Many thanks for all the detailed information about these programs and how best to use them. I did look at the Vue 5 Infinite demo reel and WAS amazed. But then I looked at the price tag and was amazed in a different way. (I guess I really am poor.) But I see that the Vue 5 Pro Studio (which includes the Mover and some other modules) can be had for $320, which isn't that much more than buying Vue 4 and Mover 5 separately, but is about half what Infinite costs. I already have Poser 5 and an older version of Mimic. So would this be the way to go? What do you get in Infinite for another $300 that isn't in the 5 Pro Studio, and would a Vue newbie (who has no aspirations of trying to get a job with this hobby) really miss the extra features in Infinite enough to justify the extra expense? Thanks again for the advice! All very helpful.

aha! that sounds even better. once again off to try out my new knowledge. thanks!

i am in a similar boat: got interested in Poser originally because i saw an animation someone had done and i wanted to be able to do it too, but then discovered i needed to learn more about walking before running. but anyway, i can set up animations in Poser well enough, but it takes YEARS to render anything with more than a couple figures or the simplest of textures. so i'm intrigued by this thread. are you saying that you can export the Poser animation scene into Vue and then render FASTER in Vue? i've never touched Vue. how fast is it? is it difficult to learn to use for this purpose? can you also export the Poser figures to Vue and then set up the animations in Vue to begin with? thanks!

that was fast. thanks! and it sounds like it couldn't be easier. now off to give it a try! j

Is that the same for an "upgrade" from P5 also? It does a full P6 install and leaves P5 alone?

Hey, thanks for the netherworks link and the paint program suggestion. I like Steph too, so I'm glad for any way to keep using her (with clothes). Cheers!

Thanks for all the suggestions! The Tailor sounds easiest, so I'll try that first, but will go on to the paint program approach if need be. But it sounds like Stephanie may be more trouble than she's worth, in the clothing department anyway. Thanks again, J

Tried to post a thanks a moment ago, but doesn't look like it made it through. Anyway, BIG THANKS for the help!! I had, in fact, tried the P4 renderer before I even posted my question, and it still had some (though not as much) artifact. But changing all the squares to one-sided fixed things in a jiffy! I really appreciate the swift help! I already had wasted hours on this little snafu.

Cheers!

J

OH THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! That worked so easily! Ask me how much I am kicking myself for not having come here earlier to ask this question? I blew my whole evening trying and re-trying everything I could think of, and eventually I had to employ a cumbersome workaround whereby I made a plain jpeg of the color I wanted and then imported it as a background picture. You have saved me much frustration. Thank you!!

Thanks for sticking with me on this. It happens with all codecs and even when no changes are being made to the video. I don't think I've tried uncompressed video, but I will. I have gone back to Poser 4 for my animation project, and there are no problems with the avi output. Any more ideas? I'd love to get this problem resolved, so I can work in just one version of Poser and not have to keep going back and forth just to do the animation part. Thanks again.

Thanks for your thoughts. I hadn't thought of outputting the anims as image sequences. However, even that has not solved the problem completely. It's really strange, because the original avi anims from Poser 5 do appear to be complete, and will play just fine in Windows Media Player or elsewhere. It's not until I try to re-encode them (even using the same codec I used to make the avi in Poser 5) that things go bonkers. Even more strange is the fact that it STILL HAPPENS even if I ouput as an image sequence and recompile in VirtualDub, as you suggested; when I go to encode the sequence as an avi, I get an ouput avi file that has the picture shifted or slanted with weird coloring, which is the same thing that happens if I try to re-encode an original avi output from Poser 5. This makes no sense to me. It's as if there is something in the images themselves that throws off the encoding process in the video editor. I never have this problem with avi output from Poser 4. Well, I'm still stumped, but thanks again for your input.

I have no answer for your question (sorry), but I have a question of my own: Why do you say that 3DS is better for "animation" than Poser? I am pretty new to Poser, but I got it mostly because I am interested in animation. Now I hear people saying 3DS Max or other programs are better for that. So I'm considering getting 3DS, but I'm trying to figure out why it's so much better for animation first, so I can justify the expense in my mind. Thanks.