I think people (especially Poser users) think of 'postwork' in simple terms compared to the 3D community at large. For example, 99% of the time, when you ask a Poser user what postwork consists of, they'll say things like "painting over a render" or "painting in the hair" or "fixing joints", etc. While this is indeed classified as postwork, it's not typically the same kind of postwork done with 3D animation. If you ask a 3dsmax or Maya or Lightwave user what postwork consists of, usually you get a much different, broader answer. Things like compositing, color correction, FX, and video editing come to mind.

I've been working for myself doing 3D animation in one form or another professionally now for a little over 4 years. The fact that I use Poser in conjunction with other apps now has brought some criticism from some people who say it's 'cheating'. However, I've noticed in almost every case the only people really concerned with HOW I achieve the final product (animations) are usually people who do NOT work professionally in the biz, and even more, are NEVER the clients who pay me for a project.

Anyone who knows anything about making FX for movies, animations, or even still images for commercial purposes, know that the final product is 99.9% of the time never what comes straight out of the renderer itself. It's always taken to post for various reasons. Particularly, when something can be done just as well (but faster) in post, it saves time and money. FX studios invest millions on things like Inferno workstations, which is basically a top-of-the-line video post-processing software/hardware system. Obviously, no one is going to tell them their "cheating".

Did Pixar "cheat" when they did postwork on The Incredibles?

So no, I don't consider myself a Poser purist at all, because I like to get the best results I can as easily as I can.

On another note, that's NOT to say you shouldn't strive to understand every inch of whatever program(s) you use. If you don't know what each application is capable of, you won't know the best way to get a project completed with the least amount of stress.

;-)

Message edited on: 02/03/2005 16:48

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Tools :  3dsmax 2015, Daz Studio 4.6, PoserPro 2012, Blender v2.74

System: Pentium QuadCore i7, under Win 8, GeForce GTX 780 / 2GB GPU.