Quote - When it comes to buying books for the 3d art packages I use there's a very short list,

1. Denise Tyler (Deecey) (Poser6)
2. Richard Schrand (Vue & PPP)
3. Susan Kitchens (Bryce)

All 3 authors are required reading for anyone how's serious about 3d art.

I must add that I haven't read Poser 7 Revealed so please don't look on this as me suggesting it isn't a good buy because I just don't know.

A second to all three votes, though I quit buying/using Bryce a long time ago.

As for the "function" of a manual. Courtesy of MS' polite "your on your own, sucker" [sic] documentation model, manuals have become the territory of ObviousMan. A page on how to click "Ok" and when not to, a page on what "Save File" does, etc. And not a word about the visual implications of increasing/decreasing the "Bounce" feature in the Hair Room. And the Third Party books we used to rely on to give us what O'Reilly so aptly calls "The Missing Manual" oftentimes are replicas of the worthless pile of paper you might, if the vendor is willing to manage that cost of goods, provide: In other words, their primary function is to provide a "manual" to the folks to stole the software.

Real manuals, especially Third Party ones, are rare. That said, PP6 was a "real manual," and a few minutes with P6R at Barnes & Noble established that it wasn't. I ordered PP7 the moment I found out about it, and I'm looking forward to reading the manual eF should have provided.

M
PS: Daryl Wise's Poser book looks like a useful and interesting anthology. The name escapes me. It includes essays by the likes of PhilC. Worth a B&N visit.