September, 2007
Poser 7 is a large program. It contains nearly 2G of content. I received this program via download from e-frontier. It took close to an hour to download. That of course will depend on your ISP connection; however there is an option to have the software mailed.
The install also took a bit of time.. Once the file was unzipped I did the full install, but the progress bar did not work properly. There was no way of knowing when the install was going to be finished. It took nearly an hour to finish installation.
I had to allow my firewall to accept Poser 7. As with Poser 6, there is a prompt box to enter and verify the serial number when the program opens.
The content and interface of Poser 7 is much like that of Poser 6; however one terrific new feature that has been long over due is a multiple level undo-redo function. It came preset to 100 levels. This number can lowered. This is a much needed and very welcome improvement.
There are several other new features and improvements such as lip synching functions in the new Talk Designer, faster rendering and HDRI support, non linear animation, animation layers and more.
Lip Synching – Poser 7 now allows for importing sounds clips through the Talk Designer. This will automatically match the sound clip up to your animation. When I tried this it worked fairly well, however I can see some fine tuning will be needed to get it exactly right.
Non Linear Animation and Animation Layers – NLA allows you to place different body parts on different layers to allow for a more fluid movement. A layer can be added in at any point or deleted if you don’t like how things are looking after playback. Here is a screenshot of what the layers palette looks like now.
Faster Rendering – Poser 7 now supports dual core processors enabling it to render high resolution images even faster than before and render more than one thread at a time. Unfortunately, I don’t have a dual core processor pc, so I was unable to take advantage of this improvement. But, I felt it noteworthy for those that do.
HDRI (High Dynamic Range Imaging) – This new feature allows the import of a high resolution photograph which can be used for the lighting base. I didn’t have any of these type images so again, I was unable to take advantage of this feature.
Poser 7 also contains 1G in new high resolution content such as new characters, animals, dinosaurs, a robot and a grey alien figure. Anatomy has been added to figures, as well as several new props. I was fascinated with the Anatomy figures as seen below.
For me Poser 7 seems much more stable than previous versions. I didn’t experience any crashes during any of my testing times. Anyone well acquainted with Previous Poser versions will find Poser 7 a pleasure to use, especially with the new undo – redo feature.
Pricing:
Full Package $249.00
Upgrade $129.00
Company Website: www.e-frontier.com
Requirements: