Recently I was showing Poser 4 (and P3dO ;) to my little niece - she's 10.
She imediately saw what she could do with that puppet like software, and yesterday she seriously told me that she was working on making a film. That film is about one frame long at the moment ;)

Of course this please me a lot to let her play with Poser but I've been wondering since then if Poser is suitable to children or not. Personnaly I think it is, as I said it's a puppet game for them and once they try to make an animation they'll quickly find it more boring than their usual Barbie game.
What's your opinion about that ?

Message edited on: 06/11/2004 01:29

I think Poser is great for kids.....provided you want bald children with handfuls of yanked out hair! Hopefully it will help teach patience and organization, and if it does, THERE SHOULD BE A COPY FOR EVERY CHILD ON EARTH!!!

The interface is pretty weird, so that could be hard to absorb, but other than that, I don't know why it wouldn't be suitable for kids. Well, unless you're terribly concerned that they might see naked meshes or unless you've got poses or clothes or something of a more "adult" nature, I suppose... And no, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with naked meshes or that kids shouldn't see them. ;-) I'm just making an observation that some people might find this to be a concern. I'd let my kids play with Poser, although I think I'd make them their own installation with a very limited Runtime and limited library stocked with toony creatures and pre-constructed figures like fairies with the wings already attached and stuff. bonni

My son loves Poser. He is 13 and heavily into robots and space things. I have countless strange robot renders on my hard drives. I am not worried about him seeing naked figures - it is perfectly natural. I have a few adult poses which are in a seperate (boringly labelled) runtime, together with some fetish style clothes. Although I feel that nakedness is 100% natural and not an issue, I do thing that some poses etc might be confusing for a young person. Anyway, he is not interested in the naked figures - he like the robots! Oh, and the elephant.

Poser is a tool,and like any art form it is a medium that lets you creat fast and with good results,i think if child wants to learn about art and its many forms then let them and encourage them all the way. so ok there is nudity but nothing to hide from a child as it after all is normal and beuatiful to look and to paint the natural form so my thoughts yer let the child learn all it can and when it can essexboy

Good, this is what I was thinking too. Indeed the Poser interface (selecting a new item, removing one) is not that obvious for a 10 year child but she absolutely love dressing and undressing the characters.

I have to agree with the others here. I taught my youngest little sisters to use Poser when they were only 7 years old, and they learned to use the library, conform clothes, position props and figures, use the camera, and even pose the figures a little. Nudity wasn't a problem to our parents.

I agree Poser is freat for kids. My daughter Polly (10) did some lovely simple renders... great lighting! LOL! Then she asked "Daddy, I want to put three Vickies in an art gallery with my renders on the walls"... so I introduced her to Bryce where I had some wall props already set up. Strangely she lost interest after exporting/importing and re-textureing a couple of figures! LOL! The thing about young minds is that the Poser interface seems just as strange as any other interface... so when they DO pick it up it feels quite comfortable for them.

well, regarding the "playing doll" thing (you know dressing, undressign etc) i can recommend two other things to go aside from poser itself for your 10 year old kid. 1st: there is a programm known as Kissekae (or kiss, shortly) and there are many "non adult" kissekae set files to enjoy posing, dressing, undressing characters with various styles. limited but it is still entertaining. well if she feels brave enoguh, you can also teach hr knotting/tailoring. I mean when i was younger i remember i used to tailor suits, csmall clothes out of cloth, hard paper/bristol, and such, for some of my toys and action figures. more recently i taught too a niece of mine to tailor too, very simpel things, and then we managed to use a worn out uninteresting barbie and pieces of unused clothes into a "usagi sailormoon" :) (-cheaper than additional clothes for barbie, and much more fun because no one else had thi sone except her, and she was proud to be able to make it on her own) think about it :) i also suspect/remember (but cannto recall) there was some very simple pseudo 3d renderpackages with lot of mechs or fantasy animals too... if i find back the name, i tell you

Is a knife dangerous? What about a gun? No Poser is not either. It's a new toy po play with. It's the operator that could be . . . Put mama's face or papa's face texture on the figures. At that age they are not conditioned yet and thus the interface schould be no problem either. All the rest in in our heads.

Is a knife dangerous? What about a gun? Um, yeah... Let the kid use Poser, though. My daughter loves it. (She's 14.) Her favorites are the DAZ mermaids. :-) -Heidi

LOL! I don't think I'd say that Poser is as dangerous as a knife or a gun. "Man Found Dead of Apparent Suicide by Means of Mesh" :-) bonni

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Y&Artist=silverfairy

My daughter is 11 and loves to work with poser. The nudity is no problem for her, she finds it natural, though her figures, mostly fairies are always dressed (she finds the naked Vickies in a temple renders very unatractive :-)). The interface was no problem either, she understood it faster than me. She also postworks her images in PSP. Sometimes she is using poses that break a limb or she comforms a clothing item to the wrong figure. In the beginning she was frustrated, she would cry if her pc crashed before she had saved work. But she learned to cope with all those little annoyances as well. It is also interesting to see how her mind works. She can tweak the top of a Victoria 2 dress and the bottom of a Victoria 3 dress together on Posette. It would never cross my mind! :-) She also makes her own graphics now for school projects. The only bad thing about it, is perhaps than when she starts a new project she can't stop it and I literally have to plug of the PC in order for her to get a normal night of sleep for an 11-year old or to get her to her other duties/hobbies and lessons.

I think a good analogy for Poser is a model railroad. As for the Kiss files, the digital equivalent of the paper cutout dress-up doll, there's stuff around which will offend some parents. It's an easier program for the kids, but check anything you download.

There is one danger in introducing your kids to Poser. I did that when they were each about 10 or so. Kids have more time than adults. As a result, both of my kids are far more advanced users than I think I'll ever be...and I'm jealous! :^D No thing, whether it is a weapon, tool, or idea is dangerous. It is only people who choose to make things dangerous.

Before SR4, Poser 5 was very very dangerous for sure! I almost killed myself 5 different times trying to complete a scene before it would lock up on me. But now it's just a big pussycat. Much more friendly. ;-)

No thing, whether it is a weapon, tool, or idea is dangerous. It is only people who choose to make things dangerous. OK, but if the Curious Labs box fell off the shelf it wouldn't accidentally go off or slice you open. JMO.

OK, but if the Curious Labs box fell off the shelf it wouldn't accidentally go off or slice you open. JMO. I still say the inherant danger of Poser comes from self-induced hair loss, and painfully annoying hemorrhoids. It can also cause you to nod-off waiting for renders. That's dangerous if you are leaning forward with a pencil in front of you. ;-))

well for the kissekae i did not deny there were many adult oriented sets... but i saw many "non offensive" ones too :) of course as a parent, you are supposed to check a bit what you download for your kid (or let them download). not only is easier to watch what they are getting on your drive, doign this with them makes you share time with you kids (a thing that many parents cannot always afford the time to...)

now for "making" your own kissekae set.. it is hard, believe me :) uuh: tweaking a v2 top and a v3 bottom over a posette ? what to think about me that miserably fail to tweak V2 stuff over mayadoll :( gee does your kid offers online class ? i sign up then !

Message edited on: 06/11/2004 11:43

I suppose you'd have to define dangerous for me. A person with an idea can be dangerous. I would much rather everyone else on the planet just thought as I told them and stopped thinking for themselves. Really, it is very annoying folks. So please stop. :o) As for Poser and kids, I say Poser is for everyone. I think it neat your niece wants to make an animation and I hope you are helping and encouraging her. Energy channeled toward creative ends is almost always good for healthy develpoment of the mind and body.

IMO, you should keep your children as far away from Poser as humanly possible. Most of us (including me) have found it to be a perpetual hole in the wallet, so can you imagine how badly your finances will be caned when the little darlings start yelling that they "NEED" the latest whatever for Koshini, Krystal, and (gulp) The Girl? And when the boys get hold of it... Oh, it doesn't bear thinking about. I forsee a life of poverty for all of you. Ban it now. Poser is evil - evil, I tell you!

Barbie and Ken are naked under their clothes. So is GI Joe. I don't think there's a big deal if you allow her to play with poser.

well in factr, in my country, barbie & ken add on clothes and accessories (car, house and such) ae not cheaper than most good products on marketplace... and, contrary to any poser product, you cannot do much with them aside from what it was planned for; while a poser product still can be used and modified for personnal use, combined wih others, etc... well and for kids yelling for the latest thing :) imagine what it willbe as soon as your little niece will see the future "Ellis" doll :)

"No thing, whether it is a weapon, tool, or idea is dangerous. It is only people who choose to make things dangerous." "OK, but if the Curious Labs box fell off the shelf it wouldn't accidentally go off or slice you open. JMO." If you put a potentially hazardous thing on a shelf where it can fall and do damage, that is your choice. A Curious Labs box, falling from five feet, and striking with an edge or corner could do considerable damage. If it misses you, but you then trip over it and put your head through the monitor, it would probably kill you. Does that make the monitor dangerous? No, it makes you dangerous. There are people in this world who consider Poser to be porn. Those people are afraid of the responsibility that goes with any powerful tool. Responsibility lies with people, and nowhere else. Sorry...you pushed a button.

My daughter is 7 and She loves poser. I have it loaded with just the animals and cartoon figures. and she creates art all day long I don't add in vicky, mike or humanoids besides the cartoons simply because they are a bit more grown up and I practice a bit of caution. I think poser is great for kids teaching them a lot about graphics, computers, art and more

Triarius: I really don't want to derail this thread with an endless argument over the NRA's "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" propaganda. The scenarios you mentioned are unlikely in the extreme. I find far more inherent danger in something designed with the specific purpose of causing harm to another being (e.g. a gun) than in a box of software. I don't believe the NRA's line of BS, and there's no point in arguing about it. Let's just agree to disagree, OK? -Heidi