Hi all, I've recently purchased Poser 5 and Vue 4 with Mover 4 in order to produce website animations, etc. I also own student versions of 3ds max 5 and Maya 5. While 3ds max 5 and Maya 5 have books of decent tutorials available, I haven't found much for Poser and Vue except for scattered tutorials around the web. Each of these tutorials is probably excellent for what it does, but I haven't found any resources that offer the sort of hands-on learning that books like Harnessing 3ds max 5 offer. I have learned a bit from the few tutorials included with the Vue User's Guide, and am working on the very few tutorials in the Poser 5 ref manual, but want to take things a bit farther. The Poser 5 Handbook from Amazon looks kind of lukewarm, would welcome any comments about it. Looks like a Vue book is due to be released, but that's in 5 months (sigh). I don't expect anyone else to do the work of learning how to use the software for me - I own a great number of good tutorial books and software guides and have no problem with paying for books. It's mind-boggling to me that any software with 4 or 5 versions and lots of popular appeal has as few unified resources as Vue and Poser do. Searching from website to website for non-sequential tutorials is, for me, a fairly inefficient and not-fun way of learning anything. :( I did some checking in advanced and didn't buy Worldbuilder because it was much more expensive, and a student version doesn't seem to be available. Let me say that it's looking a bit more attractive now because at least the Alan Witt (sp?) tutorials are availble. Any ideas greatly welcome. :)

Well, after what I've heard... Whatever you do, stay away from Shamms Mortier's Poser books. Haven't read them myself, but what I've heard about them doesn't make me want to either :o) On the other hand I haven't heard bad things about the Poser 5 handbook... Actually I don't recall hearing much about it at all. Someone in here are bound to have it :o) Is it any good?!

There has been some messages on the Forum about a book done by BL Render and published by Focal Press. The title is the "Secrets of Figure Creation with Poser 5" and is supposed to be distributed by July 27th. Bloodsong is the user name on the forum. You can use the search feature of the forum to see the messages on the book.

Stay well clear of the Shamms Mortier's so called Poser Handbook. It is the worst book I have ever had the misfortune to pay out for. I no longer have it since I binned it after a flick through. The Images used are something you would expect from poser 1 not 5. The learning is non existent. BTW worldbuilder 3.X is free on the front of Digit this month.

Thanks for the warning about Mortier's book, I may have looked into it more than I should have due to lack of other options. "Secrets of Figure Creation with Poser 5" sounds good, but doesn't sound like a guide for beginners. The version of WorldBuilder that comes with Digit 63 is actually WorldBuilder Pro 2.3. I have the disc sitting in front of me on CD. I hesitate to install it because I'd feel really, really stupid if it was a vastly better program than the Vue 4.x + Mover 4.x software that I just paid $250 for (I bought this combination partly because of the announced Poser 5 hooks, and partly because I really liked the UI in the demo version). Looks like Digit also includes a Painter 8 trial and Blander 2.27 this month. Thanks again for the warning about Mortier. I'm still pretty frustrated about the lack of resources for Vue and Poser, so I appreciate the help. :)

does mover 4 work with poser 5?

heyas; actually, the lastest shamms mortier poser book was actually written by other people. mainly people from the online poser community, if i understand correctly. check it out thoroughly before you buy, though. you are correct, the 'secrets of figure creation' book isn't really for poser beginners. it is for modellers to create poser figures. it doesn't cover the basic stuff like working poser and making images/animations.

I'd strongly suggest using the "exponential" method that most of us went through - if I could do it, anyone can, trust me ;o) Plan a reasonably-sized project, then simply go ahead. When you run into a problem, put a question on the Forums. When you get the answer - and you will ! - continue until you run into another problem. Then ask again, etc. It's slow going in the beginning, but your knowledge expands faster and faster as you go along. The great thing about places like R'osity is that a) ALMOST any problem has already been solved by someone b) ...and if not, lots of people will help you solve it c) ...and "lots of people" means 150.000+ potential teachers Trust me, try it - you won't be disappointed. All those who will answer your questions did the same thing, and they weren't disappointed, that's why they can offer answers now ;o)

Link to Poser 5 with Vue 4 update: http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Press/PR.php?date=June%2016,%202003 When I was starting out with 3ds max, I didn't have any ideas for scenes, etc. The whole thing was so overwhelming that it was difficult to plan anything. It's the difference between knowing the existence of and how to use only the black crayon in your crayon box and having a much larger palette to choose from. Yes, I can keep drawing really bad drawings in black crayon, but once I had used a good introduction and tutorial book such as Harnessing 3ds max 5 or even the Adobe Classroom in a Book series, it's tougher to go back to searching the forums and the give-and-take of posts. On the other hand, I'm not knocking the methods in which others learn, and I've found that tutorials and forums are GREAT for me AFTER I learn the basics of the software, but until then, it's a tower of Babel to me. It's just so much faster and easier with good intro books. That having been said, it looks like there aren't any good Poser and Vue books out there just yet. I checked out the Poser 5 Handbook tonight... yick. Decided not to buy it, will muddle through as best I can in the meantime and will focus on other software.

If you saved your money by not buying the P5 Handbook, here's the place to spend them ; http://www.curiouslabs.com/article/articleview/911/1/13/?nf=1 ;o)

Looks good - wishing I had a VHS player and a TV. :)

The WorldBuilder disk is great - I am having a lot of fun with it anyway! I did get Vue 2 on a cover disk but it won't run on Windows XP.

"Secrets Of Figure Creation in Poser 5" by BL Render is listed at Amazon.com but is not yet released. At least you can get en idea what it is about. A couple of others also listed for upcoming release are "Poser 5 Visual Quick Start Guide" by Mick McAllister and "Vue d'Esprit Book" by Richard Schrand.

One suggestion for starting off. It is difficult at first because you have all these ideas and want to use them all. Try finding a contest that you like the look of, use that for your project, if you have completed your project in time post it in the contest or just keep working on it until you are happy. I teach computer packages to people and I know what it is like when you first load a piece of software on you computer. You want to be able to do most of what it can do within a few hours (if your male then after a few clicks you get bored and then try creating a vicky in a temple.) When trying to learn a new product it is easier if you do not think too big too soon. A contest should give you your basic brief, i.e create an image that has a female in armour, any location, would be nice if she had a tattoo etc.. This then focuses your mind on the job in hand. Try creating it your self from scratch, post it get feedback, work on it again and again, then when you are completely happy, look back at what you learned. 2 of the main areas people miss out on are cameras and lighting and since they are the items that make your picture then I think they are very important. Spend time looking at each element, add a character to your file, then play with the poses (including hand poses and faces), then take a look at your cameras make adjustments to get a better angle etc.. then work on your lighting. Take a break from the image at each stage, play with other images etc.. and then come back to it fresh with new ideas. I may be writing a start up guide for new poser users, but I have to clear some copyright details up first (using screen grabs etc..) It will have a simple set of exercises that follow the same theme throughout and each stage will buiild up techniques learned earlier in the guide. This will not help you though at the moment, I would suggest that you play around with it ask lots of questions, the majority of people in here want to help. I am no expert, infact I still class myself as a beginner but I am used to writing learning materials, both paper based and interactive.