I have Poser 2008. I'm not anything close to a master in it, but have created a few characters I like for my project in David 3 and Michael 4. I have a few more characters to create. I need to buy Michael ++ Morphs and Vicky 4 ++ morphs to get more variation and then I noticed the Genesis option.

Genesis looks pretty easy to use and morphing the characters seems easier. So, I have a three simple questions:

Why should I move to Genesis?

Why should I not?

If I went with Genesis can my David 3 and Michael 4 characters make a seemless transition to Genesis?

Genesis is a new rigging system exclusive to DAZStudio.  There is an offering of David and Michael 4 morphs for the Genesis, however your current morphs will not work.  In addition, currently there is no support for Genesis in Poser until DAZ can perfect a conversion exporter. 

Read the other posts in the forum and what SmithMicro and DAZ have to see about cross usage between platforms.

Consider what happens to clothing details over those areas that get morphed a lot then reach a conclusion over weather that is a good idea or not.

Are D3, V4 and M4 morphs available for Genesis? I do not know. I also do not know the price if any.

Then ask youself if you would like any clothing model to be used as dynamic cloth or just the ones that the company will sell you.

You already have a set up that works, why be distracted by bright shiny objects?

It's a whole new program (costs$) the Genessi creatures is another whole money pit and the learning curve for both is just enough to stall any project you are currently working on

Save the dough and just get the morph packs

Poser 2008?

 

Bill

Whether you switch to DS and genesis or not may depend a lot on how much money you want to sink into new content/characters/plugins.

Genesis is free, but I'm pretty sure the shapes(m4, v4 etc) all cost money as do the morph packages for genesis.  From my understanding while your clothes would fit a v4 genesis you wont save any of their built in morphs when transfering them to genesis.  Content going forward may have a certain ease of use factor with the morph following (honestly cannot speak to how well this works) but you definitly leverage your current collection better by sticking with your current set up and adding the two morph packages.

While the base version of DS is free you will have to shell out some bucks to get similar functionality as you have in poser (8?) via plugins and add ons.  Genesis itself seems to be a bit of a money pit so you really should consider how much you are willing to spend. Even if you do have significant money to spend I'd still suggest looking into an upgrade to Poser 9 or pro 2012 and weighing the pros and cons of that vs. genesis/DS.  I'd say it compares very favorably and is getting a lot of really great and inexpensive figure support

none of the Gen 4 clothes fit Genesis, not even if Genesis has the V4/M4 shape morphs.

you would need the Autofit plug-in, which is really still a beta .( retails at about $100 i believe)

also, as meatsim has said, all movement/special morphs are destroyed by the Autofit progress. also, only relatively tight clothing converts successfully ( in general) shoes and hair are problematic.

You can pick up the Autofit right now for like $5 in magazines.  Grab it, grab free DS4 and give it a whirl.  Why not?  On some of your outfits, it will spek for itself, both good and bad.

Also, don't get confused with the ease of "morphing" genesis, versus "blending" your purchased morphs.  It is great at the latter.  You still need to purchase morphs for Genesis.  (i.e. V4/M4 shapes, Troll, Creatures, etc...)

So you'll still need to purchase morphs, but once you have them, you can dial in 20% troll, 30% david and 40% V4....to make whatever that is?

Well unlike some of the other posts that try to distract you away from the info you really want with non-objective points such as "money pit", "shiny objects", "still a beta" and the such, let's see if we can actually help you get some info so you can make an objective decision:

Quote - I have Poser 2008.

There's a Poser 2010 and a Poser 8? Could it be one of those?

Quote - I'm not anything close to a master in it, but have created a few characters I like for my project in David 3 and Michael 4. I have a few more characters to create. I need to buy Michael ++ Morphs and Vicky 4 ++ morphs to get more variation and then I noticed the Genesis option.

So you don't have much invested in gen 4 options? If not, you have a pretty clean slate to work with. Do you work primarily with M4/D3?

Quote - Genesis looks pretty easy to use and morphing the characters seems easier. So, I have a three simple questions:

Why should I move to Genesis?

People can give you different reasons for that and it all depends on what you want to do. The big idea idea behind is it is that one figure serves as a base for all figures. So you can derive a male and female, as well and creatures and a gorilla from the same base, all with different scales. Also it uses weightmapping so a good chunk of bending issues have been resolved from the previous generation and you can scale the figure as well. These morphs can also be mixed together to create brand new morphs as well. So you could mix a female and gorrilla together to get a female gorilla if you wanted.

If you like creating people and creatures, then you'll really like it because you can create different morphs and clothes designed for it will fit. Now extreme morphs may not look too good, but the clothes still fit.

Quote - Why should I not?

If Poser is your app of choice, then the figure isn't completely compatible in Poser 2012 and Poser 9. Right now, it works completely in DS4 and somewhat in Poser 9/2012. It doesn't work in lower versions. The exporter that is part of DS4 can export a genesis character to Poser but it has a long way to go for compatibility. The figure will be lower in polys than in ds4 (because DS4 uses subdivision in it's platform) and clothes currently don't work. 

In DS4, the autofit tool mangles shoes and removes morphs from clothing. So right now simple clothing works best until they can fix/add more features to it.

Also with it being a new figure, there's not a lot of content for it yet, like a good pair of shoes. The autofit tools helps with some outfits but it's not perfect.

Quote - If I went with Genesis can my David 3 and Michael 4 characters make a seemless transition to Genesis?

There are clones for both David 3 and Michael 4 for genesis, and the GenX by Dimension3D tool currently allows you to bring over morphs from Michael 4 and he's looking at adding D3 support. Also with the David 3 clone if you have the autofit tool, you can also import clothing for D3 and it will fit genesis... but will have the same issues as importing other clothing. I've also used the content toolkit to convert some head morphs from D3 to genesis.

But really the best thing to do is to try it out in DS4 and see if you like it or not, because I nor others shouldn't take the place of your own use with the figure. But since you sound like you don't have a lot invested in content, you really should do a hands on with both and see what you like. Check out the freebie thread on the DAZ common forums where I did some head morphs for both Gen 4 and Genesis and you can try both out and see what you like.

Some decent info and points of view in the rest of this post, now if we could find a way to deliver it without taking jabs at other posters first maybe this forum (and likely this thread) wouldnt devolve into more petty bickering.  

and honestly I'm not trying to start anything, but as a suggestion why not simply give  your answer to the OP without first taking a swipe at the other posters.  If what you have to say contrasts with what others have said that will speak for itself.  There's really no need to tear anyone down first.  Lets all work together to keep return this forum to the good natured place (I'm told) it once was

my 2 cents.. no offence intended

 

 

Quote - Well unlike some of the other posts that try to distract you away from the info you really want with non-objective points such as "money pit", "shiny objects", "still a beta" and the such, let's see if we can actually help you get some info so you can make an objective decision:

Quote -

Quote - and honestly I'm not trying to start anything, but as a suggestion why not simply give  your answer to the OP without first taking a swipe at the other posters.  If what you have to say contrasts with what others have said that will speak for itself.  There's really no need to tear anyone down first.  Lets all work together to keep return this forum to the good natured place (I'm told) it once was

my 2 cents.. no offence intended 

I think I made my point quite clear; if you don't want jabs thrown at you, then don't throw them, especially when there was no help provided at all that answered what the OP was looking for to go with it.

No jab or offence intended, sometimes we all need a reminder, now and again, when our behaviors may be causing unintended negative effects on others.  

But you are correct, this is off topic from the imediate issues of the thread so If you would like to discuss further feel free to do so via PM.

As regards the OP..

You will also find WM figures available for poser.  Currently the selection is decidedly female.. however such is the way of the poser world.  There are projects in the works for Male characters.  I would be very surprised not to see a weightmapped version of M4 before too long.  That all would require a change of program to poser 9.  (IMHO a very worthwhile upgrade for a multitude of reasons, especially if final render quality is high on your priority list)

 

Quote - > Quote - and honestly I'm not trying to start anything, but as a suggestion why not simply give  your answer to the OP without first taking a swipe at the other posters.  If what you have to say contrasts with what others have said that will speak for itself.  There's really no need to tear anyone down first.  Lets all work together to keep return this forum to the good natured place (I'm told) it once was

my 2 cents.. no offence intended 

I think I made my point quite clear; if you don't want jabs thrown at you, then don't throw them, especially when there was no help provided at all that answered what the OP was looking for to go with it.

Yes, sorry. I have Poser 8. Points well taken, thank you to all. And, I agree. It seems making a switch right now, in the middle of a project could be problematic. However, I could just keep my Poser characters in Poser and new ones in Genesis, but it does seem it is more costly to go the Genesis route. I guess I was just thinking about the future because in a way the Poser architecture seems not as advanced as Genesis. Maybe I'm wrong and just seeing 'bright shiny objects'. :)

You can use your characters in Daz Studio 4.  The old figures will work. Genesis is just an option.

Poser 8 is definitly not as advanced as Genesis.  The weightmapping is a great feature, saves all the bloat in a figure like what you have in v4.  There are a lot of compelling things about genesis, but here are also trade-offs with giving up poser for DS.  

I can only speak to my personal decision, but from my subjective standpoint, the best looking renders I see being posted (in forums, in promo pics etc) seem to be done with poser.  Poser 9/pro 2012 has a lot to offer as well.  Converting clothes to weightmapped characters is very easy.  Scene set up and material room set up is much easier to get a handle on than in previous versions, the cloth room has performed very well and given some stunning results without a lot of effort.  It can take a little learning but the potential to expand your capabilities without forking out more money once you own the program is imense

 

Quote - Yes, sorry. I have Poser 8. Points well taken, thank you to all. And, I agree. It seems making a switch right now, in the middle of a project could be problematic. However, I could just keep my Poser characters in Poser and new ones in Genesis, but it does seem it is more costly to go the Genesis route. I guess I was just thinking about the future because in a way the Poser architecture seems not as advanced as Genesis. Maybe I'm wrong and just seeing 'bright shiny objects'. :)

* It can take a little learning but the potential to expand your capabilities without forking out more money once you own the program is imense.*

And Poser 9/Poser Pro 2012 comes with a manual, so there is actually a chance of learning its advanced features. *

Quote - I guess I was just thinking about the future because in a way the Poser architecture seems not as advanced as Genesis. Maybe I'm wrong and just seeing 'bright shiny objects'. :)

Quote - Poser 8 is definitly not as advanced as Genesis.

 

You are not really comparing the same things here. Poser 8 is a program and Genesis is a character.

If you wish to use weightmapping you may wish to consider updating to the newest version of Poser i.e. Poser 9/Pro 2012. It has full weight mapping capabilities and you will still have your familiar interface. The other option of changing applications and content is even more expensive and then you will also have to re-learn how to do things which is not advisable if you are mid-project.

Indeed, and Poser8 is from 2 years ago and DS4-Genesis is from mid this year. Looking fast??? Yes it is still 2011 :-)

Poser9-PP2012 also have new techology; unfortunately, the 2 apps are not completely comatible any more.
Older content works in both, but the newer content is single application.
Miki3 not fully operational in DS4 and Genesis not fully operational in Poser.

If you are in the middle of a project? I would perhaps upgrade, yes, but stick to the line I have.

From what you stated in your first post, here's the thing that you have focused on:

The characters.

Moving forward, you should consider if I get a new application, which one is going to still allow me to focus on character creation? You use D3 and M4 and you've stated an interest into possibly using those two moving forward; which app is going to do that for you the best?

Poser renders really nice and fast, however, if you're looking at male figures moving forward, then you probably do need to look at Genesis. Male figures have always been on the low end of the totem pole, and genesis gives you a instant boost to what you can do. It will make some people mad, but there will not simply be any competition to what's DAZ is offering as far as the male. Period. And before someone mentions Brad... I've been waiting for his release since 2009, and the major push to get him out the door still isn't there because he's being pushed aside by the women... and I seriously doubt the push to clothe him will be there as well. And I've been having fun not only sculpting the head of genesis (like with M4), but working on sculpting the body as well... and the clothes still fit.

Hopefully, SM and DAZ will figure iron out the issues so that genesis will work in Poser, however if you you're going to invest in another program so that you going to use male figures, I'd invest in DS4 first... because you DON'T want to miss M5's arrival. 

Well I do not have a dog in this fight, unlike some of the responses you have received.

If you are currently in the middle of a project, I thnik you should finish it before you you start to make a decision.

By all means, download and test DS4, but when you come to the forums for advice, It may be a good idea to check the background of the people that are giving you that advice.  The DS vs Poser discussion is one that attracts advocates for both sides so the advice pro or con is very likely to be biased.

 

Bill

 

If you can use or even like Daz's interface, you can use both you know.  You just won't be able to use the gene stuff in poser.

Quote - I'd invest in DS4 first... because you DON'T want to miss M5's arrival. 

Why do you say that? And won't M5 work in Poser? Is it due to arrive soon?

And that brings up another question:

If I stay with Poser and M5 is coming out soon, should I bother to buy M4 Morphs++? (or for that matter V4 Morphs++?)

If it is anything like V5, then no M5 will not work in Poser.

I would say the first thing for you to do is to try Studio, work with it a little, and see if you like it. If you don't, stick with Poser.

Your Gen 4 Michael and David characters will have to be recreated for Genesis (unless you also buy GenX, that lets you use Gen 4 morphs with Genesis - I can't vouch for how well since I don't have it though).

I am in a slightly similar situation in that I had made a V4 character that I used often and wanted to recreate her with Genesis. I had to turn all the dials again to make the face and body shape I wanted, but it wasn't too hard and since Gen 4 textures work with Genesis, I was able to recreate her pretty well. Then my hard drive crashed last week and now I have to do it yet again, lol.   ;)

But anyway, the real key is going to be if you want to use Studio or not, that will determine whether you can use Genesis (and your Gen 4 stuff) or if you should stay with Poser and what you're familiar with.

 

SnowS

Quote - And that brings up another question:

If I stay with Poser and M5 is coming out soon, should I bother to buy M4 Morphs++? (or for that matter V4 Morphs++?)

If you're still using Gen4 and making stuff with that, sure it makes sense to get the morphs++; however at this point if you want to use M5, currently DS4 is your best choice. As I mentioned before, if you are rending women, then you have more choices. But remember the scaling options you got with steph4 and there was no David 4? What about teens? What about clothes for them? For those that do those types of renders, then genesis is probably what you are looking for, because these not any solutions coming anywhere else.

Is M5 supposed to be "all of that" over M4?  I didn't really think V5 was so much better than V4. (except for weightmapping, which you can get in either software now it seems)  I guess she was a little more realistic in size...but otherwise? There is a lot of hype about Genesis, but V5 is rarely raved about.

M4 seems already about the correct size, so what will M5 Genesis have so much better than M4 Genesis?

Oops, and for the op, remember its a matter of choice here.  You'll still need to purchase something.  M4 -> M4 Morphs++, M5 -> Genesis Evolution Body Morphs, Genesis Evolution Head Morphs, etc...

Since M5 will be a Genesis shape, it will not currently work with Poser.  M4 will have a totally different look compared to M5--so you'll want to have both I'm sure; I've seen some previews of M5 on the Daz forum and he seems to bear more of a resemblance to M3--but the flexibility Genesis figure makes it possible to attain just about any look you want.  I am not ready to give up Poser but the ability to mix all these shapes seamlessly and with the sub-d having clothing that will fit and work with any variation of body shape seamlessly without having to do conversions is a definite boon. 

Try DS 4 and see what you think.  It comes with enough starter content that you can experiment a bit and see if you want to get into it.  I was skeptical myself until I tried it and now I love it.

??? what thread is the m5 preview?

You have to be a Platinum Club Member to access this, but here is the link:

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=177638

Bastards.. Would it be illegal to post them here? :)

Questions:

If I use Daz can I render my poser created M4 and D3 figures (complete with their clothing and costumes) and a Daz created Genesis figure in the same Daz render?

Is there a reason I would want to purchase Daz Advanced instead of using the basic free Daz application?

Yes you can render your Poser created figures in daz.  And yes you can add Genesis to the scene.

For your second question I would look at the differences between the two Daz versions and see if the features in advance is what you need.

Quote - Is M5 supposed to be "all of that" over M4?  I didn't really think V5 was so much better than V4. (except for weightmapping, which you can get in either software now it seems)  I guess she was a little more realistic in size...but otherwise? There is a lot of hype about Genesis, but V5 is rarely raved about.

M4 seems already about the correct size, so what will M5 Genesis have so much better than M4 Genesis?

Oops, and for the op, remember its a matter of choice here.  You'll still need to purchase something.  M4 -> M4 Morphs++, M5 -> Genesis Evolution Body Morphs, Genesis Evolution Head Morphs, etc...

M5 looks better in his default form; the face gives me a bit of D3 and roundness from M4; the body is more of M3 but better looking. His butt.... That's all his. ;) But what annoyed me about M4 is his chest and abs. Certain morphs can make him look unnatural in certain poses. M5, I like the shape better... And the bonus is that I can further refine it, then scale different parts and still be able to pose him and have him wear all the clothes. Is he all that? Wouldn't go that far, but he's pretty good alone and a base for other morphs.

So if you can render M4 and D3 in Daz what is the V4 and M4 Shapes for Genesis and David 3 for Genesis about?

Quote - Well I do not have a dog in this fight, unlike some of the responses you have received.

If you are currently in the middle of a project, I thnik you should finish it before you you start to make a decision.

By all means, download and test DS4, but when you come to the forums for advice, It may be a good idea to check the background of the people that are giving you that advice.  The DS vs Poser discussion is one that attracts advocates for both sides so the advice pro or con is very likely to be biased.

 

Bill

 

 

Best advice of all in this thread. :m_wink:

 

 

 

Agreed!

And thats coming from someone biased towards poser, even though I really have no stake in increasing poser usership.  

 

Quote - > Quote - Well I do not have a dog in this fight, unlike some of the responses you have received.

If you are currently in the middle of a project, I thnik you should finish it before you you start to make a decision.

By all means, download and test DS4, but when you come to the forums for advice, It may be a good idea to check the background of the people that are giving you that advice.  The DS vs Poser discussion is one that attracts advocates for both sides so the advice pro or con is very likely to be biased.

 

Bill

 

 

Best advice of all in this thread. :m_wink:

 

 

 

Quote - You have to be a Platinum Club Member to access this, but here is the link:

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=177638

I'm sorry, but how is this info in any way relevant to the OP? The only people that would pay to be privy to this info are mostly people who are frequent shoppers at Daz3D, and definitely not most 3D users who are on the fence  about which programs to use.

Advantage for genesis:

Better figure that has vastly improved morphing and bending features.

Can use  advanced muscle-flexing morphs

The most advanced Bone and Rigging setup in 3D ready-made figures.

Can utilize 100% of generation 4's legacy morphs 

Disadvantage for genesis:

You are going to have to pay for Daz 4 Pro and Genesis morph packs separately in order to take advantage of all that genesis offers. Which can easily run you well above $500.

Poser 8 will only run you $130 on Amazon, and Poser pro and 9 about $70-$150..So why would you get 8 in the first place!? 

 The fact is this: You could pay for well over $500 for the most advanced figure and program for content creation, thereby having the ultimate package in 3D character creation/posing, or you could stick with Generation 4 characters and  a program that you're most comfortable with for only $150? (Seriously, Poser 9 for only $20 more, and you still want vers 8?) 

It would be wise to go with 9 and save up the money (And wait for specials) in order to fully take advantage of Daz's new figure/program and the eventual support of Genesis. 

Unless of course, you have the money to spend, in which case I'll simply add, "Buy the entire cake, and eat it as well!" ;^) 

 

To clarify.. I think the OP already has poser 8, not that he is looking to buy it.

Also a lot of the advanced features genesis has over previous generations figures is available to poser as a program however most content currently available has been designed to only leverage poser 4 or 6 level features.  As more poser 9/pro 2012 specific content rolls out you will see a distinct narrowing of the gap between genesis and the other figures

 

Quote - > Quote - You have to be a Platinum Club Member to access this, but here is the link:

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=177638

I'm sorry, but how is this info in any way relevant to the OP? The only people that would pay to be privy to this info are mostly people who are frequent shoppers at Daz3D, and definitely not most 3D users who are on the fence  about which programs to use.

Advantage for genesis:

Better figure that has vastly improved morphing and bending features.

Can use  advanced muscle-flexing morphs

The most advanced Bone and Rigging setup in 3D ready-made figures.

Can utilize 100% of generation 4's legacy morphs 

Disadvantage for genesis:

You are going to have to pay for Daz 4 Pro and Genesis morph packs separately in order to take advantage of all that genesis offers. Which can easily run you well above $500.

Poser 8 will only run you $130 on Amazon, and Poser pro and 9 about $70-$150..So why would you get 8 in the first place!? 

 The fact is this: You could pay for well over $500 for the most advanced figure and program for content creation, thereby having the ultimate package in 3D character creation/posing, or you could stick with Generation 4 characters and  a program that you're most comfortable with for only $150? (Seriously, Poser 9 for only $20 more, and you still want vers 8?) 

It would be wise to go with 9 and save up the money (And wait for specials) in order to fully take advantage of Daz's new figure/program and the eventual support of Genesis. 

Unless of course, you have the money to spend, in which case I'll simply add, "Buy the entire cake, and eat it as well!" ;^) 

 

Quote - > Quote - http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=177638

I'm sorry, but how is this info in any way relevant to the OP? The only people that would pay to be privy to this info are mostly people who are frequent shoppers at Daz3D, and definitely not most 3D users who are on the fence  about which programs to use.

Advantage for genesis:

Better figure that has vastly improved morphing and bending features.

Can use  advanced muscle-flexing morphs

The most advanced Bone and Rigging setup in 3D ready-made figures.

Can utilize 100% of generation 4's legacy morphs 

Disadvantage for genesis

You are going to have to pay for Daz 4 Pro and Genesis morph packs separately in order to take advantage of all that genesis offers. Which can easily run you well above $500.

Poser 8 will only run you $130 on Amazon, and Poser pro and 9 about $70-$150..So why would you get 8 in the first place!? 

 The fact is this: You could pay for well over $500 for the most advanced figure and program for content creation, thereby having the ultimate package in 3D character creation/posing, or you could stick with Generation 4 characters and  a program that you're most comfortable with for only $150? (Seriously, Poser 9 for only $20 more, and you still want vers 8?) 

It would be wise to go with 9 and save up the money (And wait for specials) in order to fully take advantage of Daz's new figure/program and the eventual support of Genesis. 

Unless of course, you have the money to spend, in which case I'll simply add, "Buy the entire cake, and eat it as well!" ;^) 

 

Wait for a DAZ sale before you buy their more expensive products. And try before you buy! They also have a 30-day money back guarantee.

The shapes of V4 and M4 for Genesis are needed to convert existing characters you may have to Genesis, e.g. if you use Dimension3D's Generation X tool.

I agree that if you have a project going in Poser, you'll want to finish it in Poser most likely.  As to whether it's worth it to upgrade to Poser 9, you will have to look at the newer features and decide whether it's of benefit to you.  I've found the improvements for my work flow to be minimal over Poser 8; it does have weight map support for new Poser figures that have that (none of the Daz figures will have Poser compatible weight maps).  If you want to do your own weight mapping, you have to go with Poser Pro 2012.  If you are not a content creator it's unlikely that it will benefit you much at your stage on the Poser path.  The new versions do have prettier open gl previews and give you more of an idea of what your lighting will look like when rendered.  The new sub surface scattering feature is lovely and so is indirect lighting.  To be perfectly frank I like the lighting setup much better in Poser than Daz Studio and I think it's easier to get a "realistic" look without having to spend more money on expensive Daz Studio lighting set ups (like Reality--which isn't currently supported in Daz Studio 4 yet).

I think the best version of Daz Studio for the serious CG artist who isn't a content creator is Daz Studio 4 Advanced which includes many plug-ins that would be costly to add to the base free version currently.

I hated M3, but this new M5 will have far greater potential with the blending capable with other shapes.  Yes, as stated above you can use standard and Genesis figures together, the picture above shows the Freak 4 on the left and the Genesis male on the right.  It might be worth noting that genitalia is not included with the standard Genesis package--if you want your figures to be fully equipped you'll have to buy the Pro Bundle of those figures--or buy 3rd party add-ons.  I purchased male genitalia at Renderotica for my nude male renders--and that option will be cheaper than buying the Pro Bundle when it arrives.  The same holds true for Vicky--if you want the lower body parts you have to get the Pro package or find a 3rd party alternative.  It might be worth noting that Vicky in her earlier versions never had female external genitalia, so at least they are offering the option now.  If you want to get more of idea of what Genesis can do I reccomend watching Daz's videos about it and playing with the free version as I already suggested.  For that matter you can download a trial of Poser 9 and give it a whirl too--I can't tell you how many times I'd wished that I'd done that before purchasing new software.

Quote - To clarify.. I think the OP already has poser 8, not that he is looking to buy it.

Also a lot of the advanced features genesis has over previous generations figures is available to poser as a program however most content currently available has been designed to only leverage poser 4 or 6 level features.  As more poser 9/pro 2012 specific content rolls out you will see a distinct narrowing of the gap between genesis and the other figures 

OOPS! My mistake, it would be good to see some competition between these companies grow! Varied choices will benefit the consumer, and drive the companies in bettering their product!

@ Tomsde:

M2 and M4 were the best of Daz's figures, My avatar is made from M2! 

I agree takezo3001, I still like M2 and use him often, with a good texture map he looks just great even now.  Still far superior to any of the native Poser figures.  I really thought they were getting somewhere with Don in Poser 5, but then they released James and Jessie and things started going down hill (in my opinion though I know there are folks that like them).

I also loved the first Freak except for his out of scale hands and feet--the new Freak is nice, but there is very little content  available for him.

This is starting to look more and more a DAZ commercial

Could you please continue this in the DS forum?

 

What I didn't see mentioned but may have missed it.

If you do not have the morphs++ for M4 or V4, you have less than 20% of the usefulness of the figure.  Adding these makes them much more versatile  And, Nerd has a free download of weight mapping for V4 that is another boost to the figure, it works magnifcently.

If you have an investment in dynamic clothing for Poser, it will not work in DS, any version.  DS also does not support dynamic hair, any version. and DS dynamics will not work in poser.  Weight mapping for Poser, I don't believe works in DS.

If you have P8, there are upgrade paths to 2012 or P9, although the bite is still healthy.  It is no worse than the bite would be to go from there to DS4 and Genesis based figures. 

My advice, the morphs++ would probably make the best investment then see if you want to move to something else.  What you need, not what someone else says you need.

Quote - You are going to have to pay for Daz 4 Pro and Genesis morph packs separately in order to take advantage of all that genesis offers. Which can easily run you well above $500.

Poser 8 will only run you $130 on Amazon, and Poser pro and 9 about $70-$150..So why would you get 8 in the first place!? 

 The fact is this: You could pay for well over $500 for the most advanced figure and program for content creation, thereby having the ultimate package in 3D character creation/posing, or you could stick with Generation 4 characters and  a program that you're most comfortable with for only $150? (Seriously, Poser 9 for only $20 more, and you still want vers 8?) 

You don't need the Pro package to run genesis. Advanced is going to cost you around the same price as Poser 9. The OP hasn't bought Morphs++ for the M4 or V4, so he will need to buy that or just the Evolution morphs for genesis... so it's about the same in cost. The $500 part comes in if you want the content developer kit with the rigging tools and zbrush and photoshop bridges.

Quote -It would be wise to go with 9 and save up the money (And wait for specials) in order to fully take advantage of Daz's new figure/program and the eventual support of Genesis. 

Unless of course, you have the money to spend, in which case I'll simply add, "Buy the entire cake, and eat it as well!" ;^)  

I don't think it's wise to give advice to buy something now on the hope that the thing you may want to use is eventually supported. That's like buying 4 tires for a car that you hope you can drive... the tires may not even be the right size, but you told someone to just buy it.

But it all comes down with what you want to work with and go from there.

I discovered that geometry switching and some older male figures aren't working properly in Daz Studio 4 Advanced.  Generally speaking Poser does give better support for legacy content, though some older texture maps don't seem to work as well with the new system.  It's really a mixed bag.  I like to use Michael 2, but since he's not currently working properly in Daz Studio I'll have to use Poser for that purpose.  I think it's helpful to have both programs actually, some things work better in one as opposed to another--but with the figures you mentioned there shouldn't be a problem in either.

The morphs ++ is a wise investment regardless as they will continue to work with your current collection regardless of whether you decide to continue with poser or start investing in Genesis

 

Quote - What I didn't see mentioned but may have missed it.

If you do not have the morphs++ for M4 or V4, you have less than 20% of the usefulness of the figure.  Adding these makes them much more versatile  And, Nerd has a free download of weight mapping for V4 that is another boost to the figure, it works magnifcently.

If you have an investment in dynamic clothing for Poser, it will not work in DS, any version.  DS also does not support dynamic hair, any version. and DS dynamics will not work in poser.  Weight mapping for Poser, I don't believe works in DS.

If you have P8, there are upgrade paths to 2012 or P9, although the bite is still healthy.  It is no worse than the bite would be to go from there to DS4 and Genesis based figures. 

My advice, the morphs++ would probably make the best investment then see if you want to move to something else.  What you need, not what someone else says you need.

It happens everytime the subject comes up... fair game though, i'm shamelessly plugging poser so cant complain too much.  If we can all keep it civil there really isnt any harm in touting the virtues of our prefered software

 

Quote - This is starting to look more and more a DAZ commercial

Could you please continue this in the DS forum?

 

Still not understanding why one would need V4 and M4 Shapes for Genesis or Genesis Evolution: Head Morphs if Genesis is supposed to create whatever you want.

Michaelab wrote:

Quote - Still not understanding why one would need V4 and M4 Shapes for Genesis or Genesis Evolution: Head Morphs if Genesis is supposed to create whatever you want.

The V4 and M4 Shapes make it easier to recreate V4 and M4 characters with Genesis. The Genesis Evolution Head and Body Morphs are the equivalent to the ++ morphs for V4 and M4.

 

 

Coldrake