Did Elements kill Photoshop? Nope. It brought more users to the table.

If people want to learn more, they'll do it. Hell, I started with a bare bones 3D modelling program thirty years ago, and now I work with FormZ and StudioMax. But there are plenty of folks out there who simply dont want to. They want something simple and easy and provides immediate results. It's hardly myopic to say this market doesnt exist: look at any of the galleries — here or anywhere else 3D art is found — and you'll find plenty of people who took Figure A, Pose B, Lighting Set Up C, and Hit Render Button, because that's what they want to do.

And if you notice, I didnt mention NVIATWAS. :-) I doubt many of the newer users would even understand that. But NLFIHSB? Oh yeah, they'd get that.

And of course Poser is used for more than just that. I have some 5500 cartoons and countless book illustrations and a whopping cool portfolio that have come from it, and to be terribly immodest for a moment, it's damn good work. But that's just because I decided to go further than the NVIATWAS renders. A lot of people dont. They're perfectly content as is. But to expect that everyone will want to become a Master Poser User is about as silly as saying anyone who picks up Photoshop wants to be an Accredited Photoshop Genius. Like I said, I doubt most users could care about nodes or how well Poser works with other rendering engines or the intricacies of the Cloth Room. So let's not pretend that they're all out there wondering how best to set their Superfly specifications or the subtle nuance of lighting. They're not. A bare bones version is what the OP's friend wanted. She couldnt get it and didnt want to spend 250 — even with the free trial. So she dropped it and went with Studio. If that's what you guys want to see happen more and more... well, there you are. Hope it works for ya.

Off to get some illustration work done. Y'all have a nice day, eh?

docandraider.com -- the collected cartoons of Doc and Raider