Ok so i have finally purchased my copy of Poser 8
and i want to get started again with the program
i have an old version quite a few years ago but i only used it stand-alone

Id like to know what can i use along WITH poser to make the awesome things i see around here?

Plugins for poser,
Additional programs that poser can accept the files from
things like that

i guess this is really a matter of the opinions and experiances from the other members around here and ill take it just as that
So, a prelimanary THANK YOU to everyone who can help me out with this

Id like to get started the right way

Poser 8 comes with lots of goodies that previous versions didn't have.

So what else do you need?

practice, practice, practice.

-- Jeff

Theres another thread on this topic earlier in the forum.

The first thing that I found useful was a paint program , like GIMP , paint shop pro or photoshop elements. (I am budget restricted )

ok then
to add i also use XARA3d which basically makes 3d text images
it allows you to add lighting effects from 360 degree angles to appear completely real
and it exports

ANIMATION as flash, gif, or NO amination as flash, gif, jpg and the like.
With this is also have been using FireWorks 8
which over the years i have gotten VERY good with while using it with XARA

I guess my other question here would be
i see a lot of effects to HAIR for example here

and i guess i would need to have to "PACK" created by the originator
and use it to basically tell poser what kind of style i want the HAIR to work with.

This would also apply to eyes, skin ( if there be aneed for freckles ) and so on...

Because otherwise

While using poser to create a render, i would just have a

naked person with generic air and features
no clothes
no skin textures
no WIND effects on things

would this be correct?

check the store here or maybe freestuff and you will see more than you could ever imagine.

You should have some figures, clothing and hair that was included with Poser. I believe there was another installer for the older content.

You can find a lot of free stuff, or purchase what you want from Daz, Poserworld , renderosity or any of the other poser sites. 

You can modify the figures by adjusting the morphs that come with them, or use an add-on character.

Poser hair tends to be one style, with some variations, so for changing styles you use a different hair figure. Hair is expensive so search freestuff, and look at whats on sale in the various stores.  Runtimedna has some good stuff.

www.digitalbabes.jp has some free hair which is very good.

Most of everything you'll need is already inside of Poser, just start poking around. A lot of the figures you see rendered in galleries are mostly from DAZ and they just released a bunch of their figures for free! Free is a good thing! lol.

Welcome and ask away.
Missy woot!

to everyone who commented so far

i cant say thank you enough.

I would highly recommend picking up the Advanced Render Settings package from Semidieu at RDNA because of the incredible power you'll find in being able to have your images render in separate passes for later compositing. Basically, what it does is allow you to split up things like color, specularity, ambient occlusion and shows (and more...) into different images then you can refine those aspects of your final piece by how you set your blend modes when you put those together as layers in Photoshop or whatever image editor you use.  That and the Render Studio packages from Colm are just amazing. I've  never been one to use other folks products much at all because of all the stuff we make in house for Poser, but those two things are, IMO, packages that Smith Micro ought to be bending over backwards to get into the base releases of Poser.  Either of those on their own and especially together will give you a level of power over your render output that blows Poser on it's own away. -Les

Look for any and all threads started by or featuring BagginsBill.  Here and at RuntimeDNA, BB has produced absolutely amazing shaders and render techniques which will make your images better than you could possibly imagine.

He's also a co-developer of Poser 2010 (I think that's the name) so he really knows his stuff.  There's rumoured to be a book by the gent in the offing, too.  That has to be a must.

Also, a modelling app - there are some excellent free ones such as Wings, Anim8or and Blender -  will allow you to make your own Poser content.  I use Wings and find it dead easy to get to grips with.

if you're wanting to make your own textures, a good UVMapping app is a must.  There are some superb integrated paint/UV apps out there but if you can't run to something like that, a good paint prog plus UVMapper Pro will get you where you want to be.

 As stated above, the Marketplace here is stuffed full of things, likewise RuntimeDNA, DAZ and Content Paradise.  There are also thousands of free items here and elsewhere, too.  In fact, it's a good time to check out DAZ because all their human base figures are now free.

guys

thanks a lot. THis info was really helpful

I know its an old thread but getting married this year really put some things on hold hahahah

its time to get back to them

If you think getting married puts things on hold, try having kids.  :D

Note - UVMapper Pro has issues with Windows 7 and support of late has been non existent.

I like my python scripts some of which are free and the others mostly from runtimedna.

I use my bagginsbill free sphere a lot with HDRIs mapped that I got from dosch design

Love esther

I've bought nearly all of semidieu's scripts.  Even if I don't know what a particular product is for, I know his stuff is always good and useful so I get it anyway.

(I often find that rdna doesn't have enough details in the promos about what the different things are and do)

Love esther