichéd and could use an update.
Enable flexibility.
What could mean: good UV mapping. Working with material zones. Put some useful information about the possibilities in a file, i.e. for faster rendering, changing color etc.
Maybe it's not the only idea to sell a weapon with other similarly textured weapons and poses (to hold it in hands). Maybe it could be nice to sell them with a matching suitcase or a sword or weapon belt. Or with a cape that covers almost the entire weapon. Or with a bracket for walls. A bit of tools and a small workbench? A magazine, sanding utensils, a visor? Or add a distinctive texture map pack to UV mapping to allow the hobbyist to visually adjust existing assets?
2 last thoughts to AI.
AI make the the most common, predictable outcome. It can recognize patterns and mix them together. But it can't distinguish between right and wrong, B-movie from the 60s and historical illustration. And I don't see that changing in the near future (because "a lot of training data" and "correctly selected data" are mutually exclusive).
I see it in such a way that the currently foreseeable AI development can take DAZ a step forward if DAZ does not try to be like AI (and refrains from shady business practices). What I think content creators could do is here. Of course, I can be completely wrong about that.
We wish you a good, creative, successful year 2025!
Hope it's helpful, hope it's the right part of the forum and hope my English is... sufficiently understandable.
tltr? "AI" can't do much yet, but it's already keeping people from learning something (new). I suspect that the mood will remain that way. That's why self-created 3D things and also such convenient software as Daz will have to rely more on tinkerers and hobbyists in the future. If you want to make these people happy, create multifunctional assets, give clear information about the product, don't try to copy AI and standardize (naming policy, license policy)!
The times are over when I bought and collected DS and other 3D-stuff every month. Even back in this time the render engine was a not often used. More often I tried to find something or to figure out what the product is or manipulate something similar so that I can use it in place of the searched-but-not-found. Or I tried to model something similar to learn how to do it.
And I rarely show things I've done, because if I'm using different products from different vendors, I have to (or: should) read their licenses in each case. Was I allowed to make changes? Does a name have to be mentioned? Or can I not use the products together at all because they are excluded from a licensing point of view, one insists on free and non-commercial, with the other it is forbidden? Do I know all "prohibited countries and entities identified in U.S. export regulations" and do I abide by them?
I can understand this. Because DS (and the creators' community) mostly sell the content independently of each other, the range of products is increasing and confusing. You as a customer can't count on products, product lines etc. Maybe there will be a relevant number of new dependent products for the purchased content (like V4, like G8 and some special character morphs), maybe not (like G8.1). And because there is little standardization (about presentation, tags, description, etc.) it's often hard to find something on the online platforms.
If you're looking for a single-use image today (and the small or larger details don't matter!) it is easier and faster to use words and online AI generators - easier and faster than finding, selecting, buying and installing a suitable product long before the real use can even begin. That's why I think that the 3D artists of the future who use DAZ will be more hobbyists who either like to do things themselves or want to have a very special result.
But for the world of hobbyists + do-it-yourselfers, DS isn't good prepared yet. And that leads to unattractive prices (I'm sure you won't hear it anymore, sorry for that, but I promise: I'll explain) for partly not very usable products in partly not very clear package contents.
You get thoughtlessly put together products.
You have costs and this is how you set your prices: You need better hardware if you create products for selling. But you should need it for your better workflow. If your better hardware leads to mindlessly putted together products, because they work well on your new, better hardware, you're leaving behind the (potential) customers who don't invest in the same new hardware every year.
What do I mean by that? A short visit to the DS shop itself showed: Simple clothes (a freebie last year), the material of which is divided into a dozen map files: A separate map for 2 buttons, a separate one for the collar, for the pockets and so on. And this noticeably reduced mental work does not lead to falling prices. Quite the opposite. Another one I didn't buy (it was enough for me to look in "Whats included"): 80 texture maps for 2.5 pieces of underwear. In one (!) new design, stretched by a few Photoshop clicks over 5 "new colors". Mindlessly put together. Cost? Over $15 for a texture pack.
Of course, you could and can pay about the same price for G3 texture packs, but that's for full body clothes, 15 different materials, 5 different colors, 5 different prints in just 25 manageable maps.
It's not clear what you're buying.
Additionally then and now I saw a big lack of transparency. For a product I would buy I wish not much just: a clay render, a wire(shade)d render, clear material zones and a rendered product without any post work or stuff whose is not included. Maybe an image frontally, from left and right, if a (face) morph is included.
You can make impressive promo picture, the product in different scenes, whatever attract attention or inspire. But please think about (new) customers like about artisans and tinkerers (not just about the easy-avatar-creator anymore): It's nice to see the axe you want to buy in different lights in front of different backgrounds in hands of different models. But at the end of the day what counts is whether the axe is stable, well sharpened and has a good balance. That's what interests me, especially with digital products where I can't complain about poor quality and return them.
If you were inspired by cultures other than your own, say so. I don't have a fundamental problem with it. But you want to make money with it, then be so good and read something beforehand or be open about the fact that your work is only "inspired by...". This is only fair and respectful towards customers and culture.
Not the 5th copy, please.
I understand that well-functioning products are often copied (and some platforms force vendors to duplicate their content). But there should be a point where this copying/ reinterpreting ends. How many maiden-outfits can the customers need? How many Sci-Fi corridors, how many poses of standing women, how many steel bikinis called "armor" could be used?
There are, of course, fewer people interested in niche products, but since there are already enough mass-produced goods (and AI that has "learned" from it and is now reproducing it), it can be worth it.
So: maybe try something special? No joke: Do your research.
Despite of many "medieval" labeled assets there are very few real medieval but a lot of horned helmets, riveted leather armor and shoulder furs (there was a real Middle Ages, long before Wagner operas and their sets).
And there are many more "gaps": a large Pre-Raphaelite gap, an 80s grunge gap, a baroque and an Art nouveau gap. Now there is not much about folklore, myths and legends, most Japanese, European and Lovecraftian. The non-white culture section, as mentioned above, is often uninformed and clichéd and could use an update.
Enable flexibility.
What could mean: good UV mapping. Working with material zones. Put some useful information about the possibilities in a file, i.e. for faster rendering, changing color etc.
Maybe it's not the only idea to sell a weapon with other similarly textured weapons and poses (to hold it in hands). Maybe it could be nice to sell them with a matching suitcase or a sword or weapon belt. Or with a cape that covers almost the entire weapon. Or with a bracket for walls. A bit of tools and a small workbench? A magazine, sanding utensils, a visor? Or add a distinctive texture map pack to UV mapping to allow the hobbyist to visually adjust existing assets?
2 last thoughts to AI.
AI make the the most common, predictable outcome. It can recognize patterns and mix them together. But it can't distinguish between right and wrong, B-movie from the 60s and historical illustration. And I don't see that changing in the near future (because "a lot of training data" and "correctly selected data" are mutually exclusive).
I see it in such a way that the currently foreseeable AI development can take DAZ a step forward if DAZ does not try to be like AI (and refrains from shady business practices). What I think content creators could do is here. Of course, I can be completely wrong about that.
We wish you a good, creative, successful year 2025!
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