Forum: Poser - OFFICIAL


Subject: Notes for a Newbie -2- Acquisitions

hauksdottir opened this issue on Mar 03, 2004 ยท 21 posts


hauksdottir posted Thu, 04 March 2004 at 12:26 AM

[Gack... I really hate cold coffee!] The specialty sites are like boutique stores. There isn't much selection, but the quality is often very high, you sometimes have a long-term relationship with the owner, and service is usually very good as well, since it is the work of their own hands. There are many more such sites than I can list, but I will include a representative handful. Again, not being on this short list doesn't imply shoddiness or unprofessionalism... it might simply be that I don't have a need for army uniforms or pin-up poses or whatever your specialty is, or I haven't stumbled over your site, so I haven't shopped in your store or downloaded your freebies. My needs may change in the future, meanwhile other people will have to recommend you. Sorry. SAMS3d. http://sams3d.com/ Sharen, I wasn't going to forget you! (Now I'm going to embarrass her by putting them first.) SAMS stand for Sharen and Mike. They are good warm-hearted people and their products focus upon the American heartland: buildings, furniture, vehicles. Even their freestuff harkens back to a more relaxed and romantic period in our history: arbor swings, milkcans, potting sheds, children's toys. They have perhaps the nicest haunted house I've ever seen, but even that is a nice haunted house. PhilC. www.philc.net Phil specializes in clothing. There are some hair models and winsome characters on his site, too. He has been unstintingly generous with his time, helping others to model and fit clothing as well. A lot of his stuff is racy, but he has also modeled some of the most classic and elegant dresses around. He does men's clothing, too, and has created accurate period clothing to museum specifications. He often has an "almost freestuff" item, offered for $1.99 for a week only as an introductory special. A genuine nice guy with a delightful sense of humor, excellent products, excellent support. Dacort. http://www.dacort.com/index2.php Dan and Tracy came to my first Poser Users' Party and Dan slipped me a CD chock a block with his mermaids and Natalia... because he knew that I loved them. He specializes in human females and makes models which I think are comparable in quality to DAZ, but they aren't as well-supported by third-party merchants. His females have wonderful morphs for making aliens as well as presenting a different body shape or face shape. Tracy designs the clothes for them... and the versadress is very elegant. The items in his store are very fairly priced and you can find extra textures or whatever by third-party people here. Nerd. http://www.nerd3d.com/nerd3d.htm Most of the site is focussed upon clothing of the less-than practical sort (look at the Syrinx for a wonderful example), but you can also find a nifty fog tool. There are several worthwhile tutorials here, and not just in how to use his items. VIP. http://www.vistainternetproducts.com/ This is the place for animals. :) They cover the broadest range of animals, both wild and domestic, and usually do sets such as all the pig variants, or swans and geese, or wild cats, or whatever. If you need a chicken or a komodo dragon, this is the place to look. They do not have electronic download, only shippable CDs, however, they are extremely fast. The CD needs a "joliet" decoder to be fully used on a Mac, but they link to the site. Lyne is often in Product Showcase here, showing off wip and taking suggestions. FaerieWylde. http://www.faeriewylde.com/forum/index.php They have just opened a store for faerie-related stuff here: http://www.faerie-dreams.com to support their main website. If you need wings and things, it is probably in their freestuff, but full characters and clothing are most likely in the store. Thorne has been creating lovely faeries for a long time, and has a very distinctive style, but a handful of other artists are helping round out the look. Kokopelli. http://www.kokopelli.org.uk/ I haven't ordered their CD yet, but have looked at it more than once. :) They have some very nice ship models and the collection price is a bargain. The range at this site is odd: maritime, new age, archeological sites, with a dollop of Tolkien and pirate stuff? But they make what they like (artists who do that usually pour their hearts into it). The links pages are worth checking out, too. Sixus1. http://www.sixus1.com/ I haven't shopped here, but I have downloaded their freebies. The creatures are very strange and imaginative and twisted. They do have fantasy creatures, but slightly warped. If a site has dragons, I'll keep an eye on it. ;) Animotions. http://www.animotions.com/ Looking at the breadth of the store, and number of merchants, this should probably have been put up with general sites... except that it does concentrate upon comic and cartoon and game worlds... with all the necessary characters and props for making your own stories. Expandingwave. http://www.expandingwave.com/ A brand new site, for the purpose of sharing traditional Japanese sets and props. They are taking requests and it looks like we will be getting a lot more cultural rather than martial items. (I think I have at least a dozen katanas by different modelers so it is more than welcome to see a set of dishes or pillows or tansu.) Their writing set is beautifully made, and authentic. It appears that musical instruments are in the near future. :) Bloodsong. http://www.3dmenagerie.com/ Most of her stuff is offered at other sites, such as DAZ, but the Heavy Horse, for example, can be ordered directly. Having the morphs for the DAZ eagle available through them but her individual horse available at her site makes sense. You can also find cafepress merchandise and a nice gallerie here. Well, that's a nice little selection of stores, enough I think to indicate range, and I need to take something for the headache. When I come back, we can tackle free stuff. Carolly