The show is CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. I owe that show a debt, in a sense. At the time I belonged to a message forum on which there were a lot of fans of the show who happened to be strong writers in their own right and for a brief period of time, we indulged in fan fiction. And I don't suggest that fan fiction is always good (some of it is dreadful) and I stopped writing it because my conscience over copyright infringement overwhelmed me. But out of that period of misdeeds came the stimulus to write again, and a couple of the stories I wrote at that time seemed to stand on their own. I would not normally post fan fiction on a site like this where people are doing original work and serious writing, but this was an important and pivotal piece for me...a return to writing which had been lost to me for more than a decade. I have since broken off from writing fan fiction completely and, in fact, quit the message boards that I had belonged to.

What is interesting to me is that there are some excellent writers who are doing fan fiction as an outlet and seem to have no interest in trying to work outside of that genre even though the best of them create original characters and plots and have moved drastically away from the show. I'm not saying that I believe I'm a particularly good writer or better than anyone in the group I broke away from. For me in was a matter of conscience. And ultimately it wasn't a satisifying genre for me to write in since I am egotisical enough to want my characters to be my own and not the property of someone else.

Unfortunately you now know to ask me a question is to get an answer you didn't intend to get.

Frankly I think you need to go with your own instincts. If you feel the poem is enhanced by the music and the font and the background, then that's an artistic choice on your part and the experience you want for the viewer, and those of us who don't enjoy it will simply move on to a different experience. It takes a lot of courage to share a personal vision in public. I applaud you for doing that.

I wouldn't for the world pretend to be an adequate critic so what follows is an expression of personal preference and no reflection on your website...and I hope you know that one person's reaction is just that of one person and doesn't reflect anything else but the bias of that person.

So here are the comments (for whatever they are worth):

I found the font difficult to read (though it is better than the micro font that people seem so fond of using these days).

I also found the music distracting and immediately turned it off on my computer. Music forces its own rhythm into a person's head and unless you wrote the poem to be read to that particular piece of music, it distracts from the natural beat of your own words.

I like the background picture...it seemed to go with the mood of the poem without imposing a particular vision on me (I think the danger of graphics is that we don't allow the reader choice in how envision what is expressed in the words....as a reader, I don't always want help in seeing).

What you might consider doing is having the version with the enhancements and another without so people can choose. People with limited vision would need a version that their electronic Readers can scan properly (I didn't check to see if your poem's font was set onto the page as a graphic....if it is, then the electronic Readers couldn't scan it at all). One way to test for accessibility for those who have disabilities is to test your page in http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp ... why bother? Because the community of people with disabilities is considerable and I don't think it hurts to be sensitive to their needs. A "vanilla" version with easy reading for those of us with limited or no vision at all is not a bad thing to consider (and takes up very little bandwith).

But if the music and the font and the background are important to your expression of your poem, I'd safely ignore any comments from someone like me and pursue your artistic vision.

I don't know if this would help but BJ Shaven has a transparency tutorial at http://www.geocities.com/bjshaven/Poser11.html I don't know how you would incorporate it into your model, though. I'm clueless about such things. I'm wondering why you don't make the sidewalk more the color of the steps. It still looks a little odd, but I guess it may be regional that sidewalks I'm use to seeing are grey-white. You're really close, though. It's amazing to see how far you've progressed with this project.

Well, if there is a prize for verbosity, I can compete for that! Thank you for the kind invitation. I appreciate it.

After the beautiful and almost erotic methodology of jgeorge (lovely command of the English language), my system is going to sound pretty prosaic. When I write, not much these days, my most productive time is riding on the bus (40 minutes to work and 40 minutes back) with a student's lined notebook, crushed in the middle of noisey, smelly people. I can't write in complete silence...I start feeling ichy. I wrote tons when I was in college...on the bus, before class, sitting on benches waiting for class, in the library. Now, if I am serious about a project, I have to take that tattered notebook with me and find my most productive moments are those on the bus and in breaks from work and during my lunch time. Then I go back to my house and transcribe the muddled and hard to read notes, and they magically expand as I type. But because I'm not very disciplined about writing every day, and because I've gotten totally distracted by graphics, now I don't write. But I create the graphics the same way. Same old notebook and crude stick figures are the scene setters on paper. Same thinking it through on the bus and in the middle of the crowd. I guess I need the turmoil of people to be creative, such as I am. I am least productive on vacations and on weekends. Go figure.

Waving first hello to Chuck. :)

Can character be separated from the story? Because when I have written, the two seem intertwined. I don't write much now, because I realized it wasn't publishable and it wasn't that much fun to write just for myself (ego shows, doesn't it) but when I write, it is as if the characters are telling me their story and I don't have a choice of characters. They are who they are and there's no persuasion on my part that will cause them to become someone else. Whe I try to force the characters, the story falls apart and stops.

It's the same with the graphics. I don't choose to do a graphic about a man or about a woman. I see a scene, as if from a play or a movie, and that scene is what I try to duplicate in the graphic. The process, for me, is the same for writing and doing graphics. When I write, the scene activates with words and movements and I have no choice how it plays out. I write down what I see with my mind's eyes and hear with my mind's ears. When the writer's block shows up, they become silent and I don't see or hear them anymore.

One reason I took up Poser was because I wondered if creating the visual representation of my scenes might break apart the writer's block, but that isn't what happened. I just ended up with a new set of characters completely visual based that resist having words written about them by me.

But here is where it gets strange. Several of my friends have seen my graphics, crude as they are, as springboards for stories they want to tell. I think that is very wayward of the creative spirit to desert me and fly from my graphics to become characters in someone else's story.

The process is a puzzle to me.

This is my first posting here. I hope I don't intrude. The art of creativity is one of interest to me, and Chuck thought I might find discussions of interest to me here. He's right. :)

I don't think I'm ready for relevant comment by which I mean, I know I have everything to learn, so the fact that my lighting is wrong, my posing is awkward, the textures aren't right isn't exactly news to me, and unless the comments are very specific, I don't really know how to fix what is wrong. I lack the knowledge to repair some errors in judgment at this point, lack the experience to see what is wrong until (urg) it is posted and I see it with fresh eyes. I'm still feeling my way to why I feel compelled to create the graphics in the first place. And you can accuse me of overthinking this, and you'd be right...but I'm not an artist by nature so the process of creating something visually is a new experience for me (and since I'm over 50, new experiences are sometimes more difficult for me). And that's way too serious a response for this line of conversation (and of interest to no one but myself). It's hot and this is not the proper space for my meandering thoughts which are not relevant. Apologies again.

I guess I thought it was an interesting topic and worth thinking about. Apologies for taking you seriously. It's been on my mind because I've been wondering about whether or not to open my graphics to comments. I see what the answer is now. Thank you.

I wonder if it helps to be more explicit about what you would like commented on (re: Warrior Repose). Do you want people to cheer you on ("any encouragement appreciated?") or could you ask a specific question ("do you think the lighting is right for this graphic?") or would telling a bit of her story help encourage feedback ("I wanted to give the impression of an inexperienced warrior getting ready for a battle she may not win.") She obviously hasn't been in actual battle because she's too clean and too free of scars, and I don't think anyone could run around a battlefield in that outfit and bare feet without having scratches and bruises and some wounds. I know for myself I have only been commenting on graphics that seem different or speak to me somehow (Normally I wouldn't comment on the fantasy battle women because they don't interest me as a genre). And I don't think my comments have much meaning. I'm not an artist, and have only just started working in Poser so what's the point of commenting when I don't think my own stuff is worth commenting on? There must be some psychology behind posting comments (getting noticed, trying to help, having a critical nature) and needing comments (praise, learning, expanding possibilities). Of course the same is true of the forums. Why would I risk posting here knowing that it is very possible the reaction may be a wounded and hurtful retort? Is it useful to you if I say, for example (and I'm not saying this is what I really think but just for the sake of having something to say) that the figure is pretty but ordinary, the lighting is nice, the pose is good, but overall the subject matter seems typical and nothing out of the ordinary? I could write that in the comments but knowing I am no one and know nothing about your aim and now knowing I'm disinterested in your genre, would that be useful or even relevant? I'm curious. When I've commented, I had one person who wrote to thank me for commenting, but everyone else has been silent, so I don't know that's it's worth commenting or not. Does it really help if the person posting the comment may or may not be someone whose work you can respect? Just curious.

Don't look now but you got a comment. You lost the record.

I guess someone stole the trashcan and the mattress! ;) Very nice improvements. Hard to believe it's the same street scene. I especially like bricks and the the concrete below the brick where the graffitti is written which is very realistic. Nice job. You're awesome.

Hmmmm...I not really great at altering models. I see the camel has 11 morph targets but I guess I'd have to contact Daz to find out if that includes the ears, the hump and the face. Llamas have distinctly different faces from camels...I'm not great at plastic surgery on characters yet. If worst comes to worse, I'll take that under serious consideration. Thank you for the suggestion...it's a good one. I'll certainly keep the camel in mind.

Wow, that's starting to look like my neighborhood! It looks much more realistic....I guess that's a good thing (doesn't say much for where I live). That trashcan, though, would never last in my 'hood. It should at least be bent in the side before it gets stolen. ;) Pricing I don't know about. The fire escape I bought was under $7 but it has less props. I bought the fast food restaurant for $20 but that seems to me that it might have a few more props. So I would think your scene would come between those two in price. ????? I doubt if I personally would pay more than $20 but I don't know what the more experienced collectors think. Back to lurking. Mainly wanted to tell you I think you're doing a great job with this. And then I almost forgot!

Hmmm..stoop does not equal verandah at all in the U.S. A stoop is a small landing with steps, may or may not have a covering overhead (often doesn't). A verandah is more like a large porch or a balcony, usually roofed and often partly enclosed, extending along the outside of a building. From my understanding, a stoop is more likely applied to an apartment building; a verandah more likely applied to a house. (I could very well be wrong...this is just my interpretation.) As for what would show up in the street; anything that should be in a trash can. This morning I found a plastic bag of dog poop hung decoratously on my fence. Usually they don't bother with the plastic bag.

If you look under "company" they give some phone numbers on the Curious Labs webpage: Please call the Curious Labs main line during regular business hours 9 am to 5 pm Pacific standard time. 831-462-8901 Call the Curious Labs hotline for regular updates about news and info on Curious Labs and Curious Labs products. 831-462-8222 I haven't had your problem with getting a response back from Curious Labs, by the way. I've had my questions answered pretty quickly, or the person has admitted that they needed to research the problem more thoroughly. I've not been unhappy so far...which is unusual because I'm usually the ones whose account gets messed up (this is in life in general...not this specifically). Hope this helps.