Quote - Well, I think DS's UI sucks. Where's my classic Poser UI for that?

* Err, Why would someone else be obligated to emulate Poser's UI? This isn't KDE, after all.

* If you don't like D|S's UI, then change it. Any way you want to. Add and remove menus or panes. Move 'em around or shove any part of it clear out of the main window if you like. Turn it into anything you want. It's flexible like that. Poser has no such flexibility (it does have some, but it's rather limited... I for one would lvoe to see a UI that looks and behaves like every other 3D/CG app I own, instead of having to interrupt the workflow just to accomodate it).

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Quote - I don't think you get either worst or better rendering from a changed UI.

True. Then again, Poser is starting to see serious competition in the rendering department as well. No longer can they sit back and claim superiority simply by having AOL and/or IBL... D|S 3's expansion of its interface with 3Delight has really raised the bar.

But... in a way, the UI does help with renders. Think about it: If you can more easily organize and visualize your pre-render environment, your renders tend to turn out better. If you're stuck with a maximum-sized viewport window, then rendering at a larger rez ? You missed spotting things that you could have caught and corrected before starting the render, which could have saved you time.

Even the little things make a big diff. Example? check out the Antonia thread... the rig turns out to be just a wee bit asymmetrical. Why? Because Poser truncates to three decimal places in the joint editor, but the dials (and file contents) go to six. So now somebody (well, at least two somebodies) have to go back and fix that.

UI design isn't just about making something pretty, or even making it necessarily workflow-friendly... it's primarily about consistency and flexibility. Krause's setups were pretty, and they took a stab at usability, but 1) it's usability circa. 1998, and 2) it is still rather constricting (in spite of improvements lashed onto it by the Poser coding team over the years). I commend them for their ideal in trying to bridge old and new, but seriously - this is about applications development and improvement, not historical restoration... :?

/P