Hi all, I'd like to know if there is anybody, local to the Washington, DC Metro area that is very skilled with Poser 4 or even 3. You see, I'd like to meet you to get pointers. I know all about seting keyframes and such but poser does not behave like a real Animation program but rather like a toy. You set keyframe A and then Keyframe B and don't screw with any attached bodyparts and the darn thing more often than not overshoots its mark often twisting a hand into a pretzel and sometimes affecting body parts not even touched. Even If there are keyframes after point B, neccessary adjustments should never affect any of the key frames after Point B. I don't know of any 3D prog that behaves so unprofessional. I like poser but it really, really gets on my nerves. I like it because in general it has many pluses. I'd like you to show me what the heck I'm doing wrong. I understand the potential for screw ups when IK is on but with it off it should be problem free. Yet it is not. Some one needs to also come out with a very detailed book. Both the Poser 3 and 4 handbook really are not worth buying(I did) and the worst part is that the P4 Hanbook was for the most part a total rehash of the P3 Handbook. I don't like the manual very much either. Pete

Heya Pete, I live in the Washington DC metro area. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do to help you on this one, since the plain and simple facts are that Poser IS Unprofessional, inconsistent, clumsy, and is therefore not a reliable tool for anything save still renders. Getting any sort of animation out of it is almost impossible to the level you are probably seeking. It is not so much that you are necessarily doing anything wrong... though some of the more advanced Poser users may indeed have workarounds they can share. If it helps you feel any better, go read this: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19990730/poser_01.htm you are not alone in your experiences. Now... let me see. Do you happen to have any other 3d programs of a professional level? If so there is hope for using Poser's stuff anyway... a bit. Like for 3d Studio Max, exporting Poser's people once you have them morphed to your liking into 3ds format, boning, setting up IK limits, etc, then going on about your business? I mean if you check out collections of higher quality 3d models such as 18 Perfect People, etc, that are created for use in such programs, you will find they are not as nice as those coming with Poser, and need IK and boning done too. So use Poser for nice still visualization maybe, and then learn the workarounds necessary to get a clean export into a program that does respect keyframe settings? I am sorry if this sounds incredibly negative, but there are just no easy answers for getting Poser to work as a professional industry standard tool, so much as there are ways to get Poser to spit out your stuff so something else can have a go at it.

Um...Poser IS used on a professional level even now. Have you been to Chris Derochie's site? He even has animation on the Poser4 content CD. -JH.

I found the link: http://www.the-forge.ie/images/pa_page/pa_main.htm Check out the MPEG animation. -JH.

You need to adjust the curves of the keyframes. Even professional packages will do this "overshooting" by default.

Thanks all. I'll try that curve editor thing. Actually I had not tried it yet. I guess i should read the book again cause if I recall there was something about the curves I didn't grasp. I think. Pete

I am not by any means saying that professionals in this business are not using Poser :) In fact I use it. What I am saying is that compared to a program such as Character Studio, or even the high end easy to use animation interfaces of Maya, 3d Studio Max, Lightwave 3d, he might find that Poser just won't hold a candle no matter how he tweeks.