Hello all.

I was once a Poser user, until around the time Poser 5 launched. I have been away from this sort of 3d since then, and I know nothing about DAZ Studio. I am getting back into Poser, and thought I should give DAZ Studio a whirl as well.

What's the best way to get into it? I know the base application is free, but I lack any information about training/tutorials and content. So, what should I buy? What should I watch or read?

Thanks in advance.

There is a set of video tutorials that you can get for free from Daz. They're produced by Dreamlight. You go into Daz's store and "buy" them for $0. As for what to buy, that all depends on what kinds of renders you want to do.

Here are some resources:

https://www.youtube.com/user/WWWDAZ3DCOM --> DAZ3D's Youtube channel.

http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php --> DAZ3D Document centre.

https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/forums --> DAZ3D Help centre.

Of course if you are looking for some more specific information feel free to ask. And welcome aboard! :)

Once you install DAZ studio, you'll have access to all the base Genesis figures (1,2 and 3). The best way to install them is through the download manager (DIM). You can hold off buying anything and go through the tutorials and the walkthrough that is accessible from the dialog box when DS first loads. That should show you where all the commands are in the interface. When you get to that point we can help you with that.

I am also new to Daz Studio 4.8. I do not know how to install anything into it manually. Where does data runtime, etc. go? Thanks

The Daz Install Manager will take care of that for you. if you don't want to use that then create a folder to put your stuff in, (put it anywhere you want and name it anything you want - just like you do when creating new runtimes for Poser). Unzip the zip file you get from daz, and copy the everything in the "Content" folder (but not the folder itself) into the folder you just created. Then start Daz Studio and click on the little icon at the upper right corner of the content library (it looks like some lines with a tiny arrow). From the dropdown, select "Content Directory Manager". Then when the little window opens, make sure "Daz Studio Formats" is selected , and there will be a button on the side that says "Add". Click on that and then navigate to the folder you just created.

Loading Poser runtimes into daz is easy too: Select "Poser Formats" in the Content Library pane, then using that same icon you used to open the directory manager, select "search Hard Drives for files". When the window opens up, check the hard drive(s) that your poser runtimes are on, and click "Do Search". Then wait for it to finish. When it finishes, you will see a list of all the Poser runtimes it found. Uncheck the ones you don't want to load, then click "accept".

You can find some more info here about using the Daz Install Manager.

http://www.daz3d.com/install-manager-info

Thanks!