There have been great sales ... but ... geez ... and more
daveso
Posts: 7,959
I keep looking and not spending... There seems to be endless sales..and I get so confused. So much cool content, and I get confused,. So much. I can't make a decision.
Will I use the stuff? Its so cool. so much. so many possibilities.
Then there's Mabel 8. Old and wrinkley..and with all the free stuff if you buy a couple of items, and the discounting... wow. But then there's more stuff that pops up..every day.
I think I'm paralyzed by too much. All the pretty lights and textures. Beautiful women... and so much more. WOW.
And I ask myself..why do I need that? Hoe many hair colors can there be? Do i need super muscle people when I can;t stand looking at super muscled real people. Howe about flames ... everything on fire. or little brat kids. and I let the BYOB 60% off go by. And I got 3 messages for additional discounts becasue I have so much stuff I get more off to buy more stuff.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2026 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Chill.
What is working for me is
a) wishlist items (regular maintenance)
b) Categorizing things in my custom categories. Before purchase, it's fairly simple to check out if I have something similar.
c) Put things in the cart, let them sit for a few hours.
d) make some rules for yourself: The item has to have something that can't be achieved with what you already have.
And if you just are impulsing, put the stuff into the wishlish when before checking out, then dump the cart. There's always another sale. It's not going to run away, and unless it is something you need RIGHT NOW for some commercial or private neccessary render, any item purchase can wait.
And... strongly suggested: take a few days off from the internet, or at least the DAZ/Rendo/Hive stores. Go cold turkey. If you have a problem with staying away from shopping, I'd strongly recommend that you seek professional help to overcome your addiction...
@daveso just concentrate on making the next render, only go shopping while a render is running and you can't do anything else instead. Like cleanse the wishlist every now and then if you have things in there that duplicate each other, throw one out, don't buy what you don't need in the near future, wihslist what you think is cool,
... rinse and repeat
on the other hand, someone has to support the PAs, you're doing a charity work, keep going ;)
Why confused? Buy what you think you need, and what you can afford. There isn't much beyond that.
You might be suffering from "Content Overload" syndrome. It's when you think you should get the items NOW to take advantage of the special pricing OR you want the items NOW because the image promos just look so nice, versus getting the items because you need them now for the project you are working on. I used to suffer from that before, but I realized I was only hurting my wallet. Now I wait until I really need them. It's a slow process and sometimes I relapse, but for the most part, I've been good.
Since I only buy male stuff I’m rarely confused by too much of anything.
What I see is a fair amount of similar content being released.
I have for example latex Iray shaders, I have 5-6 swimming pools, multiple similar g8 females, hair shaders etc. so I pass those up. They are probably excellent but I don’t need more.
there are some things I dont mind owning multiple versions of...everyday items for example.
but I think when you feel overwhelmed check out what you own already. That could help you make a better buying decision.
Yes; wait a few hours!
The only thing released I've bought immediately in the last few months is the new dforce hair Dforce Bang Bob Hair. Others rarely get bought the same day.
My wallet thanks me. :)
So many similar versions of "Coffee shop" or "Kitchen" and even Poses. Most recently multiple versions of "Cave water" type of setting. Granted there are different elements here and there, but for the most part, much too similar. Over at Rendo, a "small room" product, very similar to one another were released by Santuzi and TruForm.
yes..much the same. I have been looking for the additional items often more than the main figure. I was sticking to G3 but all of a sudden I realize I've purchased a ton of G* female stuff...
and yes, the characters all seem to look the same after awhile .. plus it possible to tweak a face to almost anything you could ever want anyway. Good skin textures are needed though, for me.
Actually..my purchasing has decreased a lot in the last couple of years. Now though, I have been buying morphing kits, etc to round out G3 to make that gen as versatile as possible,.
I think I might jump on Mabel 8 before that deal expires... I can grab some free bundles that I dont have yet..G3 stuff.... but I really dont want to spend the cash ....
If I buy food instead, I will eat it and then have nothing...whereas buying the figures and stuff, it is there pretty much forever with a mixed bag of renders possible
Continue as you are and keep buying wether you truly
"need "it or not.
The entire Daz marketing machine is designed to foment his type of behaviour as it is neccessary to sustain this loss leader business model and provide steady income for the brokered content providers.
The only alternative is to Charge hundreds for studio
hope you sell enough copies each year to sustain the business.
However you lose one of the major markeplace advantages you now enjoy over Iclone Pro or even Poser (such as it is )
Implement an Autodesk /Adobe monthly subscription plan
( would likely enrage your current user base)
Implement a Maxon style $700( or whatever) per year "service agreement" but you get the new version every 18 months or so for no additional cost and pray it has enough new features to justify the $700 USD you paid at the start of the year.
( again..would likely enrage your current user base)
So carry on and help keep the flames of Daz studio lit
it is the best course IMHO.
I often buy them because you never know when they'll become unavailable. I've just been scanning all the existing pages in the Rendo store (they keep the pages accessible even when the items become unavailable (wish DAZ would do that)) and it looks like the majority of them are for products that are no longer available for purchase. If I knew everything would be available forever I'd probably have waited with buying a lot of stuff (like the DAZ banners say "Get them while you can" (though they probably mostly mean "while they're discounted", but still)).
I also believe that the brain often is sort of confusing real stuff with 3D stuff. You'd love to have a Rolls Royce but can't afford it, but here you can get one on sale for $9.95. Or a big house for the same price. That's a bargain, get it (and preferably while it's discounted)! I think it sort of satisfies you the same way that real stuff does - in the end the satisfaction of owning or experiencing something is just a process in the mind and to the mind the difference between owning or experiencing something and believing you own or experience it doesn't make a lot of difference.
Why are we creating virtual realities after all? Because here we easily can create experiences which often are difficult to create in real life. You may say it becomes a substitute, but if something satisfies your psychological needs, does it really matter what it is? (it's a question, not a conclusion - decide for yourself). The Matrix.
yes ...
and the struggle continues. yin yang
I like the Maxon model (even as hobbyist) and I love using Cinema 4D. I pay a $650 / year for the MSA but get the newest version of C4D Studio every 12 Months (not 18), every year the exact same day. Cinema 4D is a perpetual license that doesn't use node locking, online activation, subscription or any other crap like that. With the MSA I also get support, a license to install an additional seat and free access to Cineversity with tons of professional learning resources and free tools.
Yes the initial cost of $3.5k is high but you get a brilliant piece of software. There are more then 10 render engines available for Cinema (I use Vray, Physical and Cycles, in future maybe Corona, Octane or RedShift) and tons of incredible plugins like X-Particles, Forester, xFrog, LWCAD, Signal or Vue xStream. With the PIM plugin I have native DAZ character support with autorigging, walk cycles and basic crowd sim functionality.
P.S. Sorry for derailing the thread, I agree to the OP that there is sooo much content for DAZ (I too have a huge library).
One thing to help is to start creating your own content (for example for every day props, buildings, environments, cloth, vehicles, weapons, effects etc). That requires a lot of learning and time, but is much more satisfying and artistic then just click together pre-made content. This can also be done in Blender free of charge.
I only bought Mabel 8, because I wanted the Centaur 7 Female Pro Bundle. If the Centaur 7 Male Pro Bundle was included in the free bundles, I would've had that too. But alas, it wasn't/isn't. Although, I have found a use for Mabel 8. It may have been just one render, but at least it was something :)
...however a lot of us don't have 3,500$ burning a hole in our pockets plus another 650$ per year to keep things up to date.. We must make do with far less expensive software as many of us are hobbyists and have no intention of creating content for a living.
yes on modeling. I've tried, but maybe have not given enough work, time. Started with Raydream way back before it bacame Carrara. I have Silo, Hex, Blender, and Carrara now ,,, newest versions. also tried Infini-D way back Did some primitve work in Bryce..created houses, etc that way,
I have been a Maxon user for over a decade
of course we all have our individual priorities.
I am an animated filmaker focusing on Character driven stories.
I dropped out of the Maxon money pit with version 11.5 studio when it became clear they had Zero interest in serious character animation tools and instead focused on Motion Graphics & Arch vis.
,So for me it was more logical to invest in external options ,over the years, as it made no sense to continue paying Maxon more money for nothing, while still having to spend on external tools that frankly should be included my $3,600 program.
C4D R19 still has no cloth engine capable of simulating cloth on a moving figure, thus I am using Daz's cloth and exporting MDD to C4D for rendering.
(one time cost around $120 USDfor the optional Daz plugins)
C4D R19 still has no usable human IK control rig to import human Mocap to C4D rigs thus I use Iclone pro with Daz figures and export to C4D or Lightwave for rendering (One time cost of $549 for complete 6.5 pipeline bundle)
C4D R19 still has no native Fluid Simulator thus I use My old seat of Realflow with the C4D bridge plugins from Nextlimit.
(one time cost of $2300 ten years ago)
C4D R19 still has no ability to create Lipsinc from Audio files As we have in Daz,and Iclone Pro even Poser
(One time cost of Daz mimic 3 pro ten years ago est.$70 maybe ??)
So essentially My total cost to get my animated filmmaking pipeline where it is today is roughly $6700 over a ten year period
Even if we Put Price of the MSA at an even $500 USD over the same period and only add my initial cost of C4D,were are at $8600 USD
before buying any the external plugins/apps I needed to fill the CA/Fluid/Dynamic cloth gaps.
so NO the Maxon Model makes no logical sense for my particular needs
Agree completely I now model my own custom clothing for Genesis 1,2,3 in C4D.
That requires a lot of learning and time, but is much more satisfying and artistic then just click together pre-made content.
You're confusing craftsmanship and artistry.
Aside from the purist rabbit-hole, there's the three Cs to consider and something called...like the Ego of Isolation (I can't find the paper or the quote) where you believe you are getting Extra Credit for doing something yourself- when you are actually being given an excuse to be lesser than (a professional doing it) because you did it yourself.
What most do in life, is tailor/edit/work/rework pre-fab material to fit their needs.
The artist part kicks in when you start to judge, think and figure out WHAT to do with those materials.
Creative is sometimes HOW you solve a problem, come up with a work around and even make do with what you have..
I wish we'd all stop making this harsh line between MAKING STUFF YOURSELF and BUYING DAZ STUFF AND USING IT, AS IS, RIGHT OUT THE BOX.
So, another way to SOLVE your over-buying is be a little more creative and make your purchases stretch further.
Know your library.
1) Why buy another [insert thing] when you haven't used the one you already bought?
2) How can product A + product B = product C
3) How can (OLD & discounted) product A be flipped and modernized before you buy Product E? Hello shaders, auto-fit and such....
4) How can I find and categorize my library better to know what my resources are?
5) How can I create a motif or theme for my artistic endeavors so I know what I'll really (need) use and what is just 'simply worth owning'.
--------------------
It seems like you're in the early stage of building a library without knowing what you want to do with the library. If your theme is narrow, so will your content.
That will save money.
You need to understand yourself, first. What kind of renders are you (REALLY) trying to make? Do you need that sports outfit? Do you need a mororcycle jacket? Do you need that bathroom?
Daz can be like grocery shopping without a list. You can fill your cart with sales, but then you go home and can't make anything good to eat because you have some of everything but not enough to make a meal.
categorizing .. yes. i need to do that.
I started going back to my DAZ product listing page..from the beginning ... In reality, other than perhaps the textures or modeling, whatever, are not as good, your creativity is what it is, so possible to use V2, for instance, in a scene and still make as much impact as G3. It all depends on ability, etc. What are your artistic skills, or not.