11/29/06

I can pull up the E-Frontier website, but not Content Paradise. It is still blocked. This does not bode well for efficient downloads when Poser 7 is released.

LMK

I realize that this thread has not been active for a while, it was referred to by Acadia in the following thread:

 http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2121224&page=2

The technique of using a noise node as a displacement map to create a fur or hair like texture is fascinating, but I have encountered a problem. I am getting a checkerboard effect that seems to be related to the underlying mesh. While this has an interesting appearance, it is not uniform, and it is an annoying artifact.

Has anyone else encountered this? Do you know of a way to suppress this effect?

Thanks,

LMK

11/29/06

Universal Poses! O goodie! Now all of my dissimilar figures can be rendered line dancing. Oh the joy!

LMK

"Peace of Software!"

11/29/06

Nruddock:

Only Platinum Club members can access this link

http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=48547

Oh well, I guess the picture is not for all to see.

LMK

11/28/06

The Poser 7 Party seems to be planned for next week. I think LasloV was trying to figure out what time 6:00 PM (West Coast Time USA) would be in other time zones.

The Amazon link has this paragraph about Poser 7,

Availability: This item will be released on December 4, 2006. Pre-order now!
To ensure delivery by December 22, choose FREE Super Saver Shipping. See more on holiday shipping. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

LMK    

11/28/06

Gareee:

Are they letting you testers talk yet?

LMK

11/23/06

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We even wish a blessed day to every one who isn't from the USA.

LMK

11/20/06

Whether EF continues to support Poser 4/Poser Pro or not, I suspect that many content providers will continue to do so for a while. There are many thousands of users who are quite happy with that version, and have no intention of updating. Go figure.

 For some, economics is a factor, but If people can't afford a computer that can handle Poser 5, 6, or 7, then they can't afford the latest version of Poser either. Also, how much content could they reasonably afford. Look for Poser 4 to disappear slowly into that good night as content providers slowly abandon support (the extra effort will not give an adequate return on their time).

11/20/06

Arrrggghhh!

This thread has my head spinning. Is there a "Nodes for Dummies" reference or VERY basic tutorials to introduce novices. The Poser 6 documentation is criptic not sufficient. I have a basic Poser 6 book (Poser 6 Revealed: The Official Guide), but it does little more than tell me what is in Poser, but no real explaination of what most things do, or how to use them.

Nodes look powerful and diverse, with the potential to unlock an artists indiviuality and originality (so that everything does not look alike).

Thanks,

LMK

11/18/06

Jonathan:

Not to try and sell some one else’s products, have you looked at PhilC’s "Wardrobe Wizard"? Not only can it fit cloths designed for one figure to another, it can fit cloths to a figure that has been highly morphed. PhilC also has software ("Cloths Designer Suite") to create original clothing, which "Wardrobe Wizard" could then fit to your figure. If you can design and texture clothing, which you then fit to your morph and sell as a bundle, you could make your product all the more desirable. These products allow original clothing items you create to be sold. PhilC views his software as tools.

I have some very morphed characters, and "Wardrobe Wizard" has allowed me to alter clothing items that I already own to fit them. I am considering the "Cloths Designer Suite" as well.

Also, Poser 7 will allow items with a mesh to be deformed by a paintbrush like method. This should work on clothing. It is not yet clear if these items could be exported and used in Poser 4-6. In Poser 7, however, it should be possible for users to fit cloths to extremely morphed figures using this feature (even if you, yourself, do not own Poser 7).

LMK

http://www.philc.net/

11/18/06

I found the UV fills that AprilYSH spoke about on her referenced webpage (to make DAZ3 figures use DAZ1-2 textures), but I haven't the faintest idea of how to use them. Can any one point to a tutorial about this?

I have several of the hair products produced by AprilYSH. If she isn't too busy, and would be interested in making more hair products, I wish she would make a short hairstyle for men. There are several skullcaps, but the DAZ Flattop is very dated, and not versatile. It looks like old style GI-Joe. I would like a style that had more control over the sides, side burns, and back, and had more options for the top. It would be nice if it could be made to follow the contour of the head and not look like the deck of an aircraft carrier. It would be good to have a stile that you could flip the front of, which is popular, or mildly spike.

LMK

11/14/06

Marque:

My prayers for your daughter and a speedy recovery, for your family as they travel to support her, and for you. How kind of you to trust us for support. Bless you.

LMK

11/11/07

pacman323:

We are all as eager and anxious for the release date as you are. Some speculation places the release date at or around 11/17/06 because that is th release date of the new James Bond movie "Casino Royale" and the special content of Poser 7 has a casino theme. But, E-F/CP have two reasons to yet announce and one wonders if they can do so before November 17th.

LMK

11/9/06

Folks:

EF has several problems in developing Poser and any other software. A very large challenge is keeping up with hardware and operating system developments. The computer industry has hundreds of thousands of engineers, and Microsoft and Apple have tens of thousands of software writers continually working to increase the power of computers. How many employees does EF have working on Poser? Probably they have a dozen or less and not all fulltime. By the time an upgraded package gets to market, it can be a generation or two behind the latest hardware/operating system innovations.

On the other hand improved hardware can put a lot of power at the disposal of a programmer that can help a program with marginal performance be more functional, and operating system developers frequently have powerful (pricey) programming tools to help programmers revamp old software. EF probably has to struggle not to fall too far behind the cutting edge of the top end computers.

The larger computer software developers have hundreds of employees working on writing powerful and expensive graphics packages. These companies are constantly expanding the capabilities of their software packages. EF customers will ask for features they see in other packages, and some of these will be inordinately difficult and expensive to accomplish. Many possible features, however, will be reasonable to work toward. Customers, when they make suggestions and ask for features contribute to the development process, but the skill of EF’s programmers, difficulty of implementation, and the interests/taste of the design team will also effect the finished product. The customers and design team will even think of a few things that will not be available in other packages.

Yesterday’s and today’s blockbuster features are today’s and tomorrow’s old stuff. What may seem now to be too much to hope for could be so common as to be mandatory in an update or new version or EF could lose market share. Poser 5, and Poser 6, both had innovations that improved realism in the figures. There has been no real advance in Poser/DAZ figures for three to four years now (G2 is not much of an improvement). Sooner or later it will have to be done. Why shouldn’t customers ask for improved rigging and realism and software developers strive for it. EF may be happy to allow DAZ or other content providers to set the standards in this area, and follow after with figures that are frankly inferior, or they may decide to up the ante for realism themselves. One way or another, one company or another will do it, and thereby get ahead.

Content providers will always be playing the catch up game, and fixing content that new innovations broke. It is the nature of progress. The market is oversaturated with V3/S3/A3 hair, clothes, textures, and accessories. There is not nearly enough for most of the other figures, but some creative people have figured out ways to make some of this content work with other figures. Sooner or later the market will get so saturated with support for the present figures that content providers will be crying for figures that are improved enough to open new markets for them.

This upgrade version of Poser looks to be a major one with some improvements being accomplished that many seasoned Poser users did not think would be offered this time around. There is no reason to believe that the seven installments of meager information will be exhaustive. We will not know how good Poser 7 will be until we get it, break it by trying things that the beta testers did not think about, and EF fixes it with several service releases. I have my ticket for this ride already ordered. And when, by the way, will Poser 8 be coming out?

LMK

"Raytraced soft shadows are a viable option, y'know. Or maybe you didn't ...."

Little Dragon:

I have seen this mentioned, but at no place can I find out how to use soft shadows in Raytracing. Do you know of an available tutorial?

LMK