I’d like to get into using blender for theatrical scenic and lighting renderings, but to do so, I need to have models of realistic human figures. I SUCK at modeling.
Is there a (free) online library of people (or other organic objects too) that I can drop into my file?
You can use MakeHuman. It is a free program that generates humanoid meshes. Sort of like a free Poser. Check it out here: http://www.dedalo-3d.com/
For other models you can try the Blender Model Repository: http://e2-productions.com/repository/index.php or just Google Free CG models
www.daz3d.com has very cheap high quality models.
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/index.php has a store and a free section.
Also www.turbosquid.com has some free stuff.
Thanks for the links- To clarify, which file extensions should I be looking for in generic models? I’ve found some sites with models, but Blender can’t open them. Should I use some kind of import function, instead of open?
Check the extensions of the models. There is a huge number of different formats, but none of them is really ‘standard’, but that’s ok, because Blender can import most of them. But rather than using the ‘open’ function (that only works for .blend files), you need to import them. So go to 'file > Import > Then whatever format it is you’re looking for.