Quote - Netherworks said: lmckenzie,

Like everything it's a judgement call.  I understand that.  But when I see definitive statements like "users want this" and "users want that" I think what I have a problem with is the wording.  And I'm not specifically calling anyone out.  I just think people often inject what is important to them and say this is what "users" want.

I can say that I would not like to see everything so dressed up as "user friendly" that it is annoying for those that do not want to be hand held every single step of every process.  There are a LOT of things that can be demystified by reading through the Poser manual.  We see time and again the same kinds of questions that come up that are already answered.  I mean, honestly, what is so god awful about looking in a manual?  There are even pictures in it! :D  I can see using "reminders" and automating repetitive tasks but it really annoys me when an application starts taking the stance that all users are "idiots" and need big primary colored buttons with simple words on them to produce anything.  Users should be offended, at least slightly, by that.  But for all I know everyone or a majority wants that...

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that maybe if "maw maw" and "paw paw" need to be walked through every single step of using a computer or its software, they shouldn't have one.  Or they should take on the burden of learning to use it.  There is so much information out there that there is simply no excuse.

I suppose I tend to think of people being smart enough to understand basic concepts and I don't immediately assume everyone is dumb as a rock from the get-go.

Unfortunately, I see idiots and stupidity running rampant on most forums and comment sections. It's amazing we've made it this far as the human race. I can understand why SM and DAZ feel the need to dumb it down. But I have seen countless requests for simple, step by step explanations from users (paying customers) because they are in a hurry to make art now. There are also so-called pros who do the same thing. We just don't have enough time anymore since we are all so connected these days.

Lately, I've come to think of people being dumb enough not to understand basic concepts. I've thought a few times over the years of becoming a merchant, but decided against it everytime because I just don't have the patience to suffer idiots.

I also see lots of bad information in these threads. And sometimes from folks who should know better. There are definitely differences between Poser and D|S. But when it comes to the render engine, DAZ has the upper hand with 3Delight - it can do more in the right hands. It would be better if it was the brand new v10 which has speed tweaks but v9.5 in D|S 4  isn't bad. Where Poser has the upper hand is that people like BB have figured out how to make the Poser render engine work better than in the past (and Stefan has been working hard on improving it). That information has made it back into Poser so default settings aren't so bad and anyone can get OK results and much better if you follow BB's and others' advice. With DAZ, there seems to be fewer tech heads hanging out in the forums and the information is harder to squeeze out, but they have some really nice lighting setups and shaders built in since they bought and included omnifreaker's early stuff and if you watch some YouTube videos and download the free (through early December) new getting started PDF, you'll see nice results right away. The default Studio render settings for 3Delight are not optimized, so you have to go with forum advice which will save you render time. But they have included better textures and shaders out of the box for V5 so many more of the first renders, if the lighting is correct, look good.

DAZ has different options for the UI in D|S 4 so you can hide many things if you know where they are. You can also customize the UI to a degree.

I think Poser and D|S have both made very good advances, but it will be harder to compete with Blender as it gets better and better and that goes for all software. The advantage Poser and D|S will have there is still the pre-made, very affordable content, and ease of use, and a strong community to back both, even though there are many idiots running wild.

 

EDIT: Netherworks, just saw your most recent post and yes, those beginners folks needing simplicity should be driven to the Debut versions, etc. Unfortunately, they probably don't know they exist as they don't get all the coverage in magazines and websites. But the lesser versions would be where I would direct someone like that as I've directed friends over the years to the lesser versions of Photoshop, etc.