Good afternoon. I'm using Poser 8 and wish to move beyond the default female figure (Alyson) which comes with P8. The model looks really awkward when the knees bend, etc.

There are so many model choices out there that I am overwhelmed. Can you recommend any female figure with realistic joint bending, good skin texture, etc? Should I go with one of the Daz characters, or are there P8 models I can purchase which far exceed Alyson?

Thanks so much!

Content-wise V4 is highly supported with characters, clothes, textures, freebees etc.

Weight-mapped figures bend very nicely but do not work in your Poser version AFAIK.

Be aware there are many "fixes" available for V4 to help with her joints, look here in the marketplace.

All the best

I would recommend anything from IllusionsDesigns.  Their female figure packages are VERY affordable on the weekends and the quality is always incredible.

Let's make a distinction, cedarwolf, the OP is referring to female models, not characters.  

@ TerriJohns: if you installed all your content, you should have Jessi and Sydney readily available in your runtime.

V4...if bend are real important to you, consider this

Get one that can cook and hold a good conversation. From my experience looks are fleeting at best. ;)

Well for p8, Antonia standard has great bending, but she doesn't have the product support that the daz figures do.

though if you are considering buying a figure, you might find p9 at an affordable price.  that would get you in on all the weightmapping goodness that the current/upcoming generation of figures uses to bend more realistically.

Quote - though if you are considering buying a figure, you might find p9 at an affordable price.  that would get you in on all the weightmapping goodness that the current/upcoming generation of figures uses to bend more realistically.

I agree.

While I agree that V4 is the current way to go for support, there is a new figure (Dawn) on the horizon that promises to be the "V5" that we in  Poserdom had hoped for in Genesis but was never delivered. You might want to wait a couple of weeks and see what she amounts to. (Release is set for Aug 9 if memory serves.) The only catch is, she is designed to take advantage of the technical advances in Poser 9 or later. Add to the mix the incredible advances to the morph brush and other tools in Poser Pro 2014 and there is just no contest of productivity by the software itself.

If you really want to take your Posering to a new level, you're going to need to update the program in tandem with adopting a better figure.

$.02

My recommendation: hold on to your money and buy Poser 9 or later as soon as you can afford it.

In the meantime, play with Angela by Mankahoo (free), Antonia (free) or KEZ (free).

Don't forget the G2 figures - male and female, very useful. You already have those.

Once you have Poser9 or later, you can use the weightmapped Antonia, and the weightmapped KEZ.

Miki 4 is also weightmapped.

You can get Angela at Mankahoo's website or ShareCG.

KEZ is at Morphography.

Antonia is at RuntimeDNA - weightmapped and conventionally rigged version.

Don't forget Michelle - also at RuntimeDNA. She is not free, but she has a weightmapped and a conventionally rigged version. Very nice figure.

I also like Cynthia by BVH - conventionally rigged and inexpensive.

Download Dawn from Hivewire3d as soon as she is released - she will be free for a limited time. You can start using her as soon as you upgrade your Poser. She will have loads of support.

Thank you everybody. Moving up to Poser 9+ seems like a good starting plan. What about Poser 10? Are the advancements in 10 significant compared to 9?

P10 -and especially Pro2014- are better equipped for making content.  It does add bullet physics, gamma correction, a much improved morph brush and grouping tool, and significant improvement in preview quality/speed.

http://poser.smithmicro.com/poser10-poserpro2014/

     On the other hand, P9 is $70 at Amazon, and has weight-mapping.

While the Poser 9-10 can "use" W-Mapping, only the PRO versions can create a W-Mapped figure.

If you absolutely want to upgrade?

The new ftting room in Poser Pro 2014 is worth every penny of the upgrade.

Poser 10 and PP2014 both have the new morph brush, (also extremely usefull), but only PP2014 has the new fitting room.

Save money and go to PP2014. You'll get Rex and Roxie. Not that beautiful by default but weightmapped and easy to morph. 

Vilters is right - 10 is better. Pro 2014 is totally worthwhile, especially if you want to make stuff. Poser 10/2014 also have Roxie and Rex - lovely figures both.

About Rex and Roxie: The new Poser 10 - PP2014 figures.

They are the only native Poser figures that have no magnet symetrical errors.

To compare; Alyson and Alyson2 have 42 symmetrical magnet errors. Some minor, some major.

To work with magnet error free figures, (Rex and Roxie) is a thing of beauty.

And both morph extremely well in Hexagon or Blender, and come with hair and clothes.

Start adding up the $$$ that you would spend otherwise, and the upgrade to PP2014 becomes pretty afordable.

grab all the free ones you can!! buy if you have too!

but your asking which M&M tastes best ;-)

find the one YOU like!! fix its "problems" (be amazed what you'll learn )

but most of all HAVE FUN