I purchased this a long time ago, and though I did not review it then, and now it is a legacy software, I thought I should say a few words. My first exposure to Poser 4 came at a crossroads when I had given up on 3D animation as I did not have the resources for the tools and software to achieve what I desired, and did not feel software existed for my ambitions, and also was becoming less capable of producing traditional artwork due to nerve damage. I immediately took a liking to it - and found the concept of various 3D figures as digital "Actors" that could be clothed, costumed, given hairdos, and have facial and body features changed to reflect different characters ideal for what I had in mind. Poser 4 Pro Pack further attracted my interest, as although the animation controls in Poser were very limited, being able to host these digital Actors in more robust software such as Lightwave was ideal. After some preliminary experiments, Poser 4 swayed my decision to take another stab at 3D graphics and animation, and has lead me down an interesting path.
Poser 4 (a.k.a. Poser Artist) and the Poser Pro Pack were, in my opinion, the golden age of the software, when it was really coming into it's prime. I found it's interface rather intuitive and easy to use, especially having come from much more technical 3D software use. Thought it came with some pre-packaged figures that were adequate, I quickly realized I would need far greater 3D assets, and found that there was a huge series of communities of artists, fans, followers, and user for Poser 4 and it's content. More importantly, unlike pre-made content for Lightwave and 3DMax, this content didn't cost an arm and a leg for a single figure. This made my desire to make this software a core component in a new 3D animation workflow to animate the virtual actors (something the software was not really designed or intended for, and few even dreamed of using it for). Sure, Poser 4 had limits, and often required tricks and coaxing to work around them - but I always felt it was greatly underestimated, not only by reviewers and websites, but by its own users and fans.
Poser 4 later became the core in the evolving Poser saga, and much of it's capabilities have yielded to new features and abilities through Poser 5,6, and 7. Though the software evolved, it's limits raised, new features added, that spark of Poser 4 was still there - and it was clear none of it would have been possible if not for the development of Poser 4 before it's initial owning company went bankrupt. Thankfully, the software rights were purchased (it's been through a few owners now) and much of the development team was kept on as it migrated through corporate ownerships and new development. Now it is in it's Poser 9/2012 version, and upon loading is barely recognizable. So many new features and technologies have been added - so much more content, much more realistic results are native to the Poser firefly render engine than were possible in Poser 4 - but none of that would have been possible, or likely happened, had Poser 4 not been such a breakthrough success despite it's companies failure as to attract the loyal and devoted followers that formed multiple online communities to help keep it alive.
Poser 4/Poser Artist was a real Gem of it's day, and in many ways still is. If you have a copy laying around, or find one cheap and have an older WinME or Win2000 (it may or may not work on WinXP) machine to install it on, fire it up again, and relive the charm and power this rather small time 3D application brought to the end user at a fraction of the cost of so much more expensive industrial 3D software. It's still fun to play with now and the.
Or, check out it's more powerful, newer editions:
Poser 8 [OLD VERSION]
Poser Pro 2010
Poser 9
Poser Pro 2012
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2013
