I am at the beginning of the beginning. I want to learn Poser but don't know how to get started.
Can someone recommend a good book or step-by-step tutorial? (for dummies)
Are there any workshops in the Washington DC area?
Would anyone be willing to have an e-chat about this?

ty,
tyvm,
Madriver_Jack@hotmail.com

I've never read it myself, but I've heard pracyical poser is a good book for learning to use poser.  Also you can ask  here most people will be willing to help you out. But you might want to run while you still can. This program can be very adictive. Good luck.

oops sorry...i need to learn to proof read better I ment practical poser for the book

Hey mate, welcome to the support group. ;P

Just started myself. The trick is to not get overwhelmed, heh. And these peeps here are incredibly supportive, even when your questions are ridiculously basic. I should know. :)

*"The trick is to not get overwhelmed"

*Boy do you got that right :) For all the advise you'll get here. The best I can give you is 'play with it'. Learn to pose a figure first, get some of the free textures here and about for your figures.

Learn the zen of downloading, LOL. You'll be doing a lot of it :P

But play with it. Make pinups. Pinups are the acapelo of artist. 
When you read the tuts and books you'll have a little 'frame work" to understand them. 
And THAT will go a long way :)

Like everything else, the details really arn't all that complicated, but there are a butt load of details. :D

geo

Aside form finding good forums, with awsome members; pick your favorite Figure, and start ask questions, for your Character Study!

Or of you'd be interested in Video Tutorial$:

"An Introduction to Poser," from CP.

VTC has a Poser video, among others, and Membership options.

Lynda Learning, has a Poser video, among others.

Poser 5 Demysitified was cute video, and would walk you through all of the Rooms.

Quote - I am at the beginning of the beginning. I want to learn Poser but don't know how to get started.
Can someone recommend a good book or step-by-step tutorial? (for dummies)
Are there any workshops in the Washington DC area?
Would anyone be willing to have an e-chat about this?

ty,
tyvm,
Madriver_Jack@hotmail.com

Here is an essay of information that I have been compiling which is geared to the brand new user. It has links for free characters, tips on clothing, file organization, newbie tutorials etc.

I compiled information that is beneficial to a new user, here it is:

A picture to show you the file structure of a Poser Runtime can be found here:

http://www.daz3d.com/support/faq/index.php?id=94

Basically, what it boils down to in a nutshell:

If you are looking for a Character or a piece of clothing/shoes, in Poser you will find them in libraries/character

If you are looking for hair, you will find them in either library/character/hair OR library/hair

If you are looking for character texture addons, hair textures, clothing textures, you will find them in library/poses. Sometimes on the rare occasion, a merchant will package their textures so that they go into the "Camera" folder (.cm2 files). If that is the case then you can either apply them from there, or do what I do and change the file extension to .pz2

If you are looking for props, they are located in library/props

Sometimes you will find clothing and hair or shoes in library/props too, depending on whether the item is actually created and saved as a figure, or it was created and saved as a prop.

Figure items are "conformed" or "parented"

Props are parented.

If you are just starting, it's best to get started on the right foot. DO NOT just install files into the runtime! That will only lead to frustration because you won't be able to find anything, and not all files are packaged equally and land up all over the place.

Here is a link to a tutorial on using multiple runtimes.

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=9060&start=0

Another tip is to never just unzip or install anything directly to your runtime. Always unzip or install to a separate folder. Then browse through the folder to have a look at the structure of where things are going and make sure that it's in "proper runtime structure" so that when you move it to the runtime, they get into the proper folders.

Once you get your files installed, the next thing you want to do is to start making things :)

Here are some great newbie tutorials that will get you through the bare basics. They are for Poser 5, but it is still the same in newer versions:

http://trekkiegrrrl.dk/tut1.htm

http://www.poserguide.nimprodaction.com/issues/issue2/cover.htm

http://www.poserguide.nimprodaction.com/issues/issue3/cover.htm

http://www.poserguide.nimprodaction.com/

http://www.canary3d.com/tutorial/3d-intro.htm

http://www.ebonshire.net/tut-posb/index.php

http://www.cooltuna.com/poser/poser-tutorials.html

Dr. Geep Studios ( Basic to Advanced Tutorials. Periodically offers free classes for Poser)

http://www.anniescorner.net/posertuts/GettingStartedinPoser5.htm

If you don't have the Daz  V3 or the V4 figure, you should pick one or both. I'd personally suggest that you go with the V3 one as it's been around for years and there is a TON of freebies around for her, as well as a TON of stuff in the various Poser stores.  It will be a couple of years before V4 catches up with clothing content and stuff  and  V3 stuff won't work on V4 because they are different figures. There are work arounds to getting clothing from a figure to fit another figure. I've included information on that further down.  which is a popular figure, you should get it. 

Victoria 3

3D Models Pack  Free from Daz at Download.com

Victoria 4

But if you want to change the look of her face and body, or use any of the available character addon packages, you need to buy the head and body morphs.

The V3 head and body morphs are here:

http://www.daz3d.com/shop.php?op=itemdetails&item=3008

There is also "Michael 3".  He is available free at the link above at download.com.  Again, like Vicky, you need the head and body morphs to change the shape of his head and body. Those can be found here:

http://www.daz3d.com/shop.php?op=itemdetails&item=3009

If you have both figures, you can get both of their head and body morphs in one package, here:

http://www.daz3d.com/shop.php?op=itemdetails&item=3010

NOTE:  You can use the textures from the character addon packages without having the head/body morphs. 

If you want to change the look of the head/body and have the head/body morphs, do the following:

Install the head and body morphs. 

Locate the morphs you want to use in the "Poses" folder.

Find the set of morphs you want to inject IE:  Full Body, Full Head.... or just certain parts. 

Left  click the picture

Click the Single Checkmark at the bottom of the page.

Go to your Parameter Dials and start turning dials.  (make sure that you have the part of the body you want to adjust as the active one IE:  Morphing the ears, make sure you have the had selected.

Also, you can find many, many free morphs and textures for Vicky, and Aiko, and some even for David and Michael.  So you don't have to turn any dials if you don't want to.  Here are a couple links to get you started.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/index.php?user_id=55140

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/index.php?user_id=178490

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/index.php?user_id=105158

Using ready made character addons is pretty easy.   You need to have the figure and it's head and body morph packages installed.

Load up the figure IE: Vicky

Go to the Poses folder, and instead of looking for your morphs from the packages, look for th character you want to use.  Left click the image that has INJ, click the SINGLE checkmark at the bottom and the morphs for that character's look is injected into your figure.  No dial turning necessary.  Of course if you want to tweak the settings you can, but that's not mandatory.

Next locate the textures (if the package has some). They will be usually in the same library menu as your INJ that you used.   Left click the image for the texture and use the SINGLE checkmark to apply it.  If you don't like that texture, apply another one overtop. 

You can even use a texture from another package.  IE: Morphs from package A  and textures from package C.  Or morphs from packag A, texture from package C, eyes from package D, lips from package E.  the combinations are endless :)  If the packages have their head morphs seprate from the body ones, you can mix and match morphs too. IE: body morphs from package A with head morph from package D.  That allows for even more versatility.

There are lots of sites out there that has free V3 character addons, and some that have for Aiko, Michael and even David.

Hair, clothing and textures are all figure/item specific, which means:

Michael 3.0 needs hair and clothing and textures made for Michael 3.0
Victoria 4.0 needs hair and clothing and textures made for Victoria 4.0
Victoria 3.0 needs hair and clothing and textures made for Victoria 3.0
Victoria 2.0 needs hair and clothing and textures made for Victoria 2.0
Aiko needs hair and clothing and textures made for her.

Like figures, a texture made for one hair style can only be used on that hair style.

Clothing is also specific when it comes to textures. A texture for a pair of pants, won't fit all pants... just the pants that it was made to fit. Same with all clothing items.

Sometimes you can manage to  clothing item to fit another figure by tweaking of dials and increasing or decreasing the scale percent, but that doesn't always work. Sometimes a clothing item for Victoria 2 will fit Victoria 3, but their joints are different so posing a figure wearing clothing not made for it specifically will be hard.

Some figures can share items more easily than others, here is a link that will help sort that out:
http://market.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=2682279

There are 3 types of clothing:

Dynamic:  This is clothing that you use inside the Cloth room. It takes longer to work with and there is a bit of a learning curve, but it's not too bad, but the results are more appealing in that the clothing actually looks more natural instead of "posed and stiff".

Confroming- Non Morphing:  This is clothing that you conform to a figure. The clothing is made to fit the base figure.  If you change the shape of the figure you will also have to refit the clothing, which isn't always easy if there aren't any corresponding body morphs in the clothing.  Plus posing a character in positions where they are not nearly upright is difficult.  But many prefer this type of clothing over dynamic.

Conforming-Morphing: This is the same as conforming-non morphing, only there are morph dials that you can turn that have corresponding body morphs for easier fitting.  This is the preferred type of conforming clothing because it's easier to fit.

Using a clothing item on a figure that it is meant to be used on, after you have added morphs and adjusted the shape of the body can be problematic because the clothes are made for the default figure shape and not the new morphed up shape. So the clothing no longer fits and you get parts of the body showing through the clothing after you add morphs and change the shape of the body.

There are programs that can help fit clothing from one figure to another, or even from the same figure to one that has been "morphed up" using their morph packages.

The Tailor, which can be bought here:
http://www.daz3d.com/shop.php?op=itemdetails&item=677

Wardrobe Wizard (I use this one and it's great). It can be purchased from PhilC's site here:
http://www.philc.net/WardrobeWizard.htm

Clothes Converter, which can be bought here:
http://www.daz3d.com/shop.php?op=itemdetails&item=3069&cat=131

Things like hair can be used across all figures just by tweaking the scaling and trans dials and then parenting the hair to the figure.

Poses are something else that can be used across most human-like figures with just a bit of tweaking to dig out a hand, or fix a shoulder.

These are all things I learned along the way and found to be valuable, so I try to pass them along because I know how frustrated I was when I first got Poser.  Hopefully you will find the information helpful.

Attached Link: http://www.lvsonline.com/index.html

Before you buy anything, start simple playing with free content and what comes with Poser.

Do a forum search in this Poser forum for the word "dr geep". He has endless fun and easy to understand tutorials.

Look for all thread titles with "++DG#" in the thread title.

Here is the search link you want

Grab a used copy of Practical Poser from Amazon from as low as $8.00

It is heavily a rewrite of the Poser 6 version of the book, but will be great for you instead of taking any classes or workshops. though many places offer Poser classes for $$hundreds$$.

Unfortunately, Dr. Geep's site is currently unavailable.   Apparently, it was hacked.   In response to this thread, I was going to recommend the site as an excellent educational resource, but needed to check the exact URL and found that the site was inaccessible.   

Quote - Unfortunately, Dr. Geep's site is currently unavailable.   Apparently, it was hacked.  

Oh no!!!! :(   I was wondering what happened because I tried to get there last night and couldn't.  I kept getting some message saying "if you are trying to access this site, good luck! ha! ha!" or something. I thought that was just Dr. Geep and his sense of humour while he was revamping his site, but now I see it's "down for maintenance".

What a shame :(

I had noticed earlier his site was temporarily down which is why I listed the forum search for his tutorials.

The forum tutorials in the link above should keep him busy

And for the noobs here, it's a privilege in itself to have Anton himself, the creator of one of the most advanced and well done figures for poser, giving you advice.
You know in case you thought it was just some really nice guy offering loads of good help!!! ;)

I run an msn group called Poser For Dummies with tutorials for the complete beginner so if you'd like to join send me a pm..Some of the artists here started in the group and are now on the redo favourites lists and a lot of them are winning prizes all over the net..

One book that no one mentioned is very basic and better than the manual that comes with Poser is,  Poser 7 Revealed.  Practical Poser 7 is good book and has some Poser basics on the CD, but it is more advanced and might be intimidating for a new person.

Another book that no one ever seems to mention is The Secrets of Poser Experts.  I learned a lot from that book , things I never knew about Poser and I think that though the techniques described are somewhat advanced that it is a great book for inspiration.

Both Poser 7 Revealed and Secrets of Poser Experts are relatively inexpensive for graphics book.

Also definitely check out the Poser 7 training on Lynda.com, you can watch several chapters for free.  Now-a-days I seem to be able to learn more from audio-visual presentations than reading books about programs--it's more clear to me how to complete tasks by watching them rather than trying to translate written steps into commands in the programs.

Thank you for your responses.

A little more about where I am:

For the last couple of years I have become moderately proficient in using Photoshop to indulge a new hobby: I combine elements from two (or more) photographs to create an image I like. Typically I will superimpose a face of one model onto the body of another. I have also experimented with creating new faces by combining elements from several sources.

However, my attempts to match the color, lighting, saturation, etc. have not been 100% successful. I also find source material which I would like to use but is so compromised in terms of quality that I cannot use it. From what I have been able to determine, Poser could help me overcome these difficulties. It seems that Poser (or another program) could take me into a whole new world beyond the one in which I have been operating.

Based on your recommendations I have ordered these from Amazon:

Poser 6 Revealed: The Official Guide: The Official Guide

Secrets of Poser Experts: Tips, Techniques, and Insights for Users of All Abilities:

In the meantime, I would enjoy the opportunity to communicate with users who are further down the road. If you would be so inclined, please eMail me

MadRiver_Jack@hotmail.com

Cool. Pop back if you get stuck.

Thanks Connie!

It sounds like you came from a place similar to where I was 7 years ago, just photography and working with imaging editors wasn't enough for me.  Then I got introduced to 3D through a little Kazoo Studio plugin in Adobe Photodeluxe 4.  I've never been the same since!