Can someone explain some of the skin basics? How do I make the skin look good / realistic?
Thanks.
To expand on
@Lednah's answer and address this part specifically- "Realistic" looking skin is a function of a few things, primarily these are:
1. The base model (mesh resolution, subdivision)
2. The skin material resolution and details, for example, don't use the skin from "the girl" or another cartoon character
3. The shader(s) on the skin surface (look up some tutorials on Daz3d SSS or sub surface scattering for advanced tweaking)
4. The scene lighting which can drastically alter the look of the final result
You can get very good result even with the base G3/G8 models and their default materials. Some products like "Altern8" help you adjust the shaders used on the skin surface with presets but they aren't required and you can achieve those results without any additional products but it will take time.
My workflow is to first shape, dress and pose the character, then build the scene, then fit the pose to the scene if needed (for leaning against objects, etc) then light the scene. Once I'm happy with that I go in and select and/or tweak the materials and shaders within the scene if needed. To start, just setup a scene and play around with the different materials you have to see which look good. Some will look good close up and bad at a distance, or vice versa, so be prepared.
Almost all G3 & G8 skins can be applied to any G3/G8 character since they use the same UV map so feel free to mix and match. The DAZ genitals require their own material which many custom skins include.