Poser vs. DAZ
colinmac2
Posts: 407
in The Commons
I've got $200+ coming in from a rendering commission (Yay!). My question is, is it worth it to finally bite the bullet and buy Poser 11, or just stick with DAZ? DAZ has ease of installment, but there seems to be so much more material out there for Poser, plus it SEEMS to be more powerful and flexible. Terribly confused.
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I will say the new poser material are like learning from scratch again and there is not a lot of info on the new material nodes. You are also limited in content with poser, you can't use genesis 3 stuff and a lot of vendor have moved to that figure now. To me content is more important than the program.
This is a somewhat contentious issue that frequently starts arguments, but generally the best answer is to go with the app you are most comfortable with. A few years ago Poser probably had the edge feature wise between the two apps, but there is not much to choose between them now, and they both do much the same thing. Main advantage of studio is the ability to use the Genesis figures natively, and even some of the most hardened Poser fans have admitted that the Genesis line of figures are probably the best. If you are mostly interested in landscape/scene renders, then arguably Vue or Carrara could be better options.
I can not claim to be unbiased in this, in that I am an ex-Poser user, who switched to Daz Studio a couple of years back, largely because of the Genesis figure line, but also for things like auto-fit. I have to say I have never regretted this decision, particularly now that iRay has arrived on the scene.
Great images come out of both programs. And most content can be used (with a bit of help from additional utilities or scripts) in either. But once you get into things with weightmapping, the rigging is different and incompatable, and the lighting and material settings have always operated a bit differently.
And switching workflows in the middle of a deadline is a bad idea from the get-go.
Or Bryce, which sometimes has Carrara users drooling at the landscapes that can be produced.
I would give a lot to have Bryce (or Carrara, for that matter) texturing options in Daz. Man.
Daz Studio offers a lot more and continues to upgrade where poser takes a very long time for very little change. This is also coming from a die hard Poser user. I started using Daz Studio 7 months ago and I won't be going back to Poser.
Personally, the fact that Daz Studio is free and upgrades are free is a huge plus, particularly since it's not some BS 'freemium' sort of setup.
I'd rather spend $200 on more content, particularly stuff that will make the overall experience better (like shader packs, which help all over, or special lighting/camera stuff)
Buying new content for DS seems like a much better investment than buying poser
Long time poser user here (versions 5-11, still have the last 2 versions installed)), but started using DS a few years back and now find poser cumbersome and unintuiative now that I am used to DS.
I always encourage branching out and learning/trying different apps and both have their pros and cons, so it's up to you.
Some of us still love Poser and use it all the time.
It's horses for courses.
Just for the sake of objectivity, it is now possible to render Genesis 3 characters in Poser. Read more at: https://www.renderosity.com/render-daz-genesis-3-in-poser-cms-18144?&AID=408
I am not vouching for the capability, maturity or stability of that utility but it seems worth a mention that Genesis 3 is getting some attention at Poser.
Bare in mind that the material out there for poser is mostly older stuff (I am not saying new stuff isn't being developed...but the quantity for poser is because it has been around so long)...the newer products are generally being developed for the newer generation figures, and the newer stuff has all the bells and whistles that work with more modern technology. Most of the older stuff looks old...............and I mean my stuff as well, there are many things in my catalog that were made years ago that just don't look good compared to modern standards.
Also with Adobe Fuse (currently in preview and also available as part of CC) in the pipeline, I would say, the options are opening up. Being part of an established Adobe family and as long as it is distributed within CC subscription it is already positioned to attract newcomers.
Most (though not all) Poser stuff works pretty well in DS, too. Though materials will have to be tweaked - sometimes a lot. Heck I've even installed some stuff that was marked as *not* DS compatable and gotten it to work more or less as inteded using LIE or other tricks that the PA (at the time) didn't realize DS had.
(Full disclosure - other than a trial version of Poser 6, I've been a DS user for the past 10 years)
I'd suggest making a list of the Poser features that interest you, and looking at DS to see how many of those features have at least rough equivalants. (Though some may require purchased plug-ins) As far as I can tell, the list of things one can do that the other can't is on the short side (in both directions)
What limitations with DS are blocking you, or whatfeatures in Poser are you finding attractive? Don't buy just because but if there's a particular pro or con (or pros or cons) then they may be worth weighing up.
There is a half price sale on Poser 11 I think thru end of month at SM or Rendo.... so if you want to make the plunge you would still have a $100 left to spend on DAZ shinies or maybe food etc. I don't have Poser 11 yet I am waiting for a sale on the Pro version to upgrade. I really like the morph brush in Poser which I think comes in both versions ... maybe DAZ has a similar tool I just haven't found it.
Food is totally overvalued...
I'd like to see the render you did for that nice commission. ;)
For me, it's about content. DAZ has the best figures bar none and they work natively in Studio, not Poser. I would go with Studio if you like the Genesis 2 and 3 figures and want to be able to use future versions.
I use to only use Poser and when Daz Studio came out I downloaded it because it was free an bought the paid version when auto fit was introduced, inevemtually stopped using poser all together mostly and only use Daz Studio. I wanted to get the new Poser to do animations because i learned it in Poser but not using it often enough I forgot how to use some of it or just don't care to use it anymore unless needed. I think right now it's installed incase I need to use it to get something to be usable in Daz studio. And I ended up buying some animation tools from here to eventually try out, just need to wait till Animate goes back on sale or flash grab so I can hopefully pick that up. I personally prefer Daz Studio over poser now.
...the one thing Poser still has going for it is an "open" cloth dynamics system which is pretty much what I use it for.
Although thanks to that script at the "other" site, we pretty much have this in DS as well now.
I would love to have that brush in Studio. I'm not fond of using d-formers.
One thing to remember is some features of Poser content doesn't work with DAZ Studio. It's just not that DAZ's Genesis 3 doesn't quite work with Poser without cludging.
Also, I have Poser 10 and will be upgrading to Poser 11. It's definately preferable to use Poser to do some types of work but if you are just buying piecemeal content to render, commissioned or free, then economically DAZ Studio and the DAZ Store make more sense. Content management wise too as who likes to pay a extra fee to keep access to products for a limited time they've already purchased once?
Not strictly true now, if I rememeber right someone has made a freebie that allows Genesis 3 in Poser but it has to be Poser 11 / 11 Pro since Poser 11 / 11 Pro have the required functions to use Genesis 3 properly.. I have no idea if it even works since I don't have Poser 11 /11 Pro..
Pretty much this, one of the major advantages of Poser is well in a sense open source cloth/hair dynamics availability which anyone can make something for, which is something that Studio does not have..
Yes true but not natively supported as one would hope if you know what I mean.. :D
Oh, boy.
I've seen more arguments over this question, than a dog has fleas.
I have Poser 11, and I've seen beautiful renders done w/the SuperFly render engine. If you expect it to behave like IRay though, you'll be disappointed.
The FireFly (traditional) render engine, on the other hand, is very good. And I hope SuperFly will be polished in a near-future service release.
Right now though, I've switched back to DS and IRay.
There's a lot of information about Poser 11 at RDNA. I guess it's ok to mention that forum, now that DNA is a part of DAZ? You could go to the Poser 11 Forum there and read some posts.
I'm the one who actually made the tutorial on getting G3 into poser in the first place, so I know it's not a click of a button. Also you would have to work extremely hard to get the materials to look as good as Iray in poser. It's just too much work when all you have to do is drop and drag in DS. From a production point of view you need the quicket option to get stuff out and at a high quality. Not saying poser can't match the quality it's just going to take 2 to 3 times longer. And people want things sooner than later.
I started with DS in 2006, and noodled around with it for three years before creating my first series of renders in 2009, so I consider it my "home".
From 2009 until a year ago, anyone who knows me can attest to the number of times I've switched from DS to Poser, and back again, whether because of content compatibility or app features.
When DAZ introduced us to Iray with DS 4.8 BETA last March, I threw my hands in the air and took a break from 3D art. I was frustrated with the software I was using (PPro 2014 and Reality), and the industry as a whole. The last thing I wanted was to start learning how to use another unbiased renderer, and I knew I wouldn't be able to help myself. When 4.8 went live, last June... I... couldn't... help myself... it just feels so damn good overcoming challenges, sharing original art, and getting feedback on it.
DS is my app of choice now, for the following reasons:
When I first started, my perception of the industry was that DS was what you got your feet wet with, and Poser was for "serious artists" who could afford a full-featured app. If that was true then, I don't think it is now.
The last version of Poser I bought was PPro 2014. I'm never going back.
Indirect lighting was present in Studio back then...UberEnvironment2 came out in 2009. Yes, at that point it was a paid for add-on, but it did exist in Studio. (Not sure about gamma correction, but that has been a feature of 3Delight for ages, so Studio had it in some fashion for just as long.)
That is also a very common misconception...that Studio was lacking this or that feature when it was either not explained in the documentation or was an add-on. A lot of Poser's features came about the same way (as add-ons from the community...paid or free), but it tended to roll them into the next version much faster/more completely.
I stand corrected. Thank you for clarifying.
Here's the simple solution I use - Since Poser is sold in physical packaging as well as as a download, Smith Micro has a regular habit of dumping the older versions of Poser at a fraction of their original price, yet the difference in features between upgrades is usually fairly minor. Poser Pro 2014 is currently selling in the $200 range and Poser 10 can be found as cheap as the mid $30s. My recommendation is to buy one of the older, cheaper versions first and seeing if you find Poser's features and interface to your liking before sinking a huge chunk of change into something you may not end up using. If you do end up liking it, then the older version can be used for a sizable discount if you decide that you want to upgrade to the newer version.