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can anyone give me a basic map on what I need to start?

DrekkanDrekkan Posts: 459
in New Users

In Daz I see you need things like the latest genesis and michael or victoria and stuff. I get confused though. I have a fair bit of money to spend so could someone tell me all the basic needs one would need to generally go all out with on this program to generally be able to use rich characters? a little list would be nice.

Comments

  • prixatprixat Posts: 1,590

    Where do your interests lie?

    Animation, Cartoon, Photorealistic?

    Fairies, dragons, space or 'dragons in space'?

    Have you installed all the Starter Essentials packs, lots of free stuff in there? smiley

  • DrekkanDrekkan Posts: 459
    prixat said:

    Where do your interests lie?

    Animation, Cartoon, Photorealistic?

    Fairies, dragons, space or 'dragons in space'?

    Have you installed all the Starter Essentials packs, lots of free stuff in there? smiley

     just general Daz work I don't know lol just models and stuff not so much cartoons or what not. Yeh can you give me a link to the starter essentials packs please?

  • LeanaLeana Posts: 11,839

    If you have DS you should find the various starter essentials packs in your product library (in "My account" section here)

  • BeeMKayBeeMKay Posts: 7,019
    edited July 2015

    You can find them in your account, typing "Starter" into the search box.

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  • DrekkanDrekkan Posts: 459
    edited July 2015

    k thank so far. I veering off a little but you know when you download something sometimes and it says it has (templates) like in the genesis 3 starter pack I am downloading here in the pic (highlighted) do I have to move those 2 (templates) files anywhere? I know quite a few files have templates files and I thought I had better ask early so I know what to do with them or not to do with them. Are they generally just ignored or do I put them in a specific place?

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  • MN-150374MN-150374 Posts: 923
    edited July 2015

    At the very first start, I think you can ignore the templates. The templates are getting interesting, when you have better knowledge on surfaces and you may start to make your own textures.

    At the beginning, I would like to suggest not spending to much money. To build up a fair amount of content to get you started, check out those free Interactive Lessons:

    http://www.daz3d.com/day-at-the-beach-bundle

    http://www.daz3d.com/sci-fi-warrior-bundle

    http://www.daz3d.com/slaying-the-dragon-bundle

    http://www.daz3d.com/inside-the-asylum-bundle

    You should also take a look at the freebie section first: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/categories/freebies

    Especially Wilmaps Free Clothing: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/45589/wilmap-s-digital-creations-last-updated-11-07-15/p1

    Post edited by MN-150374 on
  • dHandledHandle Posts: 617
    edited July 2015

    Using the DIM (DAZ Install Manager) to install freebies or products bought here on this site is relatively easy and straight forward.  Installing freebies or products bought elsewhere is a nightmare.  After 2 years, I'm still not sure where things belong or where they will end up if I have to install manually.  One single product can include several different folders which go in different places.  The DIM knows where to put them; I don't.  If you manually install any of the folders in the wrong place, problems happen.

    There's no one-size-fits-all solution.  Poser products have different requirements, and need to go in different places, separate folders and in a different order than DAZ products.  Once you think you have things correctly placed, you need to go see if you can find them.  Not just the product itself, but all the associated files as well, like materials, props, poses.  They all go somewhere different, and if they're not placed correctly, they can disappear in your hard drive.

    This is the price we pay for having an excellent FREE product.  They could never sell it unless the file management structure got a complete overhaul.  Since there's no money to be earned, and only a lot of work sorting it all out, and since everyone muddles through somehow, it's not likely to change any time soon.  A cynical person might suspect that the powers that be prefer it this way to discourage spending money anywhere other than here.

    This question has been asked many times on these forums, and people have tried to offer help here and with Youtube videos etc.  It doesn't help at all that new releases and upgrades make older solutions obsolete.

    My best advice is to go slow and completely install one product or freebie at a time.  Make absolutely certain that all of the components of any product are accounted for and working properly.  Avoid mass installations unless you are using the DIM.  Even then, go slow and make sure everything can be found before adding more content.

    Keeping a notebook with notes about how to do things, and where things can be found will be very useful.  There are a lot of tasks that need to be repeated, and it can be frustrating to have to go look simple things up again.

    Once you have a handle on manually installing DAZ products (there are a lot of freebies available here) try 3rd party products and freebies from Renderosity and CGShare.

    We have a great community here, and there are a lot of helpful people around.  Searching for solutions and previous answers on the forums will yield a lot of useful knowledge.  If that doesn't work..ASK!

    : )

    "D"

    edit to add: If you want to stretch a dollar a long way, start with a Platinum Club (PC) membership.  Then get Victoria 4 and Michael 4 (V4 and M4).  Even though they are older models (We're up to V7 now) there is a ton of clothing, poses and other content available for them, both here and on other sites. And because they are so popular, content creators are still making new stuff for them.  Plus, anything you buy for older generations is (generally) usable on newer generations with a few modifications.

    Some stuff you buy for the older generations can be as cheap as $1.99 at regular price, where newer outfits for newer models can cost $15 or more.  There was a sale yesterday where I bought over $200 worth of stuff, and it cost me less than $10.

    So start with a PC membership if you haven't already.

    Post edited by dHandle on
  • NovicaNovica Posts: 23,905

    That was going to be my advice in a heartbeat- the PC club saves you so much money and there are wonderful products there. It helps you save on new releases, get better deals during sales, etc. If you are planning on doing Daz for awhile, even as a hobby, it's really a must have.

    After you get comfortable using the studio, you might consider the GenX2 product. It helps you use different generations (morphing your Genesis onto Genesis 2, etc) so if you find you like the bending of Genesis 2 better than Genesis, whatever Genesis characters you have, you can use Gen X and transfer the morphs onto Genesis 2. And there's all kinds of add-ons for it.

    But start with the PC Club! 

  • dHandledHandle Posts: 617

    Another good piece of advice is to find and follow on the forums people who know what their doing. 

    Like the young lady in the previous post...Novica.  Several years ago, she started a thread that continues to this day.  She and others have compiled tips and tricks, as well as product reviews for new releases. All good stuff!

    Her thread is in the Art Studio forum (you can get there from the General forum) and it's called NEW! Novica & Invited Guest Contributors Tips & Product Reviews Pt 6

    Check out the earlier posts too.

    "D"

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