Quote - Thank you for the objective, unemotional and well reasoned response. Meanwhile, there seems to be some doubt as to the exact nature of the problem, or even its existence (www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_to_issue_outofcycle_patch_for_the_unknown_exploit/1229465202), but why let that spoil the party. Meanwhile, I'm sure this will cause the millions in Africa and elsewhere who have been helped by Messr. Gates' philanthropy to send the money back in protest.

I think I love you.  Serious.

excellent work DH as always.  You really have a passion for the re-awakening of older figures who are just as useful. As always , if you need anyone to "test drive" you know i'm all for it.......

(as long as I can figure out how to load it, never got the remapped v4 to work, ever).

You can try the filters, I cant recall exactly where offhand at the moment but for tiles.  You can tile your color, then use other filters to stretch it and wave it.  From there do a noise filter and it should work really well.

use whatever version you currently have, until you are re-familliarized with it.  After that then considering the upgrades.

Though I use poser, I generally render in sketch only, and airbrush color from scratch in Photoshop using airbrushes.  Therefore all my artwork is under the title "Mixed medium" as to me, thats exactly what it is, a mixture and blend of elements to gain the finished work.

Thats just me though.  If someone is heavily using poser but using postwork to fix problems or add hair or something, i'm perfectly happy with it being listed in Poser.... after all thats the base program used.

I'm in CT...... lots of snow, about five inches............ but thats not whats sucking lol.  Its the ice, its "raining" ice...... my car is covered with a thick icing of ice..... so is the road, the walk, the snow...... everything.

The simplest way to get rid of teh obnoxious nasal illumination is in the material's room and change the color to a very dark grey.  Works EVERY time.

Take the render into photoshop.  make a new duplicate layer, use the eraser with a 25 percent opacity over one figure.  Go to the original, delete that layer.  voila.

For photoshop, you can start by posting over in the photoshop forum here on renderosity.  they'd probably have more of the 411 your looking for on techniques.    Basically, you have to wade through a lot of tutorials and try them, its not an instant process in learning.

I used to use Paint shop pro, and found photoshop too daunting..... what a mistake.  When i finally bit the bullet, and dove in, wow, what an improvement!  Not saying PSP is bad, just you can do more with photoshop.

The best format, unless you want a transparent background is a PSD file.  BMP's are TOO huge, and are not very reader friendly.  Try uploading them somewhere and you'll see what i mean.  PSD's keep the quality good.

Bigger is not always better, if the image is HUGE, you'll find this lag in working, where you try to paint something and it takes four minutes or so for the paint to actually show up.  The trick is making it big enough, but also the higher dpi.  render your images at at least 300 dpi, then you can expand and contract it without any real loss of content structure.

Staples has a good double sided matte finish paper (just use the one side) its very inexpensive, and gives great finish.  I always use matte for my pro prints, there is way too much glare in gloss.  The double sided matte is in 8 1/2 x 11 in

Also recommend the inkjet, its what i have and the prints come out fantastic.

Edit:  Incidentally, I print for professional framing and selling of art prints.  Don't buy into the more expensive the better, or name brand load of you know what.  The staples brand photo paper works just fine, and it has an extended life, just like any other paper.

The only time I pay big samolians for my paper is the ROLL paper for my two monsters, which I only use Kodak.   

Considering you are starting out, go cheap and good.

Job.  I use poser as a base / model and use digital airbrushing to complete compositions.  I sell my artworks in a gallery.

Hmmm, better? Worse?   I've had a crack at the V3 V4 issue before.  I'm sure by someone I'll get trumped for my opinion, but I know both figures pretty well, here's my take.

V3 always looks like V3 mostly because i think, in general, there was so much "free stuff" out for her, facial morphs and packs, everyone used them instead of spinning dials/adding injections of their own.  So after a while, they do all look the same.   We know what "the same" means by this point, way pinched unrealistic nose, and the mojombu huge -yes i've had lip injections at the plastic surgeon- look.

However, take V3, and her whole injection pack, and if its actually used, you can get some "serious" faces going on.  I have a gallery full of V3.... yet, don't have a problem with "the same face" over and over.

Keep in mind too, a lot of V3 renders i've seen (mostly beginners, but there's a LOT of them mind you), have either the default face, or they injected one thing, and one thing only.  The trick is investing the time to make something creatively different.

Now, on to V4.  I've had V4 since she came out, and I've managed to get one decent peice of art using her, and thats with a huge amount of effort and a helluva lot of tweaking and airbrushing over in photoshop.   Trust me, my inability to work with her has nothing to do with lack of time invested in using her.  There's been darn good money paid on her, so I have, and am still, investing time trying to ferret out her secrets.  So far?  not many.

V4's body is an improvement by a longshot, that I agree, however, it feels very "jessi-esque" to me.  I've compared the two bodies side by side, and it does seem remarkably simillar with the exception Jessi has more musculature to her.  A lot of time has to be used to get out the -i'm anorexic- stomach indent under the ribs and making it flesh out without a huge side ripple like the love handles from hades, but it can be done.  Again, a lot of time has to be given to sizing and resizing feet and hands, which seem disproportionate (i.e. drag queen feet) LOL.

For those who care about them the greatest deal, ha, the breasts are an enormous improvement (no pun intended here!).   The dials get much better realism with way less work to get a natural uplifted or, drooping breast.

Her face leaves a lot to be desired.  people will argue this i'm sure, but still, i understand what "asian"means in a dial, i dont understand what "monique" means in a dial.  I'm guessing its "french"..... although none of the character morphs conform to any ethincity I'm accutely aware of LOL.  You can, with work get a good face on her, but.... like v3, v4 holds the "it looks like v4" issue.  I think all the mil figures do actually, with a few exceptions.

To me its not better or worse, but which is more useable.  To me, thats still V3, its much more versatile to me.

Eh, ........  i have v4, and I can relate.  There are those who tout she's just fantastic...... but fantastic for what exactly? LOL, I haven't figured that out.  I've managed to make ONE image with her, and i got her oh, within a week of her coming out.   I find her extremely hard to work with.

Its not the "character" faces for her that are the problem, at least, not entirely.  She's very limited especially trying to get something ETHNIC that doesnt have pouty lips and big doe eyes.   I'm sure I could get it, but why couldnt it be as easy as say, V3"s simple inject of "asian".  At least v3 you have more options to play with.

Anyway, its the expressions that are lacking enirely.  Unless your figure is happy, sad, disgusted or angry.......i've mixed those with tweaks  of other dials and have yet to get any realistic and SUBTLE facial expressions.

I'm not bashing vendors here, they're trying at least, but there simply isn't a plethora of V4 textures out there.  Someone will argue with me, yes there's lots, but most seem like the one before it.  I've only seen a minor handful that actually look good when rendered, unfortunately they are almost all primarily the classic "white woman"

Again, sure she's a good figure in someone elses hands, I just find her way too time consuming to get a look that i want, I have better luck airbrushing over the entire rendered figure.

I stopped reading the other forum after about, oh three pages.  Frankly, not even bothering with the kevlar anymore, and really don't care what the opinion is of me if i vent some of my truer feelings about this.

These elitists, for whatever purpose, because they can afford (or jack off someone else for free) outrageously expensive programs, perhaps to look down at poser users and heckle, are starting to mess with my livelyhood.     Word gets around, no matter how you try and stop it.  There is few places to go anymore to do any serious type poser art and be seen, unless you have a trillion friends going "Oh lovely!" in response in comments.   I cant find others who are really serious about it, without going through many sites and galleries laiden with private parts ex'ed out or content advisories.    I am not bashing the nude artform, nor am i bashing beginners.

However, there is nowhere out there where people who are NOT hobbiests can go for poser, and not be thrown in with new users and hundreds of default vickies.

I use poser, sure.  I use it for what it was originally intended for, back then that was respectable.  you used it as a model, then you painted.  It was a guide not an entire 3d render engine genie.   Now?  If i even hint i use poser, people even the casual every day person walking by my gallery wrinkles their nose and turns away.

And its not the poser users doing this, its the elitists, and thats why I have a problem with them.  They are bashing and killing in the real world a tool used to create art.    Those that use it with utmost passion, are frowned on?

What should i shell out about three thousand dollars to do exactly what i do now, to ease their egotistical pragmatic mindselts?

Hell no.

I managed somehow, to avoid the purchase machine for a long time.  Gaining poser 3 from a magazine, and then was given poser 4 as a christmas gift.   It took several years before i had to purchase really anything, because i was fortunate enough to have a spouse who got me v2.  After that, i surfed the net for all the freebies that could be had.  i was a downloading slave lol.

Granted, i didnt realize half of the fantastic items were textures only, not the actual item, imagine my suprise lol.  Then the learning to unzip and where the heck it goes.

Finally, frustrated my first purchases were v3 and m3 and their morph packages.  I remember the day well, as it was like "thank god!".