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Poser - OFFICIAL F.A.Q (Last Updated: 2024 Nov 10 8:20 am)
Subject: which is best? slightly OT
I'm sure there are lots of Mac proponents that will swear up an' down that Macs are the dope, but I've never listened to these people.... :)~ If you're going the PC route, get the fastest processor you can afford, the AMD 2000+ quanti might be a good bet, plus you'll get the added bonus of being able to use DDR RAM. yeah, I know the new P4 chipsets allow for DDR, but there's an old addage in the PC biz... Never be a pioneer. First generation Intel chipsets have been notorious for being problematic. You're gonna want DDR Ram and 2 (or 3) large harddives, 60 gigs or bigger, for swapfiles and virtual memory. Don't worry too much about your graphics card as Poser 4 has no 3D acceleration, but you should be able to get a dandy GeForce2 64MB for under 100. if you got more money go for the GeForce3 Do yourself a favor and insist on XP Professional as your OS. i have virtaully NO problems whatsoever. Poser NEVER locks up and I run Poser, DeepPaint3D, Photoshop, Winamp, and Burn CDs and surf (all at the same time) while I render with No worries.
Attached Link: http://www.xicomputer.com/
Get yourself a GeForce4 then :)~~~~ *drool* Mayhaps you'd like to checkout the link. Wicked hi-end and dual processor systems.
XP tracks PC "changes" and might ask you to re-activate your license if it thinks you have "changed too many things." I use XP myself now (I hate the user interface, the activation scheme, and that irritating "send error report to microsoft?" dialog box, but the stability is nice) and have vowed that the first time XP asks me to re-activate will be the last time I use XP.
Ordinarily I wouldn't advise a confirmed PC user to add a Mac - unless you also want to do video and create DVDs. If so, you won't believe how fast you'll be up and running on a Mac, and how much grief you'll avoid. And those new flat screen iMacs look incredibly cool on your desktop, if you want to make friends/coworkers envious. Keep the PC box and you'll have the best of both.
get dual monitors...like 2 17" ones instead of one 21" or whatever...they are a total blessing when using poser and texturing at the same time .......don't flame me for this gang but i've seen to many posts about problems with poser and XP just get win 2000 as there are very few poser related problems with it...Steve
PC's, not Macs, are the industry standard. And just for the record, a friend of mine had Windows XP and she hated it and had her computer tech pur 2000 back on her computer. She said it was so quirky she couldn't stand it. I'm using 98 and having absolutely NO problems at all. I just have an HP Pavillion 9680C that I picked up from ReturnBuy on e-Bay. 40 gigs HD, 128mg memory, and it runs Poser beautifully. I couldn't even tell yuo what video card I have, I don't have a clue, but it purrs like a kitten and never crashes in Poser unless I've been doing a bunch of other things (Word documents, Photoshop, games) and I've had it on too long. If I use it on a fresh boot up, Poser is flawless for me. I never seem to have the problems some folks have mentioned in the threads here. [shrug] Just lucky, I guess. Melanie
Personally I stay with Intel chips... I just prefer the engineering path Intel is on. Currently, though you can get a better "bang for the buck" with AMD chips. P4 is good from intel, though Dell will ship you a nice Xeon system as well :) About 3 years ago I gave up building systems for myself and clients in favor of the machines from Dell. Yes, they are more expensive but I really like the fact that things simply work out of the box - I am damn good at what I do when building systems but my time is worth more than tracking down a driver or IRQ problem. I would put XP on it. Personally I use the features in XP Pro's networking so I need that but XP Home is a fine system for most folks. XP is definately the OS of choice for PC's these days... the long testing period resulted in an extremely stable system.
PC's, not Macs, are the industry standard If money is no object, you might consider one of each, only because the programs used to support the 3Ds -- things like Illustrator and Photoshop -- are much more stable on the Mac than the PC, since they were written specifically for that architecture then ported to the PC. Networking the two machines isn't that difficult at all, and you'll find the colour quality on a Mac superior to a PC's. Macs have long been the industry standard in the graphics community, and for good reason.
wow I really started something here, I didn't want to start a war, I've used macs before and loved every minute of it, but I've been using pc's for 12 years now and most of the time it's fun, a friend has XP home and it's a real step backwards from what I've seen, very unstable and quirky so far, but it's only just been released, I had win95 and 98 on day 1 and both were a real pain to start with, now with the machine I've got I'm running win98SE and it pretty much stable unless I touch something I shouldn't, which is what I do anyway. I only asked because I want to get the best out of poser, I didn't think it would cause world war 3 to start
Melanie- I'm with you. I personally think it depends a lot on the machine, and the users disposition, and how they maintain there HD. I'm running 98se on a 633mhg machine that I had built (never do that again!). When I started with Poser I had a ton of problems. I formated and rebuilt my HD and now its been purring along like a kitten. Lots of space for a swap drive.
Ok, I admitt I scimmed over some of this battle, so if I am repeating I am sorry. Mac is the way to go. The new Power Mac G4 w/ dual 1 ghz. Comes with Super drive (CD&DVD Burner)80gb hd, GeForce4 MX graphic card and the ability to use some of the finest Video and editing software on the market (for when you really get humming and want to make that movie of Michael and Vicky running the world). Oh, did I mention plug and play? You can be set up out of the box in 5 minutes, on line in another 5, and connect most external drives you have just by plugging them in. Also worthy of note. I have been working with Mac's since 1988 and only had to call in a repairperson once. He came to the house, no extra charge. Go to the Apple site and read some of the articles about the industries turning to mac's for video, music, and 3-d. One last note, Most of your graphics software is on hybread cd's that have mac already on them.
Off the shelf, I'd go with Dell. I'm much more into software than hardware, so I can't help with CPU's, etc. I do know that Athlons run hot. One of my co-workers is more into hardware than I am and he has a lot of problems with his Athlon running hot and he has a very good cooling fan attached to it. I've heard XP Professional runs better than XP Home edition but don't have hard proof myself. I'm about to flip over to XP Pro from W* ME. I hope it'll make my system more stable. (Know why it's called W* ME? F* ME was too obvious!) If price is no object, I'd go with dual monitors, flat screen if you're really rich. In another year, I may trade in my 19" and go with 2 17" flat screens, depending on price. Feel free to let us know what you ended up with so we can hate your guts! ;-)
In a Masonic Lodge there is an age-old law: you do not discuss religion or politics. These have been seen as the most consistantly devisive topics ever, and the greater good can be had in maintaining fraternal relations by avoiding them. I believe it's time to add platforms and OS's to that law. And it might not be a bad idea here as well. That said: I use PC at work and a Mac at home. As can be seen from the masculine posturing and numbers storm above, PC's appeal to those who want to feel very "computerly" about what they do. It gives them a sense of mastery over something. If you want to forget about the machine and just make art, get a Mac. As VirtualSite aptly pointed out "Macs have long been the industry standard in the graphics community." PC's (Windows machines) are only the "standard" in business use as a result of corporate maneuvering and an appeal to the average male's adolescent need to tinker with everything, not product superiority. Oh, and one other thing, Mac's are a lot cooler looking. ; ) (especially now that they're phasing out the gumball machine look)
ACHTUNG! ALLES LOOKENSPEEPERS! Das computermachine ist nicht fuer gefingerpoken und mittengrabben. Ist easy schnappen der springenwerk, blowenfusen und poppencorken mit spitzensparken. Ist nicht fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen. Das rubbernecken sichtseeren keepen das cotten- pickenen hans in das pockets muss; relaxen und watchen das blinkenlichten.
Oh, yeah, still one other thing: Yes, you can run Windows on a Mac if you have VirtualPC installed. I used it when I worked at a dot.com to insure cross-platform compatabilty and it worked ike a dream. (More like a nightmare when I saw that big Windows logo flash up on my monitor the first time I booted it up);)
BTW: Get RAM. Get more RAM. And when you're done, get even more. These days, it is the single most important item for speed. If you go and build it yourself, look for things like RPMs, Buffer, and seek time for hard drives. CD-ROMs (better yet, CD burners or ... drool DVD burners) should have ways to prevent buffer overruns. 16x writing or better is suggested. Get a video card with a lot of on-board RAM. Personally, I didn't like the ATI cards as much. Have fun!
Let's try to get this thread back on-topic, and correct some statements made in the thread. I can't comment on MAC vs PC because I've never owned a Mac (Macs are quite rare in the Netherlands) If you use a PC then either use a Windows2000 or WindowsXP flavour. Their memory management is much more robust then Win9x. Don't be tricked into buying an expensive videocard like a GF4 for Poser. They are only usefull if you play games. (And sometimes in 3DS Max but that is not what you asked about). Poser does not make use of any 3D acceleration features in those cards. Do not buy a dual processor system for Poser. Poser is a single threaded application and cannot make any use of the second processor. Rendertimes in Poser are only dependent on CPU speed and amount of RAM. Harddisk speed is not important, as long as you have enough ram so that you do not have to swap. (I bought 1GB DDR Ram for this reason) Your CPU speed can never be too much for Poser. Both a P4 and AMD XP will give you excellent performance, but if you want the fastest model the Intel processor will cost you much more than the fastest AMD XP model. I saw some comments about the heat the AMD XPs produce. If you have a good computer casing that won't give you any problems at all. Especially not with an XP which is already cooler then the older Athlon. I use a FK320 case (www.fkusa.com) with a simple/cheap coolermaster EP5-6I11 and the temperature of the CPU has never exceeded 40 degrees C.
c1crle - Dual monitors are great, Win98 supports dual monitors if you didn't know. Plug one AGP and one PCI video card into your computer. (Get the AGP up and running first :> then install the PCI) Go to settings and display, the big monitor is for the AGP and you can position the little (PCI) monitor on top, left or right of the big one. This virtual positioning mirrors your physical positioning of your 2 monitors. With this all done, you can 'drag' things from one monitor to another. This is very useful to put your graphic/application TOOLS on the (PCI) monitor and your working space on the main (AGP) monitor. One word of advise though - I used to use this type of configuration, I removed the secondary monitor and forgot to reset the 'tools' in a few programs. Their restore features wouldnt wrk so I had to reinstall the programs, not a hard thing to do, but was time consuming. So, if you can go with 2 monitors, DO IT! Really helps to free up your virtual work space! I have no idea if operating systems above Win98 can do this or not, I assume they can and/or do. Can't wait to hear what you buy for yourself! I hope it screams! TMG
Mjtdevries is correct in saying that Poser is not going to benefit much from Dual Processors.
However, if you like to have multiple applications up and working -- "duallies" are very nice. If you are planning on using Poser with something like Vue D'Esprit (which does use 2 processors) - you have a really powerful system.
Having used Win98SE, Win2000Pro, and WinXP Pro - Personally I have had no problems with XP Pro. XP is the future of Windows and if you are going to upgrade, I think that now is the time to move to XP. Under no circumstances use 98 -- it is not that it is that bad -- it is that Win2000 and WinXP are a lot better . . .
If you have the skills and interests to build up a PC and be your own tech support, that is an excellent and cost effective path. I personally prefer AMD CPUs and some of the chipsets out there are pretty stable - the machine I built up in January has been pretty much trouble free.
Also, Dual Monitors are very nice also. CRT Monitors are dirt cheap now too!
My basic hardware list is below:
Motherboard: Tyan Tiger MP
CPU: Two AMD XP 1700
Memory: 1024 MB DDR ECC RAM (Crucial)
Primary Video Card:
Elsa Synergy 2000 Video Card (Really for Vue and OpenGL Rendering) (AGP)
Secondary Video Card:
3dfx Voodoo 3 (this was just laying around so I used it) (PCI)
Monitors: Two 19inch Samsung SyncMaster 955DFs
Hard Drive: 100 GB 7200 RPM IDE Hard Drive
(Western Digital because it was on sale)
Other stuff: DVD Drive, 24X Cd Burner, SB Live sound card, Antec 1040 Case with 400 watt PS)
Here is a link to some performance tests (running Vue not Poser)
--Note: You may have to be a member of yahoo groups to see this page--
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vuedesprit/database?method=reportRows&tbl=4
Allan Thornton
Allan Thornton
VirtualSite: "things like Illustrator and Photoshop -- are much more stable on the Mac than the PC, since they were written specifically for that architecture then ported to the PC."
I would be interested in seeing anything that might back this perception up. The code for Photoshop has been altered and changed so much since it's time as a Mac program that there doesn't seem to be any reason to think it is specifically written for the Mac at this time.
As for the stability issue - that is an odd one. We run Photoshop on a bunch of machines as do our clients, 90% of the time on Windows 2000 & XP and there are absolutely ZERO stability issues. None.
Ah well, one of each is nice if you have the $$$ but if you have to pick, go for the PC. There is no reason to lock into the Mac platform these days. they no longer have any advantage for art production.
Barbarellany: "One last note, Most of your graphics software is on hybread cd's that have mac already on them."
Not Poser, 3DS Max (oops - no mac version at all.... :) ), Premier or After Effects. Neither is Illustrator or Pohotoshop.
In fact, NONE of the high end software I no of is on hybrid CD's.
Barbarellany: "Mac is the way to go. The new Power Mac G4 w/ dual 1 ghz. Comes with Super drive (CD&DVD Burner)80gb hd, GeForce4 MX graphic card"
And is priced way, way too high. Since the MacOS doesn't handle dual CPU's natively (OSX does though...) having two of them is of little real value that I can see for most uses - but some apps Do support it. You can get dual Athlons for much less money, heck you might get dual 1.8 ghz P4's for that money.
The DVD drive is nothing special, PC versions are easy to find.
The GeForce4 was kind of interesting, till you see that Apple has totally hooked up with the slowest version of that chip to be made available and that the PC versions of the card are much faster.
ronknights: "Poser and Adobe PhotoShop are the graphics programs I use the most"
The current version of Poser will not be helped any, though there is a lot of reason to believe Poser5 will make use of hardware acceleration to display the working space (in other words they seem to be making all the right changes, and this is clearly one of them).
Photoshop >IS< helped by a fast/good graphics card. Not the 3D accel, but the 2D performance is a big factor in how well Photoshop works. not for filter processing, but for drawing and manipulation of layer positions.
I use Photoshop on my PC and it's never shown any instability. I'm not even sure that what meant. How would it be unstable? It works beautifully and always has. I had it on my old, less powerful computer, an then moved it to my new one, and it worked perfectly on both machines. It's never crashed and it's never done anything flaky. Also, I've never understood why anyone would need to have two programs running at the same time. How does running Vue and Poser at the same time benefit the artist? It seems to me that you can only do things in one at a time anyway, so how would that be better? Just wondering. Melanie
I'm no techie, but I can tell you that, out at the college where I teach ContEd courses, I live in fear every time they install a new version of photoshop or illustrator into the PCs -- we inevitably get crashes until a patch is released. And for whatever reason, we never seem to have the same problems on the Macs. Yes, I know it's been more than a few years since Adobe ported these two to PCs, but, from my humble perspective, they're still having problems with the PC architecture. Again, no techie here; I'm simply telling you what I see in operation. And I've asked our technicians here what the problem might be, since I figured maybe it would be the computers involved, not the software. And nope, that ain't it. So the only conclusion I can see is that whatever problems came out of that original port, some of them still haven't been addressed. Melanie, as to the multiple programs issue, if you have sufficient memory to support it, it's great to have more than one program open at a time, because it allows you to move things from one program to another without having to wait for start-ups. For example, I usually keep Poser and Photoshop open simultaneously when I'm working on a new texture because I can build the texture in PS, apply it in Poser, then make the adjustments in PS as needed, then reapply in Poser. It's a speed thing.
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Hi all I'm in the wonderful position of being able to buy myself in a few weeks a new pc, now I'm wondering what would be the best machine I could get for poser. Yes I'm going to choose a new pc just to keep poser happy. Any ideas or suggestions boy and girls?