i've been having an ongoing discussion with another 3d artist about this subject...so i'll throw it to the crowd and see what comes back. is it wrong to use third party software, such as Poser, to create human figures to add to 'original' animations in 3D studio? now...i don't mean wrong in the illegal sense...but there is a certain purism running through the 3d world...does this violate that? one side of the argument is that studios do it all the time, buying premade models for animations. the other side is that it is all original...all yours, if you make all the models yourself. so...what's the verdict?

the answer is time, do you have the time to model it yourself? if you really need good animation & realistic human figures right now, not in a years time after you've modelled it all yourself, then poser is your answer & anyone who says it's wrong can go fly a kite. Rob

I guess that depends on the artist. Is photography an art? Surely the photographer didn't make everything. If photography is an art then using pre-made models can be an art form as well. It depends on the presentation.

ps don't forget these premade figures have been made over several months by a team of people not just by 1 person, then you've got your modelled figure & you've got to texture it too, that takes even more time, then if you want it to move, you've got bones to think about, talking as well needs more time, it's nice to model it yourself but when you add everything else on top so you can animate it you're talking about a hell of a lot of work for 1 person. Rob

try telling a photographer he/she has to make his/her own models ;)

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This comes up periodically here at 'rosity. Ultimately, everyone has their own opinions. No one holds the "ultimate truth" - we're all just humans. If anyone tells you otherwise, ask 'em to walk on water. If they can, they might be worth listening to. If they can't... [I can't] As for me. I'm a director. I'm a scriptwriter. I'm a musician. I'm a choreographer. I'm an animator. I'm a SFX person. I'm barely a modeller. I don't claim to be a modeller. George and Mrs. Lucas didn't create Natalie Portman. George directed her. I didn't create Posette. I just directed her. Is it art? I don't care. I enjoyed doing it. Some people enjoy watching it. That's what I care about.

Art is taking a number of given things and represent these in an original and innovative way. The element of adding unprecedented creativity is important to define art. In a sense, this can be applied to Poser. It is not art because of the tool but because of the result.

How far is purism going? Do true 3D makers reject all pre-made primites, like spheres and cubes too? Do they construct everything by themselves?

Do you think Michelangelo or other great painters, created their own paint? Or sculptors their own marble? or paint people using his own inspiration? They used models, living persons, that posed for them and this concludes the circle :-D

...but there is a certain purism running through the 3d world... Purism is a chimera- and a highly selective one at that. Where does one draw the line? So you create your own models. Did you also create the program used in their building? And if you did, was the model purely one of personal imagination or was it based upon a thing you saw in the "real world"? If absolutely everything was personally created can the creator truly claim to be completely uninfluenced by outside events, past and present? Expressed creativity is an amalgam of personal experience derived from interaction with and observations of the world at large. To claim otherwise is to assert that one's life has been an intellectual and emotional vacuum... and how does one create art from nothing? It is unimportant that the objects of your manipulation be completely your own. What counts is that you have used such resources to express your own unique view of life in a manner which is both intriguing and provoking to the viewer- even if only in the aesthetic sense. Need I say this is just one mind's opinion? - Jack

Purist hold back progress and suck monkeybutt!

Apparently, among some 3D artists, you earn more "street cred" if you've built everything yourself. I build what I can, because I enjoy doing so, but my skills aren't infinite. If I need something, can't craft it myself, and it's available, then I'll gladly make use of others' talents.

uh gstorme.... Michelangelo did create his own paint they all did back then.:) but the point is moot with this purist crap, tell the purists thell have to create their own 3D prog and come to think of it solder their own motherboard, and while their at it how about coating their own hard drive platters. I'm a purist about Coffee I grind my own beans right before brewing and get it into the thermal caraf moments after it stops. but am I going to the hills of guatamala to pick my own beans, what do I look like Juan F@#%ing Valdez. whom do you have to proove yourself to any way? We've got poser purists here too. proudly posting "all Poser" or some such under their work, and if that turns them on great but as a viewer or an art director I could care less, I prefer to pose in poser and render in bryce no reason except that is the easyest way for me to acheave my vision, perhaps that will change with P5, who knows. the point is it's the result that counts, at least for me.

I'd love to be able to model my own stuff, I'm still trying to find my way round a couple of the free modelling programs at the moment, but if I do start modelling it won't be to replace the poser figures. yeah the purists will say I'm lazy & not an artist, but I enjoy doing things my way with the tools I have & that's what counts for me. Rob

It's called division of labour. If these guys want to be purists, why are they using other peoples software when they could write their own, and even run it on their own home made machines? The purist argument is probably in part a knee jerk reaction to the number of basic poser images that are posted in the galleries by newbies who have done little more than apply standard poses to default figures etc. Then again the definition of art is a personal matter. Bill