Poser 6 and Shade LE Bundle (Mac)

List Price: $249.99

Features:

• New Shadow Catcher feature enables you to separate shadows from their underlying surface, and put them virtually anywhere
• Expand your cartoon universe with Toon Outline -- it draws an outline around the edges of cartoon images
• Ambient occlusion brings your figures to life with a natural lighting environment
• Design and pose pre-rigged figures, or create original figures to suit your needs -- the large library of content and photorealistic textures help you create professional-quality imagery and movies
• Use the Camera controls like a film director would -- set up your ideal camera shots for each image or animation frame

Customer Reviews:

User interface a real problem [Posted on 2007-01-14]
Overall, I expect this could be a good product (Poser) but it suffers greatly from a very, very bad user interface (if you're familiar with Cararra, you know what it's like). Unlike most 3D programs, it relies on a single view rather than a 3-axis workspace. This means you spend most of your time shuffling through "rooms" rather than working with your objects. It also makes placing objects harder than it needs to be. The workspace is frankly overdesigned and wastes TONS of screen space for no apparent reason other than to show off their icons, which aren't much to look at to begin with. However, the end product, if you have the patience, is much improved over previous versions (I have Poser 3 from a few years back).

On the other hand, Shade LE is quite good. Comparitively easy to learn and it lets you create pretty decent 3D art for the price. Some of the interface is a bit clunky, but overall I'd give it four stars rather than 3.

Great Deal and entry for 3D BUT... [Posted on 2007-10-24]
Just FYI, e-frontier habitually sells this same package on eBay for $79, 100 bucks cheaper.

Click here for more details and discount information...