Suggestions about Promos
lx_2807502
Posts: 2,996
Since this always gets mentioned (a lot of the time by me) in various character threads, I figured it'd probably be better to make a completely separate thread.
Generally it happens with characters that follow the pattern of having every image is the character rendered in the same stylised lighting, with no neutral render, no base material render, no alternate render engines: no display of what you're buying actually looks like. This especially happens with new Originals characters and their bundles, which is why the complaints are mostly in those threads.
This is not saying the work is bad or the product isn't worth it, or anything like that: on the contrary, there have been many characters people complained about the store images of, then saw customer renders in more neutral settings that immediately made them want to buy it too. It's also clear that a certain stylised uh style is preferred / seen as the best way to attract customers. This is fine too! There are also many non-bundle PA characters that do a fantastic job of showing all of the various makeup/skin options that come with the character (generally in small boxes over a few of the latter images.)
When people on here say the promos suck, generally the impression I get - and my own complaint - is that what's actually meant is that the promos don't give the information the artist requires to make a purchase. Stylised sellers are great, but it's not like there is only one promo image. It would be great if we could have a few stylised renders, some showing the various options, and then a neutral image (clothing/scenes usually then have a 'clay' render at the end already, which is perfect as is.)
Look at this:
http://www.daz3d.com/collective3d-portrait-vignettes-horror-1
The first three are stylised renders to grab customer attention, then a neutral render of the scene, then two 'clay' (or whatever you call them) renders showing exactly what geometry is included.
It's so perfect. If it wasn't free I'd buy it just because the promos are so great.
* Obviously this is only my opinion and your opinion may differ. That's not a bad thing.
* Also obviously there are many fantastic promo sets for products in the store already. But the new Originals characters always seem to attract the same requests outlined above.
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Comments
Agree. I'd really like to see a turnaround of the entire figure including feet wearing a bathing suit or something so I can see as much of what I'm buying as possible.
The only artists I can think of that do the turnaround stuff is Aeon-Soul, and I'm sure it's a lot harder than we think to do such things. As for other promo images, a lot of it is probably that the artists submissions for evaluation may well be the majority of what is used in the store.
Turnarounds are easy to render. Not hard at all
You've got a good point here. And it isn't just the DAZ characters that are affected by this. I remember a couple of years ago, I was considering buying a big whole-environment scenery set by one of the well known PAs here; it had been sitting in my wishlist for a while, and every now and then I'd go clicky-clicky and have another look at it. The promo pics were good enough to catch my interest, but I couldn't really visualise the complete environment, so I posted a query here asking for an overview. When I saw that there were aspects of the environment that weren't obvious in the promos, and they looked really good, I bought the set immediately, and so did a few of the other people in the thread. I might have bought it much earlier, probably when it first came out, if the promos had been clearer. I might not have bought it at all if I hadn't been curious enough to post that query asking for a better view.
There have been a few environment products that I haven't bought specifically because they were missing that simple clay render type thing that showed what the product included and didn't (Corner Room is the first example that comes to mind.)
"We offer 30 day refunds on all products" Yeah but some of us don't want to go through the hassle of buying downloading and testing a product to see if it does what one simple image could have told us in the first place.
Maybe I'm just wrong in the assumption that most of Daz's customers are artists who look at products they buy seriously and need information to make those purchases?
Clay renders are especially important on environments (at least to me). I usually don't want the environment as a complete preload, but as the individual elements moved, nudged, mixed with other sets.
Even on outfits, the clay render can help differentiate the contents of the package as opposed to the not-included's that were used to dress up the promos.
Just wanted to raise this again after seeing this character released:
http://www.daz3d.com/m3d-jesse-hd-for-genesis-3-male
Look at the promos, wow. I'm sadly not in the financial position to randomly pick up new items right now but the effort to properly display the product and give that much information is seriously impressive.
That is a lot of promos. I often wondered if there was a limit on how many promos a product could have..Hard for me to gauge interest though since I don't render male figures much and the character is too stocky for my tastes
Yeah, you could argue it's almost too many - but the variety and the fact that simple clay renders of the shape / showing the texture in various types of lighting is what makes me appreciate it.
The point is looking through the promos you get a sense of the character in a range of uses and of exactly what you're getting, not just one particular stylised view from a few angles.
Actually considering what's in the package 4 head morphs, 2 body shapes, HD options, ear and foot morphs, "anatomical elements" (which is a list within itself)... the number of promos about right and is in line with my other products. And the format is basically the same for my other products as well.
Jesse looks great but I would like to see Profile and closeup textures...especially when it comes to females and makeup.
I was trying to be conservative xD My personal opinion was that the range of promos was so good that it especially deserved pointing out~
I like to see character as they look without rendering from every angle. Also, I like to know everthing that the character is wearing / hair / skin / eyes even if it's sold seperately and not required.
There's no textures in the product.
I thought this was seriously impressive as well. It gives me a very good understanding of this product from the ground up so to speak. He is in my wish list at the moment, not an instant buy only because I am not invested in the the G3 series much but when I decide to take the plunge he will be one of the first ones in the cart. I love the fact that he isn't model perfect and model pretty, there is a ton of stuff this character will be very good for. and the promos really show that.
mmm...well what can I say...it's a slow hot Sunday morning here;)... Jesse still looks great.... but regards to other models, I'd still like to see profiles and closeups;)
I always liked the setups where the main promo image (the one that shows in the store) is a nice, artistic, "here's an example of the product used in a setting" type deal, but then additional promos show individual items/morphs/poses/etc. that are in the product with nothing external detracting from a "this is what you get" kind of thing.
Kind of depends on the product. Some products you really have to show multiple ways it can be used for people to really visualize what it does.
I agree with having more variety in the promos to get a good feel for how the product would be to work with as an end user. It is something I would love to do, but for me it's a time factor. I personally would love to make a bunch of promos in widely varying environments to really show off my poses. I used to do that several years ago when I had oodles of free time. These days I found myself working from 6pm till 2am or later after my dayjob to get stuff done. It was quite crazy. I may start hiring someone to do promos for me as I could not keep up such a schedule. We'll see how it goes. :)
I'm going to advise any who does promos NOT to do it like this. I was directed to make promos twice like this and both flopped doing this method. After some emails with me going off, I went back to artistic method and made much more money.
And actually a promo suggestion I would rather make in morph-based product is to have a big splash promo: "If the figure seems to big or muscular for you, this is Genesis. USE THE DIALS to adjust him" This is why I have so many promos and one or two where I turn down my morphs to show the shape can be changed because people forget that shapes and morphs can be mixed together or used in smaller percentages.
But of course that would be kicked out by art ;)