[Tutorial] I Need a Sig Tutorial.

Hello everyone and welcome to the "in desperite need of help" thread. I have no clue where to start and what to start with. I want to start making signatures of my own. So any help that may be related to this sig making will be very appreciated.

To start this off,
-what recommened programs should I have?
-any other items I need other then programs (camera, scanner, etc)?
-i need basic tutorials for sig making to start me off. (a written procedure, some video footage, any source of tutorial, etc).
-tutorials for making renders including any programs I need for them.
-tutorials for making animation, as well as any various programs I need in order to do this.
-other?

Well that pretty much sums up what i wanted to say. So all and any help is highly appreciated. Thank you for taking your time for reading this thread and providing me with any help. Once again thanks very much, Splinter C02.

-For programs, The GIMP and PhotoShop are the most popular here. GIMP is freeware, and very powerful as well. Photoshop is pricy, but is simpler and more capable, unless you know GIMP inside and out.

-One of those programs should be all you need. But you'll need brushes. go to http://www.deviantart.com and search for what you want (try to be detailed, there's a boatload of material there). I'll find a guide to installing the brushes when I have time.

-Look around here for tutorials, or go to http://www.gimptalk.com if you use GIMP.

-For renders, you can save a picture from a site such as these:
http://www.deviantart.com (make SURE you have the permission of the owner)
http://www.render-world.com
http://www.planetrenders.net

-Animation is usually ver advanced, I would get into the more basic stuff first.



By the way, I STRONGLY recommend gimptalk. Once I started going there I started getting good.

Hope this helps!