Poser makes no apologies for its narrow focus of being a CG character and content manipulation software. And it shouldn’t. This latest release, while not earth shattering in its list of improved and new features, is demonstrating that Poser is getting queued up for more significant improvements in the future. For its price, it’s very accessible. There really isn’t another software solution out there, for the price of Poser, that makes character manipulation as easy as Poser.
There are competitive products out there like DAZ 3D’s robust CG solution Carrara 7 Pro and the free DAZ Studio (www.daz3d.com/). DAZ made huge inroads both in content development and capabilities during Poser’s “wandering years”. However, with DAZ’s line, you don’t get things like a Walk Designer, a Cloth Room nor a Talk Designer. There is a separate software to purchase for lip syncing and no counterpart for walking. However, DAZ is light years ahead of Smith Micro in variety of ready made content - but all the content can be imported into Poser 8.
If you use other CG software like Maxon’s C4D, the slow calculation time of Poser’s cloth room will drive you insane. But, solutions like C4D cost significantly more too.
The ideal use of Poser 8 for microfilmmakers is for background room creation for green screening , creating digital extras for panning camera shots or possibly, if using the DAZ Elite series of characters and textures, extreme close-ups.
My ratings for this software are based upon it’s core functionality. Poser really can't be compared to much else in the CG character realm for two reasons: It’s not for creating characters and it's designed to use ready made content. Other programs like Animation Master, Maya, C4D and other CG toolsets are really created and priced for original character creation (plus a lot more). Even DAZ’s Carrara which does a great all-around job of straddling the fence of content creation and content manipulation - all for a relatively low price, still doesn’t have some of the features of Poser 8.
If your filmmaking work calls for limited character animation that will be used as background elements or if you need a fairly easy storyboard creator, and you don’t really have a forecasted need for additional CG work, getting Poser 8 is a good choice.
