What do I do now?

blargyblue

So at first I was all excited because I have a great free program which is professional level.

Then I try to find and start it and instead it takes me to an install thing or download thing. I go to My Account and Product List and download it after finding out here I have to download the 32 bit file.

Then I tried to run it just to explore the program. But it needs a key. I try to copy and paste the key and it won't let me.

I just downloaded 4.6 so now it all begins again. So much just to be able to open it the first time. By that time I am frustrated and want to throw my computer off the desk.

So now what. I don't know what to do once I open the program, if I ever do.

I also don't know what Daz is for. What do you do with it? And what are those things people buy? The people, the furniture, the animals? What do you do with those? What CAN you legally do with those? Why do you buy them?

I know it is a lot of questions and frustrations but I don't know what to do with my new toy and I want to take it for a spin. I don't mind learning but I hate teaching myself because I can waste a lot of time thinking I am learning and find out later I am learning it all wrong or there is a much better way.

So now what? Thanks for any help.

Update: OK so great, I can't even install 4.6. I downloaded the basic, 32 bit zip file, and tried to open it in downloads and nothing happens. Also I got the free shading thing too, just today, and it has 3 choices for download in the product list in My Account. I have no idea which one to download. I know this site is for professionals but a lot of people might become customers for life if it wasn't so hard to figure out for us absolute newbies.

Scott Livingston

Hi blargyblue,

I have put together a guide to downloading and installing DAZ Studio that will hopefully help you get started: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/19194/ (I haven't updated the guide for DAZ Studio 4.6 yet but the process hasn't changed significantly with the new version)

For the product key, try typing it in manually instead of copy-paste. Sounds odd, but I've heard of others who had trouble when they copy-pasted it. It should run without a product key, but the "pro" features will be disabled.

In terms of discovering what the software can do and how to start using it, I'd recommend checking out the 3D University video series by Dreamlight: http://www.daz3d.com/help/help-daz-3d-video-tutorials/ Many of the videos are free, and they have enough information to get you started.

Briefly, think of DAZ Studio as a virtual photographer's or cinematographer's studio. You can set up a scene with various actors and props, set the lighting and the camera angles, and take pictures or shoot video (animation). The software comes with some content, but the more you buy the more options you have in terms of what to put in your scene (there's also a lot of free content available, and much of it is high quality). You can also make your own content, but you'll need a separate modeling program (like Hexagon, Blender, zBrush, etc.) to do that. Any rendered images or videos you make are yours to do whatever you want with: sell them, use them in video games, use them in marketing campaigns, make your own movies, etc. Of course, most of us just render for fun.

There are other things that you can't do, at least not without a license, including distributing the 3D mesh of something you acquire here in a video game or other format, altering a commercial product and reselling it (the product, not a rendered image) as your own work, or making objects of DAZ 3D content using a 3D printer. Also note that some content available from other sources is not licensed for commercial use (everything at daz3d.com is licensed for commercial use, except for this: http://www.daz3d.com/anna-marie-goddard-digital-clone)

You can find the full details on what you are or are not allowed to do here: http://www.daz3d.com/eula

Hope this is helpful, and feel free to ask if you have more questions or run into any trouble! :)

Proxima Shining

What is it for? You load a 3D figure, clothe it, pose it, add some lights and background, then render an image. Some people use it to create comics and graphic novels, others for book covers and illustrations. Some simply create pictures for fun. You can use the pictures you created for anything you want (commercial things too). Or you can do an animation, which you can put on Youtube or use it in a video game (but only the rendered animation, not the figures themselves). The figures and props that we buy here (people, clothing, animals, furniture etc.) are all used for this.

If you are skilled enough, you can create your own 3D items which you will use in DAZ studio (you must use a different software, like Hexagon, because Daz Studio is not intended for content creation), but most people here are not as skilled, so they buy the stuff.

To install DAZ studio, it would be better to close your antivirus software and firewall first, sometimes those can interfere and try block the instalation (they did on my PC).

blargyblue

Thank you both so much and I apologize to everyone who posted to me in this and other threads to which I'm only now responding again. I don't remember what happened...whether I forgot my log in or couldn't get to the posts from email or what. Today I logged in and somehow figured out how to find old posts. (Last time I checked it said they were no longer in existence!)

I want to get through all my fits and starts and create. That's what I really love to do. And I love other creative people too. So it means more than I can say, that this is a welcoming community.

It's really good to hear I can use things I buy at Daz for visual purposes. Ideally I would like to create my own humans at least (I probably would not be as interested or good at non living things, for me not as interested in usually means zero time spent perfecting skills.) Maybe creatures or animals too. My real love is the individuality of human beings, making 'characters.' I was beginning to study 'character animation' when I first took ill.

So that's also why sometimes I will be gone from forums a while...although I don't want to go into that much.

Anyway back to happier subjects, I hope to find a WSYWIG program in which I can push and pull like clay (virtual clay) to model human faces and bodies...and do that from scratch - maybe eventually get good enough to sell those and meantime to use them in my own creative endeavors. Whether that would be at first some short cartoons or later a video game, depends how good I would become at it, I think.

I also want to made avatars for virtual worlds. Some use mesh now. In the in world creator for avatars, for Second Life, my work was ripped off because they make it so easy and many users don't even think it's wrong to do that. Their in world avatar creator reveals the coordinates for each plane, which people can then easily copy. Others remake part of an avatar (usually the body since the faces are harder to make appealing and interesting and individual) and then make a new copy with their name as creator of the entire thing.

I absolutely loathe copyright violations especially as it's happened to me. (I also write and it's happened to me with online writing, too.) So I would never even want to reverse engineer or remake part of someone else's creation and market that as my own. That would be repugnant to me. Also that would be no fun! The fun is IN the creating of something new. I'd much rather create from scratch or as close as possible.

Feel free to ask any questions and thanks for any info and help.

Novica

Also, my Art Studio thread began when I first started, and as I learned, I posted. There is a LOT of information there- and when I goofed up or found something that didn't work, I posted that as well. There are also links to to the best information from the forums, with a reference section by TOPIC so if you need to know about something, there it is. My buddy Scott-L will get thirty lashes with a wet noodle for forgetting my existence over there in the Art Studio!

My cohort in crime Serene Night and I do product reviews almost on a daily basis, so you can see what we recommend for newbies (how things work out of the box or does it require a lot of tweaking.) So just cruise into the threads linked in my signature. And ask us questions about any of the posts, we don't mind at all. I started the thread with newbies in mind, there are light tutorials (all with step by step images.)
Also, watch my videos in my signature. And have fun!

JOIN THE PLATINUM CLUB- you will save a TON of money and I feature a LOT of stuff from there. For instance, both these buildings were just reviewed- I am in progress of combining two sets. (See image.) We give you creative ideas such as flip that floor and use it as a backdrop! and which sets combine well with others, what parts of what outfits go well with others (called kit-bashing) etc. If you aren't in the Platinum Club, you're throwing money away. You can get a wealth of products- almost five times the products- for the price of one thing at full price. And you get discounts on the other products.

EDIT: Photo below shows steps in a tutorial.

blargyblue

Wow - what a great and friendly and informative post - thank you so much!

It's a great community of people, here.

I will look into all your advice. Thank you!