Every gap, curve, and clump that I look for in one, I find in the other. That's not baseless. My eyes work fine. I can see that one of those hairs is a copy of the other.

No, it's not baseless because that IS Quarker's Sapphire Fox hair....lol.

And this thread is suffering from severe thread drift :P

Laurie

Daz has a 3D app out now?  Switch for a figure? Not bloody likely.

Quote - > Quote - MikeMoss:  out of curiosity - what OS are you running, how much RAM do you have, and when is the last time you tested your RAM and HDD for errors?

Hi

I'm running Windows 7 HP on a Falcon Northwest Talon computer.

I7 2.93 Ghz processor.

8 Gigs of fast ram.

ATI 5870 Video Card.

Two 1 TB internal hard drives.

4 External hard drives total 2.5 TB.

2 Read Write DVDs

Soundblaster Audigy Sound Card.

My computer gets cleaned and tested constantly, I'm kind of a fanatic when it comes to computer care.

I hang out every day on the Windows 7 forum expounding on it, I beta tested Windows 7, and I test a lot of games.

The truth is that the only program I have (and I have over 90) that ever crashes is Poser.  I have everything that Adobe makes including Premiere, Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop and they all are stable and never freeze.

I can run Lord of the Rings Online at 250 fps.

I've never had a version of Poser that was totally stable on any computer I've ever had.

I think I started with Poser 3.  But I will admit that it doesn't freeze as often as it used to.  I haven't used 8 for long, so I'm not sure if it's better or worse then 6.

Mike 

Well, notepad.exe also never crashed on my system. ;)

You are probably aware of the fact that almost nothing is as complex as a 3d-application. Nothing pushes graphic cards, ram, processor more. Nothing is more sensitive to hardware setups. So yes, per nature you will experience more crashes and bugs with these type of applications. You really can't compare this to a little pixel-shifter like photoshop.

Not sure about Poser but 3dsmax for example has a codebase of more than 10m lines of code. The complexity of a operating system.

Btw, so far Poser2010 is rock solid for me. I really cant remember the last time it crashed or freezed. Same for 3dsmax. Its almost scary.

Quote -
Btw, so far Poser2010 is rock solid for me. I really cant remember the last time it crashed or **freezed**. Same for 3dsmax. Its almost scary.

"Freezed"?  That anything like "froze"?:lol:

"And this thread is suffering from severe thread drift"

It happens.

At least Now we know when the Original Subject of a thread has truly run its course:

Copyright violation accusations made against Random Websites Followed by stern grammar policing& admonishments.

Quote - ....  Frankly, I'm not very happy with either Smith Micro OR DAZ.

I don't know about DAZ, but Smith Micro's shareholders sure aren't happy with them either...

"ALISO VIEJO, Calif. (AP) -- Smith Micro Software Inc. fell to a loss in its second quarter on a 49 percent drop in revenue. The results fell short of expectations and its shares plunged in after-hours trading."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Smith-Micro-Software-posts-2Q-apf-373812261.html?x=0&.v=1

did'nt we already go over the shares thing? company's shares go up and down. right now SM are still at $16.1 Million income. 

panic when they're making a loss instead.  right now they're still making a Profit.

Will probably not actually go for V5 and Daz...  Or Poser 9 when it comes out!!!!  I've pretty much switched to Zbrush finally.  Might go into Poser again, but I dunno... 

Quote -
panic when they're making a loss instead.  right now they're still making a Profit.

No; from the linked article...

"The software company posted a loss Tuesday of $7.8 million, or 22 cents per share, for the quarter "

I have a system just for graphics so no Microsoft Office and the like.  It does have Vue 8, Carrera 8 Pro, Poser 2010 Pro, Paint Shop Pro X12, Bryce (I think 5.5 but I haven't used it in ages) and recently added Silo.   I have Kindle for the PC so I can read a manual or tutorial on one monitor while working in the main program on a second.

For back up I use the hard drive management suite from from Paragon and Opditracker for DVD storage.

I have had one crash in the 14 months since I built it and that did not appear to be program specific.  Poser 2010 has never stopped or crashed and I use it most days.

I guess after this I will have tempted fate and it will but on past history I will not be able to blame the programs.

The next Poser version will "have" to bring something "Special" then.

So sooper-trooper special, just about everyone "has" to have it....

Stable app, AND some outstanding figures to go with it.

SM? You listening? :-) :-) :-)

Quote: MGernot.

"Well, notepad.exe also never crashed on my system. ;)"

Age of Conan...

27 Gigabytes of program data, hundreds of characters all 3D running around in a complex 3D environment at the same time, full screen, 1920 by 1200, add complex 3D DX10 lighting, and stereo sound from multiple sound sources.  All running at over 100 fps.  Never crashes!

Well you get the idea; Poser shouldn't be that hard to run!

Mike

Falcon systems are often optimized for gaming.  Games tend to use DirectX whereas 3D apps tend to use OpenGL.  If you are using graphic drivers provided by Falcon I would suggest trying the manufacturer's one.  Make a Restore point first just in case.

Hi

I run the latest drivers from ATI, and keep them up to date.

Falcon knew that I was going to use the computer for Graphic Arts stuff when they built it for me and I discussed it with them.

And I'm not really complaining about Poser it isn't that bad, it's just that it's not as stable as everything else I run.

That doesn't mean it crashes every 30 minutes but I have learned to save a lot and make backups of my saves.

I.e. I always make a Dork.pz3 and a Backup Dork.pz3. LOL

I switch back and forth between the two when I'm working so if one file gets corrupted I have something to fall back on.

Mike

Definately Not.  I'm not switching an app solely for an accessory.  No more than I would purchase a car based on the radio it comes with or some graphics program because it has better "clip art".  However, I'm not "stuck on V4" or always drawn to working with human figures, so it's not going to drive me in a certain direction.

I don't dislike DS.  I am a much bigger fan of Poser and what I believe to be its strengths.

If you like the figures prior to the G4, DAZ is going to remove them and all the content for them from their market place so, the try hard to make the world go round with Genesis.

There's been no indication that the fourth generation figures will be withdrawn, the bases are still free and there's still new content appearing at DAZ.

Quote - There's been no indication that the fourth generation figures will be withdrawn, the bases are still free and there's still new content appearing at DAZ.

reading is a Skill you know.

"If you like the figures prior to the G4," was said. not that G4's would be withdrawn. Prior meaning before.

While I'm not hugely into rendering in Poser, D|S lasted less than a day on my computer. Would I put up with complete and utter interface frustration just to use a slightly better mesh? Would I slog through learning a new render engine? ummm... no. 

Speaking of better meshes, Apollo Maximus is still waiting to be fully explored here.  

To stretch the topic, has anyone else gotten spam from DAZ selling their Carrara?  I'm not signed up for any newsletters or promotional offeres.  Thus I name it the spam it was.

Whatever their game, Poser is Poser and DAZ Studio is DAZ Studio.  I think they would be better off supporting 'a' figure that can be used in Poser.  Unless they're just not making a profit selling Poser figures.  There will be Poser users in the foreseeable future.  Seems an established market to me.  Sending all their eggs off in a DAZ Studio basket seems, well, ...

Rªnce

I am not going to switch to Daz Studio for the Genesis figures. However, if the yet-to-be-released content creation features are compatible with Poser and more useful than what Poser 9 has to offer, I may use Daz Studio 4 for this.

*has anyone else gotten spam from DAZ selling their Carrara? *

I bought Carrara 8 Pro a long time ago for some reason, yet I still received the spam. *

I just don't get along well with Daz studio. I have tried it, several different version of it, but we just don't get along..  So no.. I'll stick with what I have then

I shalln't change over - I just find Poser to suit me best and I do get on much better with the interface.

I'm sure that Genesis is very nice but given that buying into a new figure requires quite an investment to make it workable, I have to think carefully about buying into it even if it does become available for Poser. While folk are saying that the combined morph packs are cheap, they do look limited to me - at least considered against all the morphs available for V4, including the elite sets. With some loss of function, it can wear 4th gen clothes but if I want full function, such as for required movement, then I would have to have to buy new clothes. No escaping it, DAZ is in business and fair do's to that, I guess.

Where Genesis seems to shine is in its rigging, it bends very well. However, if much of what you do requires chlothed figures, then it has to be asked "does it do what I need significantly better than the figures that I already use?" - I've seen nothing yet to convince me. I remain open but it doesn't look enough to draw me from Poser. Right now, I have about all the morphs and add ons to make V4 and almost M4 to work as I need. Heck, I rarely buy any clothes for them now - almost everything released these days looks like something that I already have.

Genesis can only wear 4th gen clothes if you use Auto-fit. There is no Poser version of the software. I know. I asked. Apparently there's not even a version being planned just in case.

Quote - *has anyone else gotten spam from DAZ selling their Carrara? *

I bought Carrara 8 Pro a long time ago for some reason, yet I still received the spam. *

The newsletter was selling something that works with Carrara and Zbrush, so as a Carrara user... you made the list.

I AM NOT a Carrara user.  They said they had my e-mail address because I've shopped at DAZ.  I replied that if I continue to get junk mail from them I would block their e-mail from my inbox and stop doing business with them altogether.

I hate spam, junk US Mail, and anyone sending me something I didn't ask for.  I don't do business with such companies.

-R

Unsubscribe from the email list. It is in the account settings.

The newsletter was selling something that works with Carrara and Zbrush, so as a Carrara user... you made the list.

Actually, the newsletter mentioned a special deal to purchase Carrara 8 Pro, which I already have.

You're probably right that the impetus was to advertise the GoZ plugin. Unlike Modo or Maya, Daz is selling GoZ (the Zbrush link)  instead of  providing it for free to make their software more useful.

Quote - I AM NOT a Carrara user.  They said they had my e-mail address because I've shopped at DAZ.  I replied that if I continue to get junk mail from them I would block their e-mail from my inbox and stop doing business with them altogether.

I hate spam, junk US Mail, and anyone sending me something I didn't ask for.  I don't do business with such companies.

-R

Excuuuuuuse me! You BOUGHT Carrara 8 Pro, or so you said. I assumed you were actually using it!

The SPAM had a link, to unsubscribe to said SPAM, but NONE of the boxes were checked.  And I have NOT purchased the software.  I have shopped at DAZ, and Indeed, tried an early version of Studio and didn't care for it.  Studio certainly is for some, I didn't care for it.

I'll stick with the Poser version I'm running.  Oh well.

Best Wishes,
-R

I wonder if there is any significance in the fact the new Daz installer does not mention Poser.  You now have to do a ‘custom install’ and the ‘specify a path’.  Mind you it also has an option to put a short cut on your desktop, not sure what that is all about but it could be a very busy desktop if it is to show runtime contents.

hornet, that might be in context of the whole, installer looking for "Poser.exe" and not working correctly in versions of Poser where the program file isn't named such.  It might actually be an improvement on their part.

I know installing Victoria 4 - into a dummy runtime the way I used to install everything from DAZ - I had to create a Notepad file (txt) and re-name the thing Poser.exe to get the installer to function.  The user provided path might be a fix to their earlier problem.

-R

Thanks Rance01, I don't purchase much from Daz these days, and what I have purchased I have not really had a problem.  I specified an external runtime in the new installer and in each case and it appears to work fine.  Maybe I have been lucky in the past but as you say it may well be an improvement.

OK. I have checked out the gen figure. It bends better, but not much, certainly not what I expect from weight mapping. I can and have done better with the old style pre Poser 8 rigging. The unisex make human aproach is a night mare. Poor choice Daz. Akin to the transformer idea in toys. You play with one till you see all it can do then it gets tossed asside and holds no more interest.

Trade my versatile, hackable, ever customisable Poser for that? Please, there is no contest. Poser stays Daz is out. 

I have downloaded ds 4 and played around with the genesis figures. I liked it a lot the jointbending is a LOT better than in Poser. OK  ds4 is very limited it is kind of a WIP.

But so wath it's for free for the moment. I think that daz had the knowledge to make better figures but that they needed another software platform than poser to make it work. So they developed themself the software that is able to do just that.

I have been using poser since poser 2 and i always upgrade, but i must say i am always underwhelmed by the upgrades. Shure there is a huge difference between poser 2 and 8.

But i must say that ds 4 is like a fresh wind blowing trough the human modeling software.

I do not quit understand all the negativity around genesis. 

The way i see it is that poser or SM has the monopoly in affordable human modeling software, a monopoly is NEVER good. If ds 4 would be more respected and thus more supported that would be a good thing, ds 4 realy has a lot of potential. Then we would have some competition poser vs ds. Competition is always good making companies trying harder, reaching further, pricing lower.

And that my friends would be a good thing for all of us.

Michel

I do not see may negative posts about Genesis. Most people agree she is better at bending as the other Poser/DAZ figures due to weightmapping.

Most people do object to being forced to another (for now) inferior program to use it.

That may be better in the future when DS4Advanced appears, but Poser at that time may support better rigging as well.

So who knows what the rest of the year will bring in advancements from both SmithMicro, DAZ or from some other 3rd party. For now I see absolutely no point in going to DS4

 Poser left ME!!!! Sob... Just kidding. PoserPro2010 for me thanks....

I invited Genesis and her henchman DS4 onto my HD. Genny sure looks more realistic around the joints. But she started making fun of V4-so I kicked her off my Hard Drive!

I have Carrara8 Pro. Was underwhelmed- not dreadfully so-it is NOT bad at all-but I have Lightwave and Vue as rendering alternatives.

 I got an email about Carrara having a plug in for easy transport of files to Zbrush and back. I am flirting with Miss Z these days.

Quote - OK. I have checked out the gen figure. It bends better, but not much, certainly not what I expect from weight mapping. I can and have done better with the old style pre Poser 8 rigging. The unisex make human aproach is a night mare. Poor choice Daz. Akin to the transformer idea in toys. You play with one till you see all it can do then it gets tossed asside and holds no more interest.

Trade my versatile, hackable, ever customisable Poser for that? Please, there is no contest. Poser stays Daz is out. 

I also find the "one size fits all" to be horrendous.  Even the new morphs look awful and it's incredibly hard to tell by the face alone if the character is supposed to be male or female.  I've seen nothing that makes me want to give up Poser.

i was giving DS4 a try, until i realized that it doesn't have support for shadow catching in its free version, that you have to pay for addons in order to do so.. just to have shadow catching??

no thanks...

For me cost is not the issue with DS4...after all, it ain't like Poser is free ;). What does bother me thought is the lack of dynamic cloth with personal objects. I  make my own. Deal breaker right there. Also, the plugin architecture bothers me for this kind of product. A plugin is needed for almost every core function. Sure, you can use the free version - IF you wanna knock yourself back to Poser 4 style stuff. I'm beyond that ;). Also, there is no mention at all of dynamic hair. Someone may be planning it, but there again - another plugin. By the time you're done getting all the plugins that bring it up to Poser's functionality you've been nickled and dimed to death. Not to mention Daz's penchant for breaking plugins with updates. Poser is enough of a hair-puller...lol. Nah ;).

Laurie

(edited by the typo elves)

I've only read the 1st page of 5, so perhaps this has been said ...

NO

also, it turned me way off when DAZ sold the morphs only to PC members ... plus having to buy more and more and more is getting really old. Sorry vendors, but I'm starting to get even Poser cash tapped out.

The other thing that I think about is the fact folks were making very respectable "art" even with Poser 1 ... using it, at that time, as a humaniod  artistic aid for photoshop, psp, etc. It is not necessary to always jump onto the newest hype when you already have the tools needed. One just needs to get better at what you already have ...

I don't remember who did the piece here in the gallery, but there was a pinup model that was enhanced with photoshop to make the muscle and vein detail that looked near real...and if i remember correctly , it was using P3 or maybe 4...and an old version of vicky...1 or 2.

That was probably ToxicAngel Dave-so ;). I think he paints everything now, but he used to use Poser to paint over. Even if it wasn't Toxic, there have been lots of very talented Poser 4 users who made great stuff ;).

Laurie

and yes..the deal that really breaks it for me is having to buy all the plugins. The advanced version throws a lot of those in the package, but then the price gets a bit out there, for even still not the versatility of Poser 8.

Auto fit is a buy-on for the free version..included in the advanced version.

Poser has its problems, but I think its still the most bang for the buck right now.

To reduce overhead, I combined the standard hi-rez bodys with the reduced resolution heads, resulting in an overall polycount of just 40k.

Using Poser 8 with the built in dependency editor and multiple falloff zones as well as Z-Brush and Colorcurvators' MorphLoader script I can create custom bodyshapes and JCM morphs in a basically a few minutes.

I tested Genesis in DS4, but immediately noticed a lot of problems, starting with the low-res base mesh, anatomical errors as well as pudgy bodyshapes, morphs and joints.

The ability to morph into wildly different shapes always results in compromises compared to purpose made figures with custom made joints just for that figure.

The need to use displacement maps to create even basic detail also opens a new can of worms. (Subdivision creates smoothness, but no new detail)

In short, I see absolutely no need for changing to a completely different riggin system, especially one that is basically "locked" and can't be easily hacked into like Poser's cr2 system.

The problem with Poser's rigging system isn't that it 's not "Industry standard weightmapping".

The problem is that only very few people in the Poserverse can properly rig a human figure.

And none of them works for DAZ or Poser. ;-)

I may be a bit naive, but I was thinking about that very thing one day, JoePublic ...Isn't a mesh a mesh pretty much? Perhaps there are differences in quality, where the olys are , etc, but if its a sound mesh, it is what it is.

What is it that actually creates an incorrect bend, such as elbow, butt, whatever? Mesh construction and rigging, I would think...in my little knowledge of such things.

So, as stated...why not increase poly count in areas that need it, to avoid mesh crushing, etc, reduce where it doesn't matter ... then proper rigging .... would it not work? Or am I just so way out of whack that my thoughts are but garbage?

@Dave-So: Yep, that's pretty much it.

Look at XAA's reworked Posette. He did local subdivision and re-topolgize the joints to vastly improve Posette's bending.

I just stayed with V3/M3 because I'm lazy and because Colorcurvators' Morphloader gives me complete control over any type of mesh, regardless how "good" or "bad" the mesh topology actually is.

The technology to have realistic joints already is available, but I guess it's more lucrative to push a "new and improved" rigging system than to refine what's already out there.

Quote -

In short, I see absolutely no need for changing to a completely different riggin system, especially one that is basically "locked" and can't be easily hacked into like Poser's cr2 system.

Hi Joe :)

That statement right there basically hits the nail on the head for me. Poser written as it is has so many options to use, you can basically create your own (and sell the results if desired.)

For anyone who wants something different than the average, Poser has so much more to offer. For myself,  all the fun of 3D is in making something new and different.