"I have an online pal who does erotic work as well and does stuff that blows me away. We are constantly up-ing the anti on each others' renders." It's too bad "erotic" material is completely banned from this website, since I have personally seen some work done in that genre that is mind blowing - technically speaking. But I see your point, and I know for a fact that there are some highly prolific 3D artists outside of Renderosity who shun posting to this site because of it's cliques, and sadly if they did post here, they almost certainly wouldn't get the kind of recognition they truly deserve from the community as a whole. Partly because they don't use Poser, and partly because they don't have friends here to draw attention to their work. :(

"Don't let this thread discourage you." Deecey, I don't understand why this thread would discourage ANYONE from posting their works. If people are so fearful of the slightest constructive criticism, why do they present their works for public scrutiny? When artists get their work hung in galleries, even the most abstract pieces instantly become subject to open and public criticism as well as praise. It's all part of being a published artist. :)

" Let's get one thing clear, the pics posted here are supposed to be "ART"...Art is subjective, meaning what one person thinks needs improvement, another may feel is brilliant. Therefore what makes one an expert, so they have the right or expertise to tell another person how to improve their pic." This is true, however, there is a CLEAR difference in 3D art (as opposed to other mediums like painting and drawing) of what consists of skill, and what is just a beginner's attempts. Unlike other mediums, 3D art is dependant on your skill and knowledge of a software program, and is more technical than emotional. Art is art, but when someone attempting to create a "realistic" image in 3D clearly doesn't know how to use some features (like pressing the anti-alias button for example, or turning ON the shadows button or bump channel, or deviating from the default factory settings such as lighting colors, or making sure the models are touching the GROUND and not hovering in mid air when they shouldn't be)then it becomes quite apparent. "being around here a while I noticed, most of the know it alls, that said this or that needs improvement, were the ones that weren't very good at this themselves." Since when does someone who critiques someone else's art have to be an expert themselves? There's no rule that says you have to be an expert to know when something doesn't "look" right. The syndrome of "well can YOU do it?" simply stems from taking offense at the blow to one's ego. You do know that most movie critics aren't movie producers. And most art critics can't paint. ;)

I'll continue to give constructive crits whenever I feel they are warranted... after all, it says that's what the comment field is for right in the description... "Your HELPFUL comments for improving this image" is the direct quote from the feedback form in EVERY gallery. Some folks must read that as "Fill in your sloppiest ass kissing comment here". ;)

Thanks for the tips! I'll try the alt diffuse as well. So far I've only used it for making "toon" shaders, but I'll experiment with it for image maps as well. :-) Node based materials are so different from what I'm used to working with in some other 3D apps, but I'm quickly finding them so much more flexable!

Hehehe... one funny scenerio comes to mind from this conversation... I was browsing the 3DSMax galleries one time, and came across a pic of an interior scene that was actually done quite well. However, I noticed the artist was using a renderer plugin for Max that I myself use and noticed that his render contained some render "artifacts" (blotches in the shadows and materials) that I know for a fact are the result of not increasing the default values on some of the render settings. Anyway, I pointed this out in my comment and told him how to correct the problem. The next day there were 6 or 7 posts under mine that said things like... "Don't listen to him, it's beautiful!" LOL I couldn't believe people were actually telling him NOT to correct a known SOFTWARE glitch! Apparently, they thought it was "artistic expression" for him not to know any better. LOL! Oh boy. :( PS: The funny thing is, he bought into it all. He posted a message thanking them all for their support, but ignored my tip on how to correct the render problem. hehe.

OOPS.. almost forgot the link. here ya go... http://www.nerd3d.com

Doing it from scratch will make you pull out your hair and tear your skin off. Check out NERD3D for his new Millenium Walk Designer... it's the walk designer PLUS special high heel walk cycles for Vicky in high heels.

This is one of the few art communities I've seen that has actually built itself around the "vote" and "ratings" premise. It's basically like sitting around with family and friends and showing off what your did for the sheer exhaultation of hearing the "oooohhhh's" and "aaaahhhhh's", never expecting Uncle Joe to say... "you really need more detail in the facial characteristics". LOL. Again, it's the very reason most people feel comfortable here, but also why some people get fed up and choose to ravage the comfort zone with sabatoge.

" I'd hazard a bet that some of the "myfriendsinflatemyego-itis" is actually "Iinflatemyownegothroughmultipleaccounts-itis" Someone puts up a piece not suitable for even fish wraping and gets great and glowing comments are quite likely worse talent, no talents friends or his own 'puppet' accounts" Perhaps one or two comments would account for this, but not dozens. I've seen some pretty "amateur" images (sorry if I offend anyone with that descriptive term, but in 3D art, there is a pretty clear distinction) with literally a dozen or more "excellent" comments, and even votes for the top 20. It's one of the reasons I have not posted any of my works to this site. I like the site, don't get me wrong, and I'm not saying everyone is like that... but when I post an image, I do expect some people to commment honestly. I have posted several of my works to CGTalk under a different alias than I use here, but I'm still debating with myself if I should even bother posting to the galleries here. Most works here get burried and forgotten within an hour or less, and if people don't know you, they rarely comment on the pic anyway.

Hmmm. I wouldn't say this was an illness in "all" the galleries. I've participated in the 3dsMax forum/galleries for a while before coming to the Poser ones, and there were far less of the hobnobbing going on over there (albeit there is also far less activity in that forum as well). Not saying it's good or bad, but there seemed to be more genuine honest "critiques" of images over there than I have observed here. Now let's be honest, anything can appeal to almost anyone. For god's sake, the most famous art galleries (real ones) in the world are filled with splattered-paint-on-canvas rubbish that took mere moments to create, but are adored by millions. HOWEVER, that being said, I think part of the reason the Poser community isn't always taken quite as "serious" as other 3D users is because when people from places like CGtalk come here, all they see is "your wonderful!" posted in the comments of most pics that are obviously done by absolute beginners. Nothing even remotely critical is tolerated by the masses on this site for the most part, which really doesn't appeal to those who are looking to improve their art. Sometimes even the slightest negative comment done in good faith is instantly attacked by "friends" of the poster, or followed by a mass-posting of "DON'T CHANGE A THING!" posts when someone suggests adding or removing an element. I think that's why most people feel comfortable here, and that's why this place is so popular (although I'm not sure it's more popular than CGtalk). Beginners can post their stuff here and not worry about getting critiqued to death. I DO believe this place could benefit from creating seperate gallery categories in each software forum for "beginners" and "advanced" artists. Then we'd know more clearly if we should comment with a serious and honest critique, or be light and fluffy with our comments. :)

I'm testing this right now. It didn't allow me to "dial down" to a negative, but it did allow me to input a negative value manually, which I didn't think about doing before. However, anything in the negative values renders as solid black. I reduced the diffuse to 0.500 from the default of 1.00, and that worked well enough. However, unlike the material wrapper in Max, it also seems to dull the image map (as expected since it's the diffuse node), but it does work well enough... Thanks for that tip.

PS: if there's a way to do it via math nodes, where the image map plugged into the diffuse node will maintain it's contrast, I'd appreciate that as well. I'm just getting the hang of node-based shaders here. LOL. ;P

BodyStudio works extremely well for me. The ability to import dynamic cloth alone is worth it for me. Yes, in order to use it, you'll need Poser 5 and Max 5.

Sorry, but I got wind of this fiasco a bit late. ;) Am I correct in my observation that so far only ONE person has come out and said they tested the morphs? Out of the dozens of people who have commented in this thread and the other one, only one single person has claimed to have verified the actual morphs? Daz claimed to have only seen the original RENDER, which really doesn't prove anything anyway.

" Alan Alda?" LOL!! NOw that I look at it again, it DOES! Sort of. ;)