Poser 9 Review

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Poser 9 ReviewAs a longtime user of Poser software, using it on PC and then on Mac, my last purchase was Poser 6. I figured that I had no need to upgrade since 6 was pretty solid for what I needed to create and for the next few years, I continued to use the software until June 2011 when I upgraded to Mac OS 10.7 Lion and realized, a lot of the older software would no longer work with Lion. So, suffice to say...I was S.O.o.L.
But with the announcement of the release of Poser 9 and Poser Pro 2012 and the fact that these will work with OS 10.7 Lion was big for me. Also, Poser 9 comes with both the Windows and Mac version which is a plus.
But my biggest concern was...after spending so much money on Poser characters, clothing and accessories, I hope it works with this latest version of the software. I skipped Poser 7 & 8 and there wasn't much information online for those who use Poser on a Mac. So, now that I have tested this, hopefully I can help other Mac users who are considering purchasing this software.
I. Is this software for you?
First, to keep things basic for those not familiar with the software. Poser is a 3D software which you can model a character (human/animal/monster, etc.), environment, prop, have control over their movements and pose them anyway you want. There are websites where you can purchase models, clothing, props, environments, etc. or if you are savvy...you can design them and sell them on various marketplace online.
As a graphic designer, I have used Poser for posters, commercial ads and I have known people to use Poser in addition with other software to create book covers, posters, ads, videos, etc.
The difficulty of having to create to program and create the model of the character, clothing, etc. is not there because everything is presented to you as is. Everything is there for you to manipulate. So, you can select a variety of models that come with the program or purchase a character. Want to create a fairy, a zombie, a soldier, a knight, a superhero, a fashion model, etc. The sky is the limit...it all comes down to your creativity. You can pose them from everything to bending their legs, arms, moving their neck, eyes, fingers, enhancing their bodies, etc. You have control!
Is there a caveat of using the software? The main caveat is you need to purchase things online. So, if you want a fairy, you need to buy the clothing, the wings, the hair, the props, the backgrounds, etc. But of course, the more you use the software, you will want to create other types of characters requiring more clothing, hair, use another model, etc. That cost money.
Otherwise, if you are great with software like Adobe PhotoShop, then you can create your character and then pretty much digitally create things on your own. If you are great with other 3D software and no how to model, then you can create things for your character and go even further with your creation.
But with that being said, like any video editor who needs to purchase plug-ins or those needing to add to their existing software for audio or video, those plug-ins cost hundreds dollars and it adds up. With Poser, you can buy bundles under $100 and many sites offer a lot of freebees as well.
So, is this software for you? If what I mentioned interests you, then yes. It's important to know that there is Poser 9 and the more powerful (and more expensive) Poser Pro 12 (which has more features) that allow exporting your characters into 3DS Max, Maya, LightWave 3D and CINEMA 4D. Also, better weight mapping and joint system (so, you have control over every bend and bulge) and is 64-bit native.
If you want to create characters off the bat and no need for the extra power of Power Pro, Poser 9 is all you need and it is just as possible!
II. Poser 9 - So, What's New?
* Comes with software for MAC/PC
* Many 3D characters are included with this release
* Powerful Rendering Engine
* Auto Lip Synch
* Poser keyframe animation makes animation easy
* Includes advanced vertex Weight Map Rig
* Grouped body part figures and single mesh figures
* Improved Firefly render engine
* Supports rendering with ambient occlusion, you can enable subsurface scattering and more!
III. INSTALLATION
I installed Poser 9 on an older iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo on Mac OS X Lion 10.7.2. The only thing that I didn't like about the installation is that with my previous Poser, I can select the harddrive to install. I like to keep Poser on an external drive. But couldn't do that. The installation took about 35-40 minutes as there is a lot to install with this latest software.
IV. USING POSER 9
I was happy to see the new interface improvements (remember, my last software was Poser 6) and seeing everything via tabs on top, so I can go from my Poser main screen to face, hair, cloth, etc. The parameter controls (this allows you to bend certain joints, make people bigger, smaller, etc.) are easy to control and looking at the content available, you get several characters. Back then, you were only give two (one man, one woman). This time, you have have Alyson, Andy2, Ben, Ben 2, Creech, Don, GreyAlien, James, Jessi, Judy, Kate and Kate 2. I was hoping they would have Miki (their Japanese character) included as well, but she can be purchased online.
Don't want anyone so realistic looking, you can select cartoon characters such as Alphaman, Ichiro2, Koshini2, LaRoo2, Phoebe, Squeaker, TheRalph Ling, etc. You also get animals such as bugs, dinosaurs, pets, reptiles, sea life, seven types of robots, anatomical models etc. As well as scenes such as secret agent, taverns. Vehicles such as spacecraft and a few weapons as well.
And these come with a lot of poses for the characters featured, facial expressions, hair, hand movements, clothing, lighting selections, cameras, materials (think of this as allowing for changes of colors of a diamond to make it into a ruby) or changing a pattern of a swimsuit, etc.
Also, quite a few Python scripts. These things allow you to do things to your character or clothing. I was happy to see PhilC's wardrobe wizard included. This allows you to convert clothing made for one character and use it for another. One thing that I didn't see (or couldn't get to work) are the Occlusion Master and Unimeshi realism which I used heavily on Poser 6. There probably is something with this newer software that allows your character to have more freckles and to make them have sweat/wetness, but I haven't found tested it yet.
V. USING OLDER LIBRARIES
As mentioned, a lot of Poser users have invested a ton of money on characters, clothing, props, accessories or have downloaded many freebies in the past. The good news is you can add them to your library. Whatever you do, do not touch your older library and drag the files to Poser 9. Instead you can add it and then select the original Poser folder of the past software you used and it automatically adds it to your rich content library.
I tested this with older Poser and Daz characters (I use Victoria 3, Aiko 3 and Miki a lot) and it works perfectly. Especially the clothing and hair.
VII. RENDERING
So, you add your character, you can use the default poses or pose them yourself and add some clothing and tada...render it to see how everything turns out. I did a few newer projects and also opened many of my older projects and they rendered very quickly.
I did a few test renders and everything from normal 3D renders, sketch (yes, this looks like you sketched it by hand) and even no shadows to get the Batman: Arkham City black and white look. Everything was very quick when it came to rendering.
In fact, I opened one file...that took me about six hours on my G4 733mhz, 15-30 minutes on my iMac and with Poser 9, it only took several minutes. So, needless to say, I was very happy!
JUDGMENT CALL:
I'll be uploading a few of my renders up on Amazon to show what this software is capable of. But I'm very impressed. Smith Micro did a great job in making the graphic interface much more easier to use. Adding newer and older library content was easy.
And as I love the speed and controls, the fact that I can use my older library is a major plus.
BUT...there is a few things I need to touch upon and why I give this a 4 and not a 5 for now. In the past, one thing that I enjoyed was how we can use Daz3D characters with Poser software. I had to research a bit and noticed, there has been quite a bit of change within the past few years for both companies and for the most part, they are more rivals now as they make their own competing software.
As Poser has their own characters, which are great... many designers and modelers create awesome clothing and accessories for Daz3D characters like Victoria and Aiko. And with Victoria 5 coming out in the very near future, I'm reading that it may not work with Poser 9.
And the big question everyone wants to know...will Smith Micro allow Daz3D characters and clothing to be used for their new product. I hope so because as much as I love Poser software, most of the digital clothing designers and hair designers I enjoy, create their product for Daz3D characters. Sure, there are a lot of clothing, accessories, props for Poser characters but for so many years, I loved how we can use content from Daz on Poser products. If Poser limits that for Poser 9 and Poser Pro 2012, that would be terrible.
As of the time of this review, not much is known at this time. But as mentioned, the good news is that you can use the older content on Poser 9 (and also Poser Pro...Read more›Poser 9 Overview
Easily Create 3D Character Art and Animation
Poser 9 is the world's easiest way to create amazing art and animation with 3D characters. Poser's simple to learn tools and included characters let you focus on making art. Poser comes with over 3 gigabyte of ready-to-pose humans and animals, textures, props and 3D scene elements. In the Face Room, customize Poser characters from facial photographs. Add dynamic hair and clothing. Dress Poser's virtual stage with props, lights and cameras to build 3D scenes. Animate and render scenes into photorealistic images and video for web, print, and film projects. Graphic artists, illustrators and animators all get creative with Poser!
Poser makes it easy to create gorgeous 3D art by dragging and dropping scenes elements and characters into position on a virtual stage. Add lights, cameras and render images and animation. View larger.

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