Official Announcement: HiveWire 3D to publish Animals through DAZ 3D

[pommerlis]

True. Sniffer was a Beagle Vizsla mix which was a handful. Sweet dog, but he had a thing for going on walks by himself. Scared us to death every time he managed to get out because we lived less than a block from major roads.

But even on his worst days, he wasn't anywhere near the handful that Tsuki is!

Dachshunds are reïncarnated cats. For sure.

 

[Hornet3d]

Dear HiveWire Buzzy Bees,

Thank you all so much for your support. Its so great to come here and see both positive and negative comments as they are both supportive. Your resistance to this news is evidence that you are truly a part of the Hive here and that you want things to keep going forward in a positive and safe direction as per how you see the situation. It says that you've invested in us, HiveWire 3D, with your time and contributions and perhaps you feel like this is your home now, where you feel part of the buzz vs separate from it. It's natural that you'd want to do anything you could to protect what you like and defend what feels "safe" to you, as you and your perspective define the word, 'safe'. It's also natural to go on the offensive toward that end.

Many of your concerns are those Chris and I, as well as our Team, have had in the months coming to this decision. We love the Hive. Our love for what we have here has been put to the test in many ways over the years with this past year being truly defining. Thus far we've launched the boat, set sail, navigated through storms, sailed under clear skies and calm waters, seen the sun rise, the sun set and pondered the moon and stars, drawing animal shapes as our imagination guides us. The journey, and that we've gotten through all that to be here today, is a testament to the strength of our team, our commitment to each other and our collective dreams and visions, as well as our commitment to you, the people who make up this community.

At various points along the way as we ride the waves of "doing business" it becomes necessary to define what is truly aligned with our passions, dreams and visions. Through the conversations with Daz we have been able to become inspired by ideas ... ponder them and how they could work ... what they would and could mean going forward. We've gotten to lay down our heads and "sleep on it", not for just one night, but many nights, which allowed us to truly weigh the options and the depth and breadth of them - not only for what it would mean to us, but more inportantly, what it means to all of you, too.

We've come to realize how important our community is to us. In our discussions we would bring some of you up by name. What about "ABee"? How would she feel about this? What about "BBee" and "CBee"? How would they feel? Does this decision give them what THEY need in a product line and a community going forward? And the answers here defined the next steps into our final decision.

We think/feel we have come to a place where there is a "safe" next step. We know what we DON'T want. Many of the things we don't want are also defined here as you all share your thoughts and feelings. It's good to know what we don't want. It says that we are aware of how things could go wrong. However, as much we could write books about what we don't want, it's not where Chris and I will choose to focus. We are aware of the risks and take them as seriously as you do in your expression here. At the same time, we feel the potential benefits far outweigh the risks and so we are choosing to go forward looking for all the ways this CAN and WILL work. Sure, we can rehash and repeat history or we can simply "know that we know" of our history and move forward defining how things can work differently in the future, and work well.

It's important in this process for you all to share your fears or what doesn't work for you. Please, when voicing what you don't like, please also give us your opinion or suggestion of how it COULD work better. This gives us feedback other than our own. Know that we hear you and we are taking your concerns on board along with ours as we move forward. This first step is a bold one. It has lots of promise. We are excited to sail forward into uncharted territory.

Thank you all again for your support.

Thank you for the explanation, I never imagined for a minute that this was anything but a very difficult difficult decision for the team and one that would have been discussed at length. I am equally clear that the final decision must have been made with some reservations but decided upon on in the belief that it was for the greater good of the Hivewire family and the greater good of the community. It is of great credit to you all that members here have felt able to raise their concerns, fears and worries and not been frozen out or disrespected. It is however a two edge sword and all that goes to make us love it here also makes us fear change and clearly a lot of people are uneasy about this and feel it threatens what has come to be home. For many Hivewire has become a near perfect solution but in the words of the song 'perfect situation must go wrong'.

I hope this all ends well and, if not, I hope everyone will accept it was done with the best intentions. I support the decision of the team but that does not mean I am not worried.

I would add one other point which I hope will be seen as positive as we move forward. For some, me included, there is a fear this is the thin edge of the wedge. That being the case many will be watching any decision that is made in the near future. Changes that have nothing to do with this may be seen as supporting a particular view and evidence it is indeed showing that the rot is setting in. In know there is a lot of work to be done on the animals as they move over but some new work on the figures that remain may go some way to allying the fears and showing that, even those who feel they have lost their ability to use the animals, can still benefit from the move either directly or indirectly. In summary my humble suggestion is to apply a light touch and, where possible, show there are benefits for everyone, particularly those that feel they have lost out.

 

[Hornet3d]

Truth is, what I do with Dawn is a continuation of what I was already doing with V4. Once she was officially retired, I started to stretch her capabilities to the limit, but she breaks too easily thanks to the legacy rigging. I could go WAAAY beyond these limits when I switched to Dawn, and I have never looked back ever since. I just wish other people would give her a fair trial instead of 2nd hand prejudice. All the energy spent on legacy V4 is a waste compared to what they could be doing with DAWN! All they have to do is TRY. Thanks to HW initiative, more people will be doing that at Rosity - and they are up to a surprise. Dawn is a VERY capable figure. Just look at all the crazy stuff I have done with her, and she survived. V4 breaks at 10% of that.

I have heard comments like "I wish I had a figure like Genesis in Poser", while dismissing Dawn by thinking she is like old V4. The misinformation concerning HW figures is quite widespread. With HW reaching out to DAZ, maybe this could be an opportunity for things to change. When people see how wonderful these animals are, why would they believe the human figures would be as bad as people claim? Not to mention DAZ will not be able to badmouth HW while the deal is up. That alone would be good enough for a break. Let's see how it plays out.



People who have been brainwashed with 2nd hand misinformation can go to great extends to justify themselves for not trying HW figures. The "guru" theory was the most recent from the bunch. So I guess I am a guru now. I should start levitating at any moment.



Amen to that. Happened to me too. I love the guys who run this place, so I REALLY wish this odd deal will work out. HW really needs the extra boost.

I am very much in the same camp but if I am truthful, having seen what you have done with Dawn I do regard you as a wizard so I can see some validity to the claim. This should not detract from the fact that you do not have to be a wizard to get great renders and a browse through the 'show us your Dawn renders' thread will show vast numbers of high class renders from people with a very mixed set of skill.

 

[Alisa]

Will the preview threads still be here to show progress?

Yes, Chris will still have his WIP threads here .

Hello all. I'm little puzzled with these news. Do my old Hivewire cats bought from here work with possible new content/addons bought from Daz Store, or do we have an updated installer we can download from here to update our big cat installations in Daz Studio to tell that we have required product? I'd sure love to have DIM package, if possible, because I mainly use smart content, or even better, somehow inform Daz Store that I already own the product, so I automatically get updates from Install Manager.

Your current products (even before I update them) will work with all add-ons- the ONLY difference with the files that are in the DAZ store are the following:

a) some updated / improved materials and textures
b) a new shiny pdf ReadMe (hopefully)
c) packaged by DAZ in their DIM format (I've not gotten them yet but typically those don't have Templates included, as they put them online and have them available only via your Product Library)

As soon as I get the DAZ DIM files, they will be repackaged a bit (because we have to keep the same file names we originally uploaded to the store in order for you to be able to download them) and to be sure that the Templates are included. You can then re-download and will get everything that is being sold in the packages at DAZ.

I'll announce the updates when they are in the store here:
Product Updates - Main Notification

I just hope we can still buy great original HiveWire3D content here in the future.

Yep. All the non-animal products will be here!

I have nothing against those that dislike Dawn for whatever reason, what I do find annoying are those that present lies and half truths as fact.

That and those who've never even tried her (or clicked once on the original free base) and then badmouth her. Again, there's a big difference between expressing personal choices and opinions and bashing things, right? We've all seen both of those...

In know there is a lot of work to be done on the animals as they move over but some new work on the figures that remain may go some way to allying the fears and showing that, even those who feel they have lost their ability to use the animals, can still benefit from the move either directly or indirectly.

Actually, work is going on now on some things for our human figures .

 

[eclark1894]

Yes, Chris will still have his WIP threads here .


That and those who've never even tried her (or clicked once on the original free base) and then badmouth her. Again, there's a big difference between expressing personal choices and opinions and bashing things, right? We've all seen both of those...

Alisa, just out of curiosity, how many downloads for Dawn have there been?

 

[Alisa]

No clue. Lots

 

[NapalmArsenal]

@Stezza I don't think the mods like us over there!!

 

[sean_martin]

I'll be honest: this bothers me, a lot.

Shortening the name? I dont understand why, since it's not going to take much for any user to find out who it was. *Saying* they want to build up the Poser supply of products? We've kinda heard that before. I'm not gonna be surprised one whit to hear that DAZ buys Poser from Smith Micro and then deep-sixes it.

 

[NapalmArsenal]

Even if that does happen, you will still have your die hard with a vengeance Poser community who will support the program even if there are no new versions created.

 

[Alisa]

True. And at this point, there's not been anything coming from SM indicating they intend to sell. Hopefully either they'll continue to work on Poser, or if they DO sell it, they'll sell it to someone who will. After all, there have been 5 owners of Poser already. I think I've bought versions from all 5 .

No one can predict the future, all we can do is look at how things are and work with that, right? HiveWire is still creating for both Poser and DAZ Studio. Our store and forums remain and we remain dedicated to our customers and CAs and to the principles by which the company was founded: Create, Collaborate, Communicate, Commit, Care.

Some people who see HW3D at DAZ will not have a clue who we are, but then they wouldn't have before, either. Some will figure it out or be told by someone. Some will come here as well, some won't.

 

[James R.]

In regards to using the "HW3D" name versus screaming "HIVEWIRE" at DAZ...

Hivewire is a brokerage. Therefore it is a direct competitor to DAZ.

I am only guessing, and perhaps Chris or Lisa can clear this up, but DAZ advertising a competitor...? Not going to happen.

But if you compromise and call the products "HW3D", that's different, if only by degree, as disingenuous as it may seem. People can still figure out where the products come from.

All in all, I see this like an automotive "badge engineering" partnership. For example, Ford sold a Mazda product 25+ years ago: the Ford Probe. A re-skinned Mazda MX-6 coupe. Sold as a Ford. Labeled and badged as a Ford. Not really a Ford. Still a Mazda.

This is only one example. This isn't a new idea. This happens a lot. It's business.

I wish people would stop making a huge deal out of it.

 

[Zaarin]

Interesting to hear that DAZ is interested in expanding their Poser base, after spending years of being actively hostile towards Poser users. (That's not sarcastic, BTW: I find it genuinely interesting that they're apparently changing course after years of doubling down on a single policy.)

I actually got DAZ's newsletter this morning with a headline about the Big Cats, but I assumed it was more of DAZ's Genesis-based animals so I didn't give it a second look. Hope this works out well for you; at least you're not selling out to DAZ--I don't think I could survive the shock of having my home store sold out from under me to DAZ twice.

 

[ibr_remote]

I'll probably keep using Poser and buying whatever content suits my Poser projects. Not particularly charmed by DS software itself, altho DS content can appear very polished in promo images.

 

[deanna]

Not going to lie: This bothers me. A Lot. RDNA, now Hivewire? Though I realize it's just a few products, please understand that I do not shop at DAZ. I really think there should be a way for customers to be able to purchase your products without having to give DAZ money. I mean, seriously. "Wah wah wah, you can't use your own vendor name because you compete with us, and we're so freaking delicate that we can't possibly allow you to post your name". That's what I read, and granted, I've had about four hours sleep and a half cuppa coffee and actually scrambled to register to post here because this does peeve me off.

That said, you have to run your business as you see fit, and I'm sure you already know how they do and have done business. You've always been fair and straight with the customers. Just realize that there's people like me who simply want nothing to do with DAZ.

 

[Tempesta3d]

... at least you're not selling out to DAZ--I don't think I could survive the shock of having my home store sold out from under me to DAZ twice.

Me too.

p.s.: Love the Bashir avatar btw

 

[Alisa]

Hi, deanna, and welcome to the Hive. We do understand your concerns, and that some feel just as you do.

At the same time, we hope you'll stick around here!

All in all, I see this like an automotive "badge engineering" partnership. For example, Ford sold a Mazda product 25+ years ago: the Ford Probe. A re-skinned Mazda MX-6 coupe. Sold as a Ford. Labeled and badged as a Ford. Not really a Ford. Still a Mazda.

This is only one example. This isn't a new idea. This happens a lot. It's business.

That's a great analogy. There are a hundred examples of this, just from the car industry alone...

Interestingly, I'm sure many people who won't buy a Mazda and would have put it down, even, WOULD buy a Ford Probe.

Those who would buy a small pickup truck from Mazda but looked down on Ford, wouldn't buy the same product (a Ford Ranger) from Ford. But in fact, they are both the same car.

People are indeed interesting!

 

[Alisa]

Hey, Tempesta - so good to see you here!! Yeah, I love that Bashir avatar, too!!

 

[Ghostman]

I'm Swedish! I'll stick with VOLVO! hehe

 

[James R.]

I'm Swedish! I'll stick with VOLVO! hehe

Volvo is owned by Geely, a Chinese company.

 

[Alisa]

LOL!