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

[Alisa]

Well, welcome back, Pax!

Yes, I love having all the morphs in the body, too. Made more sense to me from the time I first tried Dawn way back when .

So I guess I am a guru now. I should start levitating at any moment.

LOL!

What's really scary is that I had very little problems rigging the conforming clothing in Sweete Reyn. So, I totally expect HiveWire QAV (not QAM) to have all kinds of issues when they test!

Well, if your beta testers were thorough, hopefully not!

Chances are that the original Dawn was first a DS figure before the Poser version came out. That's why the dials come like that.

Paul-the-man does rig first in DS, then in Poser.

Okay, I still wish Hivewire the best, and will continue to shop here. I'm dying for a Dawn 2.0. But I'm not going to lie here, the exclusivity thing bothers me greatly. Somehow it seems counterintuitive. On one hand you move your animals products to DAZ for more exposure, BUT not everyone who uses Poser shops at DAZ, or wants to. Meanwhile DAZ insist that you abbreviate your name, ostensibly to hide who you really are, and thus mitigating any extra exposure you do get. I'm not seeing how 1 takeaway two is a positive gain here.

Understand. We're hoping it is a positive gain in many respects, for everyone (with the exception, sadly, of those who flat refuse to buy anything at DAZ). Us, DAZ, our CAs and our customers. For those (probably Poser users, as DS users would already be signed up there to even download the software) who don't normally shop at DAZ, but are WILLING to, they can sign up there and just buy our animals, if they choose, right?

Exclusivity is simply how DAZ does things. I don't know of any products sold at DAZ that are also sold elsewhere. We have CA products who are exclusive here, so does Renderosity. The difference is both HW & Rendo also have non-exclusive products, but that's nothing new.

The HW3D part, well, I suspect those who want and/or need to will somehow figure out that we are HiveWire, and those who don't will hopefully at least benefit by enjoying our animals.

 

[CWRW]

The ears don't seem to be set right to me and are too rounded, the head isn't round enough (although for some breeds that's perfectly acceptable) and the paws seem too large. I also feel there isn't enough fullness in the back end, especially when sitting, but that's darn hard to do I would think . Cats are a complicated mixture of muscle and fat. LOL.

Laurie

There are soooo many morphs for the ears-one can make them just about any way they want. This is only a TINY sampling.

 

[Alisa]

Yeah, I think sometimes we forget about morphs, right? I know when people would comment about Dawn being this or that, I'd think "but it's a BASE model"! Part of the fun of creating images (not that I've done much of that lately, sigh) is morphing things to create what we're looking for!

 

[daywalker03]

Yes, I love having all the morphs in the body, too. Made more sense to me from the time I first tried Dawn way back when .

Well, as a mainly DAZ Studio user that is used to having morphs show up more broadly categorized in the Shaping tab, it's just a minor quibble. Nothing that I can't get used to as I work with her more. And of course for me half of the fun of any figure I buy (or get for free, as in the various Genesis bases and Dawn/Dusk) is making new shapes, either with someone else's morphs, or those I make myself.

 

[CWRW]

Yeah, I think sometimes we forget about morphs, right? I know when people would comment about Dawn being this or that, I'd think "but it's a BASE model"! Part of the fun of creating images (not that I've done much of that lately, sigh) is morphing things to create what we're looking for!

Exactly

 

[Rae134]

Well, I am just glad I haven't done any animal supporting products. I do have the Dawn riding outfit in the pipeline, but I'll likely not release it now. Definitely not in the store, perhaps as a freebie. I'm undecided.

I feel for the CAs who have done supporting products, like all the animal poses and would feel like I had been served with divorce papers this morning if it were me.

Oh please still do! It would be a shame that us Dawn uses miss out because the horse is not here anymore. And I'm sure there may be other horse uses that don't use Harry but do use Dawn would still want it, after all the horses aren't sold here either and people still want horse stuff.

The ears don't seem to be set right to me and are too rounded, the head isn't round enough (although for some breeds that's perfectly acceptable) and the paws seem too large. I also feel there isn't enough fullness in the back end, especially when sitting, but that's darn hard to do I would think . Cats are a complicated mixture of muscle and fat. LOL.

Laurie

Looks like our resident Laurie (CWRW) beat me to it.
What you see is just the default preset. Chris really listened to us and added heaps of morph options (I like Scottish Folds so he added the folded ear morph).
I know VB was working on a LAMH preset I hope he still goes through with it.

 

[Ken1171]

Well, as a mainly DAZ Studio user that is used to having morphs show up more broadly categorized in the Shaping tab, it's just a minor quibble. Nothing that I can't get used to as I work with her more. And of course for me half of the fun of any figure I buy (or get for free, as in the various Genesis bases and Dawn/Dusk) is making new shapes, either with someone else's morphs, or those I make myself.

My pleasure as well. While some complain about the lack of morphs, I had a lot of fun creating my own. If it didn't work out, it adds to experience, and next time it gets better. But I have publicly proven over again that Dawn is a great base to create with. With her I have created anything from cartoonish to realistic characters in a variety of body styles. Those are some of the things I have always wanted to do with V4, but she didn't survive the process. No such problems with Dawn.

 

[RAMWolff]

Most interesting. I remember at the LAMH thread there was a certain member of that team that created LAMH sort of bashing the Hive's animals saying that Alex could do better... I guess DAZ feels differently. So perhaps we will have some nice furry presets coming our way for the DS users or perhaps not but just remember that this person's crappy opinion... then I look at the Horse 2 and laugh. Just saying.

Congrats Hivewire. I hope it truly works out for both parties. HUGS

 

[Stezza]

My guess is that the folks at Daz can't spell Hivewire3D hence the abbreviation to HW3D

Daz forums also have keywords that set alarms off ... like 1984 or dawn etc

The mods over there can be very discriminative.

 

[LisaB]

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.

 

[RAMWolff]

I've wrestled with HW's announcement for a couple months now, and found surprisingly that 4 years hasn't dulled the pain of some all the wounds that caused my initial departure from DAZ. I also weighed in on my responsibility as HW's first and cornerstone CA.

So, everything of mine is staying at HiveWire3D (for now). When, and if, the Horse moves, it might make sense to move my horse wings and racing tack with the horse, but they'll be available at HW first.

Might be worth testing the waters to see if things go well Ken. Smart move man!

 

[RAMWolff]

I know there will be some folks, for their own personal reasons, that will REFUSE to shop at DAZ3D... so it's too bad you couldn't work out a deal with DAZ to allow for the initial 10 days to be sold at both places to give those that shop here a chance to grab the new products before they go permanently to DAZ.

 

[Alisa]

Awesome post, Lisa

 

[Ken1171]

@LisaB I was curious of WHO will make the promo images for the DAZ store? I was thinking if HW do them, maybe Dawn/Dusk could be used, like walking the dog, or riding the horse. I think if DAZ do the promos, they will use Genesis instead.

 

[RAMWolff]

I've even seen people state that Dawn is DS only and won't work in Poser. When asked where they got that from, they just shrug and say they 'heard it somewhere'.. This always puzzles me

It's like the USA's politics and policies being misrepresented. Folks don't research or try things out for themselves, it's all word of mouth and most of that is often off by quite a bit...... that applies to most things these days, not just politics or CG figures! lol

 

[LisaB]

@LisaB I was curious of WHO will make the promo images for the DAZ store? I was thinking if HW do them, maybe Dawn/Dusk could be used, like walking the dog, or riding the horse. I think if DAZ do the promos, they will use Genesis instead.

We have been fortunate that the artists we collaborate with for our HiveWire owned products have great render skills as well. Laurie Prindle continues to WOW us time after time as she renders our product ads for the animals, Virtual World made some fantastic renders for our Dawn, Dusk and Baby Luna products as well.

Going forward, we will do our own promos. The promos we are and have been doing for animals won't contain a human figure, but I can see where you're coming from for promos for add-on items such as pose packs and the like. Note that if you're submitting an item to Daz they might require that their human figures are pictured in your renders. I'm not sure that they would exclude or prohibit renders of our figures but I know they will want to see thier own.

 

[Rae134]

I think it would be a very brave person to do combined poses for Harry and one/all of the HW figures and try and sell them at Daz

 

[Miss B]

(I also lost my login for the forums so... I'm not new, I've just not bought anything in forever...)

Welcome back Pax, and if you haven't been here for a while, we had to get new forum software about 1 1/2 years ago, so you're kind of starting over (as we all had to do), but not necessarily "new" to the HW forum.

What's really scary is that I had very little problems rigging the conforming clothing in Sweete Reyn. So, I totally expect HiveWire QAV (not QAM) to have all kinds of issues when they test!

Well, if your beta testers were thorough, hopefully not!

Considering how great her products are, I can't imagine her beta testers having any problems while testing, or QAV for that matter.

 

[Seliah (Childe of Fyre)]

Sorry I'm coming in a little late here... been kind of out and about for the last three days or so...

I understand the business decision. I think it could benefit both HW and Daz if handled respectfully and properly. I will pick up the HW animal products I'm interested in over there, I do still make purchases there as well as here.

However... I just don't trust Daz when it comes to how they relate to other Daz/Poser stores. I'm sorry, but I don't. They have been trying to monopolize the entire market for a long time now, and after seeing them swallow up and then close smaller stores or competing stores more than once, I. Don't. Trust. Daz. At. All.

I trust Chris, Lisa, and Alisa. It's not you guys. It's Daz that I don't trust.

My gut is screaming at me on this one. I'm extremely uncomfortable with it, and I don't trust it. I can't put my finger on exactly why, or point to any concrete reasons. But I trust my gut, and I absolutely DO NOT trust Daz.

Just please be careful with Daz, and I hope the current business arrangement benefits HW, and I hope that current business arrangement remains as it is. That's the last I will say on that.

The only question I have :
If I do supporting content for those animals, do I have to sell it at Daz? Because if I do, I'm not going to bother selling that content, and I will just make it freebies. I won't sell for them, I'm sorry.

 

[RAMWolff]

Will there be an official announcement on Fb, Twitter and more importantly on DAZ3D forums for this bridge that's been built between both companies or do we have to keep our mouths shut for the time being? LOL