I dont use poser. I'm a photographer, 2d-er, and startingg up as a zbrusher. One thing I notice about Poser work is that it does strive for realism. A little tidbit. Either Pepsi or coca Cola (I cant remember which, or if Im even on the rioght companies, but the following story is utter fact) hired some company to do a commercial for them, and they wanted it all in CG. The result was a comepletely realistic character, fawking stunningly real. The company never ran the ad, because the gimmick of having the computer character was gone. No one could see that it was fake. In that case, what the hell was the point of making a commercial with a fake character that must've taken FOREVER to make, when they could've shot the commercial in a day with a real person. Me thinks if you want to go for the utmost in realism, the best way to do it is to pick up a camera, and shoot. Just like Poser, you can add your own props and whatnot if need be. The lighting is hands on, and the dirt and grime is real. I second the notion that the next wave for CG work be less about realism, and more about new experimental styles. Pixar has nailed it down pat. They make the most unreal characters, sets, and movies, and they are recognized as the best in the world. I don't care what anyone says about Final Fantasy's realism, I don't knbow a single person who saw the movie who for one second forgot that these were computer generated characters. No matter how realistic they were, they were still, very obviously, fake. Think about it, once true realism is achieved, if it ever is, everything that had been accomplished over the years could have been done exactly the same way with a simple 35mm camera. I'm not speaking about special effects btw here, just the characters and whatnot. also, just 2cents, don't mean to step on anyone's toes here.