Hey All, I'm a newbie at Poser. In fact, I'm anxiously tracking my order of Poser4 on UPS right now. I've only played with the demo and have been looking at whatever tutorials I can find (and of course whatever free stuff I can find :-)). My question is this... in looking at all the available "stuff" out there (free and commercial), it seems most rely on some model-or-other not included with the basic software. Typically Vicki/Michael and sometimes others as well. What are the minimum number(s) of models, as well as which ones, does one need to effectively be able to work, taking advantage of what is out there in the community??

Most of the Free Stuff is based on the figures that are included with Poser 4. Of course, props work with all characters. If funds are limited, then you can model for a long time with the characters that come with Poser 4 (the nude woman is frequently called Posette, and the nude man Dork). In fact, there are lots of things in Free Stuff, at this site and at others, that have characters built from Posette and Dork with Morphs, Textures, Clothes and Props. There is a lot of good work in the community that is based only on Posette and Dork. If money is no object, then of course get Vickie and Mike. They will give you even more options. Ultimately, though, you not only have to pay for them, but some basic clothing for them. In general, clothes are not interchangeable between Vickie/Mike and Posette/Dork. Happy Posing! - JimX

There is NO minimum. You can survive quite happily with what comes with Poser. In fact, you might want to hone your skills with the default Poser stuff first before downloading anything more.

Definately work with the P4s first, most of the good clothes are for them anyway. If you do get vicky get vicky 2. Forget the clothes for them (vicky/mike), I bought all of them and hate them, I bought vicky 2 just to get the vicky P4 version.