How do I explain Daz Studio to friends
TSasha Smith
Posts: 27,373
in The Commons
Sometimes I get myself into situation where I try to explain Daz studio to friends who are not as computer savy. How do you explain your 3D hobby to friends?\
I was trying to explain it to someone today but they thought I was talking about a game. I tried to explain it is like Pixar for hobbist. What was a better way to explain Daz Studio?
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Comments
I always just end up showing people the daz website and a couple of my renders. I'm not very good at describing it.
I don't bother. most of my friends are either already 3d artists or artists of other sorts or aren't interested in my work!
I've always classed it as a Virtual Photography Studio.
You are the photographer, you select the location, the models, the clothing, the props, the lighting, the camera angle and so on. When you're ready, you render a photo or an animation.
I don't see how it could really be descibed as anything else.
Digital sculpting is another way to explain it.
Virtual photography of digital dolls.
Just say you make CG art....the details of the software only confuse matters
If they visit I do just that (only of course with me it's not DS) I say I make CG art, and then show them the wallpaper I have on my Screen, and follow it by saying "Like that"
I call Vickie a Digital Barbie.
Electronic paper dolls. :-)
Virtual Barbies and GI Joes.
And model railroads. Can't forget the model railroads.
People around here are car mechanics, or they milk cows, or plow fields and they all shoot guns so I don't tell them, they think I'm nerdy enough already. I'm just that old guy who fixes 'puters and has too many pictures of men on his walls.
Send them a greeting card made with D|S.
I tell my friends that i put together scenes of 3D objects and render into a 2D picture and then jazz it up in photoshop to enhance the image I just rendered.
That's what I do, unless they want to know how to do it. Same as when they find out I'm a musician; I'll tell them what instruments and styles of music I'm into, but there's no point in explaining theory, composition, etc. Their eyes usually glaze over if I start into that. As far as my renders go, I should show them your stuff to give them an idea of the quality I aspire to. I still have a lonnnnnnnnng way to go, though. ☺
I think the reason I don't say I make CG art is that I feel weirdly guilty if they assume I'm making all the wonderful models and textures.
It's a compulsive shopping software which creates hours of bargain-hunting that would not otherwise exist; a one-stop solution which allows users the opportunity to adopt that 'poverty-stricken' look without even leaving their desks. You can create some quite neat art with it too :)
I wouldn't recommend this. Then they and all their friends start asking you to make cards for them...as a favor, of course.
I'm with you, Astracadia: Daz is a one-stop route to the food bank and the poor house: but with lots of added frustration.
First I say it's kind of like making and posing Barbies in the computer, then I say it's like creating video game characters or Pixar movies but with less advanced software, although that part is becoming less true... Then they ask how I even start creating it and I explain there's a generic woman with their arms out and you sculpt it with dials in the computer, add skin texture, makeup, hair, clothes, and pose it and then go back to saying it's kind of like making Barbies in the computer...
It's an art making software.
That's how I tend to describe it, too. Even though the DAZ store itself is woefully short on a variety of actual train sets, it's not too much of a stretch to draw an analogy between model railroads and creating cityscapes/landscapes in DAZ. I use the word 'diorama' a lot as well
I'd start by getting them drunk... Then show them a couple documentaries on cults, a little bit of anime, some zombie movies, some science fiction movies... Smack them around with a Victoria's Secret catalog... Make sure to keep the drinks going the whole time... Maybe a bit of the lord of the rings or the hobbit, or games of thrones, Star Wars, more Victoria's Secret smacking... And when they are about to pass out take whatever they have in their wallets or purses... That should be a good simulation...
If you want a quick explanation I'd go with "it's a cult, just more expensive in the long run"...
I hope this was helpful.
That would be CGI Joes!
It would be great to have a perfect one sentence descriptor of what Daz Studio does. Virtual Movie Studio inside my computer.
I have to admit I realy cringe when people say it's digital Barbies, or something similar. The game my oldest grandaughter played with when she was about 5 or 6 was digital barbies. (back around the mid 90s) I think I had Win95 on the computer when she was using it. Describing DS or Poser in those terms is never going to encourage people to join in.
"BarbieShop"
Incidentally, I gave up trying to explain 3D to people... It's fairly hopeless.
It basically goes like this:
• 3D artist: "I make 3D Art" or "I make 3D models"
• Ordinary person: "Hu?"
• 3D artist: " They are images (or 3D simulations of real world objects) made on the computer using special software... Sort of like the characters and scenery in the Pixar movies... Either animated or still images"
From here on in the person either identifies themselves as an enlightened individual or a philistine.... Or they absolutely don't care and feign understanding.
• Philistine: "Hu... Like you work for the movies?"
• Enlightened: "Oh, that's cool... I read about that..."
• Indifferent: "Oh, cool..."
From this point you are faced with three choices...
For the philistine, proceed no further, it's useless, you have a better chance explaining fusion plasma dynamics to your deaf great grandparents... Bonus points if you don't even know what fusion plasma dynamics are and your great grandparents have been deceased for fifty years...
Enlightened... well, that's simpler, but you have to proceed cautiously depending on what you render and how enlightened they are... If all you render is penguins riding meerkats or nude primates in sexy poses, you might want to feel out the situation before showing anyone your renders... Granted, who doesn't love a little chimpanzee cheesecake, but be cautious, we live in changing times and you don't want to freak anyone out... Even enlightened has levels and limits... Remember, you don't want "you wanna see some renders?" to sound like, "you wanna see my etchings?"(wink-wink, nudge-nudge...)... Unless you want it to sound like that, in which case just go right to the chimps and let the chips fall where they may...
Indifferent... That's usually about the same as the philistine, but without the blank Labrador retriever look... It's more of a vaguely sincere "Okay, are you done talking now?" look... This is usually because the indifferent person doesn't care what you just said, it could be "I knit sweaters for the homeless ", "I collect severed goat heads" or "I am the dark one prophesied by the ancient scriptures, I have come to bring darkness and despair to all!"... It doesn't matter because the answer is always "cool..." They are just giving a you a moment to speak while they catch their breath before telling you more about their life and how awesome they are... Or lamenting how terrible their life is... There really isn't much difference between terrible and awesome because it's usually built on the same foundation of self delusion and stupidity. In this case, just let them go back to telling you all about themselves, it's just easier.
I just am faced with computer Luddites basically with my family.
Are artistic creative people just not technologically minded.
Brother says why model it on a computer when he can build it out of wood etc......
I usually say it's like the software they use for special effects in films and TV but scaled down for a home computer.