Hi all. Reasonable new to Poser have had it a few months, but only now getting the time to get into it just recently. In the past I did a lot of drawing and painting, now would like to very much learn 3d and animation, manly into pin-up, sci-fi & fantasy. So far have done a few pics and have posted them (if anyone would like to look and give me some pointer/feedback that would be great) and am working on an animation 30 sec long so far and just about to give it a revamp with some new toys I picked up today. Look forward to being part of the Poser World. Just have a few questions (Probable really silly, but would help me): 1. Is it me or does everyone find that they see new stuff to buy all the time and want it to d new stuff with? 2. What do most people render setting at? 3. I have the manual that comes with P5, which I find is lacking. Best way to lean is just to look for tut on what I want to learn next and do them? 4. Best way to become and active member to the group, being that I am only new and probable cannot help anyone much? 5. Just for interest is there anyone else from Brisbane, Australia? Thanks for all your help, I sure I will have more questions later. Grant grj_mmj

1. I myself went through the "purchase fever" stage and now I purchase very little and am trying to learn the tools I have much deeper. Although I did purchase a spectacular rhino model for $1.99 recently! 2) Question too big! 3) When you say "I have the manual that comes with...", that is a rather unusual way to phrase it. The manual is very very good...but it is NOT a training manual...it is a REFERENCE manual. This means that when you see a command, room or button and think "what does this do?" the first thing is to look it up in the manual. 4) Best way to become an active member is to make small comments that help, and then to contribute some idea or piece of learning that you acquired. From your gallery examples I'd say you have a sense of color and 'painterly' sensibility, and that is valuable. You might be a relative beginniner, but I'd bet you could contribute ideas for postwork. 5) You will most likely discover quite a few Austrailian natives here! Brisbane, I don't know. Good luck! ::::: Opera :::::

Hi and welcome aboard. To some of your questions: 1) Poser is addictive! Once you've settled into it you will find you spending habits geared towards the style of scene you are most interested in. I am not into the Anime style character so anything for them naturally I don't buy. One suggestion is look through the free stuff area and see what's there. 2) That varies greatly on the scene. What works on one may not work on another. 3) Look at the top of this page...tutorial. Click on it and you will have acess to all kinds of great information.

Hello Grant, Welcome! Just looked into your galley. Impressive work for a "newbie", most people need much more time to find out about lights! Well, to answer some of your questions: 1) You're right. When a new set by a popular merchant is released in the marketplace, you'll find lots and lots and lots of renders of that set. Try not to fall for the "me too" effect, you'll find that Poser is a very expensive hobby that way! Think about what you need for your renders, look in the freebies section for it, and purchase only what you can't find in freebies, or else you'll go broke in no time flat. 2) I don't know what most people do, but I usually render Firefly, 1600x1200 px, 3-5 pixel samples (the more samples, the softer the render gets), displacement bounds at 5, maximum texture resolution 1024, post filter size 1-2, box type. Bucket size usually at 16. The render settings depend on the type of image you render. Especially maximum texture size: if you do closeups, you'll have to up the maximum texture size, if you do full body or multiple character scenes, 1024 is good enough. 3) As for the P5 manual, most of us agree, it isn't very good. But if you want tutorials, there is one name you absolutely have to remember: Dr. Geep. Search for "geep" and you'll find a wealth of very clear tutorials on just about anything that's related to Poser. 4) Best way to become an active member? Keep on doing what you're doing now: post questions, upload images to your gallery. You'll find that the Poser community is very helpful. You'll learn - pretty fast, judging by your gallery - and within a couple of weeks you'll be able to answer questins too. 5) Sorry, can't help you there, I'm Dutch. Again, welcome! Steven.

I'll only answer number 1 and it's like this: Get yourself an understanding bank manager 'cos you're gonna need him [roflmao]. thefixer poser coordinator

Looked at your postings, and you are doing just fine!I also usually render at 1024X768 in P6, but I'm not married to the idea, and so my pix vary considerably. My tip to you is the watch your lighting. In 3d it's quite difficult to achieve properly, so learn how to move those lights, position them where you want them and get the intensities set to sensible values. Otherwise, your art shows the benefit of your 2D experience, and it's fine. I like your choice of subject matter, and I have always favored big boobs, so keep up the good work!

I have a different take; since I don't have credit cards, I can't buy anything. That didn't stop me from downloading 123 CD's of Poser (and other program) freebies. Start with those, and you'll save tons. Go to DAZ 3d's freebies, Sixus1 (Poser Freebies), Studio Maya, etc., and you'll have all the stuff you need to get started, without spending a cent..
Don't know about Brisbane, I've never been closer than Kwajalein, Marshall Islands..;)

grj_mmj

Welcome

They are a few of us Aussies about - haven't touched base with anyone from Brisbane yet though. I'm in regional Victoria.

A few of us from Aust/NZ hang out over at Posin'Down Under as an adjunct to Renderosity.

Please feel free to drop by and say Hi!

Hi Grant, Welcome on board. You are in for a lot of fun. BTW, I am from Melbourne (a small town just south of Brisbane grin)

Thanks everyone, that has been great. Has given me some more thing to work with. Thanks Tastiger fo Posin'Down Under, will check that out now. mathman, I think I have heard of Melbourne, Hehehe. Look forward to speaking wit you all more. Don't be a stranger. Grant

Welcome Grant.. I'll answer #4.. just post here in the forum or any forum you want. Thats the best way.. Can't wait to see more of your images! Ryuslilangel Poser Moderator

Hello and welcome. 1) I don't buy stuff because it's new. I buy what I need. If I need a new outfit or setting or character for a particular image I'm working on...I buy it. This saves me money. Also, it allows me to spend more when I need to. 2) With Poser 5, I used the defaults. I did my final renders using the production setting. I do some postwork such as cropping and resizing in either PhotoShop or Paint Shop Pro. I'm still fairly new at this too so I have not gotten sophisticated with the render settings yet. 3) Tutorials are good but to be honest, experimentation is best. I've learned a ton by just playing around. If you have the time, do a search for geep here in the forum. geep's tutorials are pretty good. 4) Ask a lot of questions and do a lot of post reading. You can also learn a lot by reading other people's posts. Post your images in the gallery. I love to just browse the gallery. 5) I have a friend in Perth, Australia but I live in the United States. Again, welcome to Poser. Kristta