I know exactly  what you mean, but unfortunately I dont have time or cash for school for this stuff like I really want to so I gotta snoop around for bits and pieces of info and tutorials here. So far everything I know about 3D, Ive taught myself from books and tuts here on Renderosity.  Im going through the Max tuts right now but my work schedule just increased so I got little to no study time for this now... Im trying to break my way into the 3D world so I can break out of this 9~11 job and start doing something I really like for a change! (^_~)

I dont mind working hard, I used to go to work at 8am, get home at 12pm and study till 4am every dayt! But until things slow down, Im kinda looking for something with less of a learning curve and semi decent results so I can do some satisfactory work until I can find more time for Max. Its hard for me to keep up with it now so Im trying to find a way to stay in the game for now.

iToaster? Gotta be the next bestthing from Apple. Plug in your iPod, select a song, and the toast will brown to the rhythm! (^_^)

Thanks a lot! Actually, Im going through the 3DS Max tuts right now but I notice that the learning curve is kinda steep which I dont mind, but given my new working schedule time isnt something Ive had a lot of lately (but youre right, it is a large investment to make so Id damn sure gonna get my moneys worth!) So Im looking for a simpler and faster way to make some decent quality movies until I can finish digesting Max. Right now Im only using it for modelling stuff and then exporting models to be used in Poser or Bryce. I just bought C4D like 2 days ago for Body Paint to help speed things up a bit so Im still doing through the tuts and stuff I find on the net now but I like FRFRDN3`s suggested workflow. Will give that a shot once I get used to C4D and Body Studio.

Thanks!

Thanks WDUPRE for the insite! Its good to know I wont have to re-rig everything for sure. That was one of my biggest concerns. I will be using a lot of outdoor environements as well as space-based scenes so thats why I was looking to use Bryce. I do have Vue as well. Im thinking to follow your advice and try doing all of the animation in Cinema 4D. The downside is getting my Byce terrains and environments into Cinema... I have another question. Which export formats support animation? 3DS, Wavefront, etc... If I could export the actual animation from C4D when completed, then maybe I could import into Bryce or Vue and do the environments/ terrains there. I wonder how professionals merge their animated characters with animated environments and terrainsfor movies and games? Is it because they only use one software for everything? Hmmmm...

Thanks for the tips tho! That will definately give me some direction in this thing! B.T.W, I notice that you suggested C4D instead of Daz Studio. Why is that? Does Daz Studio have lots of drawbacks?

Thanks again!

Well, actually they ARE coming out with a new computer animated TMNT movie next year... Who ould have guess that one? So I guess you`re kinda right!

Here`s the link so you can see for yourself! http://tmnt.warnerbros.com/

"E??? I guess the message board don`t support Japanese characters. That was supposed to say "nin" as in "patience". Did you know that the kanji for "ninja" actually means "patient man" or "one who perseveres"?

That`s your Japanese lesson for today!

(;;) I want my hair tutorials.... Waaaaaaahhhhh!!! (;;) But I guess E is the word for now.

Thanks for the update! (^_~)v

-WF

WOW!That was EXACTLY what I was looking for! Thanks a lot!

Yep, its that model alright... So the hair I got wont work for V3 (;;) Can you please tell me where I can get some good V3 hair? I`d really appreciate it cuz she looks kinda wierd with a police uniform and SWAT vest and no hair.... (^^)

Mine looks like the one on the left! Will this one work for V3?

Thanks guys! Im trying to apply it to Vicky3 and Im loading it from the Hair library. The name of the hair is Alice Hair and Im sure its for V3... Does the conform command work in the hair library?

Thanks a lot Deecey! Wow you guys are really great! Thanks a lot for helping me get pointed in the right direction! I promise Ill never forget this! Yeah, I guess youre right... The deadline is a big issue right now because the book actually goes on sell next Feb so Im trying to get a lot of stuff done before then... Ive been working on this bok idea for years but this is the first break Ive ever gotten so I know I gotta make it work cuz I may not get another shot. No pressure there huh? So thats why I gotta go all out and get make my website as tight as I can before then because the book actually relies heavily on the website... I still got a few months though so I need to chill a bit and figure out how to do this right. Will download those models you recommended tomorrow as well as purchase the head models! Right now Im just trying to make basic character models of the main characters in my book. My job is really busy right now so I never have time to draw anything anymore so I thought it might turn out better and save me time in the long run on trying to hand draw everything if I could just create the characters first, then pose them and take snapshots whenever I needed them later. Plus I want to use them for making 3D animated movies to attract people to the website... But right now I just want to know how to make a decent looking character with custom hair and custom clothin that fits right on him and looks somewhat realistic... (I have some cyborges and more advanced stuff I want to do later but right now, I just need the basics) 1)How do you put clothes on a character and make them fit on the character and stay in place so that they wont move after you pose them? 2)How do you make hair and style it the way you want it to look? (Dont care about hair movement for now) 3)How do you make skin textures and apply them to the entire character? 4) How do you make a character look look muscular? What tools do you use to add bulges and how do you make it look even? 5) How do you make custom clothing for characters and apply it to them in Poser? If I can get these, then I could just take make the characters with the hair and clothing they need, the take snapshots of them for now.... Then I could learn about posing and animating later right? Thats what Im thinking but since I dont know what Im doing, what would you suggest? I gotta go to bed now cuz I gotta got to work in a few hours but Ill be back online tomorrow night... I appreciate all the help you and everyone is giving me. You guys are real life savers. I believe in the law of Touka Koukan (Equivalent Trade) so if you guys ever need anything and I can help, let me know ok? x݁I(Laterz!) -WF

Thanks alot lzy724 & PapaBlueMarlin for your quick replies. To be honest I was just cruicing around this site and looking at all the awesome stuff everyone else is making.. UNBELIEVABLE!!!! I wanna do that too! Ill definately take your advice and contact Teyon! As for where I get stuck... I think its my way of thinking or lack of knowlege for things... When I work with Bryce, I see circles and squares and basic building blocks so with little imagination, I can just put stuff together so Im ok with creating mechanical things to a point because I know where all the pieces go cuz I made them out of basic building blocks... But when it comes to Poser, the figure is already there and already has its own rules and groups and stuff... It would probably be easier if I knew how to make a charcter from scratch but that would probably take me YEARS to learn! So Im kinda lost when actually working with the figure. Also the Hair room and Clothing rooms or applying texture to an entire figure... I have no clue at all..... I know what theyre supposed to do generally but without any documentation or basic books, I try doing stuff like creating hair and nothing ever comes out right... I dont even really know how to put clothes on a figure and make them stick there... As for making my own clothes or animation... No clue either... Basically the entire program is a mystery for me... I need to make animations so I was thinking if I could build a basic character in Poser, then export it to Max to add bones and do the animation there (cuz max has good step-by-step documentation) and then do the background in Bryce, then everything would be good.. but my main problem is I cant create orional clothed charcters with hair! (Breathe!) Im trying to create characters from sketched that Ive drawn on paper of the characters my book is based on which whils require some pretty heavy physical and muscular design but right now Im just having trouble breaking the ice with this thing... The interface is also a little intimidating to me for some reason because its got so many options... Hope I`m not writing too much but does any of this make sense to you? Thanks so much for your help!