This page is meant to be part store and part product review. Basically, I've listed all the software and books I've used as a graphic illustrator
and web designer so you can see what might be helpful to you. Most of these can be found at
Amazon.com, and I've included links to these items so you can shop for them if you like. I've also taken the time to write an opinion on all of these items. So take
a look. If you find something you like or need, buy it! Whatever you buy here will go a long way towards supporting the Pixel Arcana
website.
If you're looking for free tutorials, check the Links page.
I just recently bought Poser 5 as a Christmas present to myself, and I am very impressed. Although there seems to be a real
love/hate relationship going on with this program in the online graphics community, I must admit I happen to be one of those people who loves the
program. Yes, it has a couple of bugs. Yes, it locks my computer up far more often than Poser 4 ever did. But considering how much more powerful the
program is, I'm willing to live with those inconveniences. I can get the program to work, even on my system which is a couple of years old!
Among the new features in Poser 5, my personal favorites include the hair room, which allows me to very easily create strand-based hair,
and the materials room. I used to hate the fact the Poser only allowed solid colors or image maps as textures. That's no longer the case! If I can
think of a material, I can pretty much create it with the new material room.
I will say take some time to consider what you're getting into before buying this program. While most users are happy, there are a few who have had some
pretty bad experiences. So do the research. Poser Pros is a good place to start, as is
Renderosity.
Before there was Poser 5, there was Poser 4 and the Pro Pack. Depending on who you talk to in the 3D community, some folks will
tell you to buy Poser 4 with the Pro Pack instead of Poser 5. In my opinion, it really depends. Poser 4 Pro Pack is
the Poser Program I cut my teeth on, and I must admit, I don't think I'd handle Poser 5 nearly as well as a beginner.
Poser 4 Pro Pack has all the same basic features that Poser 5 has - a full library of character models, props, and poseable
clothing, as well as libraries of poses, camera settings, and light sets. What it lacks is the materials room and
the hair room that's all the rage in Poser 5 right now. It also doesn't have the new Firefly renderer, which allows
some very sophisticated renders. However, it's still a pretty powerful little package, and there are thousands of tutorials
online devoted to this program (this is Poser 4's biggest advantage over Poser 5 right now, if you ask me!). My thoughts
- do your research, talk to folks online, and get as much info as you can on both Poser 4 and Poser 5 before deciding
which to buy. Also, keep in mind that you can not use the Poser 4 Pro Pack without already having Poser 4 (the link
here will send you to a page where you can purchase both as a package).
Some people love this book, and some people really hate it. In my opinion, this book is easy to read, a good book for beginners, but the
artwork in this one absolutely fails to show you what can be done with Poser. What I like about this book is it does explain the basics pretty well.
For example, it shows how to create a basic texture and transparency maps, how to handle the morph dials for character faces, and how to use the animation
tools in Poser 4. However, there are some areas where the book falls down entirely. In one chapter, Shamms mentions the question he is most frequently
asked is how to map a photograph of a real face to a Poser character. His answer is basically, "Don't even bother." Well, I know from experience it can
be done, and it's not all that difficult either! You can find some very good tutorials online.
The bottom line - if the Poser 4 manual leaves you cold, this book may help out with the basics. But if you're looking for more
advanced topics, check out Richard Schrand's Poser 4 Pro Pack f/x and Design,
or go to any of the 3D online communities and look for some good tutorials there (check our links page for listings).
The preferred book for Poser 4 ProPack. This program gets better reviews on Amazon, and I can understand why.
For starters, the artwork in this looks a lot more professional, and it's much more inspiring. It's also a bit more technical. This book covers
a lot of stuff that's already in the Poser 4 manual, but puts it into layman's terms. There are some really good tutorials on texture and bump maps,
lighting, and the figure setup room. Keep in mind, this book will not show you how to model a character from scratch. In fact, it won't even show you
how to create your own morph targets for Poser, but it does cover a lot of stuff that's good to know - mainly those mundane details that make a Poser
project look like a work of art.
