I have a little editorial on my website that is addressed to both newbies and to long-time users, both. It might be worth reading. Please rememember, these are only my personal thoughts, and if you disagree, please be gentle and don't tear me apart. http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Atrium/8165/page4.html Melanie

Ive got to agree with Allie on this too there are a hellofva whole lot more warez users than there are registered users - of ANY program. While I agree also that users should be polite - I do not agree about people NOT buying a damn piece of software and then expect to get "free stuff" or information from myself. I just don't bother with the posts or emails. The way I see it: If they're stupid enough not to buy a rather cheap program like bryce or poser - then they don't deserve the explanation. I don't think the problem would dissapear by just a few words like what you said Allie - it'll continute to happen - maybe even moreso than befor..Ive seen it happen many places and just got tired of it (This is a nice conversation :)) -Matt PS - check out this editorial http://www.ruku.com/piracy.html

I agree with what you say for the most part. But not all "how do you do this" questions are from warez freaks. I've been using purchased versions of Poser since Poser 2 and can say that the manuals suck as well as the third party books. I can also say that I have extreme trouble with animating and handling BVH files cause poser sucks at animation and using BVH files. I would say that if the how do you do question pertained to something on the first few pages of the manual, yes then that is a warez user. But it its a question thats answer is found deep in the manual, probably not a warez user. I want poser to work for me but more often than not it works against me and sometimes I get so pissed that if Larry weinberg or one of his employees were sitting next to me, I'd punch his lights out. I don't anger easily either. Sorry Larry. I would actually do that but thats how I feel sometiomes Pete

I guess thats a repetition of what you just said......whoops :)

Larry didnt write the Manual - he designed poser If you want to pound someone : Carol Franger and Linda Stevens - IMO I think its pretty straighforward in explanations..

I think I will agree with Allie. I just got sucked into a situation on the Poser ng that I now think MUST be from a warez user that dled the free Vicky bikini. He kept saying that he was using Win 2000 (but also had 98 on another computer and it didn't work on that either--after I pointed out no one was having problems that I knew of) and none of the clothing pak templates worked, I pointed out differences between templates/textures. THEN--he said all worked but the bikini texture and even posted a pic after I said that would help us to figure it out. I thought he was using the free and trying to apply pak template, so posted my texture and template for the pak along with texture pic. On and on--he wrote me several times (I obviously appeared to be a sucker) asking me to please send cr2 and rsr for bikini. Well, I'm not THAT dumb LOL--I said contact Doug or Chad at Zygote--then he wrote and said they had sent him the new pak and it still wouldn't work, please help him--and I said--look, if they don't work, then you have more problems than my sending you my cr2 and rsr would correct-can't do that--PERIOD. But--the point is, I got suckered by trying to be a nice guy. I think these warez users know exactly how to go about this by now--and look for the one in a hundred who feel sorry for them--he kept saying that he had the original geometry for Vicky--well, he got it on a warez site, I'm sure now--but doesn't have the clothing pak. OR--maybe he DOES have Vicky but doesn't have the clothing pak. Whatever--he was persistent and maybe someone else would send him what he wanted. So--my feeling is to answer nicely the first time just in case, but just say no, period. And--maybe the site should be cleared of any posts asking for software. Diane B

I get this too Diane, and if its dead simple obvious stuff I just say "it would be easier to look at page 345 of the manual than for me to explain" then if I get the "the dog ate my manual" reply I ignore them..Pjanek if you think animating in Poser is bad try Max, LW, Maya or Cinema they make poser look like a postman pat book LOL....IMHO there is no better app for human animation...(for better read easier)......Steve

I have to agree with Melanie about jumping to conclusions.. Sure sometimes it's quite obvious as in Diane's case... This guy was apparently trying to hoodwink her, but at least she gave him the benefit of the doubt... In other cases I've see posts where someone bluntly asks for a hot copy of Poser or Bryce, but according to Jack these post are deleted as they should be!... I can understand people on this forum being weary of some posts, but either answer them properly or ignore them.. I happen to know a 12 year old boy on this forum, the son of my friend, and he e-mails me all the time asking questions that can apparently be found in the manual.. I know this child has a legit copy of poser because I bought it for him for Christmas!.. If he asked the same questions on this forum I'm sure he would mistakenly be suspect also... If their posts asking for hot copies or warez whatever these will be deleted... I don't know if more people have warez copies opposed to legit copies, but I couldn't care less.. That's the way of the Internet.. Unless there is a survey on this I don't know how anyone could know anyway... As for warez boards, I don't know if these people are impolite because I've never visited a warez board, so I don't know how these people conduct business.. I do know if someone is rude on this forum someone will eventually remind them of it as they should be... ~Cindy

Uh, oh--maybe I confused apples with oranges. I'm only thinking that someone who 'asks' for or implies that one give them the software be deleted. If someone asks for help, that's another situation in my mind. I didn't get upset until he asked for MY copy of the cr2. Now, just asking for help--that's another matter. Even if its fairly simple, I would always give some leeway--mostly because I'm not sure how stupid my questions seemed in the beginning LOL--and I read manuals and normally learn easily from them. I don't think the Poser manual is too bad--Bryce is another matter-mainly because of its set up with references to things you have never read until you get to the back of the manual--and not referencing pages, chapters, etc. I also have to remember that after you get the basics down, then it always SEEMS simple. I would agree with Steve--point to a page in the manual or a tutorial to begin with. Diane B

BTW in my last post I said" I would actually do that". i meant that I wouldn't do that. I know Larry didn't write the manual but for animation is program does not act perperly. You animate a figure. Make one small adjustment and it throughs the entire animation out of wack. I mean if you say, move an arm forward just a bit more, it should not push the other keyframes foward. It seems to act that way often. Where as if you animate in say Truespace and then make a small adjustment your animation does not get thrown out of wack. Hell, I've made adjustments in poser on an arm and then all of a sudden the dorks foot is going up his ass. Its next to impossible to stitch BVH files together. Ones that start at different coordinates that is. If anybody has the answer to that one I'd like to know. And just yesterday I tweaked a BVH file for 3 hours saved it under a new name and reopened it later only to find that my tweaks were not saved. Poser does have pluses like morph target animation but getting it to do what you want is the part that is harder than it needs top be. Pete

Yeah I've pointed out pages to my lil friend too but he'll come back and say I can't find it or I don't understand it... GGRRRR.. LOL He's a very bright child too, but just impatient and understands things in a 12 year old terms.. hehe.. I think Melanie also referred to people asking questions that might appear to someone here they don't have a manual and then jump to conclusions.. That's what I was referring to mainly...=)

I'm a newbie, I love Poser and I do have the manual. But I'll bet you'll be hearing a lot of seemingly wierd questions from me, because there are just some things only experience can answer, and the manual does seem to be a bit murky in spots. I KNOW you'll be hearing from me. :)

Janak: I did'nt realize you were talking of just animation. Though you mentioned it, I though you meant the program as a whole. Yes the walk designer could be better - you may want to work with IK a bit also and see if that helps out :) I like truespace's animation too - but it and poser are sort of incomparable..... The poser dork is not the best figure to use in animation anyway - he's not too flexible. IMO I think animations in poser are kind of useless - unless you have the time to do a clip like "Kungfoo" on the content CD or have Mimic or something of that nature. Steve Ive got to agree with you wholeheartedly. -Matt

Thanks Allerleirauh, I'll try that. Previously I would load BVH number one, go to last frame, break spline and then import another BVH. Then since the spline was broken I repositioned the figure at the first frame of the second BVH thinking the Previous keyframes would be left untouched but I was wrong. I was selecting the body as a whole. The result was the second BVH was where I wanted it but the previous BVH was moved completely out of place. To move using the hip I should make sure that IK is off when using BVH's. Actually I think the users of this forum says it all as far as Poser is concerned. About 80% to 90% of them only use Poser for stills. I guess most of them had figured something out that I want to refuse to believe. Pete

Thanks, Cindy, I think you understood what I was saying best. I wasn't saying that warez is OK, in fact, I did state in my editorial that we can't allow that. My main point was that it seems that every time someone asks to be given something, which we all know can't ge given because of copyright, that person is automatically "executed" just because he or she asked. My feeling is that not EVERYONE who asks is a warez user, and no, not all people who don't understand copyright are intellectually handicapped. I just think that it would be more helpful of us to tell those folks in a more patient and constructive manner that copyrighted software can't be just handed out. Also, when someone says that they were "given" their copy of Poser, it doesn't automatically mean that it's an illegal copy. As Cindy pointed out, she gave a copy to a friend for Christmas. It's a purchased, ligit copy. A person doesn't have to spend his or her own money to obtain a copy, it could have been purchased and given as a gift. Let's not all jump to conclusions and condemn a person for asking a question. I just think we can be more professional in the way we handle these questions than flying off the handle and immediately assume that it's someone trying to get a freebie. Sometimes, our assumptions could be wrong. Sure, there are warez users out there, and there probably always will be, but that wasn't my point. I feel that newbies need to be informed that they can't ask those questions in the first place, but when someone does, we can still be civil with them and explain why we can't give them what they want. If they just got a computer for the first time and don't understand how software usage works, we should educate them, not tear them to pieces. Even if they read the agreement, that doesn't mean they'll understand it. Those are sometimes cloaked in "legalese" and are hard to understand. Sorry to open a can of worms here. Maybe I should rework my editorial so it will say what I meant a bit clearer. Melanie

Hi Folks! Can I weigh in on this one--from a teacher's perspective? I just recently turned in grades for a college-level 3D Design & Animation course. Infini-D, Bryce, and Poser were the core software applications. Since the lab had to operate under the restraints of MetaC's multi-user license, I taught the entire course WITHOUT the manuals. I encouraged--no, insisted-- that students spend lots of time in the lab, exploring and adding their own experiential insights to the exercises we covered in class. The students are not experts. But it shouldn't amaze any of us who spend lots of time with these programs what newbies can accomplish if they do likewise. All of us frequently consult this community of experts and users for questions ranging from advanced to "duh." I don't normally post a question until I've determined that I haven't been able to figure it out alone, and usually I'll include in the post some descriptions of what manuals I've consulted or techniques I've tried. Therefore I take a very dim view of those who post questions that are thinly disguised attempts to get for nothing what the rest of us have legally purchased. That class of visitors to these forums should get no support from us: they are just plain lazy at best and thieving creeps at worst. Peter (Dr Zik)