Hi, I've just been visiting Amazon.co.uk, and up popped a recommendation for a book called 'Practical Poser 6' by Denise Tyler (soon to be released). A few weeks ago I almost bought Poser 6 Revealed, but learned just in time that it was very basic. This one is billed as 'intermediate' by Amazon. Does anyone know anything about it yet? I seem to remember seeing comments here that there was finally a good Poser book on the way by someone who really knew their stuff. Is this the promised one, or should I seek another? :-) Thanks!

Well, this doesn't come out until October for one thing. For another, here is a clipping from the book description: "Explains how to add, clothe, and pose figures and how to create Multi-charactered scenes" Now I don't want to badmouth a book before it even has a chance for review, but I mean, if you are targeting "intermediates" they had better be able to add and clothe a figure in Poser already. I don't know, looks like another Poser 6 "Revealed." Revealed meaning, here is how you unwrap the box... I have heard it on good sources that there is an upcoming book from someone who definitely knows their stuff. I really don't know if I am at liberty to discuss any names, so I will keep that under wraps, since I don't know if I am even supposed to know ;-) If it is true though, as soon as an announcement is made, I will have my copy reserved.

Actually I was quite lucky with Poser Revealed. I ordered it in a fit of silly enthusiasm for anything that was connected with P6. Alcohol may even have been involved... THEN I read all the comments that it was an absolute beginners book, and started to cuss myself. Then I got an apologetic email to say there'd been a problem with my order, and that I'd need to visit the site and re-order it. Phew! Divine Intervention!! It sounds like this other book you mention might be the one to wait for. (not that I'm knocking 'beginner' books. There was a time when I - dare I admit this? There was a time when I found 'The Poser 3 Handbook' very helpful...)

Hey, the Poser manual is helpful. I still refer to it somtimes when I am stuck. My biggest problem with these other books is that they are really just a rehash of the original manuals. Not that the information is not valid or anything, but I already know what the manual says, and that came free with the product. I see no reason to pay for another version of the same info, just because it has more pictures. I have suggested another book a couple of times in the past I have read . It is "Secrets of Figure Creation with Poser 5" by BLRender. The author is a member of this community. It doesn't give you a lot of information on different topics in Poser, but it does do what the title implies. It tells you all about CR2's, talks about JP's, a bunch of other stuff. It was worth a read. It won't make you a Poser master, but I don't feel uncomfortable recommending the book if you want to read something about Poser. Hope some of this helps!

This is a beginner to intermediate book, not just intermediate. It will start with the basics and work up from there. It tries to address some of the questions that are most commonly asked by beginners, but also takes things beyond the manual in many ways.

I guess you could say that it will go beyond a repetition of the manual, but not as far as "Secrets of Figure Creation" (which is a great book, but very specialized and not for beginners).

And, the author has been a member of this community for over five years. 8-)

Message edited on: 07/03/2005 08:44

The BLRender book is excellent, and I trust Denise Tyler to come up with something worth reading. My own attitude to "beginner" books is that if they emphasize teaching rather than regurgitation, they are useful for anyone interested in polishing their skills. The real problem with most "beginner" manuals is that they are nothing of the kind. They are merely substitute manuals, often repeating the very flaws that drove the "beginner" out to get "the missing manual." A quick way to check for this kind of rip-off: See if the "beginners" book repeats charts and tables that appear in the manual. If it does, then skip it. Chances are that, however pious the publisher, their intended market is warez kiddies who have discovered that they need a manual. These guys are bottom feeders, just like the sociopaths who steal the software in the first place, and they should be avoided if you have any respect for the rights of the software developer. Personally, I go back to my "beginners" books every few years and skim them, discovering that things I didn't understand before now make sense, that there are ways of doing things more efficient than my habitual solutions, and that my conversation with the writer is different. Mick

Thanks, Mick. I'm trying. 8-) I've been wanting to write a Poser book since I first joined this community five years ago. I've also been using Poser since the first release. I model clothing. I use Deep Paint and Deep UV to do UV mapping. I've made stuff for BBay, Renderosity, RuntimeDNA, and DAZ through the years. I may not be able to create an original figure yet, but in my opinion there are few who successfully can. However, if folks want to know PRACTICAL uses for Poser ... like the best ways to apply face room morphs to your Poser figures; multi-layered dynamic clothing; step by step how to create your own lighting arrangements; how to create and save cameras that you can use when you create face textures; how to model, UV map, group, and assign materials to clothing ... all in step by step and easy to follow tutorials, then this book is for you. If you want more of the manual, this book isn't for you ... in fact, it assumes you have it and the Poser 6 tutorial manual. I give basic overviews of the stuff that is already in the manual, and go from there. I will be honest ... it won't be a book for everyone. It won't be the "be all end all" Poser book, because you can't fit it all in 540 pages. But I DID try to take a hard look at the things people want and need to learn most. Hope that helps. 8-)

Deecey-- That all sounds good to me. I'll certainly be watching out for your book.

Wishlisting Denise's book. I'm reminded, though, of another thing to be wary of. Book publishers want their books out the day the software hits the street. That's impossible, and you can use how quickly the book appears as a rough metric of whether it's any good. In addition to the time required to edit and polish the book, even if the writer has produced it in a 30 ppd white heat, there is the physical process of idea to bound paper, which takes a month or more, done correctly. So a book that appears a few months after software release was probably written and in production when the software shipped. The notorious P# Handbooks were extraordinarily crude in this respect. The P5 one came out two months after the software release, and it contained no meaningful information about innovations in P5. The illustrations didn't even use the new P5 figures, and there were places in the manual where features were explained in meaningless gibberish, all repeated dutifully in Mortier's text. It was obviously thrown together to be "first out" and exploit the "I'll buy anything" crowd. Writing a book takes a long time. If the writer doesn't have access to the software early in the beta phase (as I'm sure Denise T did, though that's just a guess), there is no way he will produce a competent, useful book within weeks after software release. Fortunately, P6 doesn't represent the radical change the P5 did, and the writer can bootstrap the book a bit by writing about P5 and then revising. That said, enough time has passed between first beta and today to allow Denise to produce a worthwhile book, and I'm confident that it will be a good one.

As one who has written many books during the beta phase of a product, I can say with certainty that it's a tough process. You're dealing with documentation and features that are still being worked on and finalized, which is one of the reasons that software manuals are generalized. The manuals have to be done well in advance of the code so that they can go to translators and printers and be ready in time. That is the case with all software manuals, and with books that are released the same time as software.

I wrote three sections in the Poser 6 Tutorial Manual ... Face Room, Cloth Room, and Hair Room. While doing so, I tried to keep the tutorials very basic, while also trying to as thorough as I could be. Those who have Poser 6 can get a good idea of my writing style by reading those three sections.

I love Poser, and I love teaching people new things. In my writing this book, I hope that I've addressed the types of things people want and need to learn. If not, I will gladly work on additional tutorials afterwards that fill in the gaps. 8-) Also ... I've also heard of others who have been working on Poser books, and I say "The more, the merrier!" The more we can educate people into how to use Poser, the more we will see the quality of Poser art increasing! It's a GOOD thing! 8-)

Message edited on: 07/03/2005 12:15

Pulls out a plate, and opens a can of crow, ready to dig in... Well now, I take back what I said early in this thread. I wasn't aware someone in the Poser community wrote this one, and that has been a complaint of mine for a lot of books in the past. So many are written by someone who has "fiddled" with the product, but doesn't know much and just managed to sell a publisher on the idea of the book. I am glad to hear someone who actually uses Poser wrote this. I apologize for assuming this would be another rehash. I have been burned before by books claiming to be for intermediates, so I am weary these days. As far as Deecey's comment on "the more the merrier" I couldn't agree more. Go to a bookstore and look for a Photoshop book, you find shelves full. If you want to learn Maya, no problem. Want to learn Poser? Tough luck. My only complaint with this book now is...I don't want to wait till October ;-)

I know for a fact that the author of this particular book has spent time here and actually asked people what they wanted to learn more about. I suspect that if it veers more toward intermediate or beginner will be at least in part dependant on the responses she got here. I bought one of the authors books a long time ago (on Painter 3.1) and it was one of the most useful computer books I've purchased. I doubt any book is perfect for everyone but I have great faith in Denise Tyler. Nope. I don't work for or with her. I don't owe her any money either. ;-)

LMAO ... Thanks Bobasaur! LOLOL Does that mean I have to put that evil little diapered kid in there somewhere? Hehehehehe!

Not evil; just misunderstood. At least as far as you know. [Grin]