Better still, R'osity should buy the rights to put PhilC's tute up on a pay-per-view part of the site. Maybe the marketplace could sell, say, 100 pre-paid clicks, to be "spent" on using the tute. I know, I know, we all want knowledge to be free, and answers to posted questions ARE free. Complete tutes are actually education, they are a valuable product, they're time-consuming to do, and we could always use more of them. If the creators could be paid for the time and effort spent on them, I'm sure we'd see a lot more, especially if something like the above-mentioned pay-per-view could be implemented, as that would reward the most rewarding tutes ;o)

I'd strongly suggest using the "exponential" method that most of us went through - if I could do it, anyone can, trust me ;o) Plan a reasonably-sized project, then simply go ahead. When you run into a problem, put a question on the Forums. When you get the answer - and you will ! - continue until you run into another problem. Then ask again, etc. It's slow going in the beginning, but your knowledge expands faster and faster as you go along. The great thing about places like R'osity is that a) ALMOST any problem has already been solved by someone b) ...and if not, lots of people will help you solve it c) ...and "lots of people" means 150.000+ potential teachers Trust me, try it - you won't be disappointed. All those who will answer your questions did the same thing, and they weren't disappointed, that's why they can offer answers now ;o)

My delayed 0.2 Euros - Photography started out imitating painting, then found its own dimension. 3d/CGI will do that, too, I hope. Just using Poser basics, even idiots like yours truly can already do a lot in this direction (Zrincx's Brooke character, 3-point light based on Syyd's tutes, no post). The masters (Syyd, and Cat Harders et al.) are already doing Final Fantasy-quality still images. IMHO, movies like Final Fantasy and the "Osiris" short on Animatrix are NOT stepping stones towards photo-realism, but towards a new credo of tongue-in-cheek fantasy/dream reality that'll be the hallmark of all-3D movies and pix. If that makes any sense to anyone but me ;o)

Fish, and all - just my 0.2 Euros. I'd recommend putting on the producer's cap when this happens - helps me a lot (most of the time!). We all buy and build ten times more stuff than we'll ever use - because we can SO easily imagine SUCH a cool image that we could do with precisely that figure, prop, background, or whatever ;o) That's the artist thinking. When he's spoken, bring in the producer. In order to actually produce that image (or anim), just what stuff will you need to build or buy? How much time to set up and render? What - or how much - is in it for you (whether it's fun, fame or fortune that's your preferred reward). It can be an unpleasant discipline, but once you've done it a couple of times, I find that it has several attractions. Some ideas, on closer inspection, turn out to be less than great, or not worth the effort - no problem giving them up, and it saves a lot of unnecessary purchases (yeah, I know that, being a vendor, I'm shooting myself in the foot here ;o) ) The better ideas stand a much better chance of actualy being realized when they are planned properly. And you have a much better chance of actually having the time or pennies for getting the stuff you need, since you haven't wasted as much on what you DIDN'T need. Best of all, when more projects actually get done, relaxing away from the Poser screen actually becomes not only bearable, but even attractive sometimes. And by and by, all that clear thinking gets you into the habit of doing a lot of the actual work in your head before even having to fire up the PC - you'd be surprised how many snippets of spare time that can be "enlisted" for Poser work that way. Just don't do it when you're supposed to be relaxing with family and friends ;o)

If you've got P4, there's some "House of Moves" mocap BVH samples on the content CD. Works fine w/ both P4 and Mil figures (import using "Z axis" and "Scale automatically").

This may be common knowledge, but the mocap sold on DAZ (House of Moves) and Credo (Mega MoCap) is OK for Poser as-is (even if P3/4 figure BVH presumably has no parms for buttocks and upneck body parts???).

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=439276&Start=1&Artist=thip&ByArtist=Yes

Well, everybody else is doing it ;o)

...and the english don't study the battle of Hastings all that much ;o) You'll also find some archer stuff at www.PoserStyle.com (member stuff, though).

Serrge has a lot of Warhammerish stuff in the Store, among them several medieval-looking outfits. Default colors/tex's are a little too clean and "gamey", but with more "girtty and grimy" textures they wouldn't look out of place in the armies of Henry IV and V. Have a look at http://market.renderosity.com/softgood.ez?ViewSoftgood=14890 And no, I don't work for him ;o)

Personally, I often find that "total production time" is worth a bit of thought. You can get utilities that make Bryce as Poser-friendly as Vue, But jumping between apps takes time. So does scene-building in Bryce and Vue - and Poser, of course. 2D backgrounds used within Poser is the probably the fastest way to do a scene. Scratch-building in Bryce, Vue (or another model/render app) is the most flexible. Using stock props and sets (in whatever app) is somewhere in between. Depending on how many images you want to get out of your head, you have to decide on a trade-off between those factors. Even the Final Fantasy movie used matte paintings - I was a bit disappointed when I realized that, but I can understand why. As some editor used to say way back in my freelance illustrator days : "I don't want it to be ART, I want it to be FINISHED!" ;o)

Just my 0.2 Euros - I'm no ligthing master, but I'll add my vote to "lighting, lighting, lighting" as the essential tool if you don't want to do postwork. Even in P4, fiddling with the lights can achieve dramatic results (Standard V1, no post, 3 lights only, various setups).

You might want to try the quick-and-dirty solution - see http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=1096097 ...for details. Good luck - dresses and robes are THE challenge for clothing makers, IMHO ;o)

Geo - no talent, just bullheadedness and lots of coffee. Your own gallery shows you've got all the talent you need, you just made a wrong turn when you gave up your pinups and started doing things like your superb "Something Different" ;o) I still wonder if the story-telling pics is an untapped source of interest - maybe R'osity could provide some optionn of quick-linking between story images? Maybe re-use the code used for tutorials? Seems to me that a lot of people like to tell stories with images, and until we all have broadband and time-warp, one-man animations will remain stamp-sized shorts :o( Just an idea.

Geo and Glowing - I ALMOST agree. Viewing numbers measure how POPULAR your work is, i.e. how much attention it captures. Most pic-makers want their stuff to be seen, it's just that some do not feel like making the kind of stuff that's LIKELY to be seen by very many ;o) Substitute "to be sold" for "to be seen", and you have the pro artist's dilemma. Pro critics are a great help here, as they are able to convince the (paying) audience that something that looks like a used brush wiping rag is sophisticated art, even if lesser beings might still think it looks like a brush wiping rag ;o) Of course, that won't work with experienced picture connaiseurs like all of us on this website ;o) So, I'd say Geo has the best advice for all : IF you're after popularity/viewings, capture them with eye candy or a captivating story. A captivating story told with lots of eye candy would probably be THE way to shoot viewings through the roof. Personally, I love Boris/Frazetta-style images, but I also love drawing old people's faces, because they are an entire story in themselves - just shows I've got lots to learn about worthwhile picture-making ;o)

Forgive me if this question is stupid, but... Supposing you've applied a bvh anim to your figure, can Mimic/Poser "fit in" the Mimic-generated facial animation without disturbing the rest of the animation info?