Howdy all, I asked this same question on the Mac forum but would like to ask you as well since it touches on our workflow with Poser. Our product Vue d'Esprit 4 (http://www.e-onsoftware.com) is available for both Mac OS X and Windows. Now and then we are asked about compatible modellers under $500, especially cross-platform ones. Customers often want to be able to create custom objects for importing and rendering in Vue 4 -- and its hard to recommend some of our favorites since they are often x3 or more in price over Vue (I use Shade 6 Professional, the Japanese favorite, and its priced like LightWave). Our goal is to find modellers which are available for Mac OS X and Windows -- and it would be a big plus if it was useful for making Poser morphs as well. Thanks for your help! Best regards, Lynn Fredricks e-on software

I would recommend Wings3D. It is one of the most powerful, but easy to use, subdivision modelers and it is Free. It runs on windows, mac and linux, at least.

ZBrush is $399 I believe and available for Windows and (I think) Mac and will do morph targets for Poser as well as organic modelling. Wings 3d is free and my personal favorite, not sure if it works on the Mac though. I haven't tried Wings for morph targets, but I'm sure it would work.

Amapi Designer 7 has just been released, and I know Brycetech has done some wonderful things with it for Poser. It is cross-platform, and just under $500.00. Amorphium 3 is also well under $500.00, and I think it is cross-platform. It is a little different, but can be a decent choice for the budget-minded. And then there is the ultimate budget-minded app, Wings3D. It is free, and is a wonderful modeller.

Cross-posted - I see Wings does run on a Mac.

Where do you find Wings3D??

Attached Link: Our Wings3D Forum

Go here first.

i've been having a ball with wings...and, i normally use rhino. the good things said about it are all true.

Ive heard some folks have been using zBrush for Poser morphs. If you have done this, how hard is it? Also, that it handles modeling organic shapes quite well. My concerns with Wings is that its a little rough in the usability area (or it was when I last played with it myself). Best regards, Lynn Fredricks e-on software

You know what we all hope in Lynn... an all-purpose modeler from E-On with the same super-friendly user interface that made Vue a winner! (hint, hint!) ;-)

Lynn, I don't know how long ago you used Wings but it's far from rough now! It still hasn't reached version 1 yet but already some pros are using it in preference to Lightwave, Maya, XSI, you name it! It really is a first class modeller. Z-Brush is a great programme too, I believe Daz use it for Poser morphs. Baz

Lynn - you might try to IM aurick - he works for Pixologic and uses both ZBrush and Poser and can probably give you the most accurate information. There are also a couple of threads about using ZBrush for morphs over at PoserPros.

Attached Link: http://www.dvgarage.com

One of the best modelers I found for cheap money that is cross platform is the Electric Image Universe 2.9 from dvgarage. I got it and love it. Beats the daylights out of any other modeler in that price range --- $199. The only downside is that it doesn't export in anything that you would be able to use directly, it exports in .fac format (and some industrial formats), but if you get the Play Amorphium 1.0 off ebay for $6, you can open a fac and convert to obj, etc. The CD set comes with lots of training videos that are just fantastic to get started.

Attached Link: http://www.electricimage.com

Or you could buy amorphium directly from EIU. Amorphium 3 in and of itself is a fun modeler.

TrueSpace provides a lot of functionality for the price. The new TrueSpace 6.5 is priced at $595, but even TrueSpace 5.2 at $395 is a very powerful package and there are lots of add-ons and stuff available. If you download the demo, the Caligari marketing machine starts and you are immediately offered a reduced price and/or some CD's with add-on products for free if you order within 30 days. So I would think that you will end up close to $500 even for TrueSpace 6.5. It's not available for Mac OS, but there are add-ons that allows import of Poser pz3-files into TrueSpace. A bundle with Poser-Vue-Mover-TrueSpace sounds like an extremely powerful combination with a great workflow based on pz3 format.

http://forms.caligari.com/forms/ts3all_free.html there you can find a free copy of TrueSpace, if I'm not mistaken vs.3. Gary Bouton (the author from Inside Photoshop) gives free lessons on it at www.photoshopgurus.info/forum then choose the bottom one, "the inside track" and the topic "who is into 3D?" Enjoy!