Hello all, I'm new to this forum and somewhat new to 3d modeling, although I've been half assed trying for many years. I'm usually a Photoshop user and a sculptor. I bought Poser in order to have cheap models for sculpture, only it's not working out the way I supposed, yet. I see all of these wonderful models created with Poser by all of you talented people, with great shading and musculature, but what I get from the Poser 5 figures is quite a bit short of that. They're OK for proportions and general features, not fine detail (rendering doesn't seem to make it any better). How do I get what I see you all working with? Are figures like Victoria something that I have to buy separately? Do you have to tweek them in other programs to look so finished? Maybe someone can suggest a workflow including which figures to use that might help me in making clay sculpture? Thank you for any suggestions, they're much appreciated! Jadybob

Attached Link: http://www.daz3d.com

Yes, you can purchase Victoria from Daz and Michael also...they are really super models and lots of people have created great morphs for them that some are free,and some you buy, depending on your preference. Sharen

Oh yes, welcome to our little land of Poser. Sharen

As far as tweeking goes, it depends on what you want done to the models....I would say that Vicky 3, Steph 3 and Michael 3 are about the best you could use. Now the textures out there for these models are wonderful and you many not have to do anything, but you have lots to consider expessially when you use lighting, shadows etc. Sharen The Mil Kids and much more can be bought from Daz too and Poser Pro has amazing work too....so many out there.

well jadybob, I did fine art sculpture at college, and (if your looking for realism) in your sculpture then I would use a Human model(when I couldn't afford one or couldn't talk a friend into it, I just stripped, set the pose in a mirror and took some photographs). Poser is after all a Virtual 3D app, and the models will never have the subtleties of a person, for example the mesh of the figure can pass through itself and won't interact with the rest of the body as real flesh does. As well as lighting, human flesh reacts with the environment, cold, heat, gravity all these things affect us and our bodies. I do a bit of comic illustration and for that poser is excellent, getting hard to draw angles worked out etc. PS: I agree that at the moment the 3rd gen Daz figures are the best out there.

Thank you all for the responses. I will purchase the Daz figures and go from there. But, tell me, why are they so much better than what's included with the program? Or maybe I should be asking why doesn't Poser have the best figures to work with? As for using a live model, Yes, it's far better to have one. I took some sessions with live models and it took 6 hours to get a reasonably good figure in clay. That can be costly. I need to get more hours in practice in before it makes sense to hire a model. Besides, I live in a rural area and take care of a disabled person, making it extra hard to participate in group sessions with a model. Maybe I will create the pose I want, work up a good model, then hire a model for the final touches. Might work, might not. Anyway, thanks. I'm sure I'll be posting more now, but I'll be reading all of the archived material and other sources. For now, I just needed to get my foot on the right path. Jadybob

I have never bought into the Daz Victoria 3 and Micheal 3 figures because of the cost and complexity and size... I have the version 2 figures and Stephanie and they are well worth the expense if you can afford them and I actually end up using the very affordable Lo-res version of Victoria 2 much of the time. My favorite figure actually though is the Victoia PreTeen modified to be a mature adult female figure as it displays a more realistic prortion and fat layer as found in actual woman (unlike the "idealized supermodel" look of Victoria). I also use the Eve figure that used to be distributed free at Morphworld 3.0 by Traveler which is a sophisticated adaptation of the P4 Nude Woman figure with genitals and full body morphs. I also like the Adrianna figure here in Freestuff which is a full body morphing figure based on the P4 body-type version of Victoria 2 that comes as part of the purchase of that DAZ figure. Also you should learn to modify figures with magnets... some body sculpting magnet sets are available free but you should look at Traveler's magnet tutorial and get the magnet miror script here in Freestuff. Magnets are essential for effects such as gravity and momentum and flesh pressing against flesh. I also use liquify in Photoshop for these effects (I don't do any animation). I use Poser to substitute for models in painting.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12356&Form.ShowMessage=1674222

All the models used in Poser were originally created by DAZ. When CI released Poser 5, rather than include new models they had the Poser 4 models rebuilt (in most peoples option not too successfully). Yamato, a person known for his modeling skills, just rebuilt Judy and vastly improve that model. You pick her up for free on his web site. If you describe for me the type of person and the kind of pose you had in mind, perhaps I could put it together using one of the 3rd generation models; render it and post it so could see if that type of model would work for you.

Do your models have textures applied, or are they just relying on the flat material colour? I don't have Poser 5, so I'm not sure how the figures load.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12356&Form.ShowMessage=1679540

jadybob - Please understand the concept of the MT(Morph Target,) and that what makes Daz3D's popularity grow is an abbundance of these! These are Polygon-Count Dependand alternate versions of body parts'(Like the Face/Head) vertex spaceage! The bad thing you're realizing is that without some lind of an Industry-Wide standard, for the Human Figure, collecting these is a pain in the #@! It is these you use as the tool to sculpt beautiful new faces! But when new hardware technology comes along and produces Ultra-Higher Resultion Scans of Humans(As with newer and newer versions of Daz3D Mil' Chars., a lack of MT Transfer software exists. Because MTs just do'nt between figures, it is difficult to get "A" good collection of MTs rolling. I thin this is what P5 people are feeling with thier less than real virtual characters. Please refer to the link below, I just answered, more technically, a few moments ago!

jadybob, Here's what I came up with from you description. Its done with the default Vicky 3, no texture, and default lights. The second image is done with one of my custom characters, a texture, hair, and a light setup.

I hope this gives you an idea of what is possible, and the difference between Judy and Vicky 3.