Hi out there, whereever you are and whatever you are. I want to buy or bid some essential graphik programs as Poser, Knockout and SSpline. So what are the main differences between the version 3.0 and the actual version of Poser ? Maybe you know also something about Corel Knockout 1.5 and Knockout 2. I know only this two versions. Und what about SSpline ? And because Carrara Studio is on the market also the differences between version 1.0 and 2.0. I know this is the wrong forum for the question. But maybe you know it. Hey, a lot of questions. I think I have to make free space for the answers in my memory. Thanks, may the power be with you

Poser 4 includes support for transparency. It includes the ability to use conforming clothing. The P4 figures are more developed than their P3 counterparts. P3 is surely better than no Poser at all, but I would say: go for Poser 4! Did I forget anything?

You can also add that most products for Poser that you will find on the market will not work properly unless you have Poser 4. Most things in Free Stuff and Marketplace here are based on the P4 figures or the DAZ models Michael and VIctoria. Unless you have Poser 4, all these will be useless.

You should definately consider the Poser Pro Pack. It has all the advantages of Poser 4 but you can also import Poser files into Lighwave, 3D Studio MAX and other programs. It also has multiple view windows and motion blur for your renders or animations.

I so agree with Gawain, the multiple views of Pro Pack alone is worth the extra cost(IMHO). Should have been added as a feature in one of the updates to Poser 4 becuse it makes any kind of posing so much easier! ProPack also allows for compacted files (I cut my Poser folder size down by about 1/2 doing this), Python scripting (it's amazing what some people are doing with this) and a graphical boneing interface for custom characters.
I don't know if Curious Labs is still offering it but they had a good deal on a Poser4/ProPack bundle.
HTH- Dan

In fact most items in freestuff work fine in Poser3! I use P3 (Saving up for P4) and I've never found anything that couldn't be used in it apart from items based on P4 figures. Many items will have a more limited use in P3 though. Lack of transparency, reflection, conforming, magnets fewer lights etc do make P3 a more limited programme but it's still very good! If you can get hold of Poser3 for free (several magazines have given it away and may do so again) I'd say grab it and learn on that then get Poser 4 (5?) when you feel the need. Oh and Vicki/Mike do work with Poser3, but you need to remap them so that head and body are on one map. I'm using Vicki 1 with Poser3 and she's working fine. BazC

Carrara 2 adds bones for animation global illumination/photon maps radiosity subdivison modeling to the VM

Attached Link: http://store.daz3d.com/store/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=ZP1&Category_Code=ps_software

Dan, I bought the bundle through DAZ cuz the price was the same as Curious Labs and they threw in an FX book and some vouchers towards their in house stuff. Plus a freebie CD. Can't hardly go wrong there. P4, without the pro pack, was real cheap on 3dcommune a while back, but the vouchers did it for me with Daz. Still haven't decided how to use those yet.

Thanks for everyone ! I just asked the question about Poser 3 and Poser 4 because I want to use Poser to create some avatars. Avatar Lab doesnt suits my needs. (Is it correct englisch ?). So lets see if I can get it cheap. What is the easiest way to make Poser figures walk, sit down, stand up and so on ? How do I make them talk or laugh ? Is there an example for an animated poser figure ? What about something difficult ? A poser figure that is standing in front of a mirror and dressed herself up ? Oh, oh thats very difficult ! Im sorry for my made ideas

Yeah, the mirror part is tough since Poser does not have a ray tracing rendering engine. This means that you can't render reflections in a mirror. You can "cheat" by rendering the reflected image separately, saving it as a picture, making a mirror image of it in a picture editing software and applying it to the "mirror" as a texture. Walk can (relatively) easily be created in the Walk Designer, that is an integrated part of Poser 4. You will find a good description of it in the manual. Basicly you set a walk path, assign a walk "style" and let Poser animate it for you. Looks very realistic once it's done. Sitting down, standing up etc, is done with the basic animation functionality. You assign the basic poses you want and Posers animation feature will animate the motion in between these poses.