User interface of DAZ Studio Version 1.7.1.5 |
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| Developer(s) | DAZ 3D |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 4.0.3.19 / 18 November 2011[1] |
| Operating system | Windows XP or later Mac OS X Leopard or later |
| Platform | IA-32[1] |
| Size | 440 MB[1] |
| Type | 3D computer graphics |
| License |
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| Website | www.daz3d.com/studio/ |
DAZ Studio is a 3D figure illustration/animation application released by DAZ 3D Inc. It is compatible with most files intended for use by Poser. It is available free of charge (registration required).[2] Version 1.0 was released in Fall 2005.[3] Version 4.0.0.335 is the current release as of June 29, 2011 . Until version 1.7 it was officially known as DAZ|Studio.
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Unlike most 3D software, where 3D objects are usually created from scratch, DAZ Studio is designed to allow users to manipulate "ready to use" models and figures. It is aimed at users who are interested in posing human and non-human figures for illustrations and animation, but who do not wish to incur the expense of, or who may be daunted by higher-end 3D and CAD software. It was created as a direct alternative to Poser by DAZ Productions, the company that (as Zygote) created the built-in content for earlier versions of Poser.
In comparison to Poser, DAZ Studio uses a different core business model. Poser provides a large set of components, not all essential to the creation of imagery, in a commercially available programme. DAZ Studio provides a core free of charge program with the required features for the creation of imagery, while relegating other features to add-on 'plug-ins', usually commercially available, which the user may add.
DAZ Studio is capable of importing most Poser content, with the notable exceptions of dynamic clothing and dynamic hair. As a result of the different lighting models, lights may need to be tweaked or replaced and while textures are generally usable between the two (other than Poser node-based materials), optimum results may need slightly different lighting values for each.
DAZ Studio has a simple user interface allowing the user to add and manipulate models within the scene, add and manipulate morphs (body-shape changes), adjust the textures applied to models, add and adjust lighting and to fine-tune the render process.
DAZ Studio is bundled with a hard-linked (non-standalone) version of the 3Delight renderer. This is a RenderMan-compliant renderer. RenderMan is commonly used in the production of blockbuster visual effects. The renderer is able to render higher order surfaces like true subdivision surfaces (already implemented in DAZ Studio) and supports true 3D motion blur and depth of field. As of version 3.0, DAZ Studio has been updated to exploit more features of the 3Delight render engine. Some advanced features may still require use of an exported scene file and the stand-alone version of the tool.
DAZ Studio does not yet support dynamic hair, tapering of body parts, or (in the Mac OS X version) texture maps in the PICT format. Dynamic Clothing support was added using a plug-in released in 2009, however the Poser and DAZ Studio implementations of Dynamic Clothing are mutually incompatible. Other commercial plug-ins provide alternate rendering, lighting, animation and other capabilities.
DAZ Studio 3.0 was released in June 2009. The basic DAZ Studio 3.0 follows the free software model of earlier releases, retaining all previous features while adding in several new ones. At the same time, DAZ Productions introduced a commercially available version, DAZ Studio 3.0 Advanced which introduces additional features beyond those in the basic version: