DAZ Studio

DAZ Studio is a 3D figure rendering/animation application by DAZ 3D Inc. It is compatible with most files intended for use by Poser. Unlike Poser, DAZ Studio is available free of charge (registration required).

DAZ Studio is available for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. Until version 1.7 it was officially known as DAZ Studio. Version 1.0 was released in Fall 2005. DAZ Studio 3.0 was released in June 2009. Version 4.15 is the current release as of September, 2120.

Comparison to Poser

DAZ Studio was created as a direct alternative to Poser, but following a different business model.

Poser provides a large set of components, not all essential to the creation of imagery, in a commercially available program. DAZ Studio provides a core free of charge program with the required features for the creation of imagery, while relegating other features to add-on 'plug-ins', usually commercially available, which the user may add as required. Some users hold that this means that DAZ Studio is incomplete in comparison to Poser, others that it allows users to tailor the tool to their individual needs as their use of it evolves.

DAZ Studio is capable of importing most Poser content, with the notable exceptions of dynamic clothing and dynamic hair. As a result of the different lighting models, lights may need to be tweaked or replaced and while textures are generally usable between the two (other than Poser node-based materials), optimum results may need slightly different lighting values for each.

DAZ and Bryce

Rendered art created with Bryce 5.5.

In 2004, DAZ 3D bought the landscape rendering software Bryce from Corel. In 2005 they released Bryce 5.5 with a plugin to integrate content from Poser/DAZ Studio directly into Bryce. In 2007, DAZ re-released Bryce 5.5 as a freeware.

Figures

Listed here are some of DAZ's figures (characters). There are far too many to list every figure DAZ has produced. These are just the primary ones for which a wide variety of support items are available.

Adult human figures

Victoria - A realistic woman based on the proportions of a runway model. DAZ's most popular and well-supported figure.
Michael - A realistic male companion for Victoria.
Stephanie Petite - A female figure created to address complaints that Victoria 3.0 was too stocky for some purposes.
David - The male companion for Stephanie Petite
Aiko - A female figure styled in an anime appearance.
Hiro - The male anime companion for Aiko.
The Girl - A female figure in a cartoonish style that resembles 1940's pin-up art.
The Freak - A male figure with super-human size bulging muscles.

Child human figures

Luke and Laura - Male and female teen figures sold as a set. (Generation 3 figures, same generation as Victoria 3)
Matt and Madison - Male and female pre-school figures sold as a set. (Generation 3 figures)
Millennium Baby - An unnamed asexual infant. (Generation 3 figure)

Spanking art created with DAZ Studio

Artists who used DAZ Studio to create rendered spanking art include Mayhem. A pay site that features spanking artwork created with DAZ Studio is Spank Red.