So, I've been playing around P7 on and off since '07. I've recently come to a point where I can put some serious time into this (life has been kinda getting in the way till now). Back when I first bought Poser 7, I read the tutorial up to the walk designer and decided to work with what I had. I've learned some stuff the hard way, but I haven't moved on with the tutorial.

 At this point, I'm fairly proficient with posing and the material room. I've put together a lot of characters, character props, and made a lot of renders. I'm slowing making progress with animation. I love working with v4 and m4.  

I've looked though these threads and most of these discussions are over my head. I realize I've got to finish working through the rest of the tutorial and I figured that the best way for me to get at least tech savvy with the talk is post here. 

My short term goals are to get through the tutorial and feel pretty confident with all the functions (face room, hair room, animation, cloth room- working with dynamic clothing, etc.).

Long term:

•Be proficient with photoshop and be able to create my own skin textures.

•create character props and characters (designing my own geometries).

Any feedback is appreciated. 

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime!

Your doing this the right way, focus first to learn the things that you really have a need for, then look at the rest.

Agreed.  Taking time to famiiarize yourself with each aspect will make you more adept and comfortable with the application.  However, we're talking about P7.  I will suggest that if you are seriously considering pursuing Poser, upgrade ASAP to either Poser 10 or Poser Pro 2014.  The technology has changed dramatically, and whatever you learn now will need to be relearned later.

The biggest difference between Poser 7 and the current version is weightmapping, which affects how rigging is done, and most importantly, lighting, which is much less complicated in newer versions as it behaves more like real lights (also the Poser Library is set up differently, but that doesn't really affect the function). 

Also, the newest versions no longer include the tutorials, so your approach sounds like a good one, keeping in mind that you will need to relearn a few things down the road.

Also, make sure you have SR3 installed...

http://poser.smithmicro.com/poser7updates.html

Quote - The biggest difference between Poser 7 and the current version is weightmapping, which affects how rigging is done, and most importantly, lighting, which is much less complicated in newer versions as it behaves more like real lights (also the Poser Library is set up differently, but that doesn't really affect the function). 

Also, the newest versions no longer include the tutorials, so your approach sounds like a good one, keeping in mind that you will need to relearn a few things down the road.

Also, make sure you have SR3 installed...

http://poser.smithmicro.com/poser7updates.html

Quote - Agreed.  Taking time to famiiarize yourself with each aspect will make you more adept and comfortable with the application.  However, we're talking about P7.  I will suggest that if you are seriously considering pursuing Poser, upgrade ASAP to either Poser 10 or Poser Pro 2014.  The technology has changed dramatically, and whatever you learn now will need to be relearned later.

So, in nut a shell, are the later editions more complex as far as user friendliness?

•Do they require a higher end machine?

•Will I be able to import all my designs that I've made and the characters, props, etc. I've downloaded? 

•I've manually installed everything I've downloaded. Is there a different process for this in poser 10 and 2014?

Thanks for the feedback.

Quote - > Quote - The biggest difference between Poser 7 and the current version is weightmapping, which affects how rigging is done, and most importantly, lighting, which is much less complicated in newer versions as it behaves more like real lights (also the Poser Library is set up differently, but that doesn't really affect the function). 

Also, the newest versions no longer include the tutorials, so your approach sounds like a good one, keeping in mind that you will need to relearn a few things down the road.

Also, make sure you have SR3 installed...

http://poser.smithmicro.com/poser7updates.html

Quote - Agreed.  Taking time to famiiarize yourself with each aspect will make you more adept and comfortable with the application.  However, we're talking about P7.  I will suggest that if you are seriously considering pursuing Poser, upgrade ASAP to either Poser 10 or Poser Pro 2014.  The technology has changed dramatically, and whatever you learn now will need to be relearned later.

So, in nut a shell, are the later editions more complex as far as user friendliness?

•Do they require a higher end machine?

•Will I be able to import all my designs that I've made and the characters, props, etc. I've downloaded? 

•I've manually installed everything I've downloaded. Is there a different process for this in poser 10 and 2014?

Thanks for the feedback.

User friendliness, can really say as my knowellege has changed so much since poser 7.

I would say they need a higher end minimium requirement, easy check on there site though. Posers firefly engine also runs much quicker than poser 7 now, I think the biggest change was in poser 2012 (if I remember correctly).

Yes you can just link to your old runtime, so you don't even have to reinstal anything.

All your old stuff will work but as said before, because how lightng has changed, you might not want to use your old lighting stuff, but you still can.

Quote - http://poser.smithmicro.com/poser7updates.html

this went over my head completely. Thanks for the link.