Hi everybody,

I'm brand new to making digitial pictures. I bought myself Photoshop, Poser (4 & 5) and Lightwave. Did I buy me the right programs to start with or should I buy some other ones?
I bought some basic figures from Daz (V3 and the morphs). Now I see all these great files at Renderosity and am wondering what to buy first. Is there anyone who can be of any help.

Thanks for replying!

RFTS

Congrats on the new proggies.... You can try checking out the Lightwave forum. http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12385 AgentSmith

Attached Link: http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?Who=geoegress

lol- Welcome to the addictive world of 3D, ReachForTheSky . Just leave your wallet at the door, we'll do the rest, lmao.

Yup, sounds like you have a great set to start with, don't be discouraged cause everything isn't falling into place. Each one of those programs have a huge ammount to learn.
Like modeling, texture makeing, lighting and poseing, each is a speciality in it's own right.
And so much more.

Now, as a quick start you'll have to accumulate a ton of other stuff. Trees, props, furnature, clothing ect... to fill in your scenes. No sence reinventing the wheel if it's allready available.

If your really new to 3D then I'd suggest starting with Poser 4. It has the easiest learning curve, and will get your mind around thinking in three dementions.

Also, get V2, M2 and the mill girls- slightly older models but there is a ton of free stuff around for them and they do look great. V3 is the flavor of the month ATM, so thats why so much is visable in the marketplace and in the free stuff section. But it is not even close to the only 'must haves' around :)

Also, cruse other sites like;
rendervisions.com
3dcommune.com
runtimedna.com
each has it's own flavor, it's own membership, and it's own unique set of freebees. :)

Lastly, find a community your comfortable in and ask questions. Most people who are into 3D are some of the smartest people on the planet. Allmost allways ready to answer questions and lend a hand.

Good luck :)
geo

http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=geoegress

Message edited on: 07/09/2004 10:02

You've mentioned that you're brand new to making digital pictures and described the tools you bought. However, you didn't mention why you decided to get into the digital world. You've spent some serious money so I assume you're pretty serious about doing something but what is it?

Are you interested in creating a certain type of art? Are you interested in creating animation or movies? Are you interested in illustrating stories you've written?

Those things can have a strong bearing on how you proceed and what resources you use.

If you just want to doodle around and entertain yourself, that's great - many of us do that or started that way. If you have a specific goal, let us know and perhaps we can offer more specific recommendations.

Regardless, I strongly recommend doing a search for "Geep" in the Poser forum for tutorials on all sorts of Poser-related subjects and I recommend keeping your eyes peeled for the name "Little Dragon" who's an excellent source of other information. I don't know that either of them would win "Artist of the Month" but they both deserve awards for years of outstanding (!!!!) community service!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to our world!

Message edited on: 07/09/2004 12:05

"Kozaburo" makes the most legendary hair for Poser figures. I'm at work so don't have a URL for his site but I strongly recommend looking for it.

it's not what you buy that counts it's what you do with the tools you have that counts. I wouldn't waste your money on Market Place items till you are familar with the app you prefer. Some of the best art here does not have a huge list of bought items under it but some of the worst does :) A lot of "artists" here never learn how to use Poser correctly because they buy everything; lights, poses, textures etc press the render button and hey presto "art" but they still make fundemental errors because they never learn how to do things for themselves. I suggest you avoid that route.

Attached Link: Kozaburo link

which is free. there is an amazing amount of free stuff out there to start your 3d journey. I agree with Mark_uk to a degree, though I will say that (if you get Poser), the free lights from RuntimeDNA that Traveler offers will teach you a lot about special effects. It's difficult to learn how to create your own clothing and props unless you either have a lot of time on your hands or you have great ability. I have neither so I do shop, but it pays to take your time and look at more than one site before deciding what you want.

I bought myself Photoshop, Poser (4 & 5) and Lightwave.

For a beginner, you've definitely jumped right into the deep end of the pool!

Welcome!

Now.....enjoy the swimming.....the water's fine.

If you've got the bucks, there are plenty of 3D websites that have the time.

I highly recommend:

www.Renderosity.com (of course)
www.DAZ3D.com
www.poserpros.com
www.runtimedna.com
www.poserworld.com
www.3DCommune.com

Soon, you will be as addicted as the rest of us. Drooling on your keyboard at 2:30AM.

BTW -- if you are serious about getting into Lightwave, then you might want to check out www.cgtalk.com. However, cgtalk is not a beginner's site.

Some other sites worth checking out:

www.bbay.com
www.vanishingpoint.biz
www.polymage.com
www.3-darena.com

For some of the best 3D models on the market:

www.iw43d.com
www.sams3D.com

Oh, and if price is no object: www.turbosquid.com

As a 2D artist, I'd recommend leaving the 3D stuff alone and learning the most essential program - Photoshop (which most 3D artists use anyway, in order to do postwork to their images)...for me, the satisfaction of creating a masterpiece with P/shop far outweighs that of buying props and assembling them together in a 3D app. I think that the only real 3D artists are the ones who create their own models or try to do the bulk of the work by themselves....so if you're going down the 3D route, that's what I'd do...otherwise, like Mark_uk says, you end up with 'hey-presto art'!

If you want to get into 3D, concentrate on Lightwave and learn it to death. This will take all of your time - at least 18 months to get a good knowledge of it. If you want to do digital painting, buy Painter 8. But there's no point in doing digital painting unless you have a tablet, preferably a Wacom. Image and photo manips and basic painting - use Photoshop. Poser's OK to have a laugh with, but I'd advise on just using it to get used to anatomy / proportions.

Hi there! They're the programs I use and I have worked as an illustrator for years.Trust me those programs are more than enough to create anything you want. As Bobasaur said you should mention what kind of artwork/movies you are looking to create. I also agree with Rockatansky, you should definately learn Lightwave and make your own models, it is far more rewarding to create the whole picture yourself. I used someone elses model in one of my pictures as a bit of fun (Alien Queen), but the hard work was definately by the modeller and it's more his picture than mine! Best of luck with your work, it's not as hard as it seems trust me, if I can do it anyone can:-)need any help just send artists here a message and I'm sure they'll help if they can...right guys:-) Be sure to post you work here when you're ready!

Many thanks to everybody who replied to my question! Your points of view and suggestions really helped me! I will take the time to learn working with the programs first and someday, when I feel confident enough, I'll post some of my first work here. Take care everyone!