i use DAZ studio, and i was wondering, is Poser 'better'? or is it about the same?

not in my book, I started using DAZ way back and AS told me stuff they did in Poser so I started using P and loved it every since...

that's my 2 cents

I think it all depends on what your needs are.

Obviously Poser has some major features that Daz|Studio doesn't.

Also Daz|Studio has features that Poser doesn't.

I have seen posts where some people have been using poser for a long time, switch to using Daz because of the easier interface or rendering.

I don't use Daz. I have opened it an have tried to figure it out but it's way too complicated looking.  I don't do well learning new programs.

I do know that if you ever download something that was created in a "newer" version of the Daz program, that you have to redownload the program and reinstall it each time.  The one time I tried to use it to convert something to an .obj file for someone and had problems with the props, it was a total PITA having to keep redownloading and reinstalling the program everytime the creator gave me a new file to try. I haven't touched it since.  I would uninstall it except for some reason Bryce calls on the files or something.

It's a mixed bag.. I think the preview is a bit better in DS. The interface and main program engine are btter in DS, mainly because the code is newer and was designed with expansion in mind. Poser's base code is over 5 years old.

To fairly compare them, you need to buy a lot of ds plugins, and that starts getting you close to the cost of Poser.

Poser does however have a LOT of features DS does not havbe.. some people use them, some people don't but none the less, they are there, and they are pretty cool.

Also, the material room in poser is amazingly powerful.. look for any post by bagginsbill, and you'll see jaw droppngly amazing things he's done with it, and shared with the community.

Also a major deal for me, is some thing still do not work right in DS, and what's even more annoying, is from version to version some things are fixed, and other things break. Pretty much everything works in poser because content is designed to work in it.

There are also some amazing tools for poser only, like the wardrobe wizard II plugin, which has some abilities it's standalone cousin does not, Poser toolbox, Particles 3, and Shader Spider.

I'll tinker with DS from time to time, but I always come back to poser ads my main app.

Quote - i use DAZ studio, and i was wondering, is Poser 'better'? or is it about the same?

No such thing in 3d as 'better' IMO. You have 'faster' and you have 'more flexible' and even 'more expensive' But 'better' is very subjective and depends on what your needs are and what you expect from a tool.

Like many people slam D|S for not having feature X or feature Y that Poser does. Well yes, but then again, D|S is free and it has all the basic tools you need for posing and rendering. So it's perfect for people who dont need the various 'rooms' of poser, or already have better tools in other apps. For them, poser's features are a waste of money.

OTOH some people just want an 'all in one' solution for 3d and they find poser to be quick and easy for the job. These guys would find D|S too simple and insufficient for their work, and other apps too complex and expensive. For them poser is a sort of happy medium that they can be creative with.

So unless you have some specific kind of work in mind, just use whatever you click best with.

what are these 'features' that Poser has that DAZ doesnt?

mainly, though, i just do basic renders. take a look at my, uh, gallery (as small as it is,lol) to see if you want.

Material Room, for one thing.  That's arguably one of Poser's strongest features.  There's a wealth of stuff you can do with the Material Room.

I'm a hardcore Poser user, but I like to render occassionally in DAZ Studio - it produces a different "look", especially when using the Toon rendering capability, which suits my purposes.

...and for the other side of the coin, go to the Daz Studio forum and ask the same question...;)

Poser has Setup, Face, Hair and Cloth rooms. Also, the Poser animation features are more advanced than Daz Studio (though some will tell you Poser's animation is wretched compared to true animation applications.)

what do these rooms do? is it something to make your own stuff or what?

You can import original models that you've created and turn them into Poser figures in the Setup Room. (I think a tiny percentage of Poser users have actually used this feature. It's pretty defective.) The Face Room allows you to modify the faces of the Poser figures. You can import a photo and the stretch the face of the model to match it. This isn't really useful for many because they prefer to use the Daz figures, and the Face Room doesn't work with those. The Cloth Room can make flowing cloth for animations and poses. I've never used it. The Hair Room makes tiny wires grow out of a model's head or skullcap. I don't use it because this sort of hair slows renders and looks crappy.

The Setup room is abysimal, but if you are a sharpshooter and know what to do and/or looking for you can make it work. But to the average user...like chugging a fistfull of tacks.
The material room can be quite powerful, even if you aren't into mathamatics/nodes upon nodes...like some.
Again, if you understand bump, displace and specular...it works just fine without all of the node tricks.
But to be fair I haven't ever tried DS so take that into account in my summery.

that face room sounds pretty neat. but other than that...what the general interface like with poser?
the new DAZ seems easy enough.

Attached Link: Mike Jones Drop & Gimme 50

Well I've done a 4 minute animation using Victoria 4.1 if you want to see Poser and Daz3d Victoria in action please take a look...its a music video hip hop and may be offensive to some people in which case I apologize in advance for the booty shaking and partial nudity. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQbPp8wSr8U