I was first introduced to Poser by someone in a gaming community that I used to be a member of. I saw someone mention using a program called "Poser", and I asked what it was about.  They gave me a link to their gallery over here and I came and looked around.

It was a few years before I actually looked into the program itself and decided to buy it and try it out.  I started with Poser 5.

So tell me your story of how you first came to know about Poser and start using it?

Internet search ;o)

I was using Vue 2/3 at the time and I wanted people and animals in it...lol. Was a pain in the butt to get stuff out of Poser 4 into Vue but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. At least, you did then...lol.

Laurie

Sims2. I loved making the characters, particularly playing with makeup and stuff, but then, when it came time to play the game, they all behaved so erratically and did such asinine things I quickly tired of the game. I actually imported one of the characters to Blender, but it wasn't much fun... very hard to work with at the time.

From there, I went to Daz Studio (before it was even version 1), but it didn't allow me to do much besides just pose stuff (and buy stuff) and it was then I discovered Poser 5, which crashed a lot, but then, got Poser 6 at this incredible deal of only AUD$300.00!

It kind-of embarresses me to think I'm only doing what I'm doing in Poser: been doing it fairly long, so you would think I'd be doing more! :blushing: :blink:

Wallpaper - I was looking for cool wallpaper.had a well-paying job with little actual work to do (those were the days). Decided (after seeing 'rosity mentioned for the 300th time), to get Terragen (an 'enabling' software, which lead to Bryce, then Poser..;)

That was Poser 4, which lead to Poser 3(don't ask...;), then Poser 5, then 8...;)

Someone told me about Poser. I used the trial and couldn't figure it out but I bought it anyway. That was Poser 4. Been addicted since then. :)

Computer Arts magazine and Moyra's site from the then Digital Divas.  I had got a free copy of Bryce 2 with Computer Arts and I was browsing for html and graphics sets to make a site.  I came across Moyra's site who then used to make graphics and page layouts and had lots of links to other similar sites.   I saw actual people in Bryce renders, not just spheres over water, and since Computer Arts had a special promotion for Bryce 3 and Poser 4 I got them both :)

Let me start off by saying I was into art and drawing WAY before I even thought abuot what a megabyte was. That being said, Poser was just a step in evolution of what I do my art in. From my crayon and play-doh days as a child to pen, pencils, clay, markers, etc, of my teen years, then after schooling I got into making animated and interactive Flash banners for a chat site that is sadly no longer active. So my artistic side has never left me, only my medium has changed over the years. And now, ladies and gents, is my story of how I came to Poser©.

I have always been my friends' tech support. And one of their fathers, which we are like family (known his son over 20 years), always calls me up with "I picked this up from 'such n such',can you use it?", and one of those calls included a bag of software he picked up at a garage sale. Most of it was junk (but classic games) from the good ol' 386 days and a copy of Windows 3.1© (oh yeah baby!). But just so happened to have a copy of Poser 7© in a rather beat up box as well. What a diamond in the rough that was.

That was just a few months shy of a year ago. Once I installed Poser©, I started Googling© everything about it and downloading all the free stuff I thought was cool (what a mistake that was in hind-sight), but anyways, I found my way into the chat room here, talking to a few people in there, and got pointed towards Wings 3D, after my 1st model, of my PC, was made with all Poser primitives. A lot of work, lemme tell ya. It's in my freebies if ya don't believe me. It's a butt load of separate parts (however many that is).

Once I downloaded Wings tho, I was off and running, to where i am now. Still a noob, but I hope people see me as having potential in the future.

(When I started typing this, I had NO idea it was going to be so longwinded. I do apologize  :o)

Kinda the same story as LaurieA except it was terragen instead of vue. And there was no getting objects into terragen back then. So it was Poser 4 and then along came Pro Pak. Started out modeling in Rhino 2.0. The good ole days of rending while you sleep and hoping it was done in the morning. :-)

My wife was part of a Paintshop Pro group and I heard about Poser from her.

A friend of mine gave me Poser 2.  I had never heard of it before.  I went nuts with it for about 2 weeks.  Just hours and hours every night.

Okay, let me be honest, I have messed around with all this for about 6 years, and still have days where I feel like I have no clue what I am doing.

As to how I got caught up in the madness.  I blame of all things, dolling, yeah, those stupid little pixel dolls.  My sister, then a kid (she is almost 20 now) had seen a dollmaker online and wanted one of her own that, and I quote, 'Did not suck' she hated most of the one's she saw but wanted one of her own.  This of course was her demand for a christmas present.  Me, I made one, a couple hundred hours of pixel shading tiny clothes for her to drag and drop to her hearts content.  Never ever again.  She was relentless after for more stuff for it.

This led to joining a forum for pixel art, which I messed about with for a few years and from there, on the site of one of the members I found renders she had done in at that point Daz Studio (pre-version 1).  Silly me, after talking to her for a bit, went and downloaded it, and it began.  I was running a play-by-post RP site at the time and thought it might be an interesting way to put faces to the characters people were playing.  Too much free stuff, too many purchases, and a need for more hard drive space followed swiftly.

Used DS up until 2008 when I saw Poser 6 on sale just before Christmas.  The rest, as they say is history.  Had to get 7... then 8... Now I am wanting PP2010.

I picked up a copy of Bryce 4 at, Oh, I'm thinking it was a CompUSA back in 1997/98. Started playing with it and found the Bryce Forum over on Delphi.com where I was a long time member. They were talking about how they used Poser to put people in their Bryce scenes and that's all it took for me to go find Poser, version 4. Been at it ever since.

I was working with Autocad, couldn't do landscaping and did a search and found Bryce, started to make models but wanted to use people, saw and a picture with a human figure in it and found out it was Poser, needed people in my scenes, bought poser 4 and it just grew from there.

A friend of mine used to do 3D but then took up boat building. Sold me his copy. If I recall correctly his name was Noah.

I started Poser late in the game. 

     I mostly drew by hand and enjoyed mostly Architecture a lot; I did some concept sketches while in college.  Didn't know anything about it until someone I knew was going into Film/Television Production and they mentioned it along with Bryce -- that was in 2003.  I have seen lots and lots of 3d graphics programs while I was into an Art major, but didn't get into all of it as it was very expensive at the time, and I wasn't thrilled with the learning curve.  Yeah call me the one with the "easy" button. 

    I took into experimenting with both Poser 4 and Bryce 5 in '03, then along came Vue 4 in demo (I didn't get the full in '06).  Then it was Daz and Renderosity afterwards and it was an experience like no other.  Talk about variety, the camaraderie, and so many things you can do with Poser -- and beyond.  Wow!! 

It's been one heck of an addictive ride, let me tell ya...

Got my first computer after I got knock off a scafold and toasted my back. Had to find something to do that didn't involve moving around to much. Got internet set up and started surfing.

 First, NASA, but then I was watching reruns of ReBoot. So started surfing about how that was done, which led to my cat jumping on the keyboard and next thing I was looking at a bunch of art done with Bryce 4 and a link to the demo. From there I found R'sity. That led to all the forums here and Poser forum. That led me to Curious Labs and DAZ.

I tried the poser 4 demo. I built a swimming pool with a diving board out of the primitives. I then made the clothed Dork, remember it's a demo, and made him dive into the pool. I even figured out how to use the wave magnet to get a ripple effect. That was it. I was hooked. I made my first ever animation with a softwre demo that I had no idea of what I was doing. How cool is that.

Daz had a sale of Poser 4 with some extra disks of content and a $20 voucher that I spent on upgrading V1 to V2. I still have those disks sitting in the drawer beside me. LOL.

I Use PP2010 mostly now with Modo, Vue8 infinity and it looks like Messiah is now in that pipeline.

What's funny is I was doing a ReBoot marathon this week to remember why and how I got started. Then this thread happens.

Poser crept up behind me while I was minding my own business, banged me over my head then subjected me to a series of brainwashing procedures until I gave in and promised to use it every day.

Once I did that I then went through another series of brainwashing exercises until I agreed to give offerings of pretty models to Poser on a regular basis.

Quote - A friend of mine used to do 3D but then took up boat building. Sold me his copy. If I recall correctly his name was Noah.

Not L Francis Herreshoff? He had some lovely designs.

I got vue and wanted to put people in  my scenes.

Love esther

Fan writer who found it easier to keep on track if he had an image from his current missive in front of himself. And enough couth to realize his artist friends didn't have time to make them when -he- needed them. Saw an image (npiatwas, of course), and got on the train as P4 was coming out....and then all the masters getting it and making it do things it wasn't supposed to do. Then started with Bryce 4, until getting a redirect to this little site in France where someone called Phoul had shorts created in Vue 4 and Mover that had Poser figures actually moving in a terrain, and well.......writer turns more writer/animator. Insane. Fun.

Attached Link: Read the Complete Story HERE

Gee, I can't really remember ... It was so long ago. :lol:
But thanks for asking.

cheers
dr geep
;=]

I never paid attention to Poser seriously before... maybe before years I tested it... Was always thinking it is not serious application. In August 2010 accidentaly I found civfanatics forum and there thousands (or at least very close to that number) of animations of soldiers usefull for 2d games. I was trying to do the same but with bad results and when I saw this whoooaa! I bought Poser 7, there was reduced price in September and started. It eats my time! Can't do what I have to do, just playing with it :)

Now I think it is very serious application, it was genially invented - simple but powerfull. Just don't like that rigging...

To be honest, it's all a little fuzzy now. I  was looking for a way to draw a storyboard for a movie I wanted to write. I heard about Poser 2 and bought it. That was all she wrote.

Was buying a used computer and the guy let me take it home to play with it before committing.
It had Bryce 2 on it and I played with that endlessly...I never bought that computer but got a new one instead

Immediately went out and got Bryce (now at version 3)...got plugged into the alt.binaries.3d.bryce newsgroup and started seeing renders with "People" in them.

But to be honest...it was Martin Murphy's "Autumn Flirts with Winter" image that hooked me.
See Link http://www.artsforge.com/martin/murphy.html

...Ran out and got Poser 3.

The rest is history.

I stumbled across Poser 6 while searching for something else on Amazon.  I was intrigued at the idea of being able to do 3D CGI at home.

I liked 3D, so I bought Poser 4 and RayDream Studio and bryce. Fo awhile I used Bryce, then started with Poser. I remember not being able to get the hair on Posettes head. It would always fly off, LOL!

Acadia -

Quote - I was first introduced to Poser by someone in a gaming community that I used to be a member of.

Pretty much the same thing.  Someone from a forum to a now vaporware game I was visiting got into poser and posted some of the things she did over there and mentioned renderosity.  Eventually I got a copy of my own.

I was using Metacreation's Bryce 2 a friend gave me. They didn't like it. Thought they were buying  something more than they got. A year or so later I got an dial up internet connection and went to Metacreation's site. They had new software called Bryce 3d which I purchased and something called Poser that seemed interesting but..... Then I discovered the Bryce newsgroups.

This changed everything. When I saw that with some work you could put one of these Poser people into a Bryce scene; well now we're talking. Went out and bought Poser 4 and within a few weeks found out the software had been sold and upgraded to 4.03. Did the upgrade and found out I was using Poser more than Bryce. Got into the Poser newsgroups and found out about 'Rosity. I joined under a different username than I currently use just to check things out. Downloaded a lot of freebies for Dork and Posette and kinda forgot about Bryce entirely. Especially after learning about Terragen here and getting a copy. After all free is good.

I went offline for a few years and after retiring started using Poser again. 4.03 with the Pro Pack I had bought years before. I missed everything in between then and Poser 8. For a brief month or so tried out Poser 7 but it was just a pain and drain on my old system so I gave it to my nephew and let him mess with it. I am still getting a handle on all the changes to the P8 software. I have a lot of bad habits to break from the old days.

Truth be told if I just started now with Poser I am not sure I would. There is a steep learning curve that really was not there in the old days. It is folks in the fourms here that have kept my interest alive and growing. Lighting, rigging, and modeling tutes here have actually increased my use and enjoyment of Poser. I find great interest in reading threads on materials by bagginsbill even if I don't always understand them. There are other users here as well that have great insight and knowledge which they freely share with the rest of us. It is them that keep me using Poser and help me place the visions in my head into art on my walls.

I bought a MetaCreations bundle containing Poser 3, Bryce 3 and RayDream 3D. And if I remember correctly, it cost me £99. I dread to think how much I've spent since then!!!  :)

I broke my leg and was on crutches for 9 months. Since I couldn't do my job (fashion photography, I sat at the computer and started playing with Poser 3, which I'd gotten from a magazine. By the time my leg healed, I had lost all interest in fashion, and had bought Poser 4. LOL.

I started modelling, and made freebies for a few years, then joined DAZ in June, 2001 as a PA. (Almost 10 years at DAZ now! Wow!). And 10 years later, here I am sitting at the computer, still making content.

mac

I was surfing for pr0n, and ........

Actually I bought poser 1 from the now defunct CompUSA.  Poser 1 was on diskettes, yup, diskettes... It never amounted to anything until I got Poser 3.

Internet search, due the release of FINAL FANTASY - THE SPIRIT WITHIN. Looking for 3D secrets, I found Poser4...

I first started with Poser 3 (beta).  I was given a copy of it from one of the programmers at MetaCreations.  I think it was during he Bryce3d beta period when MetaCreations gobbled up Fractal Designs and begain re-working Poser.

The beta, initially had the old 2.0 interface but a later copy had the new interface that MetaCreations put on it.  I think Kai did the interface re-design but i am not positive.

I did some tinkering in Poser3 but didn't do much until Poser 4.  I knida dropped away from it a bit for Poser 5 but picked it back up for Poser 6 and been at it since.

Quote - But to be honest...it was Martin Murphy's "Autumn Flirts with Winter" image that hooked me.
See Link http://www.artsforge.com/martin/murphy.html

That image is STILL one of the most awesome in Poserdom :o)

Laurie

Yeah... I was on the fence about getting Poser and then I saw that image late one night and ran out the next day and bought Poser 3 (Then available at Best Buy).

Great stuff 8 )

Actually the Artsforge has lots of good old stuff.  

Tom

 I had been playing with Bryce 2 for awhile- and was also playing Marathon (an indirect ancestor of Halo) on my Mac. Someone was making new characters with Poser2- so I picked up a copy a little while before Poser3 came out. Poser 3 was great-
"loved" the plastic helmet hair (no transmapping). I also bought Infini-D and Ray Dream Designer (later became Carrara) but did little with them except make morphs for Poser.

 Got Poser 4- skipped 5 got 6. Was able to side-grade upgrade from InfiniD to Lightwave 6. Took a long 3D vacation- and got back in with PoserPro2010.

 Hawfyr-thanks for reminding me of Martin Murphys art- great stuff that!

 Eric

It was 1995.  I had just received Bryce 2 and Photoshop 3 as presents.  Not too long after, I was browsing the internet, which I'd just accessed that year, and came across Metacreations' web page.  At least I think that's how it happened.  It's been so long.  Anyway, I saw an ad for Poser and knew that I had to have it.  I'd been drawing for years but the human form eluded me.  So I wrote a check, sealed it in an envelope and headed out the door to mail it.  Seems strange now.  Why not use PayPal?  Why not use the online form?  Why not download the demo?

None of those things existed yet.

As I was heading out the door, I saw that the mailman had delivered the mail.  I scooped it up and leafed through it.  There was a software catalog among the bills and letters and inside the catalog was a big ad announcing the debut of Poser 2.  So I went back upstairs to fill out the form from that catalog and put it, and the check, in a new envelope.

Sixteen years ago.  Wow.

Hmm...I was on a group in usenet and came upon a flamewar between some poor schmuck (went by Johnny Quest and the Family, or some such) and Dr. Legume. This was in 98 or 99, I don't recall exactly. The Doc had posted some pics in the thread and I wondered how he had made them and asked. He directed me to the old Poser User Forums (if I am remembering correctly). That was all it took. I believe the first Poser item I ever bought was from PhilC, actually. My runtime with bought and self-made content is over 100GB nowadays...

I still feel bad for that poor schmuck...the Doc ate him alive! :biggrin:

---M

LOL. The doc ate quite a few that I remember. Before, during and after the PINK PONY days.

And still does.....

What's that crazy ol' doc up to these days?

Attached Link: Dr_Legume_Eulogy

RIP Dr. L.

Quote - But, alas, is no more. :sad:

RIP Dr. L.

That eulogy was part of a prank from 1995.

---M

Yup, you're correct, it was a prank, and a rather nasty one at that. ....

so, reports of his death are greatly exaggerated?

Attached Link: Legume says "Bite me."

Always wanted to do this, well since the early 1980s. Started with graphics on computers with a mainframe program called Plato way before PCs existed. Lost access to Plato due to sanctions, found PCs very limiting (remember the green and black screen?). Later, much later, got hopelessly addicted to the Sims 2. Lost a few years there. Sims 3 came out and the sims were ugly and hard to customise. Looked around for another creative challenge, found Poser. Dithered a lot before buying it, kept going back to the website for another look. Bought Poser Pro just over two years ago because I believed the advertising. I know better now.

Found a demo copy on a bookshelf of old junk... I guess I'll get the hang of this thing eventually. I still can't find the "make art" button though.

I've wanted to do compuer graphics since my days with the comedore 64. Then I got a pc. I tried a stint with atmosphere but that wnet no where. I was using psp and part of a forum for that. Some members were also members here so I came here to check it out. For terrigen and people kept mentioning Poser. I downloaded the P6 demo and loved it.

Quote - Found a demo copy on a bookshelf of old junk... I guess I'll get the hang of this thing eventually. I still can't find the "make art" button though.

It's right next to the Subsurface scattering node.