Hi! I'm new in the 3D world. so I need everyone's help! I tried looking up tutorials for the extreme beginner but couldn't really find any on the net. so far I'm only able to use Wings3D, Bryce and DAZ|Studio(not very much though). my friends were generous enough to give me a gift: Poser 7. the problem is, I have nooo idea how to use it! I navigated around the tabs and buttons, and some rooms really freaked me out coughmaterialscough so if anyone has tips for me, please do mention them! and tutorials are adored too.

so.. what kind of experience do I have? probably very basic modelling and applying materials in Bryce and Wings3D.. which wouldn't really count :D

anyways, how would you suggest I start off? how did YOU start of? for Poser 7.
oh, and I'm already reading the manual.. but it's too long! would take longer than reading HP.

HELP! Poser is scary.

here's the first 3D pic I did: (no making fun please)

(other non-3D programs I am good with: Photoshop CS2 and corel painter)

Probably best if you start by defining what you are trying to do. Think of a small project or simple task to begin with, tell us what that is and we can go from there.

Hi Tooshi.  Welcome to hell.  You ain't gonna learn anything here, except how to cry.

Only joking.  :biggrin:

There are a lot of tutorials here: 

http://www.drgeep.com/

which should cover all the basics from the ground up.  The Poser 4 stuff will give you a good overview of the bare bones of Poser so they are worth taking a look at, even though you have P7.

There is a forum dedicated to Material Room tricks, located at Runtime DNA.

www.runtimedna.com

Look for a forum called The Node Cult.

Meanwhile, as PhilC said, if you have any specifics, ask away.  I imagine most people will be nursing hangovers today but you'll get an answer eventually.

hang tite, the Angel of URL, Arcadia, is likely on the way...;)

Quote - Probably best if you start by defining what you are trying to do. Think of a small project or simple task to begin with, tell us what that is and we can go from there.

okay so.. I already have a question. I already had a really big bunch of freebies from various website installed to DAZ, but how to I re-install them to poser 7? should I copy and paste the files in the poser folder, in folders that have the same name as those in DAZ? (I hope you got it.. sorry, my endlish is bad D:)

If your DAZ files are located in C:Program FilesDAZStudiocontentRuntime then you can call up that content folder as a remote library from within Poser.

thank you!

also, can anyone tell me how to use the material library in Poser? what are "nodes"?

Quote - anyways, how would you suggest I start off? how did YOU start of? for Poser 7.
oh, and I'm already reading the manual.. but it's too long! would take longer than reading HP.

Forget the manual! I read it cover to cover and all that did for me was give me a headache. It's way too technical. It's geared more to telling you how to build your own poser program than it is on how to work the blasted program! Have a look at the following 2 links.  They should help answer some of your questions.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=3126522&ebot_calc_page#message_3126522

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=3128011&ebot_calc_page#message_3128011

that's A-cadia...my fingers are dyslexic, but I'm not..;)

If I can throw in my 2 cents worth here, reading the manual will get you almost nowhere if you're brand new to the whole Poser experience. That's where I started, and it raised more questions than it answered. PhilC sure got it right when he said that it would be best to start by defining what you want to accomplish; is there a specific scene you have in mind? A specific character? We could all help a little more I'm sure, if there is. And SamTherapy probably has the best advice when he said to visit Dr Geep. His tutorials are te best I've seen! They'll help you get your feet wet, and once you do that, the best advice I can think of is to play, play, play! Once you get the hang of it, it's addictive! And there's always more to learn. There are tons of forums here where the folks are really friendly at helping you find (and in the freebies forum, I even met a gentleman who made a prop for me!) any clothes/props/textures you may need. And don't forget to stop by www.poserworld.com for a ton of clothes, etc for your Poser people, and at a great bargain price.
I heard it stated once that Poser isn't a program... it's a religion! Amen to that!

Steve

" also, can anyone tell me how to use the material library in Poser? what are "nodes"?"

Nodes are the things which drive the materials library. A node is a "panel" which has inputs, controls and (all except for one) an output.

The one that doesn't have an output is the "root node", the big one on the left-hand side of the screen. That node is always connected to the material surface that is being affected.

All other nodes generate and/or change information and pass it on to another node.
To create a new node, R-Click anywhere in the blank area and select "New node" from the drop-down list. Then navigate through to the type of node you want and click on it. The node will appear in the blank area.

Example:
New Node->2DTextures->Image Map will add a new Image map node into the Mat room.
This node is used to connect bitmap images (.bmp, .jpg, .tiff etc) to another node "down the line". Probably mostly used to connect texture images to the root node.

Load any textured prop or figure and examine it in the Materials room - you'll soon catch on..

Cheers,
Diolma

Tooshi,

All of the above is great advice.
Just another thought here:
The cool thing about Poser is that you can create armor, clothing, props, etc for a figure and easily take renders, animations, etc within Poser. Learning how to rig for Poser is a journey and can take some time. Poser should just be one of the many tools that you use though, or maybe it's a permanent part of your workflow...only you know what you want to create.

Materials and UV Mapping don't change a whole lot from package to package; diffuse, specualr, bump, displace. You can load maps with Poser or be a node God like Baggins...either way you basically get what you are looking for. If you are unfamiliar with uv mapping (wrapping/unwrapping) I would encourage knowing that. (uv mapper).

Good luck and look forward to your creations.

And above all, visit the forum often. It's amazing how many answers I find to questions I never knew I had by surfing renderosity.

oh my god, that's hugely helpful advice from EVERYBODY! I didn't know people here were so helpful and friendly. I'll definately check out these links and then ask you guys a bunch of silly questions when I'm done reading and following tutorials :D

Quote - " also, can anyone tell me how to use the material library in Poser? what are "nodes"?"

See the first section of this link for some very basic explanations about the material room and it's contents.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2722867

i have Poser 7 ... opened it up ... played with it .. promptly closed it and went back to DAZ studio 
more computer friendly , more people frendly 
and far far more stable even for low end systems - 

ive been useing these programs for along time and the best advice is this ... play with it 
just like playing with toys .. also NEVER try to manipualte the figure in the window .it just doesnt work 
use the dials -  much more control