Hey, my 13 year old is all about art, Manga, etc. and is now blending this with computers. Now for Christmas I want to get him some good software, reasonable price, for him to begin learning on. The new Poser 5 is out of my price range but is there a place to pick up an earlier edition (say Poser 3)? Or is there another good starting point? Any help would be great.

Thanks

Well...first, there are some free things he can get:

Maya Personal Learning Edition

This is a free version of Maya, but like all free versions of high cost software its saving, exporting, and rendering functions have been neutered.

then theres Gmax, the 3DStudio Max free learning software:

GMax

These two are for 3D modelling, for 2D painting/texturing, theres GIMP, which is a freeware program similar too, but not as powerful as Photoshop:

http://www.gimp.org/

As for paid learning software, my knowledge ends here...but this should help somewhat...

I wouldn't get anyone started on the road to Poser if they really want to create their own art. It's a pretty limiting program in the long run. If you're on a budget I'd actually recommend one of the newer games that comes with modeling software. Like Half-Life 2 comes with a pared down version of XSI, Unreal Tournament comes with Maya Personal Learning Edition, etc. This will let your kid make his own complete games from scratch (with enoudh time and dedication), or even just get involved with the mod community where he can learn about making games and 3d art. It's also a good path to start down for a career in game developement if that's what he wants to do.

Silo is a good cheap modelling program.

there is also Wings 3d and Milkshape. Blender is another one though it's fairly complex and harder to learn.

jester

Thank you this is a great place to get started.

theres several great artists on this board around the same age as your son "cep" for one, its a great age for him to get in,

Hey Brad. I have a 13 yr old little brother. One day I showed him Wings3D and The Gimp version 2 , and he's been hooked ever since. Within weeks he's started making textured weapon models (with my help of course) that would receive good recognition even here on Polycount. Both programs free. He'll need plenty of tutorials.

Please do NOT buy him Poser. I'm not sure what you could buy him, other than a game. If he's really interested in graphic arts, I'm sure he'd love a WACOM tablet to go with that cool software I've already mentioned . There are some, like the one linked to, at reasonable prices for someone starting out.

A good place to start would be XSI EXP which you can get at www.softimage.com for free and if he really got into it, XSI 4 foundations which is professional software that goes for less than 500. Blender has gotten very good features and considering it's free, has a game engine, this program would allow your son to learn techniques use by game artist in the industry. Poser is just a really big waste of time and money!!!! I bought it back in the day when the big boys Like 3d Studio Max, Maya, Lightwave had no educational versions that were affordable. If you must buy him something you may want to get him a Wacom. Oh the only decent version of Poser is the current one if you want my honest opinion. If you bought Poser 3 which I own, you would need another 3D modeler to create props, and other goodies with. Like I said a big waste of money!!! Hope that helps. Later.

Alex

Get the low-cost version of Photoshop. Photoshop is the most widely used art program in the world. For every copy of a 3d package out there, there are probably 50 copies of Photoshop. It is a fantastic tool, and if you just want to draw and paint, you can't go wrong with it. Of course, you may want a drawing tablet to go with it...

Photoshop, of course! Every budding artist needs Photoshop. It's such a standard that I didn't even think about it.

You might also want to look into enrolling him into some art classes. And I'm not talking about the artsy-fartsy, paint what you feel classes, I'm talking about classes that really teach the foundations of drawing, like anatomy and defining the form. Drawing ciriculums made for 2D animation students are perfect, even if he's doesn't necessarily want to be a 2D animator. If you were in Los Angeles I'd suggest the Animator's Union, cheap and excellent. But I don't know what kind of schools are in Texas.

If you cannot afford Photoshop, Jasc's Paint Shop Pro is a decent clone, and is just under $100 as I recall.

As many others have stated, a Wacom Tablet is really a fantastic item. I don't know what I'd do without mine.
Those are considerably more expensive however ( I got mine factory refurbished for around $230 from www.wacom.com)
There are other brands which may offer cheaper alternatives. Aiptek is one that springs to mind. I've heard pretty good things about thier tablets. (I just checked, and you can get a 6"x8" tablet for only $49.99).

Good luck! Way to go encouraging your kids artistic aspirations! Good job Dad!

Aiptek...is a nice cheap tablet to start with. I got my... hmm... it looks about 16-18" x 14"-16" one as a christmas present. Only problem with it is that its mouse sucks, its pen require batteries...and the eraser doesn't erase. That and its ability to locate where the pen is can be dodgy at times, even more so when the battery starts to run down...otherwise, its still a good start. If he really gets into the art though, consider a Wacom as a present for later on...

photoshop, hands down

Maybe an anathomy book? Yes these books contains nudity but you cant learn anathomy (and you cant draw/model humans very well if you dont know anathomy) without nudity and you gotta ask someone else which book cause im not very up to date with them.

Good luck

wasn't there a person looking to give away a couple of old tablets? i don't know if they were ever claimed...

and make sure to get him an account here. best damn place to learn [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]