Quote - What made Poser great is it's accessibility.
All you need is a text editor and you can go exploring.
From a programmers point of view D|S might be more "elegant", but practically everybody can read and understand a cr2 because it's a simple text file as opposed to some esoteric "ds" file.

Fair enough - to a point. OTOH, some things you may not have known offhand: * the scripting SDK is free for D|S, and goes in-depth as to not only how to create your own plugins w/ script, but explains the inner workings of each file type, and the inner workings of the program itself. This alone mitigates the accessibility problem that you mentioned. * *.ds files are plain-text scripts. You're thinking fo the .daz scene file, methinks. * for ~$100.00, anyone can get the full programming SDK if desired, which pretty much gives anyone who can do programming full internal access to D|S. With Poser, you either cough up a massive five-to-six-figure check, or get told to go learn Python. * With the Poser Format Exporter plugin, I can export a scene to .cr2 (or any other Poser-style text file), hack it, then re-load it to taste. The plugin is free for download. * Poser itself has non-ASCII file types now (most notably .obz, .pzz, .crz, etc). This all means that the following is statement certainly not true: "With D|S, innovation is reserved to a handfull of DAZ programmers whose goal it is of course to maximize DAZ revenue, not to maximize the individuals artists ability to express himself." Again, that's not true. I can even go one step further - D|S offers encryption for files and scripts that you build, which lets you (as an option) protect your assets from being ripped-off. The reason for the different file formats isn't to lock-in anything - they're there for increase efficiency and organization within the file. > Quote - To infantilize the average Poser user, take away options from him, and turn him into a well trained good little consumer who just laps up the latest "new and exiting" offers DAZ throws in his way.

Eh? Both companies exist to maximize profit... even Poser's (whomever owns it this year, anyway). > Quote - With D|S you have no other option than to BUY stuff because you simply can't do the things you can do for yourself in Poser.

...as opposed to buying Poser for a far higher price, then buying Python-based scripts for things you cannot otherwise do in it (e.g. Wardrobe Wizard)? > Quote - With V4.1 you also have no option as to BUY stuff because she's become so complicated that you need high-end tools to really "make her your own".

Example, please. Just one. > Quote - There WILL be a rift in the Poserverse, that's for sure, so you should choose which side you want to be with very carefully.

Nah - D|S can still import nearly all of Poser's stuff, and with a little work and $100, Poser's coding team can make code that will import D|S native files. Question is, will Poser do so? > Quote - Just yesterday I made a new expression morph for V2LO with the Poser 7 morphbrush because none of the premade morphs could give me the result I needed.

It took just a few minutes and it was so heartbreakingly EASY after all those years fiddling around with magnets or exporting to a modeller only to work with a static object.

To duplicate the same action in D|S, I merely use the (free) D-Form plugin (which is flexible enough to do so with a little more work), then export the morph with the Morph Exporter plugin. Poser built the Morph Brush because D-Form existed. It's a minor arms race of sorts - first there was Poser Magnets. Then D-Form. Now Morph Brush. I suspect there will be an equivalent soon for D|S... and so it goes. If it wasn't for the competition, Morph Brush would never have existed. > Quote - I pity D|S users who have to buy an "Expression" plugin or a "Deformer" plugin and still won't get close to the results I so easily could get directly inside Poser.

Let's see the results... A long time ago, someone tried to make a certain reflection map pattern in GIMP that was made in Photoshop, but failed and proclaimed that GIMP was inferior and useless because of it. I duplicated the pattern and colors exactly in about 45 mintues... with GIMP. It took that long becuase I wanted to get as close as humanly possible and cast off many candidates, until I got it just right. Thing is, being used to one set of tools does not automatically mean that any other tool is inferior to the one you use. It is simply a matter of grokking how the new tool works. For instance, If I've been used to using a jigsaw and a drill to cut wood and drywall, then of course I'm going to look at a rotary cutter and think "hah! that's only one (unfamiliar-looking) tool, and it's inferior" - until I see it being used by someone who took the time to learn how to use the thing... and realize that he can get the job done in half the time, with better results, and greater flexibility. Same story here, really... lots of folks who spent a LOT of time learning how Poser works, and suddenly here comes this unfamiliar thing that can do a lot, with a lot less time and effort, and with incredible results if the artist took the time to get in deep with figuring it out. It makes one defensive, and start pointing to esoteric bits and bobs to extrapoalte them into larger claims. We have a similar phenomenon in the computer world - we call it fanboyism. After all, we as individuals have an urge to justify the time and money spent on something. Perfect example: A Windows-certified MCSE spent a whole lot of time and money learning his trade, and doesn't want to have to cast it all aside and start over when the server room starts switching over to Linux. So, he has two choices - either learn the new way early enough to keep his skill (and monetary) value high, or get angry and start bad-mouthing the new thing, pushing it out wherever and whenever he can... even if it makes no sense to do so. Me, I find at least some use in both, and previous work w/ DAZ aside, present my arguments for and against each. Poser is established. It has more features... for now. But it has a higher price and eats system resources like a glutton at an all-you-can-eat buffet. D|S is cheaper, lighter, faster, more internally sound... but it lacks a few features still, and some may not like the a-la-carte plugin pricing. You picks your favorite and sticks with it, or you can embrace both (with D|S, it's increadibly easy to get and use both if you already have Poser... D|S' base app is free). /P