I’ve been modelling – in the UK it has two Ls – for decades, but at very long intervals.
When I walked into MFI a quarter of a century ago, I thought I was applying for a job in a warehouse. When I saw the designers there building kitchens in Planit software, I was blown away. So were our customers, at the time: Toy Story hadn’t been out long, and our ability to make images of their own homes right there in front of them sold the kitchens for us.
Domestic computers didn’t exist when I was at school, and had played no part in the jobs I’d had previously. I found a copy of Poser 3 free on a magazine cover, and within months I was making content for it.
We had to, really, then. The built-in capability of the programme (in the UK it has – never mind) was elementary. The newer Poser 4 had conforming figures capable of swapping clothing, and I was importing P4 elements and swapping body parts, morphing and modifying… I can’t remember when I started making whole new models – initially within the software itself, once I’d upgraded, and then in external modellers – and selling them through online marketplaces like Renderosity and others now vanished, but it’s been a while. Each time I take a break, sometimes for months and sometimes for years, new features and standards are developed, and I have to learn new techniques to catch up.
Poser is now in version 13. It’s changed hands a number of times and now belongs to Renderosity. But usage seems to be declining, and DAZ 3D looks to have overtaken it by a long way. DAZ has a very different file format and structure and interface, and I’m wondering whether I need to start all over again.
These are some of the products I’ve made for Poser over the years.
