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Acyl · 10-31-2016, 05:23 PM

So...I know from lurking around here that there's a number of members who use stuff like Poser, DAZ Studio, et al. But at a glance the last threads on the subject are from months ago, and I don't necessarily want to necro. If any of you folks see this, some advice would be appreciated. Smile

I'm trying to figure out what's the best tool for my own use, and what I should be looking to grab or purchase... at least initially... for my needs. I know the basic DAZ Studio is free, but of course the assets aren't - but then, well, what stuff for it should I be looking to get? And so on.

I've already downloaded and messed with DAZ Studio, since there's no barrier for entry for that one...but I'm the sort of person who likes to research and investigate options. Talk things over, ask around, so on.

The thing is, my requirements may be fairly specific. I'm not actually looking to create finished artwork or animations, you see. I'm intending to use this simply as base reference for regular hand-drawn lineart. Which is to say, I'll pose figures, figure out a camera angle...then just use the screenshots for reference, or perhaps in some cases start drawing straight over 'em.

Essentially it'll reduce my reliance on things like googling stock photos for certain poses, or taking photos of my own damn hands to get fingers right, and so on.

This probably means that things like clothing libraries and even different hairstyles aren't so crucial to me - likewise other props, background environments, and things like that. Though if there's stuff which still makes sense to grab, I'm not adverse to it. It's just not at the top of my priority list.

Mostly what I was eyeballing was, say, stuff like finding a good collection of different stock poses... or maybe getting hold of different character models, especially ones with varied body proportions and body shapes. Or different facial structures.

Though I also notice there's stuff on sale that's, like...a bunch of different noses, and so on, which I assume you can somehow mix and match. But I'm not quite clear how easy it is to manipulate and morph character models. Or which software would be best for that. Or, in the case of the DAZ stuff, what are the must-buy options for that on the marketplace.

I mean, I'm completely new to this. I have no idea what the hell I'm looking at here or where to start.

I should note I'm not adverse to spending money on this, if I should get out my wallet, well, so be it. Though I guess I'm predisposed to liking DAZ Studio since the base software is free and I can decide how much I want to spend. But then I also don't wanna necessarily assume it's the best pick here, I might just be falling for their marketing because I don't know any better.

So, to sum up - given my requirements, which application should I try to use? And what are some essential must-get assets to download, considering what I'm after?
-- Acyl

**robkelk** · 10-31-2016, 06:54 PM

You've come to the right place...

Poser and Daz Studio can use many of the same resources, and will get you to the same destination (a finished image) - but the workflow is different. Folks who are used to one often don't like the other. I like Daz Studio, myself; I know there's at least one regular here who likes Poser.

Unless you have a powerful computer, you won't be creating epic scenes with either program (there's a reason it's called "Daz Studio" instead of "Daz Back Lot"), but that doesn't appear to be a concern for you.

As you've already said, Daz Studio is free. Poser comes with a much larger initial content library (more figures, more textures, more poses), but, again, that doesn't appear to be a concern for you.

The downside to Daz Studio is that it doesn't do dynamic clothing as well as Poser does, because there's so little of it that works in DS. Dynamic clothing drapes and falls more naturally that conforming clothing does, which may be an issue for you.

I'd still recommend Daz Studio for your needs, even given the superiority of dynamic clothing in Poser.

DS comes with three generations of free basic people figures: Genesis, Genesis 2, and Genesis 3. If you're going to get into morphing the figures, then you'll need the head and body morph add-ons, which are not free.

If you want to make pictures of specific people, then I'd suggest stepping back a generation and going with Victoria 4 (V4) and Michael 4 (M4), with the Morphs++ packages. You need to buy these figures from DAZ3D nowadays. V4 has been the most widely supported figure on the planet for nearly a decade; there are plenty of add-ons out there for her. All of these Fenspace characters are morphs of V4, rendered in Daz Studio 3:

If you're going to do older-style anime images, I'd also suggest getting Aiko 3 and Hiro 3. (I (heart) A3 - she's easy to pose and easy on the system resources.) However, that isn't essential - there are free alternatives to them.

Which brings us to free resources for Poser and Daz Studio. I have a "little" list: http://poserdazfreebies.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page. We know of literally hundreds of free poses, free clothes, free morphs, free hairdos, even entire free figures (animesque, toon-style, and realistic).

We also have a list of morphs that turn the figures into recognizable famous people, from Aristotle to Kate Middleton: http://poserdazfreebies.miraheze.org/w ... ous_People. (Do you want to do a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Star Trek" image? We've got you covered.) This is one reason why I suggested getting V4 and M4 - the vast majority of these morphs are for those two figures.

Going to the other extreme, there's Stick Guy. When it comes to artist's models, you can't get more minimalist than a stick figure.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Star Ranger4 · 10-31-2016, 06:58 PM

...

Given what you've said, Daz would probably be your best option. There is another option out there called Blender, which is totally open source and free, but has a very steep learning curve; I rather fear that you'd spend more time working the program than having the program work for you.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

Acyl · 11-01-2016, 04:17 AM

Quote:robkelk wrote:
You've come to the right place...

This is absolutely amazing. Thanks very much, this is a perfect answer and covers stuff I didn't know about or think to ask - particularly the information regarding the difference between the various base models. I really appreciate the recommendation to pick up V4 (and M4) due to the wealth of existing resources available.

This is the kind of thing I... sorta imagined might be the case, but didn't really grok. This spells it out very clearly, slices through all of the confusion, and the wiki resource links will surely be extremely useful.

I also wasn't...well, I mean, I did hear that Poser and DAZ Studio have common roots in the same space, but I wasn't quite clear on whether or how the ecosystems are still linked. Given all that's said, I'll certainly go with trying to learn to work in DAZ Studio.

The dynamic cloth thing that Poser does look very intriguing - I've just Googled it - but, yeah, it's probably not essential given my simple needs relative to many people, it's just interesting on an 'oh shiny' level. Possibly because I've caught myself staring at butts not because, hey, that's a nice butt, but because, hm, okay, so that density of denim would crease in that way, gotta remember that...

Quote:Star Ranger4 wrote:
Given what you've said, Daz would probably be your best option. There is another option out there called Blender, which is totally open source and free, but has a very steep learning curve; I rather fear that you'd spend more time working the program than having the program work for you.

Yes. I figured it'd be most suitable to work in something like Poser or DAZ Studio since my primary concern is figure work and, well, quite literally poses for characters, and this seemed like the simplest available solution.
I have considered looking into Blender, Sketchup and the like for cheating on detailed backgrounds, since I'm also pretty weak on drawing those, but probably that'd just involve trying to download some stock environments and just swinging the camera around to get different angles on stuff. I suspect Blender would be suitable for this.

But having taken a short workshop on 3D Studio Max back in the day when it was called 3D Studio Max, I know I'm probably not gonna wanna dive too deep down that rabbit hole. I spent most of that afternoon thinking, fuck no, I am not doing this.
-- Acyl

**robkelk** · 11-01-2016, 03:14 PM

Oh, yes ... If you're going to be buying more than a few items from the DAZ3D store, buy a Platinum Club membership. (It's on sale at the moment.) You'll get $6-off coupons every month and 30% discounts on resources that the store owns - including V4, M4, their morph packs, and the Genesis morph packs. You'll easily save more than you spend on the membership fee.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

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