I am totaly new to 3D animation.

What software should I look at?

Poser or DAZ?

Which one is the most compatible with downloadable figures?

Kind regards

For me DAZ I think it is much easer then Poser but you should try Poser as just about every thing out there is poser bassed.  For me  Poser is much to complexed where as DAZ is prity much click and go.  I wished I had learned some Poser first, I am spoiled with DAZ and find it hard to work in Poser.   I have bouth Poser and DAZ and work with DAZ more.

Poppa C

This question comes up a lot, I suspect. Personally, I've always preferred Poser, could never get the hang of Daz and I like its features.

But, that's not an answer. You can download a trial version of Poser and the basic form of Daz studio for free. I'd recommend trying both and seeing which works best with the way you work.

I really love DAZ4 but I really dislike the new content management system. I find it annoying to navigate....

Like most of us who have worked in DAZ, just don't let it get to ya. Go into content and play with it to see where everything is. I could not add a content file untill I got into playing with it now, I have all my stuff where I need it.

DAZ provides a free version of Daz Studio 4. Get it, try it, have fun.

Most Poser content can be used in DS4 (with some adjustments). Poser Dynamic Clothes, Dynamic Hair and Material Shaders cannot be used in DS4 at all.

Another benifit of DS4 is that it has an inbuilt bridge to Bryce (DAZ 3D landscape / environment program).This allows you to send a scene from within DS4 direct to Bryce.

DAZ provides a free version of Bryce that you can play with also. Warning - Bryce has an unusual interface and strange way of doing things that takes some time to get use to.

Also you may want to get The Gimp (a free 2D paint program that is equivalent to Photoshop) for doing post work, touching up renders, adding some sparkles, etc.

BTW don't bother looking for that magic "make art" button in any of these products.

Have fun and don't be afraid to experiment.....Hmmm I wonder what this little red button does? Woops! Computer melt down. LOL.

Thank you a lot for answering.

Please direct me to the correct forum if my stupid questions does not belong here.

Do I understand correctly, allthe caracters, props, hair, cloths ets, one can buy are more compatible with Poser than with Daz?

Looking at the DAZ website, one finds a lot of DAZ spesific products, where do one find the Poser products?

To be honest, the vast majority of those things will work in both just fine. I certainly wouldn't say Poser is better for compatibility. Daz has the genesis stuff exclusively but the vast majority of things you find on the Daz website will work on Poser (as on renderosity). Just be careful to check, but honestly I've never had a problem with it and I buy a lot from here and from Daz.

What I'm really trying to say is that it's not an issue that should decide your choice of program. You won't want for content with either choice.

They're both fine programs. I strongly suggest you give yourself some time with both of them and make your choice based on what you find you can get results with.

To tell you the truth I started out buying both programs almnost by mistake. Anyways..........major problems how to install a character designed for Daz. No way to get it installed on poser. I really want to tell youy that there is a whole load of stuff to learn about Poser. May be is better Daz is you are willing to enjoy yourself also!!!!!

Cinzia :)

Quote - Thank you a lot for answering.

Please direct me to the correct forum if my stupid questions does not belong here.

Do I understand correctly, allthe caracters, props, hair, cloths ets, one can buy are more compatible with Poser than with Daz?

Looking at the DAZ website, one finds a lot of DAZ spesific products, where do one find the Poser products?

Your post is fine here. Ask away!! :)

Most of what you see on DAZ (about 90%) is Poser ready as long as it does not say "GEN" then everything can be used in Poser, If it says it will ONLY work in DAZ then be sure it will not work in Poser, like some Poser items state "Will NOT work in DAZ". One of the rules for DAZ is that "what ever it is" needs to be Poser ready, That has been the standing policy for DAZ.  Now with DAZ4 it will use the Poser stuff as well but more and more DAZ seems to trying to create DAZ 4 only stock.  Do keep this in mind, "DAZ is FREE Poser is not" and looking for Poser stuff you are at a good site there meny others out there, as for me I will be sticking with DAZ even though I have Poser installed.

It depends on what you plan to create. If you plan to learn how to make props, I would go with Poser as Daz Studio ( any version ) is very limited to what you can create prop wise. The same with full custom characters such as monsters for example.

If you just want to create renders, or animations, Then I say Daz Studio all the way. I will say that I am not a fan of D|S 4, as I find the User Interface very cumbersome, and as was mentioned the content management is very lacking. I have been using D|S for close to 6 years now and still prefer it over Poser ( which I do not use or have anymore ).

Then there's the hit on your wallet. D|S 4 Standard is a very solid and functional software, and it's free. If you opt for D|S 4 Advanced or Pro ( my g/f just bought me the Pro version, and I have to say it is growing on me, and it's much better for those of us who are vendors ) you get some cool features, but still have to pay extra for many of the add-ons/plug-ins.

It's really a personal choice. If you are just starting out I would go with the free version of D|S 4, and get some of the older figures and some clothing to go along with it. With the exception of buying a few base models there are many sites that offer free characters, poses, and props. Again as mentioned, almost any content will work in either. The Genesis Model is the only one that's Daz Studio specific.

True props - things with no moving parts - are as easy to create in DS as in Poser. Figures, items with multiple moving parts (especially if the parts must flex rather than moving as a unit), need additional tools in DS however.

Usually if you ask for a comparison between two products in forum A, A gets the nod since most users of A hang-out in forum A.  Since that didn't happen here, that should tell you something.  Keep in mind that Poser is up to version 9, while DAZ is only on 4. It still has some catching up to do. But that may be the better choice for you since you won't have to wade through so many features. 

Version numbers have nothing to do with ability.

yes Poser is up to v9 but it has also been around longer.  DAZ "IS" only up to 4 but look at what DAZ has done in 4 ver. and DAZ has done more to use poser products then poser has for DAZ products, seems to be onsided to me. 

Dobola

If you want to try something that can use Poser/Daz products and is great with animating, you might want to try Carrara.

You can get a free copy if you buy...

Figures, Characters and Avatars: The Official Guide to Using DAZ Studio to Create Beautiful Art by Les Pardew

yes all well and good but i would almost lay odds that in time DAZ ill be as complexed as Poser and all other 3d programs i just pray that DAZ will remain user frendly as id is

Thanx to all!

Well my download of DAZ was sucsessfull. stil batteling with Poser.

I am going to try DAS first.

When I start DAZ, How do I inport other files, free figures, props etc without screwing up the program?

for all zip files i set up an extraxtion folder and extract to that folder then i move the content to where i want them to be.  with some auto-extract you can do the same. just make sure you know where everything is.  i do this so that everything for V4 is in one folder etc. even with A4,M4,G4, S4 and the like. items for m4 will not work on A4 and the same is true for most every thing.  i even set up the prop folder, buildings in one folder, autos, water, enviroments all have a folder within props.  Poseing has its own folder, if i see a model named "Anna" i will put it in the V4 folder as it will not work with S4 or G4 so why have it outside the V4 folder, this way i do not need to go hunting for Anna i know she is in the V4 folder. if i find modeling poses that work only with V4 then in that folder it goes but if it works with any then in th general poseing folder it goes. Hair the same i have a V4 hair folder with all the mat. files as well the hair does not fit G4 so i put it with the model it does work for. clothing , differen people, mats, whatever goes into the right folder.  Yes it is an extra step but i wrather spend a lil extra time setting it up then wasting time looking for what i need. Just set up a system you can start with, try it out and make changes as you learn, make it easy on yourself . I have been working in DAZ for 10  yrs now and I still make changes though not anmuch

l

PS: sorry but this system of file set up only works with DAZ, I tried it with Poser and it works but not as well, so keep this in mind as you set up your file system

What base is the best to use. I seem as if most of the x-stras have some connection with Victoria 4. How about Victoria 5?

When I buy, I would like to work with one "person" and take her over to the next program to test (Poser / Carrara)

Does this make sense?

Dobola

v5 is the 5th gen model  and will only work in the gen part of DAZ4. Therefore you will have to use the file system of gen5 to use her.  The 4th generation works just fine in DAZ4 my file systen shows as i have it set up.  The file setup of gen5 for me is to much like poser hard to finde stuff, it will take a lil time to work it out.  Like i say I have been useing DAZ a long time and I was able to set it up as I wanted with only 1 runtime for me, now, I have to play ticky-takey and be like everyone elce untill I learn this new system  and find a way around it~~~ba-humbug I will do it 'couse i love working in DAZ

Thank you PoppaC for the help so far.

I have Victoria 4.2, She is loaded in a file system I can mannage.

But, how do I get all her functions (poses, clouths, morphs, .....) on Daz's brain.

I go to Import at file, then I get her on the screen. Nothing els.

It doesnt ask me if there is any other data I would like to put on or is this the frustration fo the free Daz program?

KInd regards.

Other content will be in the libraries, assuming you have installed it, and accessible through the Content Library palette.

to do this you will have to move the files yourself that is why you make an extraction folder. a dress for v4 put in a clothing folder within v4, mats or poses  for that dress goes into the dress folder everything is together. if you have new char. make a peoples folder within v4 move all inj to that folder along with any txt. if you have different MORPHF make a morph folder within v4 the morph will not work on v3 so put it in v4 etc... this is ok for poser content files that work in DAZ, for DAZ content you almost have to go with the content layout.  I am at the point that i just open a zip and drag~n~drop but it took time to get to this point   start out slow try it out learn how you want to set it up. this is what i like about DAZ it lets you set it up YOUR-WAY, in DAZ i have only 1 runtime in poser you can have mul. try finding your stuff then poser doe not poses must go into pose folder or you will not see it i know others will not believe this but it is what i have ecperenced trying to use poser.  V5 is a DAZ Only content yes you can do a few jumps and loops, dips & dodges to get gen into poser but why? I have the best in DAZ.  Now if only someone would make a plug-in for dynamic clothing  how sweet it would be

Good rendering to ya

I started out with Daz2 went to Daz3 but totally dislike Daz4 (uninstalled and asked for my money back) To me Daz is easier for someone new. Poser is abit more involved but more lifelike. Especially water which I never could get to look real in Daz.

Agree...Get trial of both and play around...

I use both.  Originally a Poser user (since Poser 2) but lately I am using Daz more and more.

The main points for me are:

Poser (currently using 7) - I know this better so know how to get quicker results. The dynamic hair and cloth are very good (with practice) and about to get Poser Pro 12 for Christmas (mainly because Amazon had it for a mentally low price a couple of weeks ago on preorder, I snapped!)  I am looking forward to the new weight rigging and skin handling - I am told there is a lot of improvement on my aging version 7.  I also use Poser because it imports wonderfully to Vue 8, which I use a lot.

Studio (4 Advanced) - I am very new to this. I find it quicker to set up a figure/clothes than Poser but I haven't sussed the lights and shaders so not really getting the best renders yet.  The new Genesis figure is BRILLIANT, I am really impressed with it. Being able to fit clothes from a range of figures (and fit them quickly and well) is a massive boon.  It morphs quickly and easily and is particulary great if you do fantasy renders - making trolls and goblins is more fun than it should be.

Get the trials/free version and have a really good play. Their interfaces are very different, so find which you feel most at home with too.

...I'm finding that posing, morphing, and thus, character creation is better (at least from my experience) in Poser Pro (2010) than Daz Studio. Yeah, proportioning requires a few more steps but the final results look so much better.

Two really nice features are the cloth room and the fact Pro 2010 has Wardrobe Wizard built in (only need toget the Daz figure packs).  The ability to "clothify" clothing content is a real bonus and now makes my investment in Marvelous Designer 2 (personal version) very useful.

I also feel 2010 has better memory management than Studio3Advanced (my system is unable to handle ver. 4) as I am able to render even with full raytracing and AO which would normally crash the Studio application.

Still need to become more comfortable with Poser's lighting system.   The light sphere is somewhat tricky to use compared to Daz's direct manipualtion and I do miss the ability to "see" through a light as if it were a camera (which is especially helpful when you have an anemic graphics chipset that can only display a limited number of lights).

Overall, I feel poser Pro 2010 is "gentler" on my old 32 bit notebook than Daz Studio 3Advanced.  Renders in Firefly (even with ray tracing and transmaps) are way quicker and generate less heat than 3Delight.  IBL with soft shadows still chokes a bit, but that is expected with any 3D application because of all the calculations involved.

Carrara can use both Poser format, and with C8.5 daz's new goldenchild Genesis.

I can use all my runtimes; yes runtimes, in carrara as well as genesis/DSF in the DS4 "my library"

"hey, lets have some fun and confuse absolutly everyone and change the name of the studio content folder to my library"

Don't blaim me for the spelling, blaim this forum not letting firefox check my speling. ;)

Carrara can use both Poser format, and with C8.5 daz's new goldenchild Genesis.

I can use all my runtimes; yes runtimes, in carrara as well as genesis/DSF in the DS4 "my library"

...that is what I like about Carrara as well (well sans all the Genesis stuff).

"hey, lets have some fun and confuse absolutly everyone and change the name of the studio content folder to my library"

...I would change the name of the Studio Content Folder to the "Junk Drawer" because that's how the installers treat it.

Don't blaim me for the spelling, blaim this forum not letting firefox check my speling. ;)

...what I do is first copy the full post to Word, run it through the spellchecker then send it to Notepad (to strip out the Word formatting) and then back to the forum message window.  Yeah it's a bit more work but with my "seek and destroy" style of typing it is a necessity.