OK, so I'm really quite new to Daz (and poser)... and feeling kind of lost.  I see all these clothing, textures, poses, characters, etc. available for purchase or free, but I'm not really sure what all this stuff is!  So, for example, with 'poses' are these just poses people set up in Daz (or poser) and then is offering that specific pose for money (or free) so that you can just load up the pose in your project?  Is that really all you get is the 'pose'?

And with the characters, did someone just use the morph packs to create a new body/face and then is selling (or giving away) the character they morphed?  Or are these characters totally new characters designed and created in 3d applications? 

There has to be more to it than all that right?

And what about clothes?  I'm not sure I can justify spending $10-15 on the clothing Daz offers at their site... half the time I don't even spend that much money on my own REAL clothes!  :)

TIA for any help/enlightenment anyone can provide me!!

Pose usually means setting Michael or Victoria in a specific manner, say reclining in a chair or in the middle of a jump, saving the settings and placing them into the file for someone else to inject into the model itself to save time and headaches.  They can come in full body poses, split between the top half and lower half of the body, specific poses for hands (say holding a gun or the end of a sword) as well as facial expressions.

Characters...this depends.  There are some that are entirely new models made from another application, yes.  If you see something for V4 or M4 for example those sets are made from dialing the morph sets that have been purchased for Victoria or Michael into a character that looks different but made from the same base model.  I know of several vendors that use the morph sets (base, ++, Enhanced for example) as well as an outside modeling application to create unique character looks for the base model used.

Clothing sets can be expensive, yes.  However the alternative is to learn how to model them yourself, figure out how to UV map them, texture them, rig them so that they fit and bend properly and so forth.  Hence the price.  Most of the vendors do every step themselves, and it is a time consuming task to do such.  I have paid onto 25 bucks for an excellent set of either clothing or props (buildings and such) and trust me-it's well woth the investment.  Usually I stick to a few vendors that I know are on the higher end of the spectrum, but I've found more than few unexpected jewels just by wandering on another artists' site and seeing what they've used.

The same can be said for light sets.  For either program lighting is extremely important-it makes or breaks your piece.  Consider it an investment in your artwork like you'd do with paints, inks, pencils and canvas/paper.  You can purchase low end items, but in the end the result comes from how well the item is made.  Price does not indicate value.

When you say there has to be more than that to it- it's more than what you think.  Personally, I've spent close to four hours on creating a specific morph for Michael 4 for example- if you want something specific the time is worth it.  Consider that for what you see in the marketplace on any 3D site.  It's not just the item that you're paying for....it's the vision behind it, the hard work put into planning it, making it, fixing what didn't work and making sure that the piece sent out for others to buy meets not only the maker's standards but everyone else's.

Dar

"There has to be more to it than all that right?"

No, not really.

Poses are just what you describe. There is a massive amount of free ones, but remember some can be figure spacific. But you will find often it is much easier to apply a pose then spend and hour posing 1 figure. As far as buying poses, that is dependent on you, would you find the poses valuable? I several instences, especially with larger pose pack they are.

Somce characters are just spun dials. Sounds easy but give it a try some time. Often the character is nice enough it's worth it, especially with celebrity morphs. Some characters are made with morph targets, those have been modeled, not soemthign you will get dial spinning.

Morph packs are always valuable. As in V4's morphs ++. With out them you just have a bunch of clones ;)

You can be frugle with DAZ figure clothes. Join the Platinum club, it may cose $30 to start, but give's you a bunch of clothes for $1.99 to chose from. You can easily save that $30 in discounts on your first order. 5X15=75 5X2=10 ;)

Thank you both, that's extemely helpful info!  It brought up a couple more questions...

1.  When you buy a pose you are just getting the pose file correct... like if I made a pose I loved and went into daz and saved a pose as "save DSF Pose".  When you make a purchase (or whatever) that's the file you'd receive correct?  I haven't purchased or downloaded any free poses as you might have guessed... so not sure how to get them and install them either!

2.  I've played around with the dials for both genesis and V4 and been happy with the results... but I just save general "save" (I think it's save scene?)  Should I be selecting save "character file" and that's that?  Like if I bought a character, it would just be that file am I getting this right?  Oh and if I'd buy a character, load him/her into the scene, are the morphs++ or genesis dials still there so that you could alter that new character too?

3.  How can I stop losing my files in Daz4?  OK that's only a half serious question... I'm finding it difficult to navigate the Content Library and feel like I lose my stuff 80% of the time.

Thanks again so much for your help.  I'm a traditional artist attempting to dabble in the world of digital and I just feel like things aren't clicking for me just yet!  Took me a week to build up the courage to ask my questions here afraid people would laugh at me!  :)

I have DS3A, so I don't know how things work in DS4.  If you purchase something the download comes in an installer.  I have set up runtimes outside of the program to keep things catagorized: Character, Clothes, Props, ect.  I install the content into each folder with the installer using the customized installation option.  To find my content in DS3A, I have it set up that the program finds all content upon opening- to do so you can either set it up that way upon installation of the application or go into the runtime folder options (the arrow at the left side of your content library) and do a search depending on which directory it's in.

My content is on the external HD rather than the C drive. It keeps my computer's memory open for rendering.  I can find the runtime folders because I have Studio set up to make sure and find the F drive when it starts.

When you save the scene for the character, that's the scene file yes.  To save a character setting (morph) you can use the PFE (Poser Format Exporter) which is free from Daz3D.com to make the actual injection files and place them where you want them in your runtime.  Just remember to make the file name simple.  Example: M4 Head Inj.pz2 or M4 Complete Inj.pz2.  You can make a png image in photoshop or gimp so you have an icon in your runtime-save it with the exact same name you've given the inj file however or it won't work.

(I generally just keep my characters in the scene file saves- I don't need to make injection files unless I'm giving away a morph set or have a character set I want to sell.)

To save a pose rather than a scene you can use the PFE exporter as well.  Rather than make a pz2 injection file, you'd use the .cr2 I believe.  I haven't bothered to try to save a pose outside of the save to the scene file, if someone else knows this for sure please chime in.

I prefer to save my characters using the scene file, on their own, with no hair or clothing or props in the scene.  That way if you plan on using him/her again you just find the scene, open it up, and start from there.  Easy-peasy.  I also have a separate scene file for M4, M4 Enhanced and V4, with all the morph sets for each character already injected into them.  No clothes, no textures, nothing but the injections; to save time and keep my workflow smooth it just seemed logical to me.

If you have any questions I can help with, feel free to ask!  Either here in the forum or message me.  I don't bite.

Often. ;)

Oh you definitely don't want me messaging you questions... I think the more I ask the more questions I have after that!  I'd love to be able to bother you constantly but I'm pretty sure you'd be ignoring me soon enough!  ;)

You are extremely good at explaining things though!

All this brings up another question, how do people change the "skin(s)" of the characters?  Are these textures?  What about makeup or wrinkles... eye color?  I'm getting way ahead of myself aren't I?

(And I do apologize to everyone I'm sure this stuff has probably been asked before!)

I don't mind.  Really.  I rarely ignore anyone, just be patient if you do-I work two jobs. XD

Textures are the "skins" yes.  When you have your model (M4 or V4, ect) set with the morph sets, I usually pose them where I want them in the scene.

Then you select which character texture (or skin) you want to use.  Generally they start off with the general skin texture, then you move on to the make-up options (if they have them, male or female) and the eyes and nails (again, if they have them).

Then you can move onto the clothes.  Though I used to simply keep the model in the zero position (the one that you see with the legs down and arms out) and do the skins, clothes and such, then pose them.   It's a preference thing when you come down to it, really.

Now, for M4 you also have the Displacement Maps that you can purchase (and I suggest you do) for the added accent to the body structure and vein work.  In Studio I've noticed that either the low or medium settings (which you'll see when you upload them into your runtime) work best for realistic results, the high I reserve for a pose that involves heavy actions such as fighting or lifting or the occasional freakishly large or cut characters. ;)

The same theory can be placed onto your clothing sets.  The textures are your 'skins'- most sets come with multiple choices unless you purchase say a base Premium Clothing set from daz3d.com.  Take Valiant for example.  It's a clothing set with a weapon but the textures are severely lacking.  Then you look for a texture set, or skin if you will for the idea of clarification, to add that extra realistic touch.

Dar.