Before I spend all of my time on a certain software program.. Which is the prefered program? Poser or Lightwave?

Short answer? It depends... jonthecelt

Slightly longer answer is, depends exactly what you want to do. Do you want to model your own figures? Lightwave Or Do you just want to use pre-created figures? Poser

Long answer... It depends on what it is you want to do. If you want to create images based around human(oid) figures, and use them in various poses, or animations, and don't mind using other people's work as a basis for creating your own art... then Poser is fine. If, on the other hand, you want complete control over your creation, having made every facet of every model yourself, rigging it for posing, creating your own texture/materials, etc., then it has to be Lightwave. Poser isn't a native modeler, and requires external models - whether made by yourself in other software, or bought from vendors here or at other marketplaces. Now, if you're inquiring after the rendering capabilities of the two programs, then I can't help. I do ok with the Poser Firefly engine, but there are folks who still swear by the old Poser 4 one and do very well with it. I don't know, and haven't seen, enough work that has been put out using Lightwave as a renderer to be able to offer a comparative judgement, though. hope this helps... jonthecelt

dagnabbit...y ou crossposted all over my celverly calculated two-aprter, lucifer... lol jonthecelt

Attached Link: http://www.Daz3d.com

You would be best to try all the demos of all the apps you can before you buy anything. You are not going to get a resonable answer because everyone has thier own taste and favorite app. except this answer. LOL. I will suggest that you go to Daz3d and get Daz Studio, a Poser clone for free and Wings3D is a free modeler., with a very good forum here at R'sity. That will give you something to learn and play with till you have, "TRIED EVERY APP DEMO YOU CAN FIND." Before you spend your cash on something.

Quote - "dagnabbit...y ou crossposted all over my celverly calculated two-aprter, lucifer... lol jonthecelt"

Sorry :tt2:

If you have professional aspirations, beyond the occasional independant job, or doing adult web comics. :) You might consider an industry standard app like Lightwave or Maya. Lightwave is a fine choice if that's the case. It's very affordable, relatively easy to learn and used EXTENSIVELY in TV production (as well as budget conscious film making). It does more out "out of the box" than any other app in it's price range. That being said learning a serious 3d app like Lightwave will require a serious time commitment and tons of practice. Expect to take a couple of years to get really profficient. Now if you are interested in 3d as a hobby, or are just interested in making a few extra bucks doing commercial art. Poser is very up to the challenge, and can create really great renders. Then maybe if you decide to try modelling, you could try something free, or cheap like Wings, blender, etc... They can model characters for use in poser just as well as a higher end app.

Will try Poser 6... I've seen alot of the renders on here in the gallery.. and they are very beautiful! (well most of them IMHO)Even the renders of the nude woman are VERY tastefully done... And 95% of the poses look relaxed (real) instead of stiff and posed) I've recently became disabled and need to find myself another hobby.. I used to do alot of traveling with my camera and equipment and take alot of photos www.myshutter.com but since my disability has taken over my legs.. I need to fill that time with something that is fullfilling to me

In that case, welcome to your new addiction :biggrin: Be aware that Poser can quickly become a very expensive hobby. But it's fun and time definately flies when you're soing it. At least in my expirience

Quote - "In that case, welcome to your new addiction :biggrin:"

Oh Yeah. Big time.

:thumbupboth:

Judging by your website and your interest in photography I would say Poser and a good image editing software (like Photoshop, Painter, etc.). Because Poser uses pre-made content you can be doing figure studies within a few days. On the other hand, building a figure from scratch with a modeling program (like Lightwave, Maya, etc.) requires many months, perhaps years of learning, to acquire the necessary skill. Have Fun, Chuck (SWAMP)

I allready use and IMHO am quite proficiant with Photoshop CS I have use it since version 3.3 .. and I'm now using 8,0 (CS) I have 9.0 here but I have yet to load it onto the computer... I add a sepia tone to all of my photos with Photoshop

Quote - "Judging by your website and your interest in photography I would say Poser and a good image editing software (like Photoshop, Painter, etc.). Because Poser uses pre-made content you can be doing figure studies within a few days. On the other hand, building a figure from scratch with a modeling program (like Lightwave, Maya, etc.) requires many months, perhaps years of learning, to acquire the necessary skill. Have Fun, Chuck (SWAMP) "

Attached Link: http://www.thelightsright.com/photoshop-tools.htm

I add a sepia tone to all of my photos with Photoshop But now youre missing out on that wonderful rotten-egg smell in the darkroom. Already knowing Photoshop is a big plus for you. In Poser if you save your render as a tiff or Psd file, the background will be an Alpha channel, which makes compositing in PS a breeze. A little off-topic but, check out this link for some fantastic toning, spilt-toning, and BW conversion actions for Photoshop.

Wow SWAMP! Thanks for that link :biggrin:

Maybe you could buy poser and some cheaper modelling program. Then you'd get the best of both worlds. Poser for you renders and the 3d modelling app for creating your own clothing and morphs or maybe even figures. There are 3d programs that do not cost as much as lghtwave.