Poser Pro

List Price: $499.99 Discount Price: $199.99

Features:

• Network rendering and render queue capabilities, including background rendering, built on a 64-Bit render engine for incredible speed and quality
• Create even more realistic images with High Dynamic Range Image (HDRI) support for Image-Based-Lighting and textures
• Add high resolution 3D detail to any mesh through the use of normal mapping, producing better images even with low to medium poly models
• Use Poser Pro's pre-rigged characters inside of host applications such as Autodesk's 3ds Max and Maya, and Maxon's CINEMA 4D
• Create lifelike animations by combining multiple strands of action into one fluid animation using layers and keyframes

Customer Reviews:

Good by itself, poor integration with 3D programs [Posted on 2008-07-09]
Poser Pro is fairly stable by itself (a bit better than Poser 7) but still slow in rendering and without any significant change in its dated user interface. The collada export, which was widely advertised for its integration with XSI etc. is buggy and crippled. The tutorial on collada export to XSI, for instance, works for non animated models, but if one selects to export the skeleton (bones), it will not import correctly in XSI 6 or 6.5. It also won't work with Maya 2008. The native plugins work for C4D (but unlike the InterPoser Pro plugin available elsewhwere, are not editable in C4D) but are almost unusable with Maya 2008 (see contentparadise forums for details). The tech support with SmithMicro is very bad, and generally one doesn't get any response. It is a slightly more stable upgrade to Poser 7, but was released prematurely. Perhaps this has to do with changing parent companies from e-frontier to SmithMicro.

Now Poser shares the home page of Aquarium Screen Saver [Posted on 2008-09-30]
When I heard that a company with a techie name like Smith Micro was buying Poser, I hoped that what had been a fun, but fragmented program might at last be in good hands. No such luck. As noted in the title, Smith Micro does not bring much technology to the Poser table. It basically adds network rendering, which was needed, but at a hefty price, especially for those of us in the Art community who never intended to use Poser with a high end program like Maya. As noted in another review, they haven't done much for those guys either.

In its last release Poser 7 seemed like a mish-mash of modules each designed by a different person. The cloth room required a very different approach from the materials area and the hair and face modules had nothing in common with the rest. This made the Poser learning curve rather large. The program needed a more intuitive interface in these areas. As far as I can see, nothing much has changed. Poser Pro is essentially the same program as Poser 7. If you had issues with Poser 7, chances are the new bells and whistles presented here will not address any of them. Go the website, read the enhancements and check to see if any are really useful to you. BTW I have also had trouble updating my POSER 7 program using the SMITH MICRO webpage. They don't appear to recognize my serial number. Bad start in my book!!

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