Ok, cobaltdream, bantha, and Joelglaine, you've all made good points. I've seen good images become great images as the result of feedback from group members -- I see the value it has to those who are receptive. That there are a lot of images daily is a good thing, as many people are choosing to participate. I'll continue to critique what images I can. I just didn't want people to feel obligated to critique me when sometimes I can't critique that many (although truthfully I don't upload that often).

Could everyone please remove me from their favorites. Sorry for the trouble, but I'm afraid I'm done with the club. I've enjoyed the Critique Club so far, and appreciate the thoughtful comments on my images, but the numbers are getting a bit overwhelming and I can't keep up with the critiques. With up to 25/30 new images a day, I can't give each one the time for the thoughtful critique it deserves. Thanks.

Attached Link: Hightower crafts

I started an old, medievel-style saddle, but stalled about halfway through. I did release a free stable blanket and halter set, and plan on releasing more horse props/figures. I want to do a sidesaddle too. I've collected reference images (including the saddle above), so now I just need to find that old hex file. :-)

I see we've already had a couple of these types of threads since the critque group started. I knew they were coming, and it is unfortunate that A. Some people will have difficulty accepting negative comments without defensiveness when they have been subjected to sycophants for months/years. Not everyone will be good at critique, especially at first, so sometimes you have to just ignore the stuff that is not useful without getting defensive. Ask yourself if wading through some perhaps less than useful advice is worth it for that occasional nugget of gold. Some will think so, some not. B. Some idiots will resent the Critique Group, and will spew crap out of spite. That they are sending their spew via site mail rather than adding comments shows that they are not worth a second thought. If the mail is abusive, alert the mods and have it taken care of. Propschick, I saw the comment you reference. I think maybe the person just didn't know what your reference to paper dolls meant. I have no idea what it means, as I don't know all the products people use.

It would be nice to have a technically oriented poser mag. I've read a couple pdf version poser magazines that come out occasionally. They seem to be focused on showcasing renders and artists, though, without many technical tips. Is anyone else interested in working on a Poser tips newsletter/mag that is tutorial/tips/how-to based with less emphasis on interviews/images? I would volunteer as an editor/contributor. I could do some basic tutorials on composition and graphic design principles that are very applicable to 3d rendering. I don't have page layout software (anyone know of a decent freebie? Not a word processor, but something like InDesign or Quark) or I'd start it myself. Anyone else interested in contributing? Is anyone interested in reading something like this? What would you like to see? Infael, as a newbie, what do you find that you struggle with when using Poser?

I had this happen to me yesterday, and I had only one object and one texture map. I couldn't figure out why it was rendering with some weird texture, as it looked fine in the preview. A couple times the object went missing completely in the render (rendered nothing but the background color). Just tried again today after a reboot -- first try got the blank render, second time rendered correctly. Something definitely flakey going on.

Quote - i think forums are much less open than this thread seems to be.  i've got several people favorited i've never once seen post outside of this thread.  

I may be one of those you don't recognize. I do post occasionally, but I don't participate in the many dramas that go on here so the name may not be familiar. > Quote - i also think that this effort will become exactly what people feared as a forum: a clique with popular favorites

I think this is inevitable, no matter how this is approached. I've seen it happen in every forum I've participated in, and it is rife in the galleries here. Humans are strange, needy creatures who crave acceptance in the 'group,' and usually the group isn't enticing unless it is somehow exclusive. Make it easy to get in and few will want to. > Quote - i already count 60+ forums.

I think therein lies the problem. Try to create a forum for every conceivable interest and you get everyone convening in a few. You could probably cut half or more of these with no harm done. > Quote - edited to add:

there is a better way.  it's called social software.  if this site supported groups, with an automatic notification of a group member's gallery posting, it would be great.   your reached a limit?  that's amazing, if so.  i've been to people's home pages where they had more than 7 or 8 pages of favorites.

Hmm, guess it's not a limit then, but a temporary glitch maybe. Still a tedious process imo.

I would prefer a new critique forum to not be software specific. I didn't think the critiques were meant to be technical advisories, but rather general comments on composition, lighting, and such, the general guidelines of which apply to any media or software used. If you get a comment about lighting and you want to know how to achieve a certain look with your software, you can then go to the appropriate software specific forum to get advice. A possible wrinkle in the current system also: I added galleries to my favorites today, but I couldn't add the last few names. Did I run into some kind of limit for adding favorite artists? Also, the list is long and the process of adding as favorites is tedious. There's got to be a better way....

Thank you for the great gifts! Love your models.

Thank you for the great looking texture. I expecially like seeing this:

Quote - You may distribute altered versions of these files if it is for free Apollo textures only!
Don't use part of this textures to make texture for other figures
PitKlad

Very generous. I'm not up to creating a texture from scratch yet, but if I can use these as a base... woohoo! I may have a few Apollo freebies to offer soon...

I think this is a fantastic idea; I would love to be able to give constructive criticism without worrying that I might offend someone who didn't wish for a critique (and conversely let people know that it is open season on my own images). I do have a problem with the current execution of the critique club. Well, I'm just basically too lazy to hunt down images from a "favorites" list or e-bot notices. I would much rather have a specific gallery, where I could go and know that any image posted there is open for honest critique. I am much more likely to post comments to a greater variety of images and artists this way. Plus, with a special critique gallery, I can choose to NOT post an image to that gallery. To me it is important to have the choice to keep some piece of fluff I post out of the line of fire. Do we all really want honest critique on every image we post? :unsure:

The method I use is to create an alpha map of the brows and use a hue/saturation layer in photoshop to tint the brows. You can also use this alpha map in the material room of poser. My advice would be to pick up the V4 brow overlay from Netherworks (should still be available for free at Content Paradise and in the DAZ freepozitory). It comes with a tutorial on how to use the overlay. Take a look at the alpha map of the brows and the way it is attached in the material room nodes. This should get you started on creating your own overlays for different textures.