Need a Bald Eagle [Solved]
Havos
Posts: 5,582
I find myself in urgent need of a Bald Eagle, and I can find 2 available. One is here, using the Eagle 1 and Eagle 2 Upgrade option, the other one is at Hirewive. I think the Hirewive looks a bit better, and it comes with some different options and poses. However buying it seems to be impossible, as all my attempts to create an account there have failed, everytime I press submit it just clears the screen and returns to the "register as new user" screen. I know DAZ forums are not the place to be asking about another site, but the forum over there is dead, and help is only available to registered customers, which is a bit bad when you need help to become a registered customer! I have read they had a massive problem with a hack on their site, but I thought at least the shop was back, but it seems to not want any new customers. Anyone know if this is likely to change, or should I just go ahead and buy the DAZ eagle?
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Comments
If you are a Platinum Club member, the Eagle 1 and Eagle 2 upgrade are very cheap.
There is also a version of Eagle 2 that does not require Eagle 1.
http://www.daz3d.com/eagle-2-0
The Eagle 2 Expansion pack is nice, but if all you need is a Bald Eagle, then it isn't really needed...
http://www.daz3d.com/eagle-2-expansion
I am a member, so between the two they are only 8$. The hivewire version is around 7$, so there is little to choose between them price wise. However the hivewire version looks a bit more modern with nicer textures, but I can not be certain this is true as the Eagle 2 promo pics are so old and probably rendered in something like Poser 4, so I have no idea what the real quality would be in a decent renderer.
Last I checked, it was more...but it's on sale now.
Yes, the Eagle 2 here is an old render. A bit newer than Poser4 (that's Eagle 1)...maybe 5?
For what it's worth: according to its readme, the Eagle 2 Expansion is 10 years old.
According to its product page, the Hivewire Eagle is only a few months old.
If all you're going to do is a few distant images, depending on which program you're using to render, Eagle 2 might be good enough. (I don't know about Iray -- I haven't tried anything too old with that -- but Reality/Lux have fits with some older models. 3Delight seems to be mostly OK with them. And I know nothing about how Poser versions might work with them.) If you're going to be doing anything at all close, or plan to use it more than a very few times, it might be worth investing in the Hivewire Eagle.
THAT said ... Hivewire has been hacked hard twice in two years, the last quite recently, which is probably why you're having problems creating an account there. They're still recovering from that; their forums are still down hard. If you decide you need something more detailed, you may need to wait a while until Hivewire is back up. (And use Paypal or some such with them would be my suggestion. At the moment, anyway.)
EDIT: Sorry, just realized that you said it was urgently needed. In that case, your only options are to go with Eagle 1/update to 2 and expansion, or use the Help tab at Hivewire to ask general questions -- the one option that doesn't require logging in to an existing account -- to see if they can help. No idea how long it will take them to get back to you, though; I've never needed to ask for help from them.
(Wow. Eagle 1.0 has an SKU of 316. I think I've only run across one or two other active items with SKUs that low. Eagle 1.0 is 15 years old; that said, according to that readme, it got a material settings update last year, so ... maybe it's ok?)
Hivewire eagle on left & Daz"s eagle 2 on right
click image for bigga ;-)
Rendered in Carrara... quickly
Eagle 1 may be old, but I think it still looks decent. I used it in a few renders a couple of months ago. The IRay Uber shader is applied to it and the only light is from the HDRI.
http://www.daz3d.com/gallery/#images/90204
Hivewire forums will be up and running again sometime soon they are being completly rebuilt its quite a long and time comsuming job, when the forums here were redone they were also down for a time and thats a plan rebuild with a bigger staff.
I will direct someone from Hivewire here who may be able to you.
You could try this but I have no clue how good the model is. Could be crap. It's FREE. [shrug]:
http://www.most-digital-creations.com/eagle.htm
Thanks I will look at that. Most of the freebie animals from digital creations are props, but this one is actually poseable, so I will see what it looks like.
Thank you very much for showing me this comparison, it is very useful. I think the Hivewire one is better, but the difference is marginal, and at the size it will end up being in the promotional graphic I am creating the difference will probably not be seen anyway.
Thanks, and yes the old bird still looks good when used in a better renderer. I actually prefer the golden colours of the Eagle 1.0 one, to the darker colours of the more modern versions, but I am no expert on Bald Eagles, and I want the bird in the promo to be easily recognisable as a Bald Eagle.
I had intended to use PayPal if it was available, for the reasons you have stated. I will see if I can create an account today, otherwise I will use one of the other options, as I want to finish the graphic today.
Here's an Iray of Eagle 2
Havos - I'm sending you a pm
Wow, nice comparison. I soooo prefer the one on the right, espcially the feathers and the sharpness of it.
Thanks, I have emailed you
You prefer the one on the right of the pictures (ie Eagle 2) or on the right of the other bird, ie Hirewive Eagle. It is the latter that looks sharper to me.
Eagle 2, I like the sharpness of the mesh and if you look at the feathers there is more detail, especially with the transparencies. I do like the bulkyness of the hivewire one, almost like we are looking at an adult and a younger eagle. I also don't like the head/beak of the hivewire one, but if you look at images of bald eagles, a combo of both heads would be perfect.
Funny, just realeased clicking on the links i own the eagle 2 and have never used it, LOL.
It is one model I use regularly, but not normally quite as close up as this one I did back in 2006
This is the eagle transferred to Bryce of course, if you hadn't guessed, Bryce 5 in fact.
Thanks to this title, I now have 'I need a hero' running in my head, just with 'hero' replaced with 'eagle'...
'Fly Like an Eagle'?
Even more fitting I think would be The Eagles - Welcome to Hotel California.
"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave..."
I got the Hivewire one in the end, thanks to the help from Alisa. I also bought the Eagle 1, as it was only 2$ to see how it compared, and it is surprisingly good for such old tech. I will probably still pick up Eagle 2.0 at some point, when DAZ run another Animals/Creature sales, as it is always nice to have options. There are some nice looking expansion packs for the Eagle 2.0, but at 30$ each for such old items, I am unlikely to grab them any time soon. Anyway thanks to everyone for help and suggestions, and below is KenG's eagle in iRay.
Holding out for a
heroeagleDoing the eagle rock... Daddy Cool... ;-)
Wedgies Rule
you will have to youTube it if you ain't an Aussie