Hey guys! Im completely to the world of 3D graphics and am having some serious problems with basic character modeling. I have Poser 5 as well as 3DS Max 6 but basically when it comes to character modeling... I have NO CLUE! I feel more comfortable with MAX and Bryce for basic modeling (stuff like space ships and stuff... Thats a lot easier)but as I need to make some actual characters for a project Im working on, Im trying to use Poser 5 because I thought it would be simpler...

But actually its whippin my monkey @$$ because I cant find any good beginners books or tutorials to start me from the ground up in using the program.... Ive bought a few books and videos on Poser 4 or 5 but theyre just too advanced for me because theyre designed for people who already know about 3D modeling or at least have a good knowledge of computers... I dont so I get frustrated because I cant understand them...

I just started working with computers 2 years ago and Im basically just teaching myself everything as I go so I can make a website for a book Im writing...

Can anyone help me? Im getting really desperate cuz my book will be published next year and I need to make the web site as tight as possible before the publishing date... Are there any really basic "idiots guides" to Poser 4 or 5 that you could recommend or any good tutorial CDs that can walk me through making a basic character from start to finish? I REALLY NEED help! Bout to throw my PC out the window but I know I dont have money to buy another one... I know I sound pathetic but I really need help...

Im very new to 3d period. I am a Paint shop Pro fanatic however. The only way to learn is to get in there and try things, read the boards, search for tutorials, there are a ton on here that really really help. It will start you a good while to get the hang of things...but you will get it.

If you want to know about modelling, I would talk to Teyon. He is really good about showing step by step introductory modeling. As far as poser goes, it really depends upon what you want to know as things like the material nodes are a lot more complex. For poser characters you simply load the figure into the scene. In the materials room, you can apply skin textures and shader nodes. Back in the pose room, you can add clothing, hair, and apply your pose and light settings. All of these things are done using the library options and clicking on the double arrow to add something to the scene and the single arrow to replace something in the scene for P4/5. A basic character using default or existing library items is not going to require any tutorials or CDs for info. If you are trying to use magnets to modify an existing character or create a model from scratch, you going to have to rely on some outside info. Please be more specific about where you are stuck and I might be able to give you some more information about where to begin.

Yes, let's start at the beginning. Where are you getting stuck? If you could explain what you are trying to do we can go from there.

Thanks alot lzy724 & PapaBlueMarlin for your quick replies. To be honest I was just cruicing around this site and looking at all the awesome stuff everyone else is making.. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I wanna do that too! Ill definately take your advice and contact Teyon! As for where I get stuck... I think its my way of thinking or lack of knowlege for things... When I work with Bryce, I see circles and squares and basic building blocks so with little imagination, I can just put stuff together so Im ok with creating mechanical things to a point because I know where all the pieces go cuz I made them out of basic building blocks... But when it comes to Poser, the figure is already there and already has its own rules and groups and stuff... It would probably be easier if I knew how to make a charcter from scratch but that would probably take me YEARS to learn! So Im kinda lost when actually working with the figure. Also the Hair room and Clothing rooms or applying texture to an entire figure... I have no clue at all..... I know what theyre supposed to do generally but without any documentation or basic books, I try doing stuff like creating hair and nothing ever comes out right... I dont even really know how to put clothes on a figure and make them stick there... As for making my own clothes or animation... No clue either... Basically the entire program is a mystery for me... I need to make animations so I was thinking if I could build a basic character in Poser, then export it to Max to add bones and do the animation there (cuz max has good step-by-step documentation) and then do the background in Bryce, then everything would be good.. but my main problem is I cant create orional clothed charcters with hair! (Breathe!) Im trying to create characters from sketched that Ive drawn on paper of the characters my book is based on which whils require some pretty heavy physical and muscular design but right now Im just having trouble breaking the ice with this thing... The interface is also a little intimidating to me for some reason because its got so many options... Hope I`m not writing too much but does any of this make sense to you? Thanks so much for your help!

Yes, it does make sense ... and I think you are so overwhelmed with your deadline looming that you are trying to do too much too soon. Sit back, take a deep breath, we can help you! 8-) There are ways to work around your situation that will help you learn while creating characters ... (1) Forget the hair room for now, save it for later. You will find some excellent free hair available at Kozaburo's site (http://digitalbabes2.com/) and at Studio Maya (http://www.3digitalcrafts.net/studiomaya/index.html). (2) Since you are on a crunch for time, I highly recommend this as a solution ... if you are trying to use the characters that came with Poser 5, the body morphs are very limiting (they are furnished on the Poser 5 content CD). You may have better luck, and your time will be much better spent, if you download Michael 3 and Victoria 3 from http://www.daz3d.com (the base models are free), and purchase the head and body morph packs for them. These models are very versatile and there is TONS of stuff available for them, both free and for sale. Even moreso than the Poser 5 characters. With the head and body morphs you can create figures that range from emaciated to heavy and anything in between, and change the faces to boot. The muscular morphs are very good. (3) Dr Geep is well known in these parts for his creation of tutorials that are geared for beginners. He will probably pipe in here at some point to point you to his tutorials. (4) Keep asking questions! We can point you in the right direction. Hope this helps!

Thanks a lot Deecey! Wow you guys are really great! Thanks a lot for helping me get pointed in the right direction! I promise Ill never forget this! Yeah, I guess youre right... The deadline is a big issue right now because the book actually goes on sell next Feb so Im trying to get a lot of stuff done before then... Ive been working on this bok idea for years but this is the first break Ive ever gotten so I know I gotta make it work cuz I may not get another shot. No pressure there huh? So thats why I gotta go all out and get make my website as tight as I can before then because the book actually relies heavily on the website... I still got a few months though so I need to chill a bit and figure out how to do this right. Will download those models you recommended tomorrow as well as purchase the head models! Right now Im just trying to make basic character models of the main characters in my book. My job is really busy right now so I never have time to draw anything anymore so I thought it might turn out better and save me time in the long run on trying to hand draw everything if I could just create the characters first, then pose them and take snapshots whenever I needed them later. Plus I want to use them for making 3D animated movies to attract people to the website... But right now I just want to know how to make a decent looking character with custom hair and custom clothin that fits right on him and looks somewhat realistic... (I have some cyborges and more advanced stuff I want to do later but right now, I just need the basics) 1)How do you put clothes on a character and make them fit on the character and stay in place so that they wont move after you pose them? 2)How do you make hair and style it the way you want it to look? (Dont care about hair movement for now) 3)How do you make skin textures and apply them to the entire character? 4) How do you make a character look look muscular? What tools do you use to add bulges and how do you make it look even? 5) How do you make custom clothing for characters and apply it to them in Poser? If I can get these, then I could just take make the characters with the hair and clothing they need, the take snapshots of them for now.... Then I could learn about posing and animating later right? Thats what Im thinking but since I dont know what Im doing, what would you suggest? I gotta go to bed now cuz I gotta got to work in a few hours but Ill be back online tomorrow night... I appreciate all the help you and everyone is giving me. You guys are real life savers. I believe in the law of Touka Koukan (Equivalent Trade) so if you guys ever need anything and I can help, let me know ok? x݁I(Laterz!) -WF

"But when it comes to Poser, the figure is already there and already has it`s own rules and groups and stuff... It would probably be easier if I knew how to make a charcter from scratch but that would probably take me YEARS to learn!"

Things are, you CANT make a character from scratch in Poser: Poser isn't a modelling application, only a POSING and RENDERING one... So you must use another program for modelling: an easy and free one is Wings3d (http://www.wings3d.com), but you have to work hard and practice to make a character in any 3d modelling prog :) "1)How do you put clothes on a character and make them fit on the character and stay in place so that they wont move after you pose them?" Select the clothing, then choose "figure">"conform to..."> the name of the character. "2)How do you make hair and style it the way you want it to look? (Dont care about hair movement for now)" THe hair that you load in Poser is limited to their pre-build poses and styles. You can't add your own. So choose carefully what hair you buy. "3)How do you make skin textures and apply them to the entire character?" This is a little complicated, sorry I can't help... "4) How do you make a character look look muscular? What tools do you use to add bulges and how do you make it look even?" The character comes with his/her body/face/etc morph channels, they includes various muscolar variations. "5) How do you make custom clothing for characters and apply it to them in Poser?" They model it with ANOTHER modelling program, then "rig" them to adapt to the character.

Message edited on: 04/12/2005 10:46

Um, 'scuze me but ... may I respecfully disagree.

You can make (almost) anything you want using only Poser. ;=]

Haven't you seen any of my tuts?

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

I get to post right after Geep? I am not worthy.

"Ive been working on this bok idea for years but this is the first break Ive ever gotten so I know I gotta make it work cuz I may not get another shot."

I feel your pain, as a proud member of the Authors Guild of America (http://www.authorsguild.org/ to be one of which you have to have a real, published book or a certain amount of national magazine credits (I sneaked in via the latter avenue)). Just curious, what is this book about that you have to learn so much 3D in so short a time?

Figure Creation in Poser, or something like that, by BLRender or similar pseudonym, a real paper book you can get on Rosity and Amazon; it might be helpful.

IMHO the whole problem with getting started with 3D from scratch is that every program imposes layers of absurd - often moronic - analogies. (It is the curse of 'high level'

languages, they all work by indirection and perpetuate deceit and conceits, in the literary-figurative sense of the word). All 3D begins with vertices in Cartesian, 3D space

(Z-depth, X-width, Y-height (although, to make it interesting, other non-Poser programs assign XYX to different dimenstions)), and these vertices consist of numbers.

'Morphs' aren't really 'morphs' (whatever 'morphs' are) they are just a recalculation of the numbers, which are the basis of existence.

To summarize, a good, cheap way to start exploring this 3D space is Wings3D which a lot of talented people use to make good stuff and which is free. Make a little mesh

(i.e. a group of vertices). Export it as an obj. Import the obj into Poser. See Poser create polygons from the vertices. Then go back and open the obj with a text editor and

look at its soul. You will see that it is the numbers, mentioned earlier.

Good luck, you can do this. (BTW It is never too soon to start practicing proofreading for your next bok.)

Been looking into Touka Koukan. Will let you know if I ever need anything. Am ok for now.

"WHooo!!! Random updating madness! I don't actually have anythng to say, but it's been sooooo long since I have updated. Maybe I'll do some fanart some time or at the very least some greetings... or find a scanner at some point. Anyhoo, hope you guys are still enjoying vacation, cuz I have, despite dial up which is why I don't update because it is maddening. Um.... TOUKA KOUKAN!!!"

Figure Creation in Poser, or something like that, by BLRender or similar pseudonym, a real paper book you can get on Rosity and Amazon; it might be helpful. It's an excellent book, but not one that I would consider to be beginners' level. There currently is not one that would fall into that category, unfortunately. Geep has the territory well covered though. 8-)