Daz 3D
 | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. (February 2012) |
| File:Dazlogo.png | |
| Company type | Software Developer |
|---|---|
| Founded | Draper, Utah (2000) |
| Founder | Dan Farr and Chris Creek |
| Headquarters | Draper, Utah, United States |
| Website | www.daz3d.com |
DAZ 3D Inc. (formerly DAZ Productions, commonly referred to simply as "DAZ") is a developer and broker of 3D graphics software and content. DAZ is most known for its popular line of articulated 3D figures and the large, enthusiastic community that has developed around them.
DAZ (Digital Art Zone) is notable for its business model of giving away a product (DAZ Studio) and generating profit from digital content sold in its large web-based marketplace to be used with the software. DAZ develops in-house content with its own staff and also brokers content created by individual artists.
The primary focus of DAZ's in-house content development is its line of elaborately articulated 3D human figures. The "Victoria" line of figures is the most well-known and has been in development since 1999. The figures can be loaded into 3D posing and rendering applications (such as DAZ's own DAZ Studio or Smith Micro's Poser) to be posed or animated and then rendered. In addition, a wide variety of clothing, hair and other accessories are available for purchase which can be applied to the figures to achieve different looks.
A variety of other support content is available from DAZ as well including such categories as vehicles, buildings, trees and plants, furniture, weapons, etc.
DAZ also develops and brokers a number of other 3D related applications and products.
History
DAZ originated as a division of Zygote Media Group, Inc. creating content for the application Poser. In December 2000, DAZ branched off from Zygote, and became a freestanding corporation under the leadership of Dan Farr and Chris Creek.
In 2007[update], the company changed its name to DAZ 3D to match its website and to better clarify its identity.[1]
In December 2009 it was announced that DAZ had merged with Gizmoz, a developer of 3D face-mapping technology and 3D avatars for use in virtual worlds.[2]
Main applications
- DAZ Studio - DAZ's free application for posing, rendering, and animating articulated 3D figures.
- Carrara - A general purpose 3D suite including modeling, animation and rendering.
- Bryce - A 3D modeling, rendering and animation program specializing in fractal landscapes.
- Hexagon - A subdivision modeler with 3D painting features.
- Mimic Lip Sync Studio - A special utility for generating lip synced animation with Poser or LightWave figures.
Figures
Listed here are DAZ's main figures. Currently nearing the end of its 4th generational course, all characters listed are but scales of the two main Unimesh male and female models, Victoria & Michael in respective gender. Before in the 3rd Generation, all characters were separate base figures of their own unique anatomical proportions, mostly as either an exploration of diverse body styles or merely the response to complaints addressed about the original structures of Michael and Victoria.
Genesis
DAZ's recent innovation, a unisex model that can be fitted with various morphs and textures to create female and male figures, as well as children, animals, and fantasy creatures.
Female Figures
- Victoria - A realistic woman based on the proportions of a runway model; DAZ's most popular and well supported figure.
- Stephanie Petite - A sister figure with a self-explanitory surname created to correct the stockier proportions of Victoria.
- Aiko - An anime-styled female with a much smaller body frame and a significantly larger head and eyes.
- The Girl - A cartoonish-styled female that resembles classic 1940's idealism with features such as a tiny waistline and broad hips as well as facial features that include exaggeratedly small eyes and extruded cheeks.
Male Figures
- Michael - A realistic male equivalent for Victoria.
- David - The male equivalent for Stephanie Petite. However, David has been discontinued from further development and user vendoring due to the corrections made in Michael 4.
- Hiro - The male anime equivalent for Aiko.
- The Freak - A male figure with super-human size bulging muscles in an unrealistically exaggerated equivalence to the Girl.
Child Figures
Like the adult model David, just about all of the non-adult characters have been discontinued in any further development or vendoring due to the Unimesh figure of the Kids, a unisex toddler-like figure morphable to user gender preference and the only other original Generation 4 base figure separate from Michael & Victoria. As previously stated, all listed characters are Generation 3 models, but in this case created in the basic age ranges of childhood.
- Matt and Madison - Male and female pre-school figures sold as a set and the original identities of the Kids.
- Luke and Laura - Male and female teen figures sold as a set.
- Millennium Baby - An unnamed asexual infant.
Creature Figures
A small list of a wider variety of creatures include:
- Millennium Dragon - A detailed mythological dragon.
- Troll - A monstrous bipedal creature.
- Trogolyte - Similar to troll but bigger in size.
- Angor - A goat-like bipedal creature.
- Goblin - A Goblin.
Animal Figures
Realistic animal models of the following:
- Millennium Dog - A dog figure which can be configured into different breeds.
- Millennium Cat - A cat figure which can be configured into different breeds.
- Millennium Horse - A horse figure which can be configured into different breeds.