Thanks for all the replies, I am glad to get all the info and help I can. It's good to hear there is no problems with using Poser 7 and content on the Mac and about the tools to make life a little easier. However I'm bummed to hear the external render problem. Do you have the current patches to Poser 7 installed? Also, don't forget Apple just came out with a Firmware upgrade for NEW iMac ATA 2600 Pro cards that fixed a lot of issues they were having. Did you try that and update to leopard 10.5.1?

I appreciate the Mac welcome too, if there are any forums that are good for Mac questions, especially a noob besides the Apple forum, please let me know in case I need some good advice on other matters.

Thanks again and Happy Hollidays!

Quote - Your characters are always very un-V4 pjz99. A rariety in the galleries.

V4's problem is the same as Apollo's. The base is so uniquely (read: unreaslitically) proportioned.

V4 has those horribly wide eyes and Barbie-Doll nose; and Apollo has that bulbouse head and non-existent brow bone. Avoid these traits like the plague!

Incidentally, this was V4 with ++morphs...not V4.1.

For those asking, yes I'm use V4.1 and the morphs++ pack.

I find what this poster said to be 100% true. No matter what, I can't re-shape the nose and eyes enough. The "wide eye" look is there no matter what and the nose you can't get right to make figures to look like other real life photos. V3 had the "ethnic" packs as I mentioned and V4 is really bad like this person says in the way Apollo was. You could never get away from the look of that figure. V4 also doesn't have nearly enough polys in the "hip" area either. From what I've seen, I'm not impressed to have waited all this time. Until there's some NEW morphs that may re-map V4 it could be stuck with this "look" no matter what.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks, that helped some. I guess I must be lazy because I still don't find exactly a good tutorial on lights with Poser 6/7. Some touch on one area while others assume you know a lot already.

If anyone knows of any book or resource that would help in addition it would be appreciated.

I don't know, maybe I just think there is a need for some more and better P6/7 light sets in the marketplace. It sure would make renders go faster and also see how they are done. The ones out now are OK, but can stand some variety like the Radiance Pro Lights for the older P5 version.

Thanks for any help or thoughts.

What I'm most interested in is a more REALISTIC figure that goes well beyond current ones such as V3/S3. My PC is well beyond what has been in use for Poser figures for some time now. I'm looking for better rigging and more human realism in my figures. PC's become more and more powerful each passing year, yet there is a fundimental lack of development in the Poser community for NEW figures to keep pace. Personally we should be on V5/S5 by now so that's what is so darn frustrating. I just hope someone can take the market by storm and make a truly HIGH-END female figure for Poser sometime soon since nothing ever changes for years.

Papa:

Yes, I have seen those, but the Spaki one is basically just updated morphs for the V3 head I was told awhile back. The Kaimira figure and others have been in the works for over a year or more now. One can only believe a new figure when it actually is released because there have been talk and teases for a LONG time now. However, nothing ever comes to market. Yes, I know it takes time and a lot of work, I'm just making general statements of talk of NEW female figures has been just that for a very long time now. Hopefully at least one or two will eventually make it to market in the next 6 months. One can hope. :)

Thanks for the replies so far. I should've said that I was ONLY interested in realistic renderings so that rules out some of the others like Aiko and such. I am looking for something that goes WELL beyond current V3/S3 figures capable of doing. Their rigging just is not that good for some poses, like sitting in extreme positions, leg bends, etc. Also, I'm wanting more realism in my figures. The PC tech has been there for a good while now as my system specs are WAY beyond what is now on the market.

Just hoping for other designers to bring some NEW realistic figures that will blow V3/S3 way away. Hopefully it will be more than just talk and happen soon.

Thanks to everyone for all the replies. I tried today Coral Paint Shop Pro X, but am having trouble loading some of my custom brushes made by the artist "lisbeth". It says the file format I'm loading is NEWER than what is supported. However, I know the artists brushes are compatable with Photoshop 7 because it said so in the readme file. So, can anyone tell me what I may be doing wrong in Paint Shop Pro X? It's the "trial version" of the software, so don't know if that matters (shouldn't). The brush files are ".abr" and are stated to work fine with Photoshop or a compatible program like it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks everyone for all the replies, a lot of good info there. After reading and considering all angles, I think my decision is to hold out a little longer to see if anything comes out before December or early next year. Basically, I just get really frustrated at the lack of development for new Poser figures. As I said, a lot more could be done for Poser figures but no one has picked the ball up and ran. Instead, it appears the market is stagnent due to people being content with what's out there now. But that leaves those of us with the hardware and need for better REALISM out in the cold. It's just puzzling why 3D artists haven't given some real competition out there given the money that can be made from better figure designs. Back to the topic, I guess I do have a limit with a $13-14K package. Spending a few grand OK, but anything approaching that level I would want to study for first to just have a clue what I'm doing with the software. 3D Max or Myia may be OK in the future though. So, my question now is, since I want more real anatomy on female figures, I guess it's time to dig into Photoshop for post work and ignore the "hacks" out there for the nudes in order to do it in photoshop. NOTE: not talking about erotica (even though I guess many artists do them) but I want to get into 3D comic story telling that has adult themes to them. Given the above, can someone send me a PM here or give me advice on where to find brushes and other artwork for anatomy that can be used in photoshop for postwork on Poser figures? I think that's going to be my immediate solution is to get a good render the way I want and then worry about details in photoshop postwork. Any links to content for what I want or tutorials in Poser postwork and photoshop would be appreciated as well. Thanks again everyone, your input is appreciated.

R Hatch - I'm glad you understand my frustration. It's hard learning something new, but unless there are some major changes coming soon for Poser models, I may have to try something else like 3D Max, but even that has some drawbacks for content. You would think there would be at least 3 new female and male figures each year given the amount of money that can be made from a good figure design and community support. It's hard for me to believe we are still using the very limited S3 and V3 figures to this date! I want to push realism, my system is more than capable with 2GB of Corsair XMS PRO, 1 terabyte of storage, etc. to run off complex renders. That's why it's hard to understand the lack of innovation. One would think that as hardware gets increasingly more advcanced you would see the software step up for the programs and MODELS. Take ANY current female Poser figure as an example. You have to make some hacks to them for a non generic ken and barbie. Then it doesn't really make much difference because of the way they were designed to begin with. Doesn't have to be erotic, just take nudes as another example. You can have any of the current female figures look right when sitting casually in the nude. The pubic area and thighs are not even close to being real looking. Just look at a basic female nude and then at your figure, doesn't even come close for detail in those areas. Do you think there is any hope in the near future for Poser figures or would you consider looking elsewhere for better advancment and if so what (i.e. 3D Max)?

Thanks for the update. I tried to find the Project Human Female figure from Sixus1, but couldn't locate it on the web site that was mentioned. It appears to not be very well supported. Cool idea for total open source, but no one has picked up the ball and ran with it from how things appear. There should be a MAIN site with the figures, cloths, poses, etc. for everyone to develope and meet like here at renderosity. If anyone can point me to the exact link or site for the Project Human Female figure I would try it, but searched for a long time and came up empty. Must be hidden or little interest. Back to the other Poser figures, there was a person working on this model (see image). Can't find the post again, but found it interesting. Also, wasn't there suppossed to be some word coming about "Venus" or a name to be determined for the Female companion to Apollo Max? I would love to see better rigging and matrices for better posing and more REAL looking figures that are anatomically correct from the start. Hate having ken and barbie to work with! Can't imagine why someone hasn't picked up the ball and ran since there are many artists that want something better.

Here's an email from a merchant that didn't work with V3 SAE. It should answer some quetions - "> It turned out DAZ has changed some things in the Victoria 3 Second > Anniversary Edition and Papu and myself weren't aware of it. Apparently > people who haven't had any previous installations of V3 will experience > problems with the product on V3 SAE. > > I imagine the problem can be fixed, but it will probably mean a big > amount of work because we will most likely have to make a second version > of every single preset in the product in order to get them to work on V3 > SAE. Papu is out of town and I'm leaving for Prague in two days so I > don't think I'm able to get the product updated soon enough for the > customer :( > > Sincerely > > Outi Ry / Eowyn" As you can tell from that merchant's email, yes, there are indeed issues with several expression packs not just from them but also a few other I've found. I'm surprised no one has mentioned this before. I would like to complement the merchant for taking care of it for me since it didn't work and their attempt to help. I just wish more merchants would test with all CURRENT versions of software and figures if they plan on selling content. Then post the UPDATED specs on their page here. Yes, I have ALL V3 and S3 packs, body and face. Also I have the international beauty morph packs from DAZ. It is NOT the 2005 V3 version (not a good figure to work with), just the CURRENT V3 SAE verison with patches. So, that's not the issue. If you take a stock V3 SAE you get the same errors. As the merchant points out, the calls made to specific files HAVE CHANGED. When you try some expression packs they will always have a file not found error because the morphs have been renamed, modified or they are in another location. An exaple of this is a call to the "arch left eyebrow" or "arch right eyebrow" (name may be off not sure unless I check) they no longer exist in that format and /or location. I use both Poser 5 and 6 for windows on different computers with the current patches for them. It's not software, only figure related due to the changes made by DAZ. Make sure you are talking about the CURRENT Again, the merchant points out even THEY would require a considerable amount of time and rework to get it to work with current version. Hope this clears some things up.

Is Seraphira still working on her character? She hasn't been in the forum for a LONG time and I thought that project was dead. Is she still around and where can she be found if not?

I won't go backwards with a less realistic figure, so it will have to come out with guns blazin and offer a lot more realism for me to bite. If you are going to create a new female figure from the ground up for Poser 5/6 then I would suggest taking some lead from Anton and doing this: A MORE realistic looking figure that is anatomically correct with built in Pubic morphs and trans. Otherwise it's just barbie and not a real life replica. Take a look at Anton's male figure to see an example of how it should be done but in female version. A LOT more vertices and polys in the hip/thigh areas for better sitting, bending, etc. poses which can be a problem with V3. PUSH THE LIMITS OF REALISM! A lot of us have high-end systems with 2GIG+ RAM and a 1/2 or 1 terabyte storage so I'm constantly looking to push the limits. Meshes/body textures that are realistic. Get Mask and some of the other great artists out there to do them so there are some on release of the figure. International head/body morphs more realistic and more options than what we have now for V3/S3. Ability to scale character better, like Anton's male figure. Also an "age" dials for making older/younger. Full support of Poser5/6.

A ha! I think we may have found the problem or at least perhaps one of the causes. I didn't even think of it until you told me to check, but ALL of my figures are based on a modified V3 CR2 file called "MAGIC PERFECT G! Morph Target Set for DAZ Victoria 3 and DAZ Stephanie 3 petite". I don't know how much I am allowed to talk about it here, but you can find the package over at renderotica.com site. Basically, you go through the steps to modify a base V3 figure for use with their morphs. Hence the "blMilWom_v3_PGnew.obj" filename being used. If your WW only detects hard coded .obj files and is looking for the base V3 .obj file, this could be the reason. NOTE: I DID USE the base V3 .obj file to convert the dress from the V3 figure. It took about 10 minutes to complete and is in the WW analysis directory OK. It just isn't converting TO the figure correctly. This may be why since it has a different .obj filename. Now, the question is, what's the best way to get this to work? If I just save the morphs in a pose file it will still have the Magic Perfect G morphs so that won't help. I need to save the morphs so I can use it on a base V3 "blMilWom_v3.obj" file correct? So, I need to retain the face and body morphs but eliminate the morphs needed for MPG so we don't have to use the "blMilWom_v3_PGnew.obj" file. That's if I understand what's maybe happening correclty. If not, I'm sorry, but I thought this may make some sense. Let me know your thoughts, thanks for the help. ----------------------- Here's the CR2 start: { version { number 5 } figureResFile :Runtime:Geometries:DAZPeople:blMilWom_v3_PGnew.obj actor BODY:1

PhilC: I can, but you will need to have NGM. The morphs for the breasts are NGM natural gravity morphs. What I'm wanting to do is convert from standard V3, which it copied just fine, then apply the dress on my custom V3 with the NGM natural breast morphs. If you can let me know if you have NGM and such I'll try to send it. Also, you will need the international beauities morph package from DAZ. Thanks.