DAZ3D Official Blog

3D Bridge for Photoshop

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:16:51 GMT

Ryan writes:

Just this morning Download.com updated the listing for the 3D Bridge Beta with the new version I submitted Friday that works in Photoshop 7, CS, CS2, AND CS3. We're pretty excited at DAZ 3D about the plugin because it opens up 3D elements to almost all photoshop users. I've posted some videos on Youtube about how it works. Best part, of course, is that it's free.

Here's the link to the videos:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=22CE5675532144DD

and here's the plugin page on our site:
http://www.daz3d.com/3dbridge

Or just download it here:
http://www.download.com/

We hope people enjoy the plugin, I have so far.

Ryan Bouche
ryan@daz3d.com

DAZ 3D Favorite parts of Siggraph

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:28:53 GMT

Ryan writes:

SIGGRAPH 2007 ended a week ago and we've had time to get back in the rhythm here at the office now. Back to emails, back to meetings, back to getting Carrara 6 ready to go out. Here's one more video from the convention, where everyone chimes in on their favorite things from SIGGRAPH.... sorta.

A cool thing about the convention was seeing all the new technology. Dan and Chris mention it in in the video, but it's hard to picture just how many motion capture displays were really there. You couldn't turn around without seeing one. And there were so many different ways to go about it - with sensor ball suits, with color-coded suits, without suits at all (no, not naked...).

Imageworks hosted figure drawing classes where your canvas was a t-shirt that you then got to take with you - that was cool too. New production level software was big as well. You could watch the latest from programs like Lightwave, Massive, and Houdini on giant screens.

My favorite thing though, was getting to meet some PA's and the R'osity team. I've been at DAZ 3D since 2002 and this was my first chance to meet the people there in person. I enjoyed that a lot.

Thanks to everyone who could make it, and a special thanks to Steve Whitcomb and Brian Foley for their help at the booth.

Favorite part of SIGGRAPH

And here's the new promotional video we put together this year.

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

DAZ3D Fact of the Day - Get with the Program

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:10:35 GMT

DAZ 3D acquired Mimic in 2002, Bryce in 2004, and Carrara and Hexagon in 2006. DAZ Studio has been developed in house from the beginning.

DAZ3D Fact of the Day - What's in a Name?

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 01:23:49 GMT

The literal translation of "Aiko" from Japanese is "beloved/loving-(ai), child-(ko)" , it's not an uncommon name actually. "Hiro" is a common prefix/suffix in boy and girl names. It's used to mean "broad, widespread, or wise". "Hiromi", a girl's name, means "widespread beauty". "Yoshihiro", a boy's name, means "abundant goodness". It's a common nickname, and it helps that it sounds like "hero".

Victor / Victoria (cont.)

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:10:57 GMT

The Stephanie 3D model first appeared as the "Mystery Model" with the release of Michael 2.0. The figure was actually modeled from the same mesh as Michael as a proof of concept for what would later become known as the 'Unimesh'.

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - A beginning

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:14:33 GMT

DAZ Productions was formed in 2000. They broke away from Zygote to focus on Poser models after the success of their first female 3D model, Victoria 1, which was released in February 1999. Michael 1 followed in September. In 2007 DAZ Productions, Inc. officially changed it's name to DAZ 3D, Inc.

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:57:16 GMT

Ryan writes:

On Tuesday night, DAZ 3D hosted a meet and greet at SIGGRAPH. It was attended by employees, users, business partners, and friends of DAZ 3D. It was a blast to talk to PA's most of them I met in person for the first time. Even the Rendo gang and our old friends from Zygote were there. I know Chris and Dan enjoyed it and I hope everyone there did too.

Light was low, so camera quality isn't the best at times, but here are the highlight videos:

Part 1 - A special presentation to the Carrara Dev team, the DAZ Raffle, Kevin Peterson comedy hour, and Chris Creek tries to get Will Dupre to choose a bag of pig's ears in Lets Make a Deal.

and Part 2 - Ken Gilliland finishes up Lets Make a Deal, Chris Creek waxes sentimental, and Dan Farr talks for a while about what's going on at DAZ 3D. Especially the Optitex plugin for DAZ Studio.

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - The Old Guard

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:01:53 GMT

The Old GuardDan Farr, Chris Creek, Eric Allen, Steve Kondris, Chad Smith, Micah Henrie and Tony Bradt are the original Zygote employees who started DAZ 3D. 7 years later, only Micah Henrie is not at DAZ 3D now, though he still makes plugins for DAZ Studio.

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - What'd You Say?

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:36:39 GMT

DAZ 3D employees speak at least 8 different languages including: English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Romanian, Japanese, and American Sign Language. We don't count "Canadian", "Texan", or "Pig Latin".

DAZ 3D SIGGRAPH Carrara News - New Features / Price

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 17:33:25 GMT

Looking for news on Carrara? Here are the features we are announcing here at SIGGRAPH. For release date news, you'll want to sign up for our newsletter at https://www.daz3d.com/i.x/account/0/-/?

We're counting down each week now. Here was our last one:
http://www.daz3d.com/newsletter/2007/dn/newsletter8_2_07.html

DAZ 3D^TM Announces “The Next Dimension in 3D Art”

Version 6 proves Carrara will be in every 3D artist’s suite of tools for years to come

DRAPER, Utah – August 7, 2007 – DAZ 3D, Inc., a leading developer of professional quality 3D models and software, announced today the upcoming release of their popular 3D software, Carrara. This latest version will allow users to choose from an unprecedented array of tools while exploring new dimensions in 3D creation. Carrara 6 provides 3D figure posing and animation, modeling, environment creation, and rendering tools within a single application. Robust, advanced, and easy to use, Carrara 6 is recognized as the complete, all-in-one 3D solution for digital content creators in many industries including magazine, comic book, newspaper, TV and film — to name a few.

“I think that users will be amazed when they see what Carrara 6 will do for them,” stated Chris Creek, executive vice-president of DAZ 3D, Inc. “Now that the entire DAZ 3D library of content is compatible with Carrara’s advanced features, 3D artists everywhere will discover a whole new dimension of possibilities.”

Historically, Carrara has been known for its broad set of 3D tools including modeling, rigging, animating, terrain-building, and rendering. With the aforementioned addition of the full support for its huge content library, as well as other major features, DAZ 3D believes Carrara 6 is taking a quantum leap forward from its previous versions.

“Carrara 6 fills what has been a long-time void in the 3D industry,” says Dan Farr, president of DAZ 3D, Inc. “Never before has there existed a single solution for realistic figure posing and animation combined with advanced modeling, terrain-building, physics, and rendering that was readily compatible with such a large array of 3D assets.”

The extensive support for DAZ 3D content includes handling of morph targets, the conversion of Surface Materials and complete Rigging, and Enhanced Remote Control, which allows users control over multiple translation and transform dials simultaneously.

Notable upgrades include Non-linear Animation, giving users the ability to create clips of animation that can be reused and combined on multiple tracks of animation; Dynamic Hair that allows artists to style, cut, brush, and drape the hair; Displacement Modeling where the user can paint detail on a model using free-form brush tools; and Symmetrical Modeling that allows content creators to edit both sides of a symmetrical object at the same time using a variety of editing tools.

Pricing and Availability

Carrara 6 is scheduled to be released for sale on the DAZ 3D website in August 2007 with a special introductory discount being offered to DAZ 3D customers. The standard edition of Carrara 6 will have a MSRP of $249, and Carrara 6 Pro will have a MSRP of $549.

About DAZ 3D^TM

Founded in 2000, DAZ 3D, Inc, a privately-held company located in Draper, Utah, is a market leader in 3D software and digital content creation. The company’s model library is renowned for its high-quality 3D content at the industry’s most competitive prices. DAZ 3D also develops powerful software applications that support its content, including Bryce^®, a 3D environment and animation package; Carrara™, a complete 3D modeling, animation and rendering solution; DAZ Studio™, a free 3D digital art creation tool; Hexagon™, polygonal modeling software for the creation of ‘ready-to-render’ 3D models; and Mimic™, a lip-synching application. For more information, visit www.DAZ3D.com.

© 2007 DAZ 3D, Inc. All rights reserved. DAZ and the DAZ 3D logo is a Registered Trademark of DAZ Productions, Inc. All other brand names, product names, service marks or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Reader contact:

DAZ 3D, Inc.
12637 S 265 W Suite 300
Draper, Utah 84020

(800) 267-5170 (Toll free)
(801) 495-1777
(801) 495-1787 (Fax)
www.DAZ3D.com

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - School Ties

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:18:33 GMT

Five Employees at DAZ 3D- Jarom Schow, Eric Allen, Ryan Bouche, Kevin Peterson, and Vicky Tolonen- all graduated from Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah. Three of them in the same year. Tony Bradt is married to another MVHS graduate.

DAZ 3D at SIGGRAPH DAY 1: Overview

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 03:40:26 GMT

More videos are on their way, but I've only got a half hour to get the camera set up to catch the most behind the curtains scene you'll ever see of DAZ 3D and it's co-founders. The DAZ 3D user gathering is starting at 9:00 and I won't spoil anything for those coming, but there will be a Zoot suit involved.

First Day at SIGGRAPH was awesome. There is a huge senses overload in the convention hall. Yes, the big boys booths were cool, but the smaller booths sometimes let you get a closer, hands-on look at some cool technology. Motion capture systems of all variety, I saw at least 4 different methods. You can find a giant thunder-dome shaped lattice of lights sensors and cameras. Two 3D printers. Right accross from the DAZ 3D booth is a rig that works like a professional film camera that you can use to film 3D environments.

I did get to sit in on a LucasArts session on procedural motion animation in the Indiana Jones Game. Computers knowing how a person would really move when they walk, fall, or crash into something.

And the swag, free stuff. Some booths got smart and started giving out bags with their logo so you can carry everything. LucasFilm has Clone Wars playing cards, Pixar has Ratatouille posters, EA Games has lanyard buttons, it goes on and on. Even at the DAZ 3D booth we went through boxes and boxes of calendars and DAZ Studio disks. We couldn't open them fast enough.

More videos to come tomorrow, and hopefully some useful news on a certain software as well. Stay posted right here.

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

Siggraph 2007 Backstage Pass

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 22:55:53 GMT

Ryan writes:

On Monday, booths were going up everywhere you looked. Just walking in the doors I was excited for Day One to start to check out some great demos and some cool looking new technology. I thought maybe you could share the excitement with me. Check out the Backstage video here:

Thats Jarom Schow, Steve Kondris and Tony Bradt from DAZ 3D. And a special thank you to Brian Foley (Bryce) and Steve Whitcomb (Carrara) for their help in setting up and giving demos.

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

DAZ 3D at SIGGRAPH DAY 1: Reveille

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:32:39 GMT

It's time to head out. I've got my pass and my expo card. I can swipe the card at booths to enter contests and sign up for newsletters. I checked out the LucasFilm schedule and have my times picked out to see the Indiana Jones Demo this afternoon. I saw 3 cool motion capture booths on the first row, so I might as well start out there. More to come during the day.

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

DAZ 3D goes to SIGGRAPH

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:05:03 GMT

Ryan writes:

It was a long day, but we've got the booth set up in what some might say is record time. Check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avco21qEHqQ

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - Southpaw

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 14:15:59 GMT

When working at Viewpoint, DAZ 3D Exec Vice President, Chris Creek, was taught to model using the computer mouse left handed.

Siggraph - Day 0.1

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:27:58 GMT

Ryan writes:

It's 6:00 in the morning and Steve Kondris, Tony Bradt and I have just finished loading the display boxes into the truck. Britney and Darlissa are right behind us. The sun is already up. I said goodbye to my wife and sleepy-eyed sons, and we're headed up to the airport to SIGGRAPH 2007. I'll be posting updates from the convention every day, so stay peeled for videos, interviews, and more.

If you're in the San Diego area, make sure you stop by, or visit with us one on one Tuesday night at our DAZ 3D mixer. Tuesday at 9 pm at :

San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina
333 West Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101
Telephone: (619) 699-8213

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - Victor/Victoria

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:22:48 GMT

"Victor" was suggested early on as a name for the Michael 3D model.

www.DAZ3D.com

I'm a Little Geeked

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:18:29 GMT

Tony Benjamin writes:

It’s an exciting time…

OK… OK… I’m not Chris. I’m not Dan. Frankly I don’t work out enough to be Chris, I’m too short to be Dan, and I doubt I’m intelligent enough to be either one. But I was asked to write a blog and so here it is… now where was I? …. Oh yeah…

…It’s an exciting time at DAZ 3D. For those of you who have been around for a while and watched the list of Bios on the website grow, you know we’ve been growing rapidly over the past year. But even you don’t know how fast. A small fraction of all the changes have shown up on that page.

In the last several months we have added seven additional people to our R&D team in Utah. That doesn’t even count the people we’ve added to our California office. DAZ’s army of programmers now includes former employees of Adobe and at least one of the original developers of Bryce, not to mention the best fresh talent in the country. They’ve come from as far as Michigan to join our Salt Lake Team, and from other continents to join our California team.

Brian Wagner, our new Director of R&D, Utah, was the person who originally wrote the render engine for Bryce. Wow, is he talented! Since his arrival, DAZ’s whole operational structure around software development has been revamped. Under his direction, we’re getting rid of “DAZ Soon” and replacing it with “DAZ Wow”. You wait and see what happens over the next year with DAZ software, and you’ll be past your current status of “impressed” and land on “Holy Cow.”

Of course it would be silly to overlook Charles Brissart, our Director of R&D, California. In addition to the recent update of Hexagon, his crew has been working for over a year on Carrara 6. Charles’ crew is also extremely talented. It’s exciting to have Carrara in the family, and if you’re a DAZ fan, you’re going to want Carrara 6.

… OK, now I can hear some of you already moving to the forums to drop a line about how “marketing” really wrote this and that I’m just a pawn under the total domination of the propaganda writers of DAZ… The reality is that I’m excited. DAZ is opening doors to places no one in the industry has been before. A year from now, not only will we be bigger but our content will be more dynamic and advanced than ever before.

I have to admit, I’m a little geeked.

Tony Benjamin
Director of Operations
www.DAZ3D.com

Dress Code pt. 2

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 14:48:28 GMT

Ryan writes:

You can't say we're not all about equal opportunity here. Along with Business Dress day last Tuesday comes Beachwear on Friday. Seems like we had a lot more participation this time around ...

Left to right, first row: Jonathan Hoffman(lying down), Britney Cozzens, Cindy West, Randy Carter, Steve Gregerson, Drew Daniels, Kraig Hausmann
Top row: Ryan Creek, Chris Creek, Nathan Miller, Rob Whisenant, Amanda Johanson, Allen Renfeldt, Kevin Peterson, Eric Allen, Brian Berthold, Daniel Gomez, Tony Benjamin, Steve Kondris (in tree)
Not Pictured: ME. (Someone had to take it...)

In the background you can see the outside of DAZ HQ. Our windows got an upgrade this spring, with Victoria, Aiko, the Millennium Dragon, and even Mr. Finnegan. Yeah it looks cool, but the real up-shot is that it's a lot easier to tell people how to find our building. ;)

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

Go Figure...

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:53:42 GMT

Chris writes:

So I’ve been collecting ideas for Dragons and decided that I would meander down to Tony Bradt and Daniel Vest's office for further inspiration. You see Tony and Daniel are the kings of the "doll" collections. I call them dolls just to get a reaction from them. I believe they refer to them as "figurines", or "action figures" or something less child-like. But I like "dolls". I think I counted 18 dragons on and around Daniel's desk area. Spawn dolls, most of them, though he and Tony have many, many other dolls of curious workmanship, such as super hero types and half dressed women dolls with big swords holding heads of slain men and spooky monsters made of plastic trash and such. A cornucopia, or ambrosia, or plethora of doll treasures and collectibles can be found there. When we have an occasional tour come through the place, people are fascinated by the many dusty dolls when they visit this product imagery room.

But ya know what? Many others here also collect dolls or what ever they choose to call them. Ryan Bouche collects the "StrongBad" plastic guys and oriental men that magnetize on the wall and Lindsay collected some kind of Tim Burtonesque zombie dolls. Kevin Peterson collects all things associated with B.Y.U. and an assortment of other dolls. Britney Cozzens collects any thing to do with Betty Boop. Cindy West collects images of the cool dude that played Batman. He was the guy that was also in the movie Reign of Fire, I forget his name. Rob Whisenant has his collection of motorcycle choppers (not dolls). And finally Steve Swenson and Kraig Hausmann both have their little plastic guys. I’m still probably leaving employees out here but you get the picture.

I myself do have an Incredible Hulk "FIGURE" on my desk, not a doll and certainly not a collection, but I have thought about starting one up. I've always liked the "Rat Fink" character from my youth. I love that lil' monster in the muscle cars. Takes me back for sure.

Anyway I did find the looks that I wanted for the Dragon and that was encouraging.

Chris Creek
Executive Vice President/Co-Founder
www.DAZ3D.com

Non Casual Tuesday

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 22:06:45 GMT

Ryan writes:

Dress code at DAZ is more... well let's just say there are more levels than Business and Business Casual. On any given day, you might find deeper layers such as Business Band Tour, Business Hawaiian, or even Business Harley.

So it actually takes a concerted effort to get a Business Dress Tuesday here at DAZ. Even still, Tuesday might be too recurring a word. It may lead some people to believe it will happen again this decade.

Regardless, here are the team members we could get/remembered/owned a necktie to participate:

From left to right, front to back: Amanda Johanson, Britney Cozzens, Allen Renfeldt, Cindy West, Steve Swenson, Kraig Hausmann Second Row: Ryan Bouche, Chris Creek, Kevin Peterson, Ron Ross, Steve Kondris, Brian Berthold, Steve Gregerson, Drew Daniels.

So many new faces here means it's time to update our employee bios.

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

Shake Hands with a 3D Model

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:19:34 GMT

Ryan writes:

I spotted this story on slashdot.org: "A system that makes three dimensional images solid enough to grasp has been unveiled by Japanese firm NTT. It could let businesspeople shake hands from across the globe or allow museum visitors to feel precious exhibits that are normally out of reach, the company says."

You can read the full article here.

You may have seen ads for 3D printers before, which I think would be pretty cool to have. My geekier hobbies include collecting chess sets, and the Millennium Dragon model would make a great piece for the knights... It should be known that I have non-geeky hobbies as well. Really.

So now we can shake hands with a 3D model like Michael, or pet the Mellennium Cat. Already you can buy clothes in 3D in Second Life. But forget just shaking hands or browsing clothes, how much longer before we have full interaction with 3D models? What happens when Victoria starts talking back to you? It certainly looks like our virtual experiences will get more and more third dimensional every year.

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

Chadley's Word of the Day pt. 2

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 22:09:02 GMT

Ryan writes:

Chad Smith offers us his word of the day for June 22nd: "Widgy-Prim"

[wid-jee-prim] n. Definition: Chad would have you believe that 'widgy-prim' should be clear to anyone. According to him, it's obviously a contraction of widgets, and primitives.

Overheard in an actual sentence, "Apart from all this widgy-prim functionality, what else do we need to go over in DAZ Studio today?."

Perhaps Chad was tired of the programmers in the DAZ Studio status meeting getting to use words no one else understood.

More to come, you can count on it. ;)

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

Lebron James: Basketball Star, 3D artist?

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:46:08 GMT

Ryan writes:

DAZ3D is always trying to spread the word to find new 3d artists, like this story on www.digg.com:

"Daz3d has released the previous version of the 3D renderer Bryce 5.5 for free... read more"

The response has been great so far, over 20,000 downloads. But apparently, releasing Bryce 5.5 for free wasn't enough exposure, we had to take it one step further. Some of you may be following the NBA finals. Breaking news today indicates that there may actually be a hidden basketball fan / 3d artist demographic out there. A press release like the one below might appeal to them...

[Caution: Parody ahead]

****************

DAZ3D wins bid to choose the first name of Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James' new son. Bryce Maximus James was born June 14th at 12:51 a.m. local time at Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital, near his father's hometown of Akron. He weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Many other names were bid for, including: Ichiro Koji-James, and in the case of a girl, Aiko Posette LaRoo.

"The bidding war was intense," says DAZ3D President Dan Farr. "But we were confident in the value of the exposure that in the end it was worth it to get the first name."

In addition to the advertising royalties, Bryce will also receive free Bryce upgrades for life.

****************

Yes loyal readers, that is actually his name. A whole new world of marketing is suddenly open. :)

Ryan Bouche
Web Services Manager
www.DAZ3D.com

DAZ3D Official Blog

3D Bridge for Photoshop

DAZ 3D Favorite parts of Siggraph

DAZ3D Fact of the Day - Get with the Program

DAZ3D Fact of the Day - What's in a Name?

Victor / Victoria (cont.)

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - A beginning

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - The Old Guard

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - What'd You Say?

DAZ 3D SIGGRAPH Carrara News - New Features / Price

DAZ 3DTM Announces “The Next Dimension in 3D Art”

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - School Ties

DAZ 3D at SIGGRAPH DAY 1: Overview

Siggraph 2007 Backstage Pass

DAZ 3D at SIGGRAPH DAY 1: Reveille

DAZ 3D goes to SIGGRAPH

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - Southpaw

Siggraph - Day 0.1

DAZ 3D Fact of the Day - Victor/Victoria

I'm a Little Geeked

Dress Code pt. 2

Go Figure...

Non Casual Tuesday

Shake Hands with a 3D Model

Chadley's Word of the Day pt. 2

Lebron James: Basketball Star, 3D artist?

DAZ 3D^TM Announces “The Next Dimension in 3D Art”