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This is something I would like to address. Note that in all the links i posted, the artist has clearly and in the first post stated that have used poser. And because they have been honest about what they have used and where, almost no one is jumping on them for using it.

It's the liars and cheats that get the bashing, and have gotten poser the reputation it has at such places. Not that poser is bad, or it's users are not artists, but that some of them like to make fake claims.

Heck you can even see this in our own galleries where we have some rather suspicious photo manips being passed off as poser work...

i can see the point and why people get upset, but i also think it shows prejudice.  i shouldn't care whether something is a photo manip- if i can't tell, then it's still great.  i shouldn't get mad because i spent ages trying to get a  material and lighting correct, because i could do the same thing they did and chose to make my life harder.  that's not something i feel i should be proud of. i emphasize "i" because i really can't speak for anyone else, and i respect how others feel about this.

it's not a cheat to use poser.  what i percieve you're saying is that people should admit to specific short cuts, but not address the myriad of other short cuts they could (and do) take.  that, imho, is prejudice.

and did i mention that most of the images i saw being outed were not poser?  and yet called "crap"  because people thought they were?  but to me that's like saying, "i do things the long way for no reason."  i think people should be praised for getting a cheap solution to look like a custom-made expensive one, not put down for it.  since i usually go the long way in my own stuff (javascript, php & flash, not poser or cg stuff), i have to say i think it's just a waste of time.  i mean, fun and educational and all, but if i were looking to hire someone i can say i'd pick the person who doesn't reinvent the wheel and uses the easiest, quickest, cheapest and most effective way possible to achieve spec.  frankly, that's a skill in itself, and if you only know the long way, it's a more expensive hole in one's knowledge than the other way around.  i consider my propensity to build rather than customize a great, great weakness of mine. 

i mean, i looked at every page of the preview of the "essence: the face" book by ballistic.  every single piece looks so much like v3 i can't see the point.  why not just use the modeling tool of choice and morph away?  and to me, because it's cheating is not an acceptable answer when it comes to producting stuff under a deadline, even if that deadline is self-imposed.

that's just my opinion, and i can see and understand the other side.  i can get peeved when i see short-cuts to realism greatly praised without any acknowledgements of their shortcomings.  but i feel like that's something to get past, not encourage.