Cleveland M.

A few months ago I reviewed the DAZ3D website, and although my review was not stellar, it was meant to be only for the time period in which the events I described were occurring. The hard working folks at DAZ3D have since fixed nearly all of those problems. As the software and products used with them are awesome to say the least, I have never stopped visiting the site.

At this time they have a super deal in progress in which they are offering much of their most up to date software absolutely free. I acquired DAZ Studio 4 Pro, Bryce 7 Pro, and Hexagon 2.5 Pro, all for free. That is over $800.00 worth of software. With all the other products that are also free in their store, the value of the stuff I have downloaded from them for free is well over $1500. 00!

Previously, I gave three stars for this site. I am now pushing that up to five, because the people at DAZ3D have shown me that they work diligently to fix problems, help customers with theirs, and make the experience as pleasant as possible.

I highly recommend this site to any one who wishes to get into the digital arts. The availability of software and supporting products there is awesome. There are many other features that are great as well.

Just one thing that is a bit of a problem that seems difficult to handle is the fact that manuals are scarce for their most popular software, DAZ Studio. There is a WIP version available but it is broken up into several PDF files and the subjects covered are missing key information in many of those files. Really the best way to learn about the software is through tutorials found on various sites across the web. Of course you have to sort through these tutorials to find the ones that are easy to follow. Even with that being a problem, the software is still fairly easy to use, and I discover new things about it all the time.

Thank you,
C. Major.

Most Digital Creations is another of those third party 3D model vendor websites. The proprietor, Adam Thwaites, offers many of his own creations for reasonable prices as well as those of member artists. There is a special section of the site called Free Stuff where you can find free products, and you can find items for sale in the Shop pages. I must say that the design of the website is first rate, being quite easy to navigate, and giving larger images representing the products than other sites I have visited.

If you go to YouTube and search for tutorials dealing with DAZ Studio. You may find a few that were done by Adam Thwaites. I have learned a few things due to these tutorials, which are well done. I mention this because as the proprietor of this website, you can be assured that this is someone who has quite a lot of experience with the software involved, and the products he has created will be of quite a high quality. I have acquired many of them myself, and have not yet been disappointed. The ones I have acquired that were created by other artists on this site were also of high quality.

In conclusion, I give this site five out of five for the pleasantness of navigating the site, and the quality of the products offered. I highly recommend it.

Thank you,
C. Major.

Okay, I know that nobody is perfect, and websites even less so. That being said, every once in a while you find one that gets pretty close. The Project Dogwaffle website is one of those that gets pretty close.

What is Project Dogwaffle? The product itself is a software program for artists of all ages. There are a few versions available, depending on what your requirements are. You can even get a free version that is quite good. Of course the free version is not as complete as the others, but what you get is enough to satisfy your need to create. On top of that, it is possible to import photos and other pictures into the program and make changes or add effects. Totally Cool!

At the website you will find that they have a great sense of humor, which shows it the text. This serves to lighten the mood and set you at ease.

This application was created by a "starving artist for starving artists". That in itself is enough for me to like the site. I do not know if the business is still running but the software is still available. I have had the program for 2 years and I, m still finding cool things when I use it. I recently acquired the updated free version, and have not yet tested it, however, I do not foresee any problems with it.

So I give the highest rating available for this site, 5 stars, and if I could, I would give 2 more. This to me is really a great website.

Thank you,
C. Major.

Renderosity is another website that offers 3rd party products. As with other sites of this type, you can find thousands of free products as well as products for sale. The site serves a large membership of creators who can upload products to the site for distribution. I use this site the way I do others of this type: to help increase my library of products for use in my digital art software.

The website is well organized with ways to specify what you wish to find. You need only to enter what program file type you want, and then the specifics of the product type. In digital art, this can be object files, materials, textures, backgrounds, characters, scenes, and much more.

In many cases, the site will redirect you to a different website if the item you want to download is not offered directly by Renderosity. Some may find this to be annoying, but I do not. It is actually convenient for me because it ensures that I only need to use Renderosity to find the item and they will put me in contact with the correct site for the download.

I have plans for uploading products of my own to the site in the near future, and there is a way provided for exactly that. All you have to do is join their membership, follow a few simple guidelines, and you can upload products for sale and for free.

My only problem with this site is that there are many products that do not work the way they should. Also many are for operating systems that are outdated by a few years.

I give this site four out of five stars for ease of use, amount of products, the ability to use it to find other similar sites, and the ability to share your own creations with the growing community of members. I think that there needs to be a way to report bad products and have them removed when they are proven to be unusable. If they could get rid of the clutter of bad products more easily, this site would be at its best.

Thank you.
C. Major

Share CG is a good website where you can find all kinds of products you can use online and in your computer applications. Most of what they offer is free to download.
They serve a large community of members who can upload their own creations to the site for sale or for free.

The site is structured pretty well, being fairly easy to navigate and use. If you are searching for a specific product, a search box is provided into which you can type the name of what you are looking for. After entering the text, just click on the go button and you are usually taken straight to the product.

If you click on a product to see what it is, you will be taken to a page that gives a little information about the product, and you can read comments concerning it and also post a comment yourself.
I shop there for products to use in DAZ Studio, and Bryce; two 3D art software applications I use for my digital art creations. There are thousands of 3rd party products that can be found there for little or no cost. With this site I have increased my content library for DAZ Studio by a factor of ten or more. Clothing for the different character bases in DAZ Studio was scarce before I found Share CG, and I have found many other types of 3D models for use as well. There are even special morphs available, as well as lighting, shaders, materials, and much more.

I give the Share CG website four out of five stars for service, ease of use, amount of product availability, and overall friendliness. My only problem is that certain products found there are not complete, and some do not have clear instructions for use. I do not fault the website with any of this, however. As this is a website where people can share their creations, the responsibility to provide instructions falls on the producer of the product. Perhaps Share CG could post a message that informs the person submitting a product about what is required to make a product desirable.

Thank you.
C. Major