Posing with Poser 7:
Crafting Realistic, Animated People
with 3rd Party Add-ons, Volume 1
by
Jeremy Hanke
Not so many years ago, if you wished to create a 3D person for an animated film, you had to actually create that 3D person from bits of digital clay called “primitives” yourself, or have the financial wherewithall to pay someone else to do it for you. As software has improved and grown more competitive, features once reserved for companies like Pixar and ILM have now trickled down to software packages that microfilmmakers can afford. Packages like Poser 7 give 3D figure animation abilities to microfilmmaker with patience and a suitable computer, opening the way both to digitally animated films and to composited photorealistic animations for stunts in live-action films.
As we reviewed Poser 7 and the abilities it possesses for the digital filmmaker in this issue, we felt it fitting to also take a look at some of the add-ons that have been created by the massive Poser community for use with this program. Ranging from new models to powerful scripts to changes of wardrobe, this community has provided Poser users with an amazing arsenal to choose from at very affordable prices, which in turn gives low budget animators and effects filmmakers options that they've never had before.
While there is no way we could possibly cover all the add-on programmers and artists out there, we decided we would take a nice sampling from some of the most popular in this two part series. In this issue, we’ve looked to the model creators at DAZ 3D, singular programming whiz and mod-enabler Phil Cooke (Aka PhilC), and, finally, followed up with some of the brightest Poser stars at the artistic community of Renderosity. Next issue, we will be looking at the talent found at RuntimeDNA, a storefront community that combines E-frontier affiliated model makers with a vareity of Poser exclusive artists.
With that said, let's get into these impressive add-ons!
DAZ 3D
While they also create their own unique 3D software packages like Carrara Pro 5 (which will be part of our 3D shootout later this year) and their free model rendering package, DAZ|Studio,DAZ 3D is most known for their Poser-ready models. This is largely due to the fact that the designers at DAZ 3D were originally part of CuriousLabs model design team for Poser, until they split off a number of years back and begin making exclusive content themselves. Despite the fact that most of their models must be purchased, DAZ 3D models are substantially more popular with mod makers, costume designers and poser artists than almost any of the included Poser models.
DAZ 3D was kind enough to provide us with some of their most popular models for this article and we got a chance to put them through their paces to see why so many people choose them for their animated and feature projects. The main advantage I found in DAZ’s model content, from polygon count to the actual skin textures used, is the level of detail. Even DAZ’s older Millenium 3 Models (such as Michael 3 or the most popular Vicki 3) have more detail than the newest Poser Models, while the new Millenium 4 models (as shown by Victoria 4) are even more detailed. This means that skin creators, mod designers, and clothes makers have more control and more ability for realism with DAZ models than they do with comparable Poser models. To get folks started, DAZ 3D gives away some of their basic Millenium 3 models like Michael 3 and Aiko 3 for free. While this is enough to let you get a feel for the types of models they make available, these free models don’t come with morph dials, which will prevent you from doing much customization. If you want the fully customizable character packs, you’ll be looking at $29.99 to $99.99, depending on the newness of the model and the amount of costuming and skin extras you are interested in. Check out the full lineup of what they have available as well as the regular freebie props and clothes they provide at: http://www.daz3d.com.
DAZ 3D was kind enough to provide us with some of their most popular models for this article and we got a chance to put them through their paces to see why so many people choose them for their animated and feature projects. The main advantage I found in DAZ’s model content, from polygon count to the actual skin textures used, is the level of detail. Even DAZ’s older Millenium 3 Models (such as Michael 3 or the most popular Vicki 3) have more detail than the newest Poser Models, while the new Millenium 4 models (as shown by Victoria 4) are even more detailed. This means that skin creators, mod designers, and clothes makers have more control and more ability for realism with DAZ models than they do with comparable Poser models. To get folks started, DAZ 3D gives away some of their basic Millenium 3 models like Michael 3 and Aiko 3 for free. While this is enough to let you get a feel for the types of models they make available, these free models don’t come with morph dials, which will prevent you from doing much customization. If you want the fully customizable character packs, you’ll be looking at $29.99 to $99.99, depending on the newness of the model and the amount of costuming and skin extras you are interested in. Check out the full lineup of what they have available as well as the regular freebie props and clothes they provide at: 
