Hi all...I'm thinking of finally biting the bullet and upgrading to Poser 6 from Poser 4 Pro Pack but before I do I have 2 questions...my first question is will I have to reinstall everything from the Metacreations Runtime for Pro Pack into the Curious Labs Runtime for Poser 6 (I hope not I running out of MB as we speak). My second question is how hard is the interface of Poser 6 if you are coming from Poser 4...just looking at the previews has me kinda worried...is it as complicated as it looks?? Thanks in Advance for anyone who takes the time to answer this...Jenn

You can add you old P4 runtime to your new P6, so you don't have to reinstall everything to p6 separetly. As for the interface; it is more complicated, but you'll get used to it. It's just one of those tradeoffs I think :| More options, more complicated. And the new firefly engine is nice. Is it worth it? I suppose so, alltho P6 is incredibly slow on my machine like 3 times slower than p5.. Odd. I haven't used p6 much because of this but perhaps others have more positive things to say. And perhaps it will run just fine on your machine. :D

I upgraded from P4 to P6 as soon as it came out and am still trying to find time to learn to really use it. I think that P4 was more intuitive, in that it was relatively easy to figure out without being a rocket scientist. P6 seems like it will require a lot more time and reading to learn to use well. (Maybe I'm just intimidating myself.) That said, I'm really looking forward to being able to utilize all the neat aspects of P6. Even though I've barely scratched the surface, I'm glad I got it. Some of the work here has been amazing.

I started with Poser 5 so I wouldn't know about the difference between Poser 6 and Poser 4 but I can tell you I love Poser 6 even if there are still some bugs (like the transparency display). P6 is a lot faster than P5 for me. I didn't render much in P5 but now that I have P6, I render very often and I like it.

I too am considering upgrading from Poser Pro to Poser 6, and so can endorse all the fears of the other contributors. A brief experience with the original Poser 5 didnt help matters at all,apart from the application being full of bugs which should NEVER have occurred, the manual supplied further complicated the issue by being written in a totally illogical manner, trying desperately to explain functions which didnt work anyway. Eventually I did myself a favour and threw the whole bloody lot out. Poser 6 is now given a good rating, lessons having been learnt, But I am informed by various reviewers that the manual/help files are still illogical and virtually useless, and seemingly the manufacturer is choosing to ignore this aspect. Can an experienced user of Poser 6 suggest a manual that covers the operation of Poser 6 in a step by step manner. Searching the DAZ and Renderosity sites for such infomation does not supply any enlightenment. Could it be that they are afraid of rocking the boatwith the manufacturer, instead of supplying the honest information to their customers ????????????

IMHO, P6 is well worth the upgrade from p4 PP or below.
However it DOES take a heavy-weight machine to run it at its full potential (and even then it's quite slow at times).

If you only want an "improved P4/P4 Pro Pack", then the answer is probably no.

P6 can do everything that P4 does, and can do it without enhancing anything. If you just stick to what you know in P4 (but will do it somewhat more slowly).

BUT (and it's a BIG BUT) - the additional features are well worth the money.

With the Firefly renderer you can get true (ish) ray-tracing, including reflection (ie. mirrors etc.), better shadows (under certain circumstances) and a lot of other things. All at the price of speed of render, of course.

The Cloth room is fantastic if you are into loose-fitting clothes and/or getting skirts to look much better in the sitting position (again, tho, it takes time to learn and time to do).

The materials room leaves P4 way behind in the dust. It is a TRUE materials editor. Although you can opt for a simplified version which acts more like P4, once you get into it the possibilities are (almost literally) infinite..

Just my opinion (and I admit I am biased..) :-)) Edited to add: Another advantage of the Firefly renderer is displacement. Acts much like a bump map, except that it actually changes the mesh during render. So those bumps that didn't show up on the edges in P4 can now do so. Has to be used with care, but can give astonishing results...
Cheers,
Diolma

Message edited on: 11/25/2005 16:19

Thanks Diolma, A most encouraging reply from a user looking at the practical application of the software. I fully understand that the greater complications will entail some effort in understanding, but lifes like that. But what about the Manual ? The process of coming to an understanding is fine as long as the user has a comprehensive and detailed manual to work by. If this is not so, then eventually the learning process comes to a shuddering halt simply because one was not given the correct information. Would very much appreciate your comments on this very important aspect. Bill Soper.