Hi everyone,

I just recently purchased Poser Pro 2012 and am thinking of purchasing some figures/characters... what are in your opinions some must have characters? I'm planning on getting all the most popular ones for now since there will be more products for these characters.

Aiko 4, Victoria 4, Michael 4, hiro 4, am i missing anything ?

do all these work in Poser Pro ? or are they made for the older versions? 'cuz i hear sometimes using the older products in poser pro there will be some minor issues to deal with.

Also, i hear daz3d has Victoria 5? but at the same time Poser Pro 2012 has Victoria 4- WM (weight mapped)
so when purchasing a character? should i go for the higher version victoria 5? the regular victoria 4? or the victoria 4-weight mapped version? if i'm using Poser Pro 2012

Victoris 5 is designed for Daz Studio's (D|S) Genesis technology - their own "Poser" program, though you can get an importer called DSON to bridge the tech gap between D|S and Poser.  The (Name)4 are the latest "non-Genesis" versions - I think Victoria 4.2 is the latest for her.

Unless you are specifically looking to be a content creator, the only "must haves" are the ones you really want and think you will use a lot.  The Victoria series used to be, and probably still are, the most supported figures in the world.

Personally, I have a few figures I bought over the years and have some clothes for most of them.  I started with Poser 5 when it was fairly new and I still go back to the Poser 4 Hi Rez Nude Woman, commonly called Posette, for just about everything I do because I am not working with clothes or props at the moment, just skin manipulation, hair growth, and other basic techniques.  Since she is still included in Poser 9, I got her "free with purchase."

As far as weight mapping goes, as I understand it, WM has something to do with realistic gravity and is fairly new (?).  I think you must have either Poser 9 or Poser Pro 2012 for WM to function.  Also, Sub Surface Scattering (SSS) is a skin . . . thingy . . . that only functions in P9 and PP2012.

People who know more, do more, and buy more will have better answers, so just hold off on buying anything until some of the local talent chime in. :)

Perhaps you're approching this from the wrong direction. An artist (i guess that's what we are) doesn't buy his materials then thinks... what am I going to do with all this stuff. He/she thinks about the type of art they want to produce and gets what he needs.

If you're into fantasy, sci-fi, sword&sandal stuff then M4 & V4 are well supported. If you want to do "adult" stuff, then WM figures are obviously good - forget the clothes. (runs for cover). If you think you would like to do fae, pook or kids in your renders, then K4 and/or MilBaby3 could be good to get. Content is purely a means to an end...it's the end that's matters. I'd look through the Poser galleries, then decide to do something completely different to 90% of the stuff there, then think what I'd need to do that.

There are also a number of free figures you may really like, like Antonia and Angela, Kez and the upcoming Koz.

Laurie

V4 and M4 are your bread and butter for people renders.

V5/Genesis...I would recommend downloading DS4.5 if you are going there.  Biggest benefit there is blending multiple characters

Aiko/hiro line is good for more anime style, but to be honest, there are other free/cost anime characters that are more anime-ish

Then there are toons, like Chip/Cookie, Nursoda's stuff, Sadie, etc...

It all depends on your goal, or style.

If you have no style (like me, lol) then grab V4 and M4 and swim in the vast world of paid and free content!  :)

The Generation 3 DAZ base figures M3, V3 A3 and H3 are available free.  Windows format here...

http://download.cnet.com/poser-dazstudio-3d-models/3000-6677_4-10579249.html

Mac installer

http://download.cnet.com/poser-daz-studio-3d/3000-2186_4-10579252.html

And yes, these are legitimate downloads...

If you get the book Figures, Characters and Avatars by Les Pardew, it has a DVD that includes V4 and M4 Complete as well as some other models and software; if you get a used copy you can download them from the publisher's website...

Quote - If you have no style (like me, lol) then grab V4 and M4 and swim in the vast world of paid and free content!  :)

lol =)

but yeah i'm going for the more realistic look. so v4 and m4.

I have my personal favorites,  like Miki 4, V4, and V3, but something that also matters is what you are going to be doing. For that reason, I suggest that V4 is the only MUST-have figure, simply because of the amount of content for her. Persoanly, if I were to do anime style, for example, I would probably pick Aiko 3 or Aiko 4, as A3 has a more anime look. The same goes for Hiro 3 as the male counterpart.

With V4...I would definitely look into Blackhearted's GND4, the Elite Stuff at Daz (morphs and textures), Danae's metropolitan stuff...and make sure you get Morphs++ for V4.

Also, if you "buy" content, see if it has morphs that match what you are using.  For example, there is not as much content that has GND4, but there are some sites that have GND4 "fits" for content.

Then you need to think about using Wardrobe Wizard or Morphing Clothes, if there are no fits, or built in morphs.  These are not nearly as nice as clothes made for the morph.

...for example, I love the Utopian body morph, with petite morphs, but apply all those, and its a beast to get anything to fit/look right  :(

...then grab snarly's free EZ skin 2, a nice low cost (or free), indirect light set (like this) and you should get pretty darn good renders, out of the box!!

IMO the most important "Must Have" comes after yr decision of which "main" male & female characters ya decide/ discover yr gonna use. That being Wardrobe Wizard (base version included w/ Pro) &/or Cross Dresser plus additional licences ("definitions" telling these apps how to use various character figures). This will VASTLY expand the amount of available content for your characters of choice, as well as allowing you to add body morfs to clothing that may not be supplied by the clothing creators.

I would also strongly suggest (if ya don' already have one) a decent 2D grafix prog (PhotoShop, Paint Shop, GIMP, etc. MS Paint is NOT an option). Even if yer currently not concerned with postwork, texture creation, hair painting, or even something as simple as addin' yer sig; at some point some or all (or more) of these aspects WILL appeal to you, and in a pinch when ya inevetably get "Poser Block" ya can step away from 3D fer a pause & crank off a few icanhascheeseburger or demotivational pics to get the juices flowin'.

Good luck, & welcome to the insanity  :D

For god sakes man, don't forget the critters too! I mean animals and creatures of various sorts.

Some of the included Poser figures - even the really manky looking ones - are great for scene fillers.  Some of 'em are even gasp good for your main figures, too.  

Search for absolutely anything by Blackhearted and - provided you have the required model - buy it.  You really won't regret it; BH makes, IMO, the absolute best characters in the known universe.

Nope, he didn't bribe/threaten or otherwise coerce me to put that.  I just like his stuff.  A lot.  

Quote - but yeah i'm going for the more realistic look. so v4 and m4.

Please remember that you/Poser can do realistic looking art with cartoon characters; think really good but obvious cgi characters in a real world setting.  There is a difference between a realistic figure and a realistic render:  one does not necessitate the other and really good surreal art can be made with M4 and V4.

It gets back to what you want to do the most and what you think you can make yourself finish first - again, not always the same thing.