I keep reading, "Posing, is an art" Well yes it is. However when you model your own character polygon by polygon, texture it yourself, create your own environment, customise it ect ect, you still pose your own character. However the clear difference is that when using poser, you jump right to the posing and customising stage. Which is fine. However it does take alot of the creativity out of things, and does make many many poser artworks, look exactly the same. It's the same as getting a sketch of Mickey Mouse, rubbing the ears out and drawing pointy ones in. "Oooh look, My new character design, its a cat".... No, no its not. It's Micky Mouse with modified ears. And if you think this sounds retarded, check out most poser galleries. This type of examples can be seen everywhere. Another thing to ponder. If there are so many opinions here of "art is art, who cares how its made, I do it because it means everything to me, and its deep and meaningfull" Then why when this topic comes up, are there always a flock of Poser people running in and justifying their means? If its all about the art, and your relation with it. Who cares what other people outside the poser community think. Right? Mark J. Taylor

<<>> Or do it for that matter. Mark J. Taylor

I agree with many of your points, however you must also take a look at the other side of the fence, and see why these comments are being made. Lets face it, with poser... in most cases people take a pre-made objects, props, poses ect...then modify them untill they look good to the artist. However a great similarity would be to take someones painting... throw a few extra colors on the canvas, paint in a few extra peices... and call it your painting. The fact of the matter is it is not. You made a few analogies throughout your message post which didn't hold much weight. <<>> Now come on lets be serious here. A sculpture artist takes raw materials, and sculpts it into his vision. He does not find a rock in the shape of "David", add a leaf and call it a sculpture. Secondly, whilst a painter does not always mix his own paints, he does in fact turn liquid in a palette, into a vision. He doesn't simply take pre-existing painted figures, add a few colours and props, and call it a day. I'm not trying to start a heated argument. I'm offering you an intelligent answer from the otherside of the fence. Unfortunately it is about exactly how much you do, and what you make it mean in the end of the day. Obviously effort accounts for somthing. If someone puts a lot of effort into an artwork, makes everything from scratch, spends hours and hours making an object polygon by polygon, rigging their character, animating.. whatever... it shows patience, and a clear understanding that this artist took an idea in his/her head, and paved the way untill the vision was complete. Now I've seen some amazing Poser artworks, that I loved. They were highly original, very skillfull, and looked amazing. But lets get honest. Compared to the excellent poser art out there.... there's a heck of a lot of crap that's thrown together through a few modifications. These artworks are what attract the negetive comments. Instead of getting upset at the comments made about poser artists and poser artworks... Make it an opportunity to prove yourself. Show that whilst you may not take the raw essentials through the whole process.... you are still more than capable of taking pre-existing help, and making it a unique and amazing vision. How often do you scroll down the poser gallery and say "yep, seen this one before... . yes and this one... ooh there it is again"? The difference is, when you see a unique, and amazing poser artwork. You don't see the poser in the front. Same as when you see an amazing lightwave artwork, you don't know its lightwave, or maya or 3dstudio max for that matter. So Cheer up, and keep producing amazing artworks. If negetive comments come your way, let it roll of your shoulders and make it a task to prove those comments wrong. Because you know that if your artwork is phenominal, people won't care how it was made or what with. Mark J. Taylor Just a friendly view from the otherside of the fence