Rating: 
Summary: A Worthy Sequel!
Review: I was truly impressed with Mario Henri Chakkour's second installment to Virtual Pose. This baby has so much more to offer: 54 poses, 6 models (4 female and male) and 15 of the poses are in color! And I loved the poses!! And, this time, the quality is much better. And even though I was still limited to the 640x480 pixel interface, I found that by opening the poses individually using the QT Movie player, and resing to 200%, I was still able to get a lot of detail. And, I loved the way the book was laid out. The first page, you get a visual matrix featuring all the poses with page reference--the book and cd feature the same amount of poses AND sequence. Plus, this time, the tutorial section is a keeper! 20 minutes of carefully crafted excercises that are sure to inspire both aspiring artists and pros alike. And, loved the new music selection as well, it's more upbeat! And, if all that was not enough, there is a Beta Version on the CD that allows you to run the program in the background! So, you can have Photoshop and VP open at the same time, making VP a truely uselful tool!
Rating: 
Summary: Too small
Review: If you want full color and high resolution, try other books. For example check out "Live Model Book" instead (if you don't mind softcover and spiral binding). It comes with a CD that has all the photos and they can be zoomed in so they are HUGE.
Virtual Pose is a great idea but it was not done well. There are six photos to a page with a large margin so they are pretty small. More than two thirds are in black and white. Every other page on the left is a sketch so there are no photos there. The photos on the included CD are very small and can not be zoomed in without losing resolution.
All color, less blank space, and high resolution on the CD would make this much better.
Rating:
Summary: Unnatural Poses
Review: If you wish you had models to pose for you in strange and unnatural poses, this is the book for you. But if you were hoping for natural poses (woman sitting in chair, man walking, woman climbing stairs, man throwing ball, woman picking up object from floor, that type of thing) that you might use in illustrations, you, like I, would be sadly disappointed. I'm returning it!
Rating:
Summary: Unnatural Poses
Review: If you wish you had models to pose for you in strange and unnatural poses, this is the book for you. But if you were hoping for natural poses (woman sitting in chair, man walking, woman climbing stairs, man throwing ball, woman picking up object from floor, that type of thing) that you might use in illustrations, you, like I, would be sadly disappointed. I'm returning it!
Rating:
Summary: Bravo!
Review: In my youth, I was an artist's model. There is a difference between modeling live, where you have the immediate and intimate connection you make with the artists, with whom you establish a trust and having your "business" spread out books and and CD-ROMS where who knows who is looking at them. I am glad Virtual Pose, a product which pays its models royalties from the profits, has chosen the path other titles in the genre have (The Pose Series, for example) which is to make some poses a little bit more modest by "editing." Anyone who buys similar reference books knows and expects to see that. Call it tradition if you like. But, from my perspective, that way nothing comes in the way of the beauty and serenity of the pose. Overexposed female genitalia is never drawn (well...in mainstream art that is...typically, you see pubic hair covering the area for modesty) Also, I seriously doubt this book and CD would have been otherwise sold openly in all major bookstores, as it is, without a plastic cover or brown paper bag. This is about artistic inspiration. I wouldn't want to see all the inner details of the female genitalia, anymore I would want to see a very huge male "package" It's simply too distracting! Because some of the pauses were quite simply too "revealing" something had to be done. I am glad. Chakkour, somehow, was able to walk a fine line between what is artistic and what is sensual, and pulled it off. Missy Loewe's photography is attractive and provocative-a perfect vehicle to jump-start your creativity! Furthermore...can anyone just walk into a life drawing class? Here, anyone can purchase a copy! In this age where just about anything goes and there is practically nothing sacred anymore, and nothing is left up to the imagination, it is refreshing to be able to see Virtual Pose 2 books selling in hi end bookstores (for example), cover facing out, where everyone can see them. The web is filled with "too much" information. I guess, to each his or her own. To me, The Virtual Pose series is consistent in the sense that it does not waiver from its mission of bringing a great product at a price you still cannot beat. I was pretty disappointed in the first one. I wanted more poses and better resolution. Guess what, Mario Henri Chakkour worked hard and kept his promises. He gave us triple the poses, the models and much better resolution. I recently also found out that parts of the proceeds are donated to the Lupus Foundation. I love knowing that my money is helping the models and a great cause! Oh, and for those of you who wish to skip over the intro movie, simply press the "S" key...better yet, read the READ ME file! :)
Rating:
Summary: Useful though insulting
Review: The book gives preview shots of the poses on the CD. I wrote the corresponding file names right in the book and found that to be a handy reference. About two thirds of the poses are not in color. It appears that a white screen was used behind the models which makes the contrast between model and backdrop a bit low. The lighting was often poor and directional. This is probably a plus for people drawing who want to represent light and shadow. However, for a sculptor this obscures detail making some poses useless. All photos are low resolution and lose detail quickly when zoomed. Do not expect to zoom in on a hand, for example, and be able to see individual fingers. The male model is uncensored but the female models are smudged out. I took this to mean that males are suitable subjects for art but females must be merely sexual objects and not suitable art subjects. Exceptionally insulting. This also makes the poses useless for an accurate representation of a complete female. The blurring at times also obscures surrounding details such as how the leg joins the torso. This censoring was an extremely bad decision which, hopefully, will be rectified in a Virtual Pose 3 (if one is published) or free downloads from their site. That's the bad. The good: How else can you get a variety of models in a variety of poses that can be accessed any time day or night for as long as you want for no additional cost? Would like to see improved: much better detail when zoomed in, higher resolution (using, say, a 5 mega pixel camera). Another set of the same poses with omni-directional lighting to eliminate shadows so every detail can be seen for sculpting. No censoring - will not buy any future releases with censoring.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book!
Review: The book's great. Nothing but pages of nude models, but unlike other nude model books, this one devotes each page to a single pose as seen from all 360 degrees. Meaning, if there's a pose of a girl posing sitting down Indian style with her arms folded, you don't just see the pose from strait on or from the side, you get to see it as if you were walking around her. Great for any artists out there.
To top it off, there's a CD that has a handful of models and a few dozen poses that you can simply click on and rotate 360 degrees. It's perfect. There's even more features, but that's the best. Just a great product.
There's a few different female models and I think two male. There's great range in body type which is something you don't see that often.
If your an artist who paints or draws the human figure, definately get this book. You won't be sorry.
Rating: 
Summary: Censored Photos
Review: The focus of this product is the CD; the book is pretty much expendable. Artists purchasing this should be aware that some of the photos are edited. Some of the female photos are blotted out, which I found insulting. By blocking out areas it was as if the author had mutilated the beauty of the human body. This was my main reason for rating it three stars. Other reasons, the frontend browser application doesn't allow you to print or enlarge to pictures. The picture resolution could also be improved. There are better products simliar to this that consist of just a CD with the Quicktime movies. Virtual Nude is a good example. They're better resolution and not edited.
Rating:
Summary: Not that great...
Review: The good thing bout this book is that it comes with a CD ROM that actually allows you to move the model in 360 degrees but the reason i didnt gave it a 5 is that the poses look rather stoic and the illustations are a little too small for good reference.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: The idea is a good one, but the photographs are very small and badly chosen and extremely artificail (unless you are an airbrush amateur that wants to paint on trucks). There is even some retouching on the photographs - come on! The book itself is also filled with someone's completely unnecessary and not very good drawings. And the CD is no better - it is filled with music instead of photographs in higher resolution. The accompanying tutorials go along the line of "feel the line, let yourself go" and similar new age stuff for the first few minutes (and then I turned it off).
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