Just wondering if Poser 4 has many significant advantages over Poser 3. It costs over $400 here in Australia, which really blows out my budget - it's a shame an upgrade version isn't offered to existing owners of Poser 3. If it is worthwhile then I may consider buying it soon. I've noticed, from image submissions on this forum, that the faces on Poser 4 seem to be more realistic and the hair doesn't look like a plastic helmet ie Poser 3. Any lucky Poser 4 owners out there with comments ? Thanks

Hi Folks! Darren, I have individual copies of both Poser 3 and Poser 4--and I'm finding that I spend more time working (or should I say playing?) with P4. The figures, conformable clothing, transparency controls, and new lights are just a few of the things that make it a much more versatile tool than its predecessor. You will also find in this forum and other sites throughout the Web a treasure trove of stuff you can download as objects, textures and morph targets. Before long, customizing your Poser figures will be downright addictive. I'm sorry to hear it's so expensive in your part of the world, but I think it's a worthy upgrade--unless you're willing to wait a few more months for (eventually) Poser 5! Peter (Dr Zik)

heya; the figures are mostly the same, i'd say. some new ethnicity morphs (they all look the same with different skin bases to me, i dunno)... a few new animals. wolf, lion, rattlesnake, frog.... for hair, the biggest difference is p4's transparency settings. you can use alpha channel type transparency maps on stuff. also new in the textures is reflection mapping... hasn't been utilized much, but its kinda cool for making metallic textures. also new is conformable clothing. this ain't much to write home about. it's a cool idea, but still in the early stages of development. personally, i think regular posable clothing is just as good. then there's magnets. also in its first incarnation, but pretty powerful if you can get the hang of it. it almost eliminates the need to use another 3d app to make morphs. simple morphs. real simple morphs. :) then there's the new heirarchy editor. kinda buggy and cumbersome, and i woudlnt count that as an 'improvement.' (yet). so, yeah, it has some innovative new stuff, but a lot of it is first-generation implementation. do you need it or can you wait? up to you.

Don't forget the sketch designer, the grouping tool, new figures, (and some bugs, but I won't mention them). The differences between 3 and 4 are like day and night. The extra maping modes alone were worth the price of the upgrade, not to mention all of the other stuff. Just my 2 cents... (maybe we should change this to 2 bucks.... what can you get for 2 cents anymore?) -Trav

Wait a minute? Can I suggest something? Perhaps someone in the know could inform me if I'm incorrect but I understand you are in Australia and it costs $400 for Poser 4!?! Excuse me but that's madness even by standards here! Why don't you try to order it from somewhere in the states where it is cheaper? Or is there a different set up as far as computers between here and there? I know electrical plugs and tvs operate differently but do you mean to tell me the OS's do too!? PAN~

1. Can someone direct him to the monster thread by the guy who took Steve Cooper's place? That seemed to detail the plus's and minus's to the enth (inth?) degree. 2. There WAS an upgrade offer (What did we pay? Something like $175?) Email MetaCreations to see if the offer is still good. 3. Anyone know why it's so expensive outside the US? Can't US retailers sell the software for export? Or, are there some trade tariffs or something that end up making it that expensive anyway? Or, is this just a currency exhange rate thing. (I had assumed you were refering to $400 US dollars, but I seem to recall that Australia also uses "dollars".)

Australia uses dollars. So does Hong Kong. They are different from each other and from US dollars. I know: I was in Australia 18 days in June/July 1984 in Connabarabran (NSW) to see & photograph the far south star constellations.

There is a lot of difference between P3 and P4 but, as has been noted, a lot of it is first generation so tends to be a little flakey at times. The transparency maps and new lighting alone were, for me, enough to justify the upgrade. The rest was just an added bonus. $400 seems very high to me, can you get it any cheaper by buying it across the net?

Thanks for your replies. Unfortunately the Aussie dollar is only worth about US$0.60, probably the resson Poser is so expensive in Oz Also there is only one main distributor for Poser in Australia, which makes it very difficult to obtain. I've tried importing software from the US to save a few dollars, but Australian customs end up adding a large import duty when it arrives which ends up costing just as much if not more. Cheers Darren

Here's a trick - purchase it online and ship to a friend in the states...then have them ship it to you - hopefully the cost of a having it shipped to them and then shipped to you will be far less if they "think" it's everyday mail as opposed to "'spensive stuff" for the computer. Would that work? C'mon folks let's help this chap out! PAN~

This should work, provided Australian customs don't pick it as one of their quota to examine. I know this method has worked for me when I've imported MtG cards in from the US to the UK - although I've had to pay duty on 2 out of 8 parcels Paul