Hi all,

I am (still) a newbie in regards to 3D modelling, but I am for a while already deeply interested in 3D character modelling.

I want to be able to model real human characters, using photos or the real model as a reference.

1)
Rather than starting from zero for each model, I think it's best to start with a generic model, and adapt it so that it would look like my reference (photo or real model).
Is that generally a good idea ?

As 3D Software specifically designed for 3D character design I found Poser and Quidam (Quidam: www.n-sided.com)

Poser seems to be rather old (back from 1989) and apparently is not being further developped.

Quidam is rather new, and does not have a large community yet, and still has some missing functions such as inverse kinematics.
**

Do you know both Poser and Quidam, which one do you recommend** for 3D character creation with a photo as a reference ?
**

I also found DAZ Studio, which seems to be a clone of Poser, is that better than Poser ?**

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

Poser is not a modeller. Neither is Daz Studio. Both apps are for composing a scene and creating renders, or animations.

For what you are wanting to do, try blender, it's free and can do the sculpting you desire.

Poser has had a thriving community with tons of content added daily for all these years since it first started. Last year they release poser 7 pro, and Smith Mirco posted a poll just a few months ago asking what customers wanted in poser 8.

Much depends on if you want to create new characters from scratch, or use someone else's "base" to make your characters. It is NOT a small amount of work at all to start from either method, and have a finished character, which is why many people use poser content, in either poser, Daz Studio, Carerra, or Vue for their renderings.

You cannopt use poser OR Quidam characters in games, if that is your intent. In tat case, you need a modelling application fof some kind...

Blender, Silo2, Hexagon2, Modo4, lightwave ect.

You are incorrect assuming Poser is not further developed.  If you have scanned the forum, there are references to Poser 8 making it's appearance in the near future.  Although Poser does have limited capacity for modelling, it is predominantly geared to creating and building still scenes and animations.  It is lower end than Vue, Carrara, etc., but it has a true following.  The Quidam program is more adapt to creating mesh models and props.  Each compliments the other in their particular strengths and weaknesses when creating 3D models. 

There are freebies which can work equally well; Blender, Wing3D, etc.  You just need to spend time familiarizing yourself with them.  DAZ did release a version 3 freebie recently, but they also offer for purchase DAZ Studio Advance.  Same as Poser, different flavor.

Don't sweat it guys poser 8 is all most here, but that's all I can say!

Yup, it's getting near!

Though Quidam is newer that doesn't make it better, imo it blows.
DAZ and Poser is user preference, though I find Poser easier and better in terms of character creation functions. Rigging isn't that hard to do once you understand what's going on, so character creation is quite easy once you get the hang of it.
Poser cannot model, it is strictly a vehicle to bring your models to life. You need a modeling program, there are free ones and there are purchased ones...I use Max.

I have several video tutorials that go over character creation inside of Poser that will get you up to speed really quickly, here: www.contentparadise.com/SearchListView.aspx

Regards,
DarkEdge

Poser Pro 7 was to have a Quidam Plug in,  but SM or Nsided screwed the deal up. 
I bought a new PC just for POSER Pro and Quidam, ... I did not upgrade to Pro7 nor did I upgrade Quidam, both lost to me.  I wish I knew who screwed up the deal ...

re: "Poser cannot model, ..."

May I respectfully disagree?" :biggrin:

Statement by the artist - cherokee69 - aka Stan

*"This is a project I had started back in March 2005. Been working on it part time ever since. I used old photos and measurements from the actual house..which I currently live in. It's a model of my grandparents home as it was in the 1940's when I mother was a child growing up there. It's built piece by piece as a real house would be. All doors and windows open and are rigged. It started out in Poser 4 and was finished in Poser 6. It's all done in Poser using Poser primatives and Doc Geeps Magic Box and Doc Geeps Scale (DGS). It's all Poser except for the rocking chair from Sams3D and the bushes and Infinity Cove from RDNA.

Hope you enjoy and as Doc Geeps say's 'All things are possible in Poser'."

note - underlines added by Doc.

cheers,
dr geep
;=]*

@Niles:  There is no such a thing as Poser Pro 7.  There is Poser 7 and PoserPro, two separate current versions.

I stand corrected ... it was to be Poser Pro.
                            :)

Quidam and Poser don't share the same mission so a direct comparison is meaningless. As stated, Poser has a thriving community of artists and content producers. Poser has animation capabilities and can create custom faces from photos using the face room, but I have no experience in this area.

Quidam is a character generation program with no animation and limited rendering capabilities. That is - it is meant to have characters end up in another "destination" program such as Max / Maya / C4D, etc. The Pro version supports user definable poly counts for use with a subdivision-capable render. Modeling faces from photos is like sculpting putty and airbrushing a texture - meaning that it can be time consuming depending on your skill level. 

For photo -> mesh, I use Facegen and weld it to a body in my modeler.