Digital Art Zone

wancow - 05 June 2012 12:19 PM

3DProclivity - 05 June 2012 10:48 AM

Blender, but the GUI of the latter gives him a headache, all that clutter.  (That is not the first time I have heard that about Blender!)

More later.

You might have heard me screaming about that from the mountaintops! I can’t stand Blender’s UI.

Yeah, haven’t met too many people who say they like the interface, just that they love what they can do with the program once they “get used to the GUI.”

Hey y’all, I’m hoping to hear word on the product Light Master.  Could you please start a new thread on your modeling conversation?

Fanks.

Indigone - 05 June 2012 03:09 PM

Hey y’all, I’m hoping to hear word on the product Light Master.  Could you please start a new thread on your modeling conversation?

Fanks.

I don’t really have anymore to say atm about the modeling course.  As for your question, you have received some pretty good advice but not an exact answer to your inquiry.  if you are in the US, just call DAZ’s 800 number tomorrow and ask them on the phone if the price is right.  Otherwise you could wait in these forums a very long time for accurate feedback.  Not sure how hard or easy this thread is to find or if the right person will stumble in here to converse with you.  I bumped into the topic by accident.

If you aren’t in the US, let me know and I’ll call for you.

3DProclivity - 05 June 2012 03:56 PM

Indigone - 05 June 2012 03:09 PM

Hey y’all, I’m hoping to hear word on the product Light Master.  Could you please start a new thread on your modeling conversation?

Fanks.

I don’t really have anymore to say atm about the modeling course.  As for your question, you have received some pretty good advice but not an exact answer to your inquiry.  if you are in the US, just call DAZ’s 800 number tomorrow and ask them on the phone if the price is right.  Otherwise you could wait in these forums a very long time for accurate feedback.  Not sure how hard or easy this thread is to find or if the right person will stumble in here to converse with you.  I bumped into the topic by accident.

If you aren’t in the US, let me know and I’ll call for you.

Thanks so much.  I know I’ve received (and used!) all the good feedback.  I’ll call tomorrow, I am in the U.S.

Indigone - 05 June 2012 05:38 PM

3DProclivity - 05 June 2012 03:56 PM

Indigone - 05 June 2012 03:09 PM

Hey y’all, I’m hoping to hear word on the product Light Master.  Could you please start a new thread on your modeling conversation?

Fanks.

I don’t really have anymore to say atm about the modeling course.  As for your question, you have received some pretty good advice but not an exact answer to your inquiry.  if you are in the US, just call DAZ’s 800 number tomorrow and ask them on the phone if the price is right.  Otherwise you could wait in these forums a very long time for accurate feedback.  Not sure how hard or easy this thread is to find or if the right person will stumble in here to converse with you.  I bumped into the topic by accident.

If you aren’t in the US, let me know and I’ll call for you.

Thanks so much.  I know I’ve received (and used!) all the good feedback.  I’ll call tomorrow, I am in the U.S.

Excellent. 
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BTW, for what it is worth, if you want to sample the DL tutorials and get some firsthand information about whether they are right for you or not, DL has a $2 one-week trial on LightMaster at his website right now.  (Got an email notice about it today and paid the $2..)  You can watch/download the welcome video, the first module videos, and several others (including one of the live training sessions that was recorded).  Not the whole course but it will help you make an informed decision together with the pricing info you get tomorrow.

Yet another new product
3D Pin-up Master (NSFW image at the top of the screen)
Link removed by a mod
$37 for a limited time but this includes the $47 Light Master training. Good deal for anyone wanting to take the $47 course.

Please remember that a warning isn’t enough - links to pages with nudity, that don’t have a filter requiring registration to see the image, are not permitted.

Quality of product from Dreamaster seemed to crumble around twelve months ago. I was a big fan of the early course products and downloads, but then things went very quiet - as mentioned above. The last lighting course I purchased consisted in the early stages of virtual backboard scrawling - I never completed the ‘lectures’ and gave up on Dreamlight, especially when the mailing list began to be used for non-3D product spam.

In short, my experience is that the product quality can vary from excellent to abysmal. Caveat Emptor.

Nysalor - 14 July 2012 04:05 PM

Quality of product from Dreamaster seemed to crumble around twelve months ago. I was a big fan of the early course products and downloads, but then things went very quiet - as mentioned above. The last lighting course I purchased consisted in the early stages of virtual backboard scrawling - I never completed the ‘lectures’ and gave up on Dreamlight, especially when the mailing list began to be used for non-3D product spam.

In short, my experience is that the product quality can vary from excellent to abysmal. Caveat Emptor.

I got both the modeling and Lighting courses recently.  Nearly finished the first but haven’t started the second.  Both courses were done in video with good resolution.  My assessment of the modeling course content is that it had a lot of useful information for me after the first four modules.  Before that I thought I had made a mistake purchasing it, even for $47, because it was painfully slow and repetitive (which, to be fair, might be fine for an absolute beginner).  Plus, it contained a lot of unsubstantiated claims/assertions.  By module 5 though it got much better. One could tell he really enjoyed modeling and was adept at Lightwave.  The overview videos, however, don’t really add anything to the course and should either be dropped or redone imho.  Overall, I got my money’s worth out of the modeling course.
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Regardless, I’m not too happy about purchasing the Light Master course since there is now a far better deal that includes more than that course and is $10 cheaper.  I’m still within my 30-day refund period but a refund doesn’t seem very likely given the plethora of emails on the subject not too long ago.
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Actually, speaking of refunds, I’m not sure why the website touts a 30-day money back guarantee though because when people asked for their money back because of radical differences in prices within a few days of one another, they were told there would be no refunds, that sales happen yadda yadda.  (I know this because I got emails explicitly saying that refunds would not be given to those who bought the $97 version of the Modeling course a few days before the cheaper one came out.)  Mind you I don’t disagree that sales happen, but if one is going to place a no-questions-asked refund policy on the website then there is no basis to deny refunds requested within that time period.  DAZ certainly has never done that to me no matter if it was day 30.  I don’t care if he is going to post special stuff for those who paid more or not.  It was their choice according to the guarantee under which they made the purchase.  At the least there should have been a credit for the difference.
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FWIW, I wouldn’t discourage anyone from getting a course they found interesting or any of the products for sale.  Just be sure you can live with what you pay regardless of what it might be offered for later.  Personally though I’d rather purchase DL stuff here.  It is hard to beat DAZ customer service and return policy that really is no-questions-asked.

If you paid via paypal, I’d raise a dispute if he wouldn’t give you the money back. From what I was reading elsewhere I don’t think the Moneyback guarantee applies to the dreamlight training courses but Daz wasn’t advertising the fact.

anikad - 15 July 2012 10:33 PM

If you paid via paypal, I’d raise a dispute if he wouldn’t give you the money back. From what I was reading elsewhere I don’t think the Moneyback guarantee applies to the dreamlight training courses but Daz wasn’t advertising the fact.

The money-back guarantee I was talking about is on DL’s website at the end of every course advertisement page I’ve seen, not here. (See next post for exact wording.) I have never had any problems getting money back for products purchased at DAZ regardless of what it was or what my reason was, even when I was the one at fault (i.e., buying something I already had!).  They didn’t ask me why but I usually told them anyway.
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Actually, to be clear, I have not asked for a refund yet for any products I purchased at DL so I will not say he won’t give me one.  But I did receive emails indicating that such requests presumably made by others were denied for the reasons I have already discuss.  That said, I may still ask for a refund.  Not sure.  I am not at all interested in the new pin-up course and find the ads for it somewhat tasteless, but the fact that the two courses cost $10 less than the one I bought isn’t sitting well with me.  However, that alone is not enough to make me return the course.
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The decline in forum participation and quality of customer service mentioned above might be temporary, might not.  We’ll have to see.

BTW, what follows is the text of the refund policy on the DL website (the 3D course name changes but this is the text with regard to every course discussed so far):

30-DAY 100% MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE

I stand for excellence when it comes to 3D training.

Therefore, if you buy 3D Model Master and, for ANY reason feel that it is not for you, you are welcome to take advantage of our 30-day 100% money-back guarantee. No questions asked!

Now, I know this stuff works and changes artists lives. But just in case you don’t agree - I’ll reimburse your investment fully.

The risk is all on me!

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Contrast this policy with the email sent out after the first sale of $97 ended and the lite version was offered (this was not a private email btw; it was an ad.  So posting it does not violate DAZ’s TOS):
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You can now choose…

A step by step, comprehensive 3D modeling program, that will guide you from
your very first steps, to the final model and money in your hand - all
using FREE software.

And the new LITE version of 3D modeling master enables you to get a
“stripped down” version at half the price.

But you need to get it NOW…

The lite version will be taken down first week of June.

Get it here and choose how you wake up:

[Link Removed]

For those who already have the full version, no refunds are accepted.
However, an additional module and bonus features will be added to turn the
already full featured version into something REALLY extra.

Keep tweaking!

- Waldemar Belwon / Dreamlight