Out of Pod Experience

So that's actually a thing ...

http://www.daz3d.com/shop/

... would buy if not for *effort*

Yeap, and has been for over fifty years.

I knew of the existence of Poser, and even downloaded a cracked copy of it, but I came to the realization that I no longer have the kind of time needed to really master/enjoy those tools. They are based on practice, practice, practice, practice and practice...

Yeah I've had Daz3D, Daz Studio, Bryce, Hexagon, they have been around for a very long time. If you play with any of those, new to it in general, I'd look into https://www.blender.org/ when you are ready to break away from all the limitations. You can use their models in that too.

What I find amusing are the preview images that were rendered in 3DS Max.

Who says art don't pay?

I dunno. Spent over $400 on art commissons myself just this past week.

Spending hundreds more with the same artists over the coming weeks/months. I guess it's like casual work - pays well but no consistancy or job security. Most of them are students, factory workers, etc doing it in their free time and only one is a professional artist. I guess too that the art needs to be actually marketable and in demand.

Actually got myself thinking after my last post.

For starving artists I believe the best way to get ahead is to team up with a writer, and vice-versa.

That is, of course, if they're looking to break into actual industry and not simply make money independently as that's a struggle for anyone in any trade at all.

I remember when I was a teenager I dreamed of writing comics. My favorite at the time was Spiderman, 'Amazing Spiderman' to be exact. I sat down one day and wrote a letter to David Michelinie who was the author of that series (and numerous other comics) at the time. I asked him what's the best way to get into comic writing and be successful. He actually wrote back to me (omg) and his advice was that artists and writers faced the same problems. He believed that the best way to get your foot into the comic industry is to team up, find an artist who enjoys working with you and has the same goal and present yourself to a publisher as a team. While that advice may be twenty years old I'm pretty sure it still rings true today and not just in the comic industry, but any area of story-publication.

Actually, there are a lot more programmers than there are artists. And many of the programmers are pretty bad. You want to make money? learn rigging and animation, write your own ticket.