Customer Reviews

Poser 7 3D Figure Design and Animation (Win/Mac) [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've seen many internet comics done in Poser, so I thought I'd give it a try. Poser probably gives more options than I'd really want, it's very detailed. You can manipulate every single digit on the humanoid figures.

My biggest complaint is the learning curve. This is a professional piece of software rather than consumer product. There are so many controls, but the help files don't contain as much information as I'd like (it's a very sophisticated program). I've tinkered with it for about a month so far, and I still can't create clothes yet. It says I should clothes create clothes in their other product Shade. So my comic frames have a bunch of naked figures for now.

If you are interested in getting this product, I'd suggest getting a combo package including both Shade and Poser, or if you can download the demo version (I know Shade is available from their e-frontier web site), give them a test drive before committing to it.

Mac or PC? The controls and interface are consistent with both versions, so that's just a preference issue.

Software was being run on PC and Mac having 2Ghz Core-Duo processors, 2 Gigs RAM, and `lots of hard drive space. Ran smoothly.

First I'd have to say that Poser 7 is a very elaborate program--almost too elaborate. I was looking for a program where I could manipulate some virtual models for sketching (actual pen and paper). I don't do computer graphic design, make internet comics or do any digital art so this review wouldn't apply probably to anyone but traditional artists seeking a simple program for a visual reference. So in a nutshell:

-The $169 bucks it costs may or may not be worth it to you. There is a huge variety of model types available to manipulate (males, females, skeletons) and you can adjust the ethnicity of the models with a scroll wheel buttton. Unless you're a pro you're not going to render anything close to the chick on the cover of the box in detail, more than likely you're going to end up with a very mangled poorly rendered face. (the ethnicity buttons are pretty laughable tho, the more towards 'caucasian' you go the whiter the skin turns and the more pinched the nose looks until you cave in the face. And when you move it towards 'african' the wider the nose and lips get and the browner the skin turns until the nostrils become a giant black hole in the center of the face surrounded by a carmel colored flesh tone-that's as dark as the african button would go).

-You can twist and rotate models limbs and faces so much that you end up with something out of the movie "In the mouth of madness". There's no predeterminded stopper for joints, spinal twist or the laws of physics. The first couple of models I played with I mangled so much I'm sure what I did is probably illegal in 3 states. Good news, there is a back button!

-Proggie was pretty finicky. You can rotate the whole figure using the twist or rotate button or rotate the plane it sits on. If you didn't click the space around the figure just right to get it to move the whole figure it would twist or rotate the last limb you were working on instead.

I highly suggest downloading the demo before dropping the cash. I'm sure this program is very worthwhile to those that are going beyond just needing a model to do an acutal oil painting/sketch on good old 2D pencil and paper.

I'd be all about this if it was a dumbed down version. Say with a model builder like City of Heroes (tall short fat slim, male, female, black white, etc), a basic light source option and (believe it or not) only allow you to pose the model the way a real human body moves. For now, I'll stick with "Stan" my life-sized medical skeleton I got from 3B Scientific. Not only is he a great model but it takes less time to set him up than it does to learn a computer proggie where 90% of the bells and whistles you'll never need.

I really love Poser and I use it all the time. It's a fraction of the price of Max or Maya, and much, much, much easier to use. It also produces surprisingly good renders. It may not do everything the larger graphics programs do, but I would highly recommend it for hobbyists, independent artists and small studios looking for an entry-level solution that can produce professional quality results at a very reasonable price.

If you haven't used Poser before, it's important to note that Poser is only an animation and render suite--you have to combine it with a 3D modeling program like Shade, AC3D or Blender in order to really use it. There's a ton of stock content (3D clipart) available for Poser if you don't have any modeling skills, but you'll get a lot more out of the program if you know a little bit about 3D graphics.

Two thumbs up!

It seems that the consensus is that Poser 7 is a difficult tool to use. I would have to agree that the learning curve is somewhat steep, but if you think about it, so is the learning curve for driving a car, yet most people have fought through learning to shift gears because it is a necessary skill to be able to do so much more. The Poser documentation is excellent. It is professionally written and very helpful. Yes, it may take a couple of weeks to get comfortable with the software interface, but the upside is that you will find yourself at the controls of one of the most powerful animation tools available for the price. Anyone that badmouth's this product has not put in the effort necessary to appreciate it. Perhaps they need to be looking at handicams, not 3D animation software.

Amazon of course delivered like normal which I depend on a weekly basis. The product is very cool but at the same time very hard to learn. My suggestion is to read and learn about 3D art before hand in purchasing as it take a lot of time to create anything that looks good enough to publish. Also there is a lot of free content out on the web for Poser.

I use poser with VUE and that allows me to create some cool art. VUE is more for landscaping and Poser is for figures. The combination allows you to create the landscape and with a fine detailed figured.

But overall a good product and once you get the hang of it your off to the new frontier of 3D art.

Again Amazon is the best in ordering / delivery and I depend on them to get my products to me without the hassle of running around town to get the best price.

This product is amazing. This software simulates fully anatomically correct humans. It has a great library including clothes, props, hair, etc. Poser 7 can truly create amazing looking characters. However, to understand how to create everything it takes hours of tutorials. And, the rendering is turtle slow. But I'd say it's well worth it if you want to play around with this type of stuff.

This is a AWESOME 3D animation program with lots of potential, but, as others have said, its neither intuitive nor user-friendly. As someone who generally never reads the manual or watches the tutorials, I found it very frustrating to get started with this program, and after many many hours, I still am not very good with it. Here's my summary:

Pro's:
1) lots of features
2) potential to make some really high-quality animations/videos/worlds,
3) imports every pre-made 3D model I've tried, especially from websites like Renderosity, Content Paradise, and DAZ 3D
4) you don't have to construct your own models; The program comes with a good built-in library, and on the Web there is an incredibly huge network of real artists out there who do this professionally (e.g. see above websites). Trust me, ANYTHING you might need has already been made by someone -- all you need to do is to is buy/download the model into your Poser scene and poof!
5) although it shows off "people", any model can be used... animals, cartoons, plants, buildings, individual props, pre-made scenes, etc. and you have the ability to control things like the lighting, the camera angle and height, even the clothes/colors/skins on the models.

Imagine this.... You import a wicked-cool Dragon model from DAZ 3D, change his skin color from green to copper, lengthen his wings, animate him by adding a pre-made pose set to make him fly around and roar (key frame modifiable), color the background green, render it, and voila! you have your own dragon video you can then use with a video editing program. Now, film yourself standing outside somewhere, import and overlay your dragon video via chroma-key, render, and you have a video worthy of any B-movie DVD! Or, post it to YouTube as "Dragon attacks guy in Pittsburg...live video!" and you're an overnight sensation... :)

Con's:
1) terrible library system, making it very hard to find models you've uploaded for use
2) needs high-end system (esp. processor and vid card) to keep from locking-up/dragging down; ended up putting this on a dedicated 300mb Raptor drive for speed (and the library files can eat up space)
3) NOT for novices or beginners at all. I knew nothing about 3D rendering when I bought this, and it was like learning a whole new language just trying to get started. It really does require the user to invest a lot of time and effort to learn the program before even the simplest animation can be effectively produced. However, with dedication and practice, you can crank out Hollywood-quality animation that looks real-world

Don't buy this program if you don't have much time or patience, or if you just want a little animation for your home movie DVD -- go to Animation Factory instead and pick up one already made to be added to your video. BUT...if you just HAVE to have kick-but animations and plan to use them on a regular basis, then buy this program and take the time to learn its features, you'll be happy you did!

1. Amazon has a great price for this product. Beats eBay without the risk of getting a conterfit product.
2. Poser 7 is great...I used the free DAZ studio but the rendering and flexibility of Poser 7 program is much better....It is a little hard to use but their cheat sheet answers most questions. One really great thing about the program is that the figures, props, poses work. In daz studio many of the freeby's just didn't work. The only con is that the program is pickey on where figures and props are stored. You have to watch the file ext and it's best to let the program install from zip files. Moving files with windows explorer within a catagory is no problem. If item fails to work just moving it to another catagory fixes the problem. Another pitfall is that V4 ds (and other ds specific programs)won't work in Poser. YOU HAVE TO USE DAZ V4 MADE FOR POSER...This is a no brainer since the files are marked with ds or ps. I had no trouble installing V4 and her morphs. The lighting options are fantastic. This is a real winner.

This product was one of my first forays into any type of 3D work, so take my opinions as those of a print designer/3D neophyte.

Pros: If you've never worked with 3D figures before, Poser is a good place to start. It definitely lives up to its name; any type of pose, position, or stance is achievable with a little practice. I found it very easy to manipulate figures for my purposes. The extent you can manipulate the models is very impressive, from the whole body to fingers and toes (and it IS important not to forget those, for weirdly twisted digits can make an otherwise normal pose look awkward).
I also found it very easy to download new content for the program, and since there is LOTS of custom content, it is very easy to find what you need for your projects. It doesn't hurt that models and props made for other programs, like Daz Studio, also work in Poser.

Cons: Once you go beyond the basics, things can get a little tricky. You will need to find yourself a good tutorial if you want to do more than just pose figures. There are a lot of features that a person unfamiliar with 3D rendering might not be able to grasp without practice. The biggest drawback on my account is the ability to make your own characters. As another reviewer mentioned, the process of creating your own faces is pretty tedious and not very good. Admittedly, I could be a bit spoiled due to the fact that I play a good deal of games that make it ridiculously easy to make any type of face or body I want, but it would have been nice if the Face Room in Poser was a little easier to work with.

Overall: If you're really into making your own characters, you'll probably want to go deeper than Poser 7, but compared to some of the other programs like Maya or 3D Studio Max, Poser is a reasonable alternative, especially if you are just getting into 3D.

I bought this for a research project. It's incredibly powerful, but difficult to use. For the price, it is a huge bargain. I wish that there were more dumbed down options for those of us who aren't professionals and who just need a few images. For example, I'd like a way to dress these images and give them hair that doesn't require a lot of twirling of knobs. When I figure this out, it will be a great piece of software.

If you have time, and are into animation and gaming, or are an illustrator, this is a good value.