Tools of the Trade: DAZ Studio

DAZ Studio is a 3D figure posing and rendering program that can produce amazing renders for comic art.  It uses polygonal models which you can arrange and pose any way you like.  The extra figures can give you a huge amount of versatility, and they're pretty cheap as far as 3D content goes, but a good sized library can still be a major investment.


Inspired by the popular application Poser, the DAZ Studio base program is free, and come with a fair bit of started content.  There is another version called DAZ Studio Advanced, which can set you back about $130.  The publisher, DAZ 3D, is extremely innovative and progressive with the programs and models they publish, and the quality gets better and better with each passing year.


The range of possibilities for comics from 3D software has become too large to ignore.  There is a good deal of amaturish content out there, but you would be surprised what content originated in software like DAZ Studio in capable hands.


The image below was made with the Freak model, rendering in DAZ Studio Advanced, and filtered in Photoshop afterward.