Does anyone have a few idiot-level links for Daz/Poser tutorials?

Heyas, first post, and I'm hoping it's not my last
I am just getting into 3-D rendering, mostly because, I have been doing pen and paper line art for years, but my eye-hand coordination is not as good as it used to be, and I have nerve damage in my forearms/hands, so drawing accurately is progressively more difficult. Plus, I just never could draw people worth a blarg anyways. Sure, I could do the basics, but specific features for faces? Nope. I am hoping to learn 3-D programs so I can fix that whole situation, because my primary gig is, I am a writer. I write books (Got 6 copywrites so far) and I mostly wanna do this for book reference shots and such. So I can establish for myself and my readers, in the book art sections, what my characters look like, and do mood scenes, and such

On to the question. I could really use idiot-level lessons in Poser 7 and the latest version of Daz. And when I say idiot level, I mean, Forest Gump couldn't screw it up. My problem isn't that I'm dumb mind you, My problem is, I tend to over-think things, and make them more complicatd than they need to be.

So, if anyone could point me to links to tutoriuals, here, or elsewhere, that have tutorials I could use, I would really appreciate it. Thanks

[gmd3d]

check out this thread we have some poser links here.. btw if you find more that are helpful please let use know and we can add them to our list

http://www.3dgladiators.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=22780

Cool, thanks Got some links, will check them out after breakfast Maybe they will even fix my problem with Victoria, one can hope

[gmd3d]

yeah I hope it works out .. I tried Poser but never got the hang of it

I hear a lot of people talk about Bryce, and the adverts are all flashy, but I learned a long time ago never to trust adverts. What exactly does Bryce do? Can I create 3D objects in Bryce? People? Landscapes? How easy is it to use? If I'm going to spnd $100 on something, when I have very little $$ to spend on anything, I wanna know it will do exactly what I need it to. Thanks

[evil_genius_180]

Bryce is primarily a landscape creator/editor. You can create objects like starships and whatnot with it, I've seen people do it before. If you want to try it before you buy it, you can still download the full featured free version with absolutely no limitations (it's not a demo) here: Bryce 5.5

Ah. Not really worried about landscapes right now. What would you reccomend for a (Cheap but workable) program to render vehicles? Like cars, tanks, and whatnot?

[evil_genius_180]

I don't generally recommend software (people have opinions on what's better, stupid fights start, it's not pretty.)

However, there's a whole thread dedicated to free software. Some are totally free, others are just demos. If you're looking for cheap, I'd suggest going that route, at least to start.

http://www.3dgladiators.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=22681

Without going free, you're probably going to spend a few hundred bucks (at least) for something good, unless anybody knows of any good cheap software. I don't, I mostly use free stuff.

Are you looking to build the car mesh or just render it?
If you're looking to build them you can still get a hold of 3dSMax's little brother GMax for free. It's used to make a lot of video game stuff and it's not too bad - for being free, it's pretty awesome.

http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax

I am looking to build 'wierd vehicles' for my books from scratch (Got some pretty unique vehicles in my books, luckily I can draw vehicles OK because I can use a ruler to compensate for the occasional fine tremors in my hands) but yeah, that sounds perfect. I also got AMAPI (Light version) from the other link, and will look both of them over.

Thank you both

Here's a GMax tutorial on building an airplane.
It should help you get the hang of the program.

http://simviation.com/gryphon/tutorials/gMax_00.htm

On a side note - I know where you're coming from with regards to the nerve damage. I used to be a really fine artist (painting, drawing, sculpting) but a car accident back in 2,000 left me with whiplash and several broken vertebra that resulted in my having severe nerve damage in my hands. I turned to CG so that I could continue to be creative and because the shaking of my hands wouldn't matter. For people with conditions similar to ours CG is a perfect place to remain an artist.

[Tenement]

Lot of people seem to swear by Blender as fairly decent and free software.

Ah, cool, thanks, an idiot level lesson in how to use the program, awesome

As for my nerve damage, it's kind of emberassing actually. I didn't get mine from an accident or birth defect, I got it from, well, sleeping. No lie. I sleep with my arms folded under my head, prop my head up. Seems the nerves in my arms are placed just so that if I do that for too long (I did, and it was too late when it was discovered) that it would mess the nerves controlling my hands up. So I get fine tremors and occasional small twitches in my fingers when I focus too much (Like when playing video games, can't count the number of accidental firings I did in call of duty 4).

I also have multiple herniated disks in my lower back, and a pinched psiatic nerve....from sitting. Also no lie. But I sit for ridiculously long amounts of time. 12-14 hours a day except short breaks, for writing and artwork. Every day, for years. Needed surgery for it once already. Bleh.

If you want a modeling and rendering. Try Blender.

http://www.blender.org/

It's not the easiest to use, but it's free and some people have done some amazing stuff with it.

As for Poser, just fiddle with it. I've been using it for a long time and I started just by fiddling with the controls.

Good luck,

[Badploy]

http://www.huntfor.com/3d/tutorials/poser.htm

[photojoe]

www.renderosity.com (they have lovely tutorials on poser) www.daz3d.com (A bit from the days when they were poser dedicated). Then there PhilC who has a few, look up "philc poser" in a search as I can't remember his web addy.