For polygonal modeling and for grouping and setting material selections, all that stuff is best done in your modeler.  I never saw the need to external tools for rigging, whether for conformers or for custom figures.  You do need a CR2 editor for many common tasks but just getting the bones in I never saw anything really helpful in any of the various external tools.

Michaelab if you've never touched any of these tools, don't expect to be productive for at least a year, probably more.  It doesn't matter how much money you spend on tools or tutorials, it will take you a long time and immense mental effort to get beyond the very basic stages (and most people never even get that far before giving up).

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