“That is the main reson why Poser and Daz Studio are the laughing stock of the 3D comunity.”

I think there is probably some truth to that, but perhaps not as much as some may think and not really in the same way. Sex is always going to stir up anxieties that are manifested sometimes as ridicule, sometimes as hostility etc. I think you’re going to find that in any medium, including literature, film etc. Look at the controversy around 50 Shades of Gray. It became derided as ‘mommy porn,’ but it also became a must read for a lot of people. People may deride or attack but economics don’t lie.

I think the larger part of the ‘professional’ criticism is rooted in Poser’s nature as a ‘relatively’ easy to use program beloved of hobbyists who would never be inclined to touch Maya, or Max Some pros, or at least people using pro level tools, are always going to look down on what they see as amateur things. Part of that is because they see amateurs producing material that is viewed by the public as about as good as things they slaved to produce with all their hard won years of learning to master their tools. As has been said before, the viewers don’t care how the image was produced. As I’ve said before, we see the same thing in programming. Someone who’s learned to put a window on screen with dozens of lines of C++ code isn’t necessarily going to appreciate it when anyone can do the same thing with a couple of mouse clicks. Doubtless the same is true in other professions when suddenly everyone can get in the game.

Now it is true that the amateurs produce a lot of not so professional results in the process, but the fact that they can do it at all, without a massive financial and learning investment probably scares the heck out of some. The fact that some of those amateurs can produce damned fine work makes it even worse. To be fair, the attitude isn’t universal. I think the true professionals simply recognize talent and respect it and the see tools as only tools. Poser, because it is focused on human figures is always going to be an easy target and some people would play the porno card in criticizing it even if it was only used to produce erotic masterpieces.. Make no mistake though, the criticism in some other form would be there if every Poser figure remained clothed and chaste at all times. I think you’d be naïve to believe that if all scanty clothing were replaced with religious robes, Poser would gain respect in some circles. Let a few big films be produced with Poser, even if they were sleazy as hell and the critics would be rushing to anoint it – or at least coming here for advice on how to use it.

As to the subject matter, yes, the Japanese are open in their admiration or interest in erotica. One could say that the multi-billion dollar market in the US, accompanied by a presumptive distaste for such things is odd to say the least – I won’t use the H word. Our cartoons may be more ‘innocent’ but the female characters are usually far from being flat chested drabs. Wonder Woman had obvious sex appeal even before Lynda Carter brought her to buxom red blooded life. We get the occasional unself-consciously sexy character ala Rgger Rabbit’s girlfriend, but for the most part, we prefer to pretend they’re all as pure as the driven snow, or that only a degenerate would admire Princess Jazzmine’s curves as anything other than good animation.

I you want to get into subtext, look up “Reconstructing Shirley,” for a scholarly, and no doubt controversial treatise on the “true” meaning of Shirley Temple’s films. Graham Greene wrote what was probably more accessible take in the same vein in the 1930s. Apparently too accessible for Green who was supposedly run out of the country for suggesting that America’s golden curled icon of innocence was being marketed for something other than her innocence. I don’t suggest reading either if you are disturbed by the waters the naked faerie threads here have waded into.

I do recall a rare moment of truth in advertising in a TV ad featuring a father and son looking at a Tomb Raider game. They made it obvious that the father’s interest in Lara Croft wasn’t about her marksmanship skills. Only ran once that I saw ÷)

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken