Is FAST Animation Studio Tools – A DAZ to Blender Pipeline worth it?
Chongobutt
Posts: 3
in The Commons
I want to try animating my characters in Blender, but diffeomorphic is intimidating for me to get installed.
Is FAST Animation Studio Tools – A DAZ to Blender Pipeline a good alternative to diffeomorphic? Or should I just stick with diffeomorphic? I can get FAST Animation Studio Tools for 30 bucks which is 79% off.
But I want to know if it's worth even that much. Should I try diffeomorphic?
Any word from anyone who's purchased it would be great. Thank you!
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Comments
To future readers...
I have the product, registered it (a bit convoluted, but worked fine), but I have not used it yet - I started it, updated it, poked around in Blender a bit (I know enough about Blender to be dangerous), watched some of their (odd/fun) youtubes, then realized I'm going to to have to sit down and invest some time in the Blender world to really get what they're doing here. It feels like I need to know exactly what I need to do, then find out how they have made that easier in Blender, so it doesn't seem like a hand-holding turnkey workflow, but rather a powerful tool for someone who knows what they're doing and wants to use DAZ and Blender to do it.
So, to the original question, this tool kit actually integrates diffeomophic into its workflow, so the real question is whether or not their integration and worflow can improve your own workflow if they take care of most of the DAZ Studio Part... I'm going to assume they keep diffeomorphic updated in their periodic package updates - perhaps someone else knows for sure, but it seem like that's part of their update process in Blender.
FWIW, the FAST product seems to be a consolidation of many many free blender tools that the authors find useful for TV production/animation in Blender, along with at least one core tool that they write and update. I think this is fine, as it save us all the trouble of finding and installing these varied and disparate blender tools. They also add value with their own tool(s), but I haven't studied the tools enough to say anything more yet.
As of 1/5/2026, they are very actively updating their package (it self-updates through the Blender environment) with regular updates and bug fixes. They're currently developing on Blender 5.x, but indicate compatibility with the Blender ESR 4.5 versions. I'm trying to find out which version the packaged DAZ Studio Package version was developed against (4.3?) in case I ever have to do a working base install from local installers, and have it work well enough to bootstrap it back to current.
I have to say that they seem kind of scattered with respect to specific support (see their PA products thread), but it also feels like the main developer has a *lot* of passion and energy for the product and project. I think if you need help you will get it if you ask and pursue it. I also think this isn't a product for newbies in either DAZ Studio or Blender, as all of the available instructions assume that you understand many of the underlying conventions of both environments. This is also OK, but be warned - to get the process flow working for you, you'll have to both parse these tools, and their way of thinking.
I bought the product on sale, and feel like it was a good value, and the onus is on me to make something of it.
Check their youtube channel (vids on their product page), their local forum support thread, and maybe their web-page. I'm getting indications that they're rebranding, but I don't know from what (fast?) to what... (btv?)
Again, I neither endorse or disparage the product or developers... But my registration (required email interaction) was very quick, the Blender installation went smoothly (v4.5 I think). FWIW, When I registered the project, I was given a direct drop-box like link to the current version in the registration email, which made it easy to get up-to-speed.
There is a lot going on in the product - the amount of time their integration efforts alone might save someone who is serious about doing a 3D-render related video production workflow in Blender and is probably worth the full-price.
cheers,
--ms
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the product, @mindsong - very interesting and useful for me.
I also bought it on sale, but have not used it yet.
09 January 2026, I'm not seeing it in the store.
Hallelujah!
Disciple
Confirmed. The DAZ store link is longer valid at 2026-01-10-16:16 EST.
Visit their website for more information and support for the product.
https://btv.productions/
Given their site has a big, flashing top-right button with the slogan "Buy on Daz3D" and a link to their Daz Store page (404), maybe someone should tell 'em?
The product name has been changed, but the link still uses the old name.
So based on that information the new link would be: https://www.daz3d.com/daz-to-blender-tv-studio
It's inactive while they get the lastest update sorted out, it will be back.
Thanks for posting this info - it's much appreciated.
- Greg
Hmmm I wonder when they will get this sorted out? Coming up on a month now.
FWIW, to those that have purchased it, I noticed that an update was released in my DIM downloads a short while back. I haven't had the time to pursue installing or studying the update.
best,
--ms