Your reason for sticking with Poser seems to be based on your imagination. You don't know what DAZ will do with content with DAZ|Studio (unless they announced something I didn't hear), so you can't know whether it will be worth it to you.

You need to put a big IF in front of your statement for why you won't use Studio or else all you can be seen as is someone who is just against DAZ|Studio because you have some personal war with it, not for any technical or valid reason.

Don't get the idea that I am saying you are such a person. In fact, I'm not saying that at all, I'm just saying that the way you write it sounds like DAZ could give you all kinds of great, valuable stuff and it probably wouldn't be good enough for you because you already made up your mind on the matter. I hope that you aren't that way, because if you are then any opinion you express on DAZ|Studio is tainted by that. I will assume you just didn't accurately portray your feelings on the matter unless you say otherwise. It just comes across in a bad way because I don't know your history and reading text can be deceiving.

Quadro is pretty nice. On the cheap end, I've found the NVidia FX series to be quite impressive.

That Radeon is a card I have seen have lots of problems with OpenGL. Hope it works better for you than it has for me. I didn't have a good answer to notefinger's question because I don't think it is a matter of saying which software is better. Of course, there is what was pointed out that you are comparing a beta software to a version 5 software, which is completely legitimate. But beyond that, there is also the fact that it appears the two apps have different goals in mind. Poser has always been software that would directly make money for it's owner. They didn't even get into content until Poser 5 and that appears to have not gone as well as hoped. DAZ|Studio appears to be software to drive it's content. That seems to mean that if the software can't support the content, or vice versa, in an effective way, it is useless. And since it's free and you can use your Poser content, there is absolutely no risk in trying it out. Since it's free, that unluckily tends to mean it has to be even better than other programs, if you are looking to replace them. However, why replace Poser when you can use the two together and pull the benefits from whichever one you need at the time. And, if it ever gets to the point where DAZ|Studio is "better" than Poser in your eyes, you can shift so you use it more than Poser. It's no big deal. There's not much of a commitment there. People that say they hate the interface, well I have used many programs and every interface has been different. Whenever I hop into a new program I almost instantly hate the interface because I don't know it as well as other programs I have used. That's my fault more than the software's 9 times out of 10, because I am unbending and accustomed to some other interface. The nice thing about DAZ|Studio is that obviously user feedback gets listened to with the interface, because it has changed multiple times in the past 6 months or so. So, give constructive criticism and keep your mind open to whatever options are available. Good 3D artists are willing to play with new tools and techniques to see if they can improve themselves, so don't be afraid to try new software. It can only make you a better artist in the long run. Just my meaningless rants and raves...

LOL. Spending nothing is quite painless.

Since DAZ's main business is content and the software to drive that content, it would be a great move for them if they released their animation capabilities to the "12 animators" everyone talks about in Poser land. ;) Seriously, though, there has never been any indication that they aren't going to release animation capabilities, but if they didn't, someone else could build a plugin for it, right? One other point, Mimic would be a dead-end program if DAZ|Studio didn't support animation. I don't think they would spend money on animation software and render software separately and then just decide that they don't ever need to work together. It would make much more sense to make the two work together as well as or better than how Mimic and Poser work together today.

Since DAZ does animation on occasion, and they are creating software to use in-house, it would be pretty pointless if they never put animation capability in. What would be the point of developing your own software if you don't use it?

OK, maybe I do. But I thought we were seeing his trade by seeing Studio? ;)

I'm not sure I want to see Rob's trade...

Seems that Ming is very touchy about stuff and reading into people's words things that aren't there... Many people prefer the quick access and ease of use of the big controls and such, Pro or Novice. From what Rob is saying, though, the balls were created as something that can be hidden if users like more advanced controls. "More advanced" meaning more like higher-end 3D packages that don't have those big controls but instead allow users to use hotkeys or the little widgets up in the corner. I personally use other packages than Poser and don't like the space the big controls take up. Most of the time, I hide them. There are times, though, when it is just faster and more convenient to use the bigger controls. If the controls were put in the interface to insult anyone who used them, don't you think DAZ would have had random insults pop up every time you used them? ;)

Ideally, you should hide those things and use more advanced controls.

If you are going to convert high-poly models for use in games, contact the creator of the model. You sound like you didn't model it yourself and I'm not sure how the creator would feel about you derezzing their work and then distributing it. I would take the advise given to you before and start over from scratch. It is A LOT of work to derez a figure. If you use a script or program to do it, it will do a sloppy job and that would reflect poorly on you. Then you would have to fix it up, which would take as long as just starting from scratch.

Yeah, Brazil is good.

So, was the question about most realistic renderings, or who makes the best texture maps for Poser renders?

If you want rounded edges, bevel the ends gradually. A 90 degree edge can't smooth, no matter how hard Poser tries. It is, in fact, trying, which gives you black edges.

ChuckEvans, I agree this law could go too far, and that is a worry for me, just as it is for you. As I said earlier, I hope that both sides can deal with this without going to extremes. People will ask questions similar to what I did earlier, which may lead to less rational decisions. Maybe not, but it could happen. There will be some things that will be labeled child pornography that shouldn't be I'm sure. That would be very hard for me to deal with if I was the artist, but it will take compromise from both sides to reach the best solution. I don't know if the other side (gov't side, that is) will compromise at all, though....