Was there any photo references in the store?

Sfariah D

I thought there was a photo reference of an older guy in the store.  I thought I got it but I cannot remember what is its name.

DestinysGarden

It was called Barefoot Mike or something along those lines. I got it too, but it was pulled from the store years ago. It would still be in your account history. Search your product library for barefoot or Mike and it should come up.

Cybersox

There also used to be an "Elite Texture Resource" that was composed of both clothed and unclothed photos of the real life Reby Sky, and that's also disappeared from the store.  That was by Randall Loyd, who's still a PA here, so it's not just a case of the original artists leaving.

Male-M3dia

Cybersox13 said:

There also used to be an "Elite Texture Resource" that was composed of both clothed and unclothed photos of the real life Reby Sky, and that's also disappeared from the store.  That was by Randall Loyd, who's still a PA here, so it's not just a case of the original artists leaving.

He left and came back. So that item wasn't resubmitted to the store.

Chuckdozer

DestinysGarden said:

It was called Barefoot Mike or something along those lines. I got it too, but it was pulled from the store years ago. It would still be in your account history. Search your product library for barefoot or Mike and it should come up.

It was the Mike Barefoot Nude Male Photo Reference; I bought it and returned it.... He was an older guy with terrible skin and really nasty looking feet (because he walked around barefoot all the time, hence the nickname "Barefoot"). The overly blemished skin, and really nasty looking feet were the main reasons I returned it.

chris-2599934

Cybersox13 said:

clothed and unclothed photos of the real life Reby Sky

I'm guessing that one sold better than the one of the older guy with nasty feet.

Male-M3dia

The Reby Sky reference was a shipped item as well, so I guess that was a cost as well.

Cybersox

chris-2599934 said:

Cybersox13 said:

clothed and unclothed photos of the real life Reby Sky

I'm guessing that one sold better than the one of the older guy with nasty feet.

I don't know.  I got a free copy at the DAZ booth at SIGGRAPH one year along with a boxed version of Bryce 6 (Bryce 7 was already out), so that implies that they had a bunch of them just lying around. The whole Reby Sky thing was a weird tangent for DAZ in any case, but I would think that if it had been a huge hit we might now be looking at a store filled with licensed digital versions of other celebrities.   

Male-M3dia

Cybersox13 said:

chris-2599934 said:

Cybersox13 said:

clothed and unclothed photos of the real life Reby Sky

I'm guessing that one sold better than the one of the older guy with nasty feet.

I don't know.  I got a free copy at the DAZ booth at SIGGRAPH one year along with a boxed version of Bryce 6 (Bryce 7 was already out), so that implies that they had a bunch of them just lying around. The whole Reby Sky thing was a weird tangent for DAZ in any case, but I would think that if it had been a huge hit we might now be looking at a store filled with licensed digital versions of other celebrities.   

I'm doubting that. Photo references of people are expensive, especially of people that are relatively famous. Also considering what some do with these characters, I doubt many would agree to do them. That's why there the 3d.sk site were everyone gets their references from. Most of those people need the money, so the references are affordable. I think the reby reference set me back at least $50; and $50 is several months subscription at 3d.sk with unlimited access to all their references, I don't think it could compete.

Cybersox

I was talking specifically about authorized figure likenesses, not texture sets.  It's my understanding that that's what most of the elite series of V4 figures actually were, it's just that no one knew the names of those models.  Of course "relatively famous" is really kind of the qualifier here.  I'd never heard of Reby Sky before DAZ announced the model, and in this day and age there are lots of people who'll do anything to get famous.  I'd certainly agree that you'd almost never get a major actor or model to agree to do something like that once they hit it big, but if the money had been there, I could easily see that there would be people on the lower tiers of famehood who would have done it... former centerfolds, Paris Hilton, Anthony Weiner...  :)               

Sfariah D

Cybersox13 said:

There also used to be an "Elite Texture Resource" that was composed of both clothed and unclothed photos of the real life Reby Sky, and that's also disappeared from the store.  That was by Randall Loyd, who's still a PA here, so it's not just a case of the original artists leaving.

I had that but lost it when I moved to Raleigh from Richmond.  Long story short it got left behind.

Male-M3dia

Cybersox13 said:

I was talking specifically about authorized figure likenesses, not texture sets.  It's my understanding that that's what most of the elite series of V4 figures actually were, it's just that no one knew the names of those models.  Of course "relatively famous" is really kind of the qualifier here.  I'd never heard of Reby Sky before DAZ announced the model, and in this day and age there are lots of people who'll do anything to get famous.  I'd certainly agree that you'd almost never get a major actor or model to agree to do something like that once they hit it big, but if the money had been there, I could easily see that there would be people on the lower tiers of famehood who would have done it... former centerfolds, Paris Hilton, Anthony Weiner...  :)               

Same thing. There's one V3 still in the store and it has specific uses for the character if you buy it because of the concerns I mentioned (such as no nude or porn). I think more celebs are more protective of their brand these days and with things going more digital, if they were to do it, those characters would be expensive and very restrictive on uses. 

fixmypcmike

Male-M3dia said:

 There's one V3 still in the store and it has specific uses for the character if you buy it because of the concerns I mentioned (such as no nude or porn).

Actuslly that one doesn't bar nudes or porn, it bars using it in a way that suggests Ms. Goddard is endorsing a product or entity.

Cybersox

Fixmypcmike said:

Male-M3dia said:

 There's one V3 still in the store and it has specific uses for the character if you buy it because of the concerns I mentioned (such as no nude or porn).

Actuslly that one doesn't bar nudes or porn, it bars using it in a way that suggests Ms. Goddard is endorsing a product or entity.

Which is really only there because as a model she (Ms. Goddard) already had various inked deals involving the use of her likeness with Pepsico, YumBrands, Millar Brewing, and Colgate.  But as Ms. Goddard's primary claim to fame was being appearing nude on multiple occasions as a Playboy Playmate, she's pretty much exactly meets the profile for celebrity who would be willing to sell their digital likeness.  We're living in an era where an intentionally "leaked" sex tape can be a major boost to a career and people think nothing about sending nude images of themselves via email and bulletin boards, so the only real constriction is how much does someone stand to gain from selling the likeness.    

That said, the evidence from the two examples that have been tried would seem to point to the fact that there currently isn't enough money to be made from a DAZ licensed figure to make it feasible. Especially when there are plenty of artists out there making a few pennies by producing characters that look suspiciouly similar to certain celebs.