Once you're comfortable with Daz Studio or Poser "out of the box," you're going to want to expand your content collection.
(An aside: Rev Dark recommends using separate runtimes for content you can use commercially and content you can't. That works well in Poser and Studio 3, but not so well in Studio 4... so save all the readme files and license files that you get with your content. If the content was legally-free and the readme is in Japanese, it's pretty safe to assume the content is licensed for non-commercial use only.)
You can buy content. You can also get content for free, legally. (And then there's all those torrents out there. To the best of my knowledge, nobody makes 3D-art content available legally on a torrent. And that's all I'll say in this post about data-piracy.)
Paid Content:
The "big four" sites for paid content are http://www.daz3d.com/ (the home of Daz Studio), http://www.contentparadise.com/ (the current home of Poser), http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php, and http://www.runtimedna.com/ - if you're looking for mainstream stuff (using the 3D-art definition of "mainstream" where sexy outnumbers sensible) and you don't want to shop around, these four are the places to go.
Daz, CP, Rendo, and RDNA are the "department stores" of 3D-modeling content. (There's also TurboSquid for the people who use the serious "grown-up" software, but as a hobbyist using DS or Poser you can ignore TS unless you have deep pockets and an expense account.) There are also "boutique and specialty shops" out there - far too many to list them all, but here are some of my favourites, in no particular order:
Free Content:
All of the above sites have some free content. (Note that DAZ3D defines "free" as "bonus with a purchase" - everyone else uses the traditional definition.) And sign up for the Renderosity and RuntimeDNA newsletters; Rendo gives you a free item every month, and RDNA gives you a smaller free item every week.
Renderosity's free item section is the largest at any vendor site, rivaled only by the freebie selection at Most Digital Creations. But neither of them have everything...
The monster of the midway for free content - including free tutorials - is http://www.sharecg.com/. (Even I have a freebie available there.)
If you poke around on http://www.deviantart.com/, you can find some amazing free resources for Poser and Daz Studio. Check in the "3-Dimensional Art" subcategory of the "Digital Art" category, but don't restrict yourself to that section. Alternately, let other people find the goodies and tell you about them.
The free-content sites outnumber the paid-content sites. Here are a very few of my favourites, in no particular order (except for the last one):
When you've gotten through these, come visit the http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewforum/41/ over on the DAZ3D forums. You'll see my posts all over the place there - amongst other things, I maintain the lists of free http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/623/, free http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/624/, free http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/625/, free http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/629/, and free http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/629/...
--
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
(An aside: Rev Dark recommends using separate runtimes for content you can use commercially and content you can't. That works well in Poser and Studio 3, but not so well in Studio 4... so save all the readme files and license files that you get with your content. If the content was legally-free and the readme is in Japanese, it's pretty safe to assume the content is licensed for non-commercial use only.)
You can buy content. You can also get content for free, legally. (And then there's all those torrents out there. To the best of my knowledge, nobody makes 3D-art content available legally on a torrent. And that's all I'll say in this post about data-piracy.)
Paid Content:
The "big four" sites for paid content are http://www.daz3d.com/ (the home of Daz Studio), http://www.contentparadise.com/ (the current home of Poser), http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php, and http://www.runtimedna.com/ - if you're looking for mainstream stuff (using the 3D-art definition of "mainstream" where sexy outnumbers sensible) and you don't want to shop around, these four are the places to go.
Daz, CP, Rendo, and RDNA are the "department stores" of 3D-modeling content. (There's also TurboSquid for the people who use the serious "grown-up" software, but as a hobbyist using DS or Poser you can ignore TS unless you have deep pockets and an expense account.) There are also "boutique and specialty shops" out there - far too many to list them all, but here are some of my favourites, in no particular order:
- http://evilinnocence.com/ - Clothing, some props, clothing, a few sets, clothing, and the very-useful CrossDresser program that converts clothing between a larger selection of figures than do the utilities that come with DS or Poser. Oh, and clothing.
- http://vanishingpoint.biz/index.asp - Primarily props and sets, including plenty of vehicles and more than a few starship bridges. (Look at some of their "Starship Bridge" products and the add-ons at the bottom of the pages to see how a simple re-texturing can turn a recognizable item into something new.) One of the few places that sells civilian aircraft models.
- http://www.poserdirect.com/ - A cross-section of good items at bargain prices. And I'm not saying that because Mr.Sparky has sponsored every 3D-art contest I've ever run.
- http://www.most-digital-creations.com/home.htm - A wide an eclectic selection best described as "whatever Adam Thwaites wanted to make that day." Note that some of the items on this site are NSFW.
- http://www.schells.ca/index.php - Chris Schell makes top-quality aircraft, tanks, walker-mecha, and other tech-type items. (He's also selling his jet models at Poser Direct.)
- http://faerie-dreams.com/ - A site run by three of the best (IMHO) character-morph creators out there. Plenty of fantasy clothing as well, and one of the few places that sells preteen clothing and sensible clothing (I look here for believable casual wear before I look at Daz or Rendo). EDIT: Faerie Dreams is closing in November.
Free Content:
All of the above sites have some free content. (Note that DAZ3D defines "free" as "bonus with a purchase" - everyone else uses the traditional definition.) And sign up for the Renderosity and RuntimeDNA newsletters; Rendo gives you a free item every month, and RDNA gives you a smaller free item every week.
Renderosity's free item section is the largest at any vendor site, rivaled only by the freebie selection at Most Digital Creations. But neither of them have everything...
The monster of the midway for free content - including free tutorials - is http://www.sharecg.com/. (Even I have a freebie available there.)
If you poke around on http://www.deviantart.com/, you can find some amazing free resources for Poser and Daz Studio. Check in the "3-Dimensional Art" subcategory of the "Digital Art" category, but don't restrict yourself to that section. Alternately, let other people find the goodies and tell you about them.
The free-content sites outnumber the paid-content sites. Here are a very few of my favourites, in no particular order (except for the last one):
- http://www.ageofarmour.com/3d/free/index.php - An eclectic mix of freebies for medieval (or fantasy) and modern scenes, plus the very best Hispanic-female character morph and texture I've ever seen for pay or free.
- http://www.erato-base.net/index.html - Need a space station interior? Or a cloister? Or something for an ancient-Egypt scene? Save your money and go to this site.
- http://www.foundation3d.com/index.php?categoryid=38 - Some original content, but the Star Trek ship models outnumber everything else.
- http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/3d_resources/index.html - For real space-exploration models.
- http://dragonspace.com/wordpress/?p=553 and http://www.dragonspace.com/3d/ - Another "whatever the site owner felt like making" site, with a noticeable selection of Logan's Run resources. Hasn't been updated since before Genesis was released, so you'll have to either do some conversions or use the older characters.
- http://mamomamo.candypop.jp/Freestuff/index.html - Mamota's making paid content at Renderosity now, but her freebie clothing models are still available. They're primarily sensible clothes with a modern Japanese vibe.
- http://sanzisannzi.blog83.fc2.com/blog-category-6.html - Sanzi has a wider and more-quirky selection of items than Mamota (including some scene-dressing props and a large selection of "toy"/toon standalone characters), but they're of the same high quality.
- http://www.morphography.uk.vu/ - I'm purposefully ending the list with English Bob's site, because it has a list of every 3D-art site that English Bob knows about. He also has a decent selection of props, character morphs, stand-alone characters, tutorials, and do-it-yourself resources, including Catamaran's motorcycle collection and Scott Ayers's dinosaurs.
When you've gotten through these, come visit the http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewforum/41/ over on the DAZ3D forums. You'll see my posts all over the place there - amongst other things, I maintain the lists of free http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/623/, free http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/624/, free http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/625/, free http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/629/, and free http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/629/...
--
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