Creating your own Computer Graphics Artwork.

In order to generate CGI (Computer Generated Image) artwork you need appropriate software. Software for CGI work ranges from $99 to around $30,000 U.S. Dollars, most software being from $1,000 U.S. Dollars upwards. A CGI artist needs a willingness to spend time learning how to use the software to best advantage, and also needs to expend time learning how to compose an image, just like a traditional artist. CGI artwork can appear easy and producing mediocre images is, but producing good CGI work is just as difficult as oil painting or pencil drawing, it just requires different skills and talents. Some people find it startling that with no ability to draw or paint, they are able to produce beautiful images using CGI software. If you're keen, go ahead and start, but expect to spend a long time learning; be aware that it can be a pleasantly addictive activity.

The computer graphics images on this web site were all produced using Bryce, and many of them used figures or creatures imported from Poser (of which more later). For most people Bryce is pretty much the easiest 3D computer graphics package to learn to use, and to add to its attractions it is also by far the cheapest commercial package too. Although it has enough features and power to keep you learning for years, most users can do something reasonable within a week of buying Bryce. The banner link below will take you to DAZ Productions web site, where you can buy Bryce for a mere $109.95 U.S. as a boxed package with CD and printed manual, or $99.95 U.S. as a downloadable package.

Bryce is a fantastic program; it was primarily designed to produce landcapes and outdoor images, but with care can be used for space scenes or even buildings, including interiors. Bryce cannot deal with flexible objects though, and does not have any "posing" capabilities for people and animals. In order to get these capabilities I use Poser and then export the posed models ready for import into Bryce. The process takes a little while to learn, but produces the results you see in the image galleries on this and other sites containing Bryce images. The combination of Bryce and Poser is formidable.

Poser 7 is the current version and it includes a lot of new capabilities that the older version I used to use use, Poser 4, does not have. Poser is much harder to set up than Bryce, but with Poser 6 and 7 it can match Bryce for quality, though rendering the final image is slower than Bryce.

You can buy Poser from the E-Frontier web site.

Also on the DAZ site is a program called DAZ Studio; this is a free 3D program that some people absolutely love, an alternative to Poser that imports most Poser figures, creatures and props, and allows them to be posed and set up in a similar manner to Poser. The image quality is nowhere near as high as Bryce or Poser 6 or 7 but DAZ Studio is still pretty good, and with a copy of PhotoShop Elements or something similar you can enhance the results tremendously. DAZ Studio can be used on its own but the combination of Bryce and DAZ Studio is, like Bryce and Poser, a formidable toolset. Since it is free, follow the link and look for the DAZ Studio link on the DAZ site. If you buy Bryce 6 it comes with a version of DAZ Studio linked in so you can put figures into your Bryce scenes using it as an extra menu option in Bryce; the two work well together. Unlike Bryce or Poser which work on old computers and graphics cards (like mine) DAZ Studio requires you to have a recent Open GL graphics card with at least 128Mb of graphics memory, so if you don't have one don't bother with it. You do have to register to download anything on the DAZ site, but registration is free and they don't bombard people with SPAM or pass on your registered email address.

In conclusion my advice if you want to get started is to just buy Bryce and see how you progress; if you enjoy Bryce and want to put people and animals in your scenes then you can decide whether to buy Poser or use DAZ Studio. Just remember to have fun!