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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/838
112 MacDirectory
REVIEW | CREATIVITY
POSER PRO > EVEN MORE FOR THE GRAPHICS PROFESSIONAL
The latest iteration of the beloved Poser
series of figure rendering and animation
programs features monumentally useful
and requested feature.
It ought to be said that Poser Pro was
developed for professional artists working
in a studio environment, and as such,
users who are new to the program may
face considerable difficulty in navigating
the interface; this is definitely an app
that rewards previous experience with
Poser 6 or 7. Fortunately for those users,
there is a price break that acknowledges
this user base.
The new features make it easier for artists
to create and manage content. First
among these is the new network render
queue, which allows the user to designate
networked computers to act as dedicated
rendering machines for a particular pro-
ject. Thus, it's possible to finish a project
many times faster than a single machine
would be able to do, with multiple stations
working on a single project. It's even pos-
sible to set one machine to render parti-
cular pieces of a project while continuing
to work on a separate component with the
initial machine.
Making this prospect even easier is the
background rendering function, which lets
Poser Pro render still frames while you
work on the rest of the project; no more
interrupting your workflow just to check
the particulars of an image.
Poser Pro is the first version of Poser to
utilize the power of the newer 64-bit
operating systems, such as Leopard and
Vista. The updated Firefly rendering
engine is able to take advantage of as
much system memory as possible to
render projects more quickly and more
efficiently. Poser Pro will automatically
select either the 32- or 64-bit versions of
Firefly, depending upon the hardware
being used at render time.
Also new to the Poser series is the ability
to output scenes as HDRI images. HDRI,
or High Dynamic Range Image, is a format
that enables the accurate representation
of the full range of light levels in a
particular scene, which means brighter
lights and deeper shadows, thus resulting
in more lifelike pictures.
Poser Pro also features powerful new
texture editing tools, helping you manage
your detailed project even easier than
ever. With its new gamma correction tool,
you'll be able to define the gamma per
each texture in an image, meaning that
you can ensure proper color and
luminance values for any given display.
Normal mapping, also new to the Poser
series, is a way to add to the details of a
3D object without adding render-
intensive geometry.
With the new PoserFusion plug-ins, it's
now possible to add Poser content to
outside 3D applications such as Maya,
3ds Max, CINEMA 4D, and soon,
Lightwave. This is a huge boon for artists
who prefer Poser's animation tools to
those of the aforementioned programs.
All pose, texture, animation, camera, lights
and other information is retained in the
imported file, and it's just as easy to return
to the original file to make changes and
re-import the update.
Finally, the COLLADA import/export
standard has been integrated with Poser
Pro. This is a standard that allows the user
to export Poser data into another 3D
application, including geometry, textures,
cameras, and lights. If you use a 3D
program that doesn't support PoserFusion,
yet does recognize the COLLADA standard,
then you're in for a wonderful surprise.
Poser Pro is absolutely the culmination of
the desires of every graphics professional
working in a networked studio environ-
ment. The entire production pipeline has
been given a host of tools to make work
easier and more efficient than ever.
WORDS BY KEONI CHAVEZ
Product Poser Pro
Made by Smith Micro