Hello all. I have decided to try to break into content creation for Poser (and DAZ Stufio) in the coming year. I know 3d, modeling in particular, and know both DAZ Studio and Poser from an end user's perspective.

My question is this: What modelling software is the most widely used for this purpose? Which is the best suited to the work? I know how to model in Maya, but let's face it; nobody has that kind of money, as an individual. So I am looking at Hexagon and Silo, primarily, since I am led to believe the rest of the pipeline can be accomplished in DAZ Studio itself. Well, except for texturing, but I own Photoshop CS6 for that. Are there better choices than either Hexagon or Silo? Price is a consideration (not for Hexagon, obviously), but if I need to, I'll plunk down as much as $200 to get the right tool.

TL;DR: What tool should I use for the modeling part of Poser/DS content creation?

Also, are there any particular tutorials or learning resources I should buy or get to learn this stuff? I hear Fugazi1968's stuff is good, but I don't know which of his things to buy.

Modeller's are as individual as the modeller. There is no one modeller. Best suggestion: try as many as you can until you find one that clicks with you. Start with the free ones like Blender, truSpace (if it can still be found) and Wings. Hex, Silo, are on low end of the price range. Zbrush and Modo are somewhere in the middle. And then there is the Autodesk group where you practically need a second mortage to buy them. However, most have demos. Try the demos.

It isn't a matter of widely used, it's a matter of what works for you.

Blender just updated and while it's interface can be daunting, it's free. Wings3d is also free and once you learn the shortcut keys pretty fast. Silo does have some sales periodically. Oddly enough you can actually get very good deals on Silo when it's on sale through Steam. I know some people don't like Steam but I've never found their software that invasive (once you change some settings). As far as updates, I'd have to say Blender updates the most frequently. Hexigon can be useful but it's update cycle is pretty infrequent. Zbrush is very nice though paid. truSpace still has a lot of fans though it's basically a program Microsoft purchased then killed over time so no updates there. I really wish they had released truSpace to the open source groups.

I notice nobody in this list is mentioning Carrara. Should I take that as an indication of its modeling abilities?

Carrara has it's fans, and it just got an update. It's a little pricey with a slow update cycle. I'd try out one of the free programs first. I used to own Carrera, Bryce, and Hexigon, but as I mentioned the update cycles were a real deterrent for buying newer versions at full price (when they come out). I generally like programs with a faster update development/patch cycle but that's my own preference. Also good instruction manuals. That's one draw back on many programs.

Maya LT is $30 a month on Steam, or about $800 for a license, putting it in the same price range as zbrush and modo.

I use Shade3D ( commercial ) and Blender ( free ! ) for creating geometry - although my target use program is Poser, not DAZ Studio. I find both modelling programs quite good for mid-range complexity. I believe professional production studios would use a different range of products such as Houdini ( which is free for learners ) - I've had a go at that one as well, but the commercial price is out of range for individuals just starting out.

I absolutely love silo 2.2. It has its quirks but I find the whole experience very intuitive. Though I'd maybe find something else to layout UVs in. While I can get good UV maps out of Silo, there is about a 30% chance that something I do in the process will make all my maps dissappear... havent figured out what it is yet :/

I use Wings for box modeling. Sculpting/Displacement I use Zbrush. They are indispensable to me and I learned to model simultaneously in both. I also use Carrara, which I really like. Especially for painting and testing/rendering. Recently started using Modo, playing around, it's awesome. Especially the flex tool and sketch extrude, also like its renderer and texture baking from procedurals. I find the interface really starts to open up once you get comfortable with a particular feature, things rapidly fall into place. Man, the renderer in there is fast. GI in modo makes Poser IDL seem like a fossilized tortoise. I personally wouldn't recommend Hex, go Silo if it's a choice between the two. Although I don't use Blender I would highly recommend giving it a serious attempt, being a total package including modeling, retopo, and texture/painting. I think you will be severely handicapped with just photoshop alone in that area, texture baking and 3d painting in a modeler will open up a world of possibilities. Photoshop is absolutely necessary but has its particular role, usually for image adjustments and finalizing tasks.

I think Wings UVing functions are sorely underappreciated, or I think that most people that dismiss that aspect simply don't know how to use it. I hear Blender's UVing is pretty good. Carrara's UV editor I find to be weak, but I always end up back in Wings whenever I try to use it. With Wings I don't think most people know you can pin, relax, and stitch/sew with it. Plus you can work on one side of a map, mirror symmetry, cut, flip, and then stitch. A great labor saving ability.

I think wings3d is great for modelling and uv mapping, just give it a try, it is free.

When selecting a tool for a professional purpose the real question is: when the going gets tough, the tough get going? It does not matter if a tool is "easy" to learn if half way thru a project you discover that either you cannot do what you want or that it entails a mindboggling amount of work.

Carrara: on DAZ forums, DAZ representatives discuss modeling using Blender. When a Carrara user complained, they did not even answer. Do your math.

Hexagon: slightly less support than Carrara.

Silo: development terminated.

Wings3D: only closed surfaces, open surfaces done with a ugly trick (transparent material).

Shade3D: almost japanese-only user community (does not inspire security for the purpose of finding information).

trueSpace: dead.

Maya, zBrush and the like do well (fiendishly well) their job but they are completely outside your budget.

There is only one program among those mentioned in this thread that won't let you down mid way and is inside you budget.

@EldritchCellar: Blender UV mapping is one of the most powerful parts of the program to the point that many 3DStudio/Maya professional users move the meshes to Blender for the UV part.

To everybody: have a look at what Blender modifiers do: among the programs I know, only 3D Studio and Houdini have similar (actually much more powerful) capabilities, i.e. enabling non-destructive workflows.

It really does come down to personal preferences and what your workflow is like. I use a little bit of everything to model. It all depends on what I'm trying to accomplish. mostly use Hexagon, the only down side to it is if you have an n-gon, it will crash if you saved it with the n-gon. Previous statement is based on my personal observations. Sometimes I use Carrara 7 pro, been playing with Sculptris (not very good at it though-lol). Can't wrap my head around some of the free options out there. I absolutely love Marvelous Designer for clothing but sadly, it's not in my price range at the moment.

chaecuna has made some pretty good points about the various software mentioned. What I would do is to download the free trials, most software has a limited time or function trial. See which you like that's in your price range and has a comfortable workflow for you.

I used to use Truespace then when that ceased to be viable made the switch to Blender. Yes there is a learning curve, but there will be with any application. Blender is very well supported, there is a vast array of online help, tutorials, video and forums. I think I was up and running in a week. Plus it is free.

http://www.blender.org/

As I posted n your other thread, use the one that the interface works best for you.

And for those also watching this thread and lurking, with Modo and Lightwave you can use lots of functions, that you can't use in other software, without changing vert order and destroying morphs and without messing up your UV's. Those two are more forgiving than most modeling programs in those respects.

I'm going to put my vote in for blender also. I started with 3d studio max but couldn't afford the upgrade and the old version didn't work on my new computer so I had to give that up. Then I switched to Wings. It's a nice program but I have trouble wrapping my head around subdivision modeling for some of the more complex things I wanted to make. So I switched to Blender as it's also free (Does anyone see a pattern here?) I can already do most of what I could in wings and some of what I could in max and some things I couldn't do in either. I could probably do a lot more if the interface was more intuitive. I'm not one that likes keyboard shortcuts. I prefer a bunch of menus, but that's just me. And yes, the uvmapping in blender is super easy. It was one of the things that got me using it more.

For Poser content, I work with Zbrush-Modo-Photoshop. Zilo is an excellent alternative to Modo for a lot of things. From a sculpting point of view, I have not really found something (that for me) gives me the organic workflow that replaces Zbrush. Zbrush has a good workflow with Poser Pro for creating morphs. Lots of good image editors are out there--I'm an old hand with Photoshop, so I stick with that. -K

[chaecuna]

Wings3D: only closed surfaces, open surfaces done with a ugly trick (transparent material).

Yes, because it uses a winged-edge data structure. This keeps the models manifold/watertight, and reduces the likelihood of stray edges and un-welded vertices. The transparent material is used simply to hide parts of the mesh from the user. It does not mean that you have to export models with these hidden/transparent faces. You can use the selection tools to export any part of your mesh (export selected).
If Wings only worked the way you are implying it would be useless for making morphs in Poser. I find it works very well (once you have adjusted the import/export scaling to accommodate Poser's unusual scale).

I have to agree moogal. I found chaecuna's comment curious, I think the transparent hole material is very useful. Allows you to instantly select areas and inverse selections that would otherwise be difficult to do. Also Wings advanced settings magnet tool modifiers are really great for morphing, it's possible to do really precise (numeric entry) deformations with falloffs. Move, Scale, etc. all with very exact falloff. Much different than using a brush or tweaking.

I should have mentioned from the outset that I also have and know hot to use zBrush, but I detest its zModeler polygonal modeling tools. Detest isn't even a strong enough word, really. I'm really just looking for something for that sort of modeling, and I'll do my sculpting in zBrush.

My idea for a typical work flow is to do my box modeling and base UVing of lower detail or hard surface meshes like environments in , then move the mesh over to zBrush for refining organic forms and detailing things like dents, scratches, etc. After that, I'd do some polypainting in zBrush, texture fiddling in Photoshop, and rigging in DAZ Studio or Poser Pro.

Can we see?

If you only need to make models for Poser, I think a tool like wings3d is ideal.

I see Blender more like a "complete" solution for 3d, yes, of course you can model in it for Poser, but I think if you only need to "learn" to model and uv mapping, wings3d is faster about start to make thing in it.

Thanks everyone for all the opinions and information, and just for taking the time to help me out. It's very much appreciated.