I'm very new to this whole digital animation world, and I was reading through the forums and couldn't find a topic that fit my question or anything that could answer it for that matter.  I am very interested in animating characters, and was browsing through the site store, and almost bought something when I realized that I didn't know if I had the right programs to run the software that I buy.  I was wondering if someone could tell me what the best program for a beginner like myself could use that would be easy enough to understand and not too much on the pocket.  I currently only have the paint program that came with my computer and Photo Explosion Deluxe that my fiance bought a little while back (i didn't know if this would be usefull or not).  So any advice at all would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

Hello, and don't call yourself stupid, we all started somewhere =) You said you "want to animate characters", which leads me to believe the product you almost bought was for a 3D program like Poser. If you can find the product again, and link it here, I can try to give you more information on what program is required for it. =) You can use paint programs in conjunction with Poser for doing both still & animated images, but it sounds to me like you're interested in doing 3D animation because you said "Characters" If that's the case, you might be interested in Poser. It's a nice program that can help you get used to working with 3D figures and you can animate in Poser as well. It's also fairly inexpensive. However, being a Poser addict myself, it can be a fairly costly hobby buying models & other content for it. It does come with some content to get you started though. Mind you, I have only toyed with the animation in Poser a very little bit and don't know too much about it... just FYI. Other options would be to use programs like Cinema 4D, Lightwave, Maya, etc that are more along the lines of professional 3D programs. However, most of the content you would need for those programs you would have to model yourself... though, you can use poser content in these programs too, but they won't be rigged (or boned) for motion. With 2D paint applications like Photoshop (and I imagine your Photo Explosion Plus), you can do animation of the 2D variety, which would require you to draw each frame individually. (I've never heard of Photo Explosion Plus, so I honestly don't know what it's capabilities are for doing this.) As for what programs you should use, well, that's a purely personal choice. Most 3D & 2D programs have trial versions, and I would suggest you try them all and see which ones are most intuitive to you. =) I prefer Cinema 4D for modeling but lots of people like Lightwave. I just can't get the hang of it. For 2D, I prefer Photoshop, but a lot of others love Paint Shop Pro, which is a great program too! I guess the biggest question is what kind of animation is it you're wanting to do? 3D animation (Like the kind found in movies like Shrek, Ice Age, Toy Story, etc), or 2D animation like you might see in the TV show The Simpsons. Keep asking questions though, and I'm sure someone here can help you out. =)

Mercytoo has a lot of good pointers.   

For me and most of my day-to-day work,  i use illustrator to build all my 2D assets than assemble and animate them in Flash. Since much of my work is web based, this works best for me. 

i'd love to branch out into 3D animation but the company is happy with my 2D output and i'm too poor to dish out the up-front cash :sad:

retrocity

Well, I havn't found any products in particular that made me make the decision that I've made, it was more of going from different peoples profiles and galleries.  When I said that I wanted to animate characters, I ment it as more of designing "models" I guess would be more like it, and then once I got ahang of that moving it toward that animation side of things.  But the input you gave me is wonderful.  Now I know more as to what to look for when it comes to programs and help me come up with some options, and also thanks to you, I know a few programs I could us when I do move toward the animation.  So thank you very much.

You're welcome! Glad we could help. =)

For start try the excellent and very powerful free apps like Wings3D and Blender. Ask questions in those forums and you`ll learn many things in no time. Character modeling and animation are very advanced techniques, so take it easy and start with basics :) Poser or Bryce would be the best choice for commercial app,  many people start in those apps and later switch onto big and very expencive fishes like C4D, Lightwave, 3D Studio Max, etc. :)

Tihomir

Hey thanks alot, I was accually on my way here to ask if anyone know where I would be able to get my hands on the poser program (I did a search for it, but only came up with results of pictures) but I did a check on that blender and was able to download it, so I'll mess around with that until I get a grasp as to what I'm doing before investing alot of money into this.

Good idea
Ask allot of questions, everyone was newbie once so dont be afraid to ask anything :)
For start practise orientation in 3D space and mess with primitives (cube, cylinder, sphere, cone, etc. ) :)

Tihomir

Quote - I did a check on that blender and was able to download it, so I'll mess around with that until I get a grasp as to what I'm doing before investing alot of money into this.

Before you spend any money on one or two 'mayor' apps, try these free trial versions available online: Lightwave; http://www.newtek.com/lightwave/lwtrial/ Cinema 4D; http://www.maxon.net/pages/download/downloads_e.html Maya; http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7639525 There's more, but this should get you a prety good idea about what's around to play with... Grtz

Attached Link: Gnomon Workshop

Here is a site that specializes in training. Gnomon Workshop. Check this list of DVD's, it's as good as a library for higher end applications, which also has example imagery. Keep in mind this is pretty much a professional level, though it's a good mix of choices along with what you can find here at Renderosity.

Good Luck and Welcome aboard!!
ICM

I had another question, I downloaded blender as refered to by Tantarus as a "free learner."  And I have played around with it a little bit, and somewhat figured out a bit on it.  But before I started buying any products from this site, I wanted to make sure I would be able to use the programs (i.e. the model programs and the morphs) with the blender program, or would I have to buy a more powerful application (such as poser or lightwave)?

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

Well, I don't use Blender myself (tried it years ago, but never really used it much) but if it's like most other modelers, you can usually use the models, but morphs... that's a bit more difficult. It probably can be done, but I honestly don't even know how. In cinema 4D, for example, I can import the object (.obj file) into C4D. But, there is no way to simply apply morphs. Or textures for that matter. You'd have to apply any textures manually. It sure can be done, but it's a little more work than using Poser. And, if the model is, for example, a human model, you won't be able to easily pose it in a modeling program. If I wanted to pose a human figure in C4D, I'd have to rig (or 'bone') the figure in order to do that. Rigging isn't too hard, but can be tricky & takes some time to learn & do right. Id suggest if you want to use Poser content, try Daz Studio. It's free at http://www.daz3d.com and I think most Poser content will work in D|S. I have D|S, but honestly don't use it that often. Even when I use Bryce (also available for purchase at Daz), I set up my scene in Poser first, then import in D|S. D|S is pretty cool, but I just prefer Poser as I've been using it for so long. But try D|S. It's free =) And take a look around Daz's site too for free human figures. I think Victoria 3 & Michael 3 are still free... not 100% certain though. D|S will be a good start for you if the content you're interested in is for Poser. And, if you're not sure if what you want to buy will work in D|S, you can always send an IM or email to the merchant and they should let you know. Even though I haven't used D|S much, I've never had any problem using my poser content in it. Haven't tried using P5/P6/P7 materials in D|S though, but models, textures & morphs work beautifully. Keep in mind to download D|S or any free items from Daz you'll need to create a free account. Hope this helps.

I just checked real quick, and it looks like V3 & M3 are no longer free (for the bases) at Daz. If you buy a human model from Daz, you'll need the morph packages as well (head & body) to apply any morphs you might use from other packages. Otherwise morphs won't work without them.

I'll be sure to check that out then, thank you very much.

Also dont miss weekly freebes at DAZ, after one week it goes into the store ;)
DAZ is very cool and free app :)

Tihomir

Oh yeah, don't miss the weekly freebies! They definetly give out some very nice items every week =) And if you become a total daz-studio-aholic... join the platinum club too. It's definetly worth it. I've saved a lot with my membership, lol. But don't get ahead of yourself. Wait & see if poser/daz studio are for you!

Im not sure does they still sale Bryce 6 for 6$ for Platinum Club members. Regular price is 99$, also all the models, textures, etc. are 2$ which is huge save if model regular price is 20$ ;)

Tihomir

Ok, I just downloaded the DAZStudio for free, and I'm hooked lol.  I've been messing around with it for the last 3 hours.  This is great.  When I clicked the link to download it, it sent me to a second page that gave me a free content packet with a V3 model with a faerie outfit, background and a bunch of other stuff in it.  Thank you soo much for all of your help.  I'm an official addict lol.  I'm sure I'll be investing alot of money into this in the near future.  Well, when I'm more familiar with what I'm doing.  I think it might be a good idea for me to invest in that platinum club that you mentioned Mercytoo.  Thank all of you for all of your help.  :thumbupboth:

You're welcome Monkie! Poser/D|S are kind of like drugs... you get free samples sometimes, then you're hooked, lol. Glad you like D|S though, and how cool that you got V3 free with it! Have lots of fun with it, but don't let it burn too big of a hole in your pocket, lol. Remember to check all the big poser sites for free content as well. There's a lot of great free stuff out there! Renderosity has the free section, Daz does too. Most of the big sites have them, and even a lot of the smaller sites too! Just search for poser content on google and you'll come across a goldmine of free virtual goodness ;-) If you ever need help with D|S, don't forget to post in the Daz Stuido forum here on RO. I'm sure you'll get the help you need. Have fun! Can't wait to see what you render =D

Attached Link: 3dcommune

Here is one of the sites where you can find allot of free stuff for Poser/DAZ :)

Tihomir

Yeah, I've noticed, the other nite I was supposed to be in bed by like 9 because I had to work at 4 in the morning, and I ended up getting to bed because I was playing around with DAZ and didn't realize what time it was.

I looked through the program and went through the help menu, but I wouldn't find out how to get the model to be a wire frame.  I was reading a tutorial that said I could pick up each wires individually, and I wanted to play around with it to get ahang of it, but I couldn't figure out how to get ahold of it.

Yes, thank you thank you for free stuff links lol.  Free stuff is always good.

On DAZ site forum you`ll get answers from veterans on any question regarding DAZ, Poser or Bryce. If you want to see model as Wireframe, click on little triangle in left upper corner. There is several modes btw so you can choose the one you like or need in specific situation. Under View - Tabs open the palettes for "parameters" and "content", it will help you with importing, scaling, moving, etc.. Im not sure if the Poser 5 is still free, check it on e-frontier site. Or just type Poser 5 in google search :)

Tihomir