*Quote: 'Sure, they all make programs that do their basic intended function. OTOH, the complaints and debates begin when it comes to efficiency, elegance (yes, elegance), security, and flexibility. C/C++ is definitely higher-end of the two'

Funny that attitude hasn't changed much over the years too. I recall hearing that same sentiment expressed 12 years ago or maybe even longer. Microsoft hailed VB as being the next best thing to sliced bread and a lot of (in-house) programmers used it. But to hardcore C/C++ programmers they were regarded as being duffers :)

I don't disagree with your point either. I've been using Max since version 2.5 and a lot of other 3d apps as well mostly in the construction of my 3d models but I like using Poser for my renders. I've seen a lot of spectacular images made in Poser and a lot of poor ones made in the higher end apps. Maybe they were more techinically proficient but very cold and sterile in subject matter. For as many NVIATWSs as you could find in a Poser gallery you could find an equal number images made in 3ds/Maya that looked like standard 3d boilerplate as well.

I don't think that anyone would seriously challenge the technical supremacy of the higher end 3d apps over Poser but it's amazing how so many users of those apps look down on Poser images just because they are created in such a low end 3d app. You couldn't argue back from a piece of text as to which word processing app it was created in and I think the same thing applies to 3d art as well.

• Rick