Welcome back maviarab.

Poser 2014 changes...... everything.  I simply can not stress that enough.

64-bit memory management is the least of the new features.

Figures:

There are a number of new figures available that take advantage of the tech that has been added to Poser since you left.

Antonia & Michelle are over on RDNA.  In addition, 2 new toon figures have also been released over there that push Poser tech to the limit, SuzyQ & Dude 2.

The creator of Victoria & Michael is no longer at DAZ.  Chris Creek (along with a couple of other long time DAZ folks) are at hivewire3d.  They released a new figure named Dawn. She is available as a native figure for both Poser & DazStudio.

Subversive New Technology in Poser Pro 2014:  The Fitting Room

With the fitting room, clothing has been decoupled from figures. In Poser Pro 2014, you no longer have to deal with vendors who have the "I make what I am interested in, and I am not interested making content for any figure not named Victoria 4." attitude.

Pick whatever clothing you like and fit it to any figure. It's a 2 to 3 minute process - if you take your time.

Subversive New Technology in Poser Pro 2014:  "Copy Morphs From"

Have you ever noticed that conforming clothing never has all the morphs character creators use for their figures.  Smith Micro did.  In Poser 2014, you can add character morphs to your clothing with only 3 clicks.

Subversive New Technology in Poser Pro 2014:  Subdivision

In the attached image I have two Poser 2 Lores Female figures.  Both figures have their right knee bent at 135 degrees.  Figure on the right is at subdivision 3.  Not bad for a figure that is old enough to vote.

New figures are nice, but I have a lot of legacy figures - subdivision, weight mapping and an occasional swipe with the morph brush make every figure a new figure, ready to take full advantage of Poser Pro 2014.

Subversive New Technology in Poser:  Python Addons

Poser Pro 2014 exposes more of the program to 3rd party products via Python.  You can add 3rd party products such as Reality (a plug in for the LuxRender engine), EZMat (to update those skin textures to work with modern lighting techniques).  This is also the route to get DAZ's genesis 1 & 2 figures into Poser.  It isn't easy, as others have noted, but it does work.

Cool items that have shown up since you have been away.

Over the past few years, a number of products have been developed to help the end user repurpose content.  These are the ones that I can't live without:

EZSkin 2 (available @RDNA) - A Python script that selectively replaces the shaders on a figure with new ones that take full advantage of the latest developments in Poser's Material Room.  Free.  The author is working on an expanded product that will work on all materials (See EZMat thread at the top of the forum - cool stuff coming soon.)

Dawn Fitting Room Magnets (available here):  Snaps V4 clothing to the proper position for Dawn.  Best $5.95 you will ever spend on the Dawn figure.

*Hair Control System (@RDNA): * Converts V4 hair to other figures.  Currently has modules available for Alyson 2, Antonia, Cookie, Dawn, Michelle, Miki 3/4, Roxie, & Victoria 4.  I have asked the creator to update the HCS II modules (SM G2 figures Male & Female, Miki 2 & Terai Yuki 2 modules) - he seems amiable to it (python recompile).  Base module (with P6 Jessi support is free - modules prices vary (7.95 - 10.95)

Texture Transfer (available here):  Converts V4 skin textures to Dawn Textures.  Upcoming conversion modules include - Victoria 4.2 to Roxie, - Michael 4 to Rex, V4 to genesis, - More based on community demand (Blacksmith3D has a forum here @ 'Rosity - so march right over and add to the "demand" list.  On sale through the weekend (34.99)

*Batch Material Converter (@Content Paradise): * Converts material .pz2 files to .mc6 files.  Will also move conversions from the pose subfolder to the materials subfolder (where material files belong).  I converted a 40Gb pose subfolder in less than 2 minutes, with no errors.

*Reality 3 (available here): * Poser Plug-in to easily access the LuxRender render engine.  And it's on sale till the end of the month. (27.96)

 

Welcome back.