Hi again! I was just looking at some of the programs over at the DAZ website and I'm interested in some of them, but I'd like to hear some feedback first. "Particles"-Sounds cool. Is it strictly for animation, or can it be used to create flame/smoke/dust for single renders? "The Tailor" This one sounds too good to be true. Does it really work? DAZ's figures have always been top-of-the-line, but I've never tried any software they feature. Opinions? Thanks guys!

The Tailor works, but not as well as Clothes Converter or Wardrobe Wizard. I still use the Tailor a lot, since I've had it for years and I'm too lazy to learn Clothes Converter so far. I don't have Wardrobe Wizard. I'd recommend skipping the Tailor and getting Clothes Converter or Wardrobe Wizard.

While I haven't done anything with particles, in general, almost anything you can use in an animation you can use in a still shot. One frame of an animation is a still shot. (Just like dynamic clothes- you have to use an animation in the clothes room to shape your dynamic clothes for a still shot.) There are other products (some in this marketplace) designed specifically for still shots rather than animation, and they might be less expensive and/or easier to use.

Message edited on: 07/12/2005 15:42

I would recommend the wardrobe wizard, it is much easier to use than the clothing converter and gives very good results. I agree that the particles program will probably be able to make still images of the smoke etc.

Wow, that was fast! I'm still toying with Wardrobe Wizard, so we'll see. I just notice a save-disabled demo of Tailor is available at DAZ, so I'm gonna have a look. Thanks for the input guys.

I'd recommend WW over the tailor. These are the reasons:

The Tailor:

• external application
• load figure and ONE piece of clothing at a time
• have to manually pick the morphs to add
• need to save the item to your hard drive
• need to go through tailor again if you want to use the item for another figure or even the same figure with different morphs.

Wardrobe Wizard:

• works from inside Poser
• you can dress the figure up with all of the clothing/items and then go down the list of items
• it does the work for you. No need to select the morphs yourself.
• no need to save the converted items to your hard drive. The .dat file from the analyse is small and contains all the information from the "convert from". Saving hard drive space.
• If you want to use the analyzed clothes again another time or on another figure, or even on the same figure with different morphs, you don't need to reanalyze, just put the clothes on the new figure and run "convert to" - No need to own the original figure if you can get the .dat file for the clothes. With the .dat file and the clothes tha the .dat file is for, all you need to do is put the clothes on the figure you want them to fit and use WW to 'convert to'. - WW has a yahoo group set up and people are analysing clothes and hair etc and uploading their .dat files for others to download.

I don't know about the other programs you mention, but Jepes has a store here that has props that will do what you describe... fire, spell effects, smoke, lightning, light rays etc. Reasonably priced and excellent quality too.

Message edited on: 07/12/2005 18:01

The tailor is good for transferring morphs. Wardrobe wizard is good for converting clothes to fit other figures.

I have Particles and Particles 2. Ain't used either one properly but in testing they seem great. Not useful for everything but still good to have.

I recommend Clothes Converter. For me , main reasons are: -is an external and very light application - no fear of poser crashing while working. - 4-click use (select clothing, select original figure, select target figure, click "Autoconvert") - transfer all, none or some morphs or extra bones - already saves the clothing figure with a thumbnail in the right Poser directories (you can change directory if you want) - batch conversion: choose x clothing from a single original figures and converts it for x target figures - converts also gloves and boots (Wardrobe Wizards can't convert those items) - no need to own the original figure as far as you get the corresponding "donor" file (they are developed by the people behind CC) and you can find it in the support forum on CG Auction.

Clothes Converter is my pick too - though admittedly, I use it moreso to tweak fittings, which it does a very good job with. I hope Mark keeps improving this program.

My choice is WW, but that's becuase I like the ease of use of it. I have particles one and 2 and yes indeed, you can do that. They are, however, not quite as flexible as some might think. For more flexibility, you'd want some sort of morphing particle system. I don't like the talior of CC becuase they are needlessly complicated and involve a great deal of tweaking using difficult to use controls. But then, I dislike Lightwave, as well, for the same reasons, so, eh.. GOod luck!

Just my opinion but I really don't find CC difficult to use at all nor complicated. However, it does take some time and patience to become skilled with it. If you want more of a one-click, fire and forget option, I'd choose WW. However, I don't think the results are ideal (or redistributable) in many cases. But that's only MY experience with the plugin. CC does have an autoconvert function but only for a number of "core" figures. I don't really rely on it as it also can produce less than adequate results but there is more more finite control in tweaking than the overall smoothing tools in WW.

One note on particle applications - effects which look good in animation may look stiff or unrealistic in a still pic where the eye has the chance to analyze what it's seeing. The quality of the particle software, and usually the expense, is pretty much everything.

"- need to go through tailor again if you want to use the item for another figure or even the same figure with different morphs." Or create the base morphs in the clothing, name them to match the figure's body morphs, and they will cross-talk (Poser 4/ProPack, DAZ|Studio) or settings can be copy/pasted (Poser 5/6) from figure to clothing. All conversion methods eat HD space - unless you convert, render and exit without saving using WW.

I currently have the tailor but need to upgrade to use it with poser 6. However I didn't know about these alternatives. My question is...where can I find them. I didn't seem to be able to find them either here or at daz. I'm mainly interested in Wardrobe Wizard. Also, Using the same clothing article and figure, which one do you think gives the best results? Thanks, Dragontales

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