I've been trying to find a tutorial that would show step by step how to create your own prop, or a piece of clothing (whether its dynamic or conforming doesn't matter). Props like weapons, or tools, anything that a character would hold or use. Doesn't have to have moving parts -yet-, (and I know clothing would be a bit more complex as it deals with joints and all that, but knowing how to create your own piece of clothing is the first step in that). I use P5, and I have Anim8or and bryce (though i'm not sure if bryce is used to create anything other than scenery). I can't imagine that it takes 40+ different programs to create things, as it seems everyone is creating their own stuff and either putting it up on freebie sites or selling it. Any help, suggestions or points to sites that would have something like this would be GREATLY appreciated. And I don't care how long the tutorial is. Thanks (There are specific things I need that I have not been able to find in freebies or shops, which is why I need to know how to create my own).

uhh...you're not asking for much, are you?..;) Bryce has primitives, and you can model with them using Positive and Negative booleans, though they can't be exported out of Bryce.
Anim8tor will make pretty good props; I think Gerald Day uses it to create his. I use Wings 3d, and it does me fairly well. It's also free (links to both are at the Modeling forum) And you can do basic UVMapping (well others can, I have a mental block or something..;) to get your materials or textures to a model. Or, failing that, you can assign areas for specific materials in Wings, then use ctrl+mouse click to pick the areas and assign them mats in Bryce (which is what I do, mainly)
There are tutorials here at 'rosity to get you started; you can start simple and get as complicated as you want to get. I do believe there's even 2 anim8tor tutorials here, they're for intermediate users, and may gloss over some commands.
Phil C has a tutorial on his site on how to make clothes.
I've done some very limited clothing items (so far, shoes and hats..one-offs that sorta cover up bare heads and feet..;), it's a convenient place to start, since you can maneuver and size the things to fit (unless you're doing stiletto heels..land sakes I have enough trouble with the ready-made ones..;).
there's more coherent answers coming after this post, this should get you started, tho..good luck.

thanks pakled. :) is wings3d for pc? i was thinking it was just for mac users. I want to make a wooden stake. a simple stake one would use to dust vamps, for example. (hehe). but i'd rather it be a bit more detailed than just a broom handle sharpend at one end with a wood texture applied to it. this is just one example of the many things i need to make.

Message edited on: 08/14/2004 21:58

There are at least eleven tuts on props from Geep. Do a search on Geep and you'll find the links.

I've been to geep's site several times, i don't remember object creation tutorials though

I have eleven geep tuts titled 'prop 1' through 'prop 11' in pdf format. I think I got em from fallencity.net.

ok i found them. and they are interesting, i will read them. but i need to know how to build an item from scratch, not from props already inside poser. i know... i always gotta do things the hard way.

To build an item 'from scratch' you'll need a modeling app. I'd suggest Wings. It's free and a truly excellent app. Do a search on "Wings 3d".

'as it seems everyone is creating their own stuff and either putting it up on freebie sites or selling it' Yes, that's true, but I think you'll find that the people who actually make good stuff and sell a lot of it are people who have spent several years learning to make models and in addition, are using programs like 3d max or lightwave, as opposed to free apps. I don't want to put you off, but learning to model can be a long and frustrating business. I started using poser 6 years ago, and got into modelling after a year. I made freebies for 2 years, then started selling through DAZ. And, to be quite honest, it's only in the last year or so that I feel I'm beginning to get good at it. I use 3d max, (v 3.1), which does everything I need, and I only know about 10% of the programs functions. LOL. Anyway, apart from all that, I think you're going the right way about it. Start off making props and keep it simple. You'll learn as you go along and it can be a lot of fun. What you might want to consider is trying to make some props using the basic Poser props first. You can combine them into all sorts of weird and wonderful things. Also Anim8or is a terrific program for making morphs for poser. I use it for most of my morphs. Once you learn how props work and how to hack the files, you can move on to more complex things. Sorry to be a downer, but there isn't really any easy way to learn. You made the correct start - ask in here. Other than that, you just have to scour all the tutorials you can find and keep trying till you get it right. But in the end, it's worth it. mac

Attached Link: http://www.wings3d.com

hehe, yep. i already downloaded wings. For some reason when i first went to the site a few days ago i thought it was only for mac, but I wasn't paying much attention and only saw the mac link for download. I so wish i had a mac, as I know they're much better at graphics. but anyway... as for maclean, i appreciate the advice. Not a downer at all. I know its a long process. But I love learning and I love graphics and animation. I also have a tendency of being impatient and skipping the "easy" parts. But I want to know all there is, or at least as much as I can know from the relavent tutorials that are available these days. I'm sure now it is much easier and faster for someone to pick these things up than it was say six years ago when there weren't as many sources of info available as there are now. I'm taking things one step at a time though. And when it comes to computers and programs for them I've always been a very fast learner (minus the whole 'six months to a year just to figure out how to put clothes on people.. ehem...' For now I just want to create an original wooden stake. After that I'm going to figure out how to create a sword - FROM SCRATCH. :-D Then hopefully by the time I can afford to buy 3DMAX I'll know enough about all this that I won't have trouble learning that program. Damn I wish I'd gone to school for this kind'a stuff when I had the chance. pouts

I read a thread (on cgtalk.com if I remember right) where people were discussing why Macs are better for 2d and windows is better for 3d. I don't remember what their reasons were. I do remember that one guy claimed even Pixar uses Windows machines for the 3d side of things. I imagine Steve Jobs won't sit back and allow that to continue any longer than necessary, though. hehe.