I am still new to 3D but would like to make clothing for V3 and V4.  Which program would be most easy for me to start with?  Is Poser a good place for a beginner to start?

Not really, because for making clothing you really need a modeler.  Look into the Pegasus modeler at DAZ, it's probably the easiest to get started with because it's specifically designed for modeling Poser content - a lot of the difficulty in modeling anything for Poser is importing and exporting.  I should warn you, modeling and texturing and rigging clothing is one of the hardest tasks Poser has to offer.  It requires a whole lot of entirely seprate skills, each of them difficult when taken all by themselves:

• Modeling
• UVmapping
• Texturing
• Rigging
• Morph management

Phil Cooke's web page is a good place to start, many tutorials having to do with clothing and Poser:
www.philc.net

By happy chance the Clothing Designer Suite is this month's product in the Content Paradise First Friday Bazaar. 90% saving but only for a couple of days.

Clothing Designer

OBJ2CR2

Scissors

Bundle

The sale "officially" starts tomorrow but I've put it in early.

Poser is used for rigging, also grouping, dynamics and morphs of a mesh. You need a modeling software to create that mesh before it goes into poser for the rest of the process.

Now there is a new app at Daz that models cloth mesh and rigs, I think it rigs or it might just group, can't remember the name. sure some one here can tell you. There are also apps from PhilC that create clothes and rig them but you need poser to go with it.

I prefer a real modeler. That way your not limited by clothes alone. You can model anything you want with time and practice, There are some free ones that are very good. Wings3D, which I would recomend for begginers, or Anim8tor and blender. Try all three and see which works for you the best before spending any money. You need to find a modeling app that works right with the way YOU think. Don't let anyone tell you what they think is best for you.

If you find you like modeling and the free ones are not quite right for you, try all the demo's of the pay for modelers. Hexagon, silo are mid range and popular, doesn't mean they are right for you, you need to test them out first. There are higher range modelers such as in Max, maya, lightwave, C4d, XSI and Modo, my favorite. But your looking at lots of money and you still need poser to rig.

I would suggest trying the free ones and see if you really want to do it before spending money.

There you go, That's what I get for being a slow typer. LOL.

Thanks to you all- pjz99, PhilC, and Tashar59.  I feel that you have given me a good head start in understanding how to make my own clothes!  I will get started right away and will let you know how it is going.