Unless Poser 7 brings in some remarkable developments in the rigging of figures, does the new content, whether it comes with the program or is in the form of a new figure such as Vicky 4, really make a difference. OK, so if CP/e-frontier do with Miki what they did with their men, I'm going to be tempted. Miki, for all her flaws, looks more like a real woman; with the right face I could use her in a Torchwood render. But there's still the problem of clothes. Wardrobe Wizard makes a big difference, but it's not quite good enough for close-ups. And there's a huge amount of very well-made material for the longer-established figures. There's people out there, probably with pretty hot hardware and specialised work, who will grab the new stuff because it does something they want. But the rest of us?

i'm like you...I am tempted by the new figures, but i have thousands of dollars invensted in the figures and content for them that I already have....I just cannot (no matter how much I might want to) invest that much moeny in outfitting a new figure anytime soon.

The built in Lip Synching alone is enough to make me want to upgrade even though I just bought MIMIC.

For people not doing animation Lip Synch Room ;) is not something they really care for.

As for new content figures, I'm with AntoniaTiger too. Even if I were able to buy new figures (either with P7, or from DAZ, or whatever), I'd stick with figures I already have much support for, no matter how ancient the figures are. Even new rigging would be too poor excuse to re-build from scratch library of textures and clothing items. P7 may be good for some new rendering features (even though I have no idea which), but certainly not as a source of useful great figures (no matter what e-F says), and not as lip synching animation tool (some people will prefer Mimic, some don't do animations at all).

Some people still make great art using oh-so-ancient-but-muchly-supported Posette, often breathtaking portraits or pin-ups. The final effect is not just a matter of tools (=figures), but mainly the skills. So, new content won't make huge difference, in my opinion. Advanced material/lighting options yes, but not really the content itself.

Quote - OK, so if CP/e-frontier do with Miki what they did with their men, I'm going to be tempted.

Miki will not be made G2. She is (from what i understand) being updated but she will not share clothing and such with Jessi, Sydney and Olivia.

No interest in new figures whatsoever. I've got all I need and want. I've got way to much invested in all the ones I do own to even justify buying a new one. I didn't even upgrade James to James G2.

I'm only buying what I need and what I can afford. If everyone did that, not even half of the items we see released would even exsist.

Also lately the new characters released look so much like the old ones. All the EF figures are closely related. All the DAZ figures are closely related. Why buy yet another figure that looks so much like the one I've bought just a few weeks ago? By now the release of a new figure leaves me cold.

Poser 7 should have an improved renderer. It will support multiple threading, better texture handling, and shouldn't crash so often when rendering complex scenes. For anybody who does a lot of rendering and has a dual processor machine, those sound like worthwhile advantages to upgrade.

New figures aren't much of a draw. The G2 figures haven't taken over the Poser universe and generally seemed to be something of a letdown. The P7 figures will come free with the program and will receive modest support, but probably won't unseat the DAZ figures from marketplace dominance. New generations of DAZ figures will probably eventually become the new standards for Poser/Studio figures even if they aren't markedly better than the previous ones, based on past experience. The base figures will probably be aggressively priced with expectations of making money off of morphs and apparel. The marketplace has changed, so it will interesting to see how quickly the new generation of figures get adopted and used. Anton already showed that there are ways to regroup Poser figures for more realistic bending, so maybe there will be some new design innovations. Everything is still limited by the existing boning system in Poser.

New content matters, and it's important for continuing advancement -- so long as it's well done.  But I'd say that content isn't as important as the core software's inherent capabilities.  And as others have indicated -- content isn't as important as the skill of the user.  Some people are very talented at doing the incredible with limited resources -- so that we can all go "AHHHH!!!" at their accomplishments.

But it's better to have plenty of starting resources laid out for our use in the first place.  It makes the job easier.  And these starting resources are greatly enhanced by the existence of excellent base figures.  It smooths the runway.

11/7/06

Where can one find Vicky 4?

OK, question time....

IF the newer versions fo DazStudio or Poser came with better/improved/super-duper rigging and enchanced features, but your older content is not going to really work in the new system what are you going to do?

If there is no really feasible way that the old is going to work with the new, what are you going to do?

It's not just your dilemma. It s also the dilemma of the content/program providers as well.

Does the new content really matter?

No.

Does any content specifically really matter?

No.

What really matters is your parent application and your proficiency with it.  Every thing else is just bon-bons.  Having a wealth of content around the community is a good thing - everyone gets to make their choices.  It's better to have too much out there than not enough.

Quote - 11/7/06

Where can one find Vicky 4?

From the same place that you can get Victoria 3 --

www.daz3d.com

V4 is not available yet.  But DAZ assures us that her release will be soon.....

"Unless Poser 7 brings in some remarkable developments in the rigging of figures, does the new content, whether it comes with the program or is in the form of a new figure such as Vicky 4, really make a difference."?

I would say No.  

I am looking for new features and effects.  More of the same type of content that we find here by the thousands is not very compeling to me. 

Even if I couldn't use any of my current content, but there was a new figure that made animation better and easier I woudl almost certainly buy it.

Quote - V4 is not available yet.  But DAZ assures us that her release will be soon.....

Soon, famous last words at Daz ROFL

I'm sycked about the new material speciall, Sidney, she looks really cool

and of course every other upgrade makes it worth it

i'm glad i didn't update to 6 and waited for 7.

it's necessary for the vendors to release new figures on a regular basis, as sales of existing figures and related content drops off. it's the same with video games, commercial software, computers, or anything else. in particular, poser users have shown they'll buy new content on a reliable basis, given the proper publicity.

That's true..... but with most games, software, computers and so on, there's an improvement and great difference from the previous item.

A lot of figures being released around here don't add anything to the previous ones at all. A number of them who claim to have improvements don't work. Also they always look so familiar to the previous figure as well.

I have my doubts about Sydney. A good figure should be a tabula rasa - a plain generic surface that you can add many different characters to.

My suspicion is that Sydney will be very difficult to de-Sydnify if one wants significantly different-looking faces.

Quote - The built in Lip Synching alone is enough to make me want to upgrade even though I just bought MIMIC.

This is a perfect example of the growing disconnect and why soon some of us will have to decide whether or not to continue supporting Daz figures. V4 might be that breaking point. E-Frontier is pushing the technology edge - the Face Room, built in Lip Sync and so on - and Daz kicks off V4 without even phenomes and still no face room compatability?

if Daz wants to jsut call these things what they are "Daz|Studio figures with some Poser compatability" then thats what they should do :)

I'm looking around the real world, buying only what I need and can afford. I wonder if everyone did that if all the other items would be there. Of course they wouldn't, but because there are folks who can afford them and want them they will, and I'm glad. I like variety. I may not be able to get something right now, but I may later and I will be glad its there to get. If you don't want them don't get them. If you do just wait a bit and the prices may drop and may not. If you get a Daz product you know you are protected because they give you a return option. I personally think V4 has her place in the poser world. When V3 was released everyone complained that she was too ugly too this too that. They release a pretty model and now it's the oppisite.  lol 

I have a lot of content that is "for V3 and M3" and whatnot, but any conforming clothing that I have I will either convert, or abandon it if I cannot.  I have mostly stuck to dynamic clothing and I'm not scared of resizing or reshaping that, and the hairs I have I can wiggle around and make them fit.  I'm not a pro by any means, unlike a lot of the people here, so I have nothing to lose except the money I'd already invested in previous stuff.  I don't have an editor or publisher looking over my shoulder expecting results, so I am free to move into the new content and not sweat the money spent on previous stuff, I look at that as a training cost.  Many people wouldn't look at it like I do though, I'm sure.  

In my noobish opinion:  The new figures look better, flex better, have a lower poly count, in general have visibly superior materials, and the morphs are easier to work with when loaded at default state.  It's not that V4 has a pretty face, she's just a lot more workflow friendly (at least for me).

Has anyone tried the new morph painting tools?

Cause that's why I bought. 

Quote - IF the newer versions fo DazStudio or Poser came with better/improved/super-duper rigging and enchanced features, but your older content is not going to really work in the new system what are you going to do?

I would abandon the old content in a heartbeat.

As my "poser fever" wore off over the years I came to realize that the technology has real problems, and that the thrill of looking at what some item (especially of clothing) MIGHT do and what it will do are different.

To a large extent the Poser "click art button" problem is a result of the technology problems. The fact is that the super cool outfit you bought last night (the you is generic) only looks good in certain poses, from certain angles and on certain figures. It is inherantly restrictive and unnatural. Dynamic hair and clothing helps a LOT but still few merchants and users take advantage of them. 

I have a nice clean Runtime setup now. I will keep all my A3 stuff because its so damn cute... but I have decided to not buy somehtign that is not dynamic unless I need it for a client render. Additionally I am goign to work with Sydney as much as possible because she better supports the technology of the primary tool I use - Poser.