Quote - DustRider wrote: Neither image used SSS. I've been playing with SSS the past couple of days, but haven't got the look I want yet. The image I posted here in the forum was V6 with the Bree texture she came with. It was only set up as a diffuse texture (just as it was converted by the plugin). In the Gypsy image in my gallery, the skin was set up as a glossy material.

You probably already know this but there's lots of good discussion on SSS in the Octane Poser forum, and also some SSS setups to play with in the LiveDB.  :-)

Quote - DustRider wrote: Indeed, it sounds like our experiences are almost identical. I actually had a similar experience with Reality 3 and Lux, in that I could enjoy using Poser again without fighting the lighting (like you - the lighting in Poser and I never really clicked). But the longer render times slowed me down quite a bit because I'd have to leave my laptop cooking the images for so long. Another big advantage with Octane for me - I just turn the cooling fan to high, and the laptop doesn't even get warm - with CPU renders it definitely very very warm.

I looked at Reality 3 and Lux also and I don't remember now why I decided on Octane, but I feel like I really lucked out by doing that.  One thing I was happily surprised with was the pretty easy learning curve. 

Quote - DustRider wrote: I finally tried Octane because Otoy announced that they were developing a Carrara plugin (my favorite 3d software). So I gave the Poser demo a test run. I found myself playing with the demo in all my free time for several days. My wife saw how much fun I was having, and encouraged me to get Octane. The Poser plugin is more developed than the DS plugin (what I would expect with beta software), but at half price I figured it was better to get it now before it goes up to full price, and save up for the Poser plugin. I'm still “playing” every chance I get. I’m having fun changing lighting and changing shaders and immediately seeing the almost instant effect in the image.

Good idea to get the DS plugin while it was half price!  I've been playing with the Poser Plugin constantly since I got it, it's kind of addicting. lol.  Speaking of changing lighting and immediately seeing the effect in the image, I've been having fun using the blackbody and texture emitter nodes on lamp/light meshes rather than creating generic lights and turning them into emitters.  Like in that picture I posted with the liquor store?  All the light is coming from the store signs and the street lights themselves (and two steet lights that are on the other side of the street that aren't seen in the actual render). 

Quote - DustRider wrote: One other real advantage for me is that I hope to eventually get the plugins for Poser, and Carrara as well. I like all three applications, and they each have their unique strengths and weaknesses. With Octane for all three won't have to remember (or more importantly re-learn) how to set up the lights and shaders in each app any more. I will be able to focus on the set up and creation of the image, rather than the nuances of three different renderers, lighting, and shader systems.

That's a really good point and I hadn't thought of it, but you're right that is a great advantage.  At the rate Otoy is cranking out plugins, that ability to have a standard way of setting up lights and shaders across applications becomes more and more interesting to me now that I think about it.