The Poser 4 Handbook

Rating:
Summary: Must read!
Review: Finally a well written, tutorial rich resource for Macromedia's excellent 3D character generator. Version 4 brings alot more features to the table which you NEED to master. I've been a Poser user since Version 1, and this book has finally brought it all together for me. A definite must read!

Rating:
Summary: One of the only Poser books. Sadly
Review: I am not one to trash books or criticize, but I have bought many, many computer arts books and I am inclined to agree with most of the negative comments made by other reviewers. Let's just look at the facts. First off Shamms Mortier does have some good ideas, some. It is his choice of how to use the space in the book that is baffling. He has an entire chapter on "customizing" animals. His idea is to select a section of the animal and then turn the knob real hard. By doing this one can have a horse that has it's midsection abnormally small. Or a Raptor with a really really big bottom jaw (more knob turning) He goes on to illustrate how one can take a Poser figure and make the neck really long (evidentially one turns the knob...hard) What he never tells us is why? Why should I want a disfigured horse? Why should a person have a really big head? Is there a demand for this? Rather then give us a more detailed tutorial on how to make the hoarse walk, just walk, Mr. Mortier tells us how to make some man/hourse thing A "monitor" or something. In one inconceivable section he puts a sharks head on a skeleton? Are there drug tests for authors? Apparently not. Then there is the "handshaking" chapter, it is fine except that it is hopelessly out of date, many of the programs he mentions are owned by other software companies or have been orphaned outright. He spends a disproportionate amount of time and space giving instructions on how to manipulate animals that don't come with Poser, a bear, chimp, shark and deer. In every one of his chapters, it seems, he just can't resist making some ridicules hybrid, in the hand chapter he shows us how to put human heads on fingers, in one simply unbelievable section he makes a totem pole out of dogs heads. I'm not kidding, he writes underneath this abomination "here is a very interesting totem pole" It is a post with three dogs heads on it. This man needs help. Two headed Raptors, babies riding bears, cowboy mermaids, Zebra textures on people. Why Mr. Mortier, for the love of God why?
Most of the characters he has come up with look as though they have been in some sort of train wreck or were dropped from a high place, the cat he "customized" by making it's head flat looks like it has been run down by a car. In the advice from Poser masters, one is told, I guess, to buy 3D Studio Max or some other 3D software program to make more models. I don't hate this book as much as some, it is worth having if only for the fact that it is the only one (there is another one out now about Poser Pro-Pack, buy that one and leave this one alone). Eccentricity is good, I like abstract art stuff, but lets not put the cart before the mangled horse.

Rating:
Summary: One of the only Poser books. Sadly
Review: I am not one to trash books or criticize, but I have bought many, many computer arts books and I am inclined to agree with most of the negative comments made by other reviewers. Let's just look at the facts. First off Shamms Mortier does have some good ideas, some. It is his choice of how to use the space in the book that is baffling. He has an entire chapter on "customizing" animals. His idea is to select a section of the animal and then turn the knob real hard. By doing this one can have a horse that has it's midsection abnormally small. Or a Raptor with a really really big bottom jaw (more knob turning) He goes on to illustrate how one can take a Poser figure and make the neck really long (evidentially one turns the knob...hard) What he never tells us is why? Why should I want a disfigured horse? Why should a person have a really big head? Is there a demand for this? Rather then give us a more detailed tutorial on how to make the hoarse walk, just walk, Mr. Mortier tells us how to make some man/hourse thing A "monitor" or something. In one inconceivable section he puts a sharks head on a skeleton? Are there drug tests for authors? Apparently not. Then there is the "handshaking" chapter, it is fine except that it is hopelessly out of date, many of the programs he mentions are owned by other software companies or have been orphaned outright. He spends a disproportionate amount of time and space giving instructions on how to manipulate animals that don't come with Poser, a bear, chimp, shark and deer. In every one of his chapters, it seems, he just can't resist making some ridicules hybrid, in the hand chapter he shows us how to put human heads on fingers, in one simply unbelievable section he makes a totem pole out of dogs heads. I'm not kidding, he writes underneath this abomination "here is a very interesting totem pole" It is a post with three dogs heads on it. This man needs help. Two headed Raptors, babies riding bears, cowboy mermaids, Zebra textures on people. Why Mr. Mortier, for the love of God why?
Most of the characters he has come up with look as though they have been in some sort of train wreck or were dropped from a high place, the cat he "customized" by making it's head flat looks like it has been run down by a car. In the advice from Poser masters, one is told, I guess, to buy 3D Studio Max or some other 3D software program to make more models. I don't hate this book as much as some, it is worth having if only for the fact that it is the only one (there is another one out now about Poser Pro-Pack, buy that one and leave this one alone). Eccentricity is good, I like abstract art stuff, but lets not put the cart before the mangled horse.

Rating:
Summary: Really too bad
Review: I waited for this to arrive via special order at a local book store. It's really too bad this is the only book available for such a great piece of software. The front and back covers state, "Comprehensive/Complete Guide for Poser Users" - not even close. The other reviewers have summed this book up by stating how dysfunctional it is. I got the impression that the author sat around and played with a few dials, took screen shots, and pasted this mess together for an ignorant publisher to sell to unsuspecting buyers. Amazingly there is more reference to older versions of the software than to ver 4 which is the cover title for this book! And I do have to repeat this from the other reviewers since it frustrated me so much - there is soooo much reference to Zygote that they must have compensated the author. It's unbelievable. Poser already comes with a great wealth of props, clothing, and poses that it was incredible to see the author using Zygote models and props in the books tutorials. And then arrogantly suggesting that the reader purchase these models from Zygote to use in the books tutorials! Amazing. Spend $200 on the software, $50 on the book, and about $30 per model at Zygote.

Just by human nature we are curious about things, but please don't let your curiousity get the better of you when deciding to purchase this book. If you are fortunate enough to find a copy at a book store, spend just fifteen minutes browsing through 550 pages of wasted time. Luckily I didn't open the CD and returned it a week later....

Rating:
Summary: Really too bad
Review: I waited for this to arrive via special order at a local book store. It's really too bad this is the only book available for such a great piece of software. The front and back covers state, "Comprehensive/Complete Guide for Poser Users" - not even close. The other reviewers have summed this book up by stating how dysfunctional it is. I got the impression that the author sat around and played with a few dials, took screen shots, and pasted this mess together for an ignorant publisher to sell to unsuspecting buyers. Amazingly there is more reference to older versions of the software than to ver 4 which is the cover title for this book! And I do have to repeat this from the other reviewers since it frustrated me so much - there is soooo much reference to Zygote that they must have compensated the author. It's unbelievable. Poser already comes with a great wealth of props, clothing, and poses that it was incredible to see the author using Zygote models and props in the books tutorials. And then arrogantly suggesting that the reader purchase these models from Zygote to use in the books tutorials! Amazing. Spend $200 on the software, $50 on the book, and about $30 per model at Zygote.

Just by human nature we are curious about things, but please don't let your curiousity get the better of you when deciding to purchase this book. If you are fortunate enough to find a copy at a book store, spend just fifteen minutes browsing through 550 pages of wasted time. Luckily I didn't open the CD and returned it a week later....

Rating:
Summary: At _least_ include what you say you include...
Review: I'll steer my review away from the text itself, since the other reviewers have already touched on its strengths and weaknesses. I must point out, however, that the cover of the book proudly announces the inclusion of a CD "packed with over 500MB of Animations, Images, Sounds, BVH Motion Files, 3D Props, and Demos". With the cost of motion captured BVH running into the tens of dollars _per frame_, and the considerable amount of time required to keyframe animations by hand, I was eager to see what was offered. Alas, this book has a blatant lie on the front and back covers.

There are, in fact, _no_ BVH Motion Files anywhere on the CD. Instead, the animation directories are filled with rendered Quicktime movies -- a fairly useless inclusion, since anyone who already owns Poser 4 need not be sold on its animation capabilities. As for the "Sounds" they mention, don't go looking for those, either. There aren't any. Additionally, The Motion Factory Demo directories on the CD contain files with truncated 8.3 file names, so you won't have much luck loading any of their HTML files. The installer still seems to work, but it's name was also changed, and doesn't match what's referred to in the 'readme' file.

There are a few morph targets, a demo of Media Cleaner, and some props, but the entire CD weighs in at a meager 283MB, a far cry from the promised "Over 500MB". Incidentally, when I contacted Charles River Media about this, and asked if I had a defective disc, they informed me via email that the "other 200 MB are on the Macintosh side of the CD. It's a hybrid." Unfortunately, this is also not the case. I've since tested it on 2 different Macs, and there is no additional content on the disc.

For those who don't already know, there _are_ an additional 3.7 MB of files for downloading on the Charles River site, but they don't contain any of the missing file types either. While I appreciate the effort to make some additional files available, they're going to have to do a lot more before they'll come close to keeping the promises they make on the cover of this book.

Of course, a sticker on the CD sleeve declares, "If the seal on this pouch is broken, product cannot be returned." Let the buyer beware!

Mike Morrison ([e-mail])

Rating:
Summary: Insult to the trees
Review: In the interest of counterbalancing the bizarre '5's' in these reviews, I add my comments to those of others suggesting that this may be the worst "Handbook" ever written. Certainly it's the worst I have had the misfortune to read. Mortier gussied up his Poser 3 book (hence the minimal coverage of new features) to hit the market running, and the old book was no Pulitzer nominee.

The 20% or so of the book that actually tells you how to use a feature effectively is buried in junk that suggests spinning some parameter dial to get an "interesting effect." One reviewer compares one of the "interesting effects" aptly to road kill. Aside from dial spinning, Mortier seems to define "creativity" as "the ability to buy Zygote [now DAZ3D] add-ons." Compare Richard Schrand's reliance on the models provided with the product for his book on the Poser 4 Pro Pack. (And Schrand's CD actually includes a few interesting new models, like a charming Bigfoot character, and, Zowee!, a Catharina Przezak texture!)

The best parts of the book, Mortier is less than forthcoming about telling you, were written by other people, like Janet Glover. Mortier's own suggestions are so ridiculous (Try dragging the P4 woman's eyebrows down to her chin. Cool, huh?) that they make reading this book an exercise in exasperation. Tell me how to use Bend and Front/Back effectively, blast it! Show me how to make a decent T-shirt, not a "Spotted Chimp of Mars." Show me how to add "flattening" to a body part that is leaning against furniture, not how to put a nose horn on "The Horned Rat of Arcturus." The Chimp and Rat examples, by the way, require you to purchase the Chimp. And the Rat.

Poser is a fabulous toy and tool, and the beginner will be utterly at sea without some reasoned, coherent guidance. How do you keep her foot inside the shoe? Why does his elbow look like somebody broke it off and glued it back on? Common questions for the beginner, and not hard to answer if you know what you are doing. And aren't too busy playing with your tree-haired Amazonian and her Arcturian rat to tell us.

Trust the negative reviewers here...

Rating:
Summary: It's Time To Stop Trashing This Book!
Review: It seems to be very popular to put down Mortier's books, but let's get real: this book is a very useful reference for the program. I may not personally like the type of projects that Mortier uses as examples, but that's not the point --Mortier's art and style are not what you're paying for: how he attains his effects is the purpose of the book, and he does cover the methodology of Poser very well.

Mortier covers everything from morphing, lighting and multi-figure composites through hierarchies and spawning props with a lot of useful info which greatly augments the relatively sparse user manual.

Aside from Poser alone, his sections of 'handshaking' (using Poser with other applications) is invaluable. Poser is a tool that works best when used with a number of other applications such as UV mappers and texture creation programs. Mortier's lists and descriptions of programs that work well with Poser is worth the price of the book alone. His 'Hints From Master Users' includes great tips from some of the most well-respected names in the Poser community.

As a successful 3D and special effects artist, I use Poser about 4 hours a day, and have probably spent thousands of hours with the program since its first release; Mortier's book was invaluable in learning the ins and outs of what is a fairly complex program to use well. I still refer to the book on a regular basis, and am constantly finding some useful bit of info that I missed in earlier readings.

So, get past the silliness of some of the projects and look at the methods Mortier uses to get his results. If you use the book in this manner, you will most definitely learn Poser, and you will learn it well!

(By the way, as far as 'handshaking' goes, Bryce and Amorphium Pro are two programs often used with Poser, and are mentioned in 'The Poser 4 Handbook'. Mortier's 'Advanced Bryce Creations' and 'The Amorphium Pro Handbook' are excellent reference books for these two programs. Again, you might not like his example projects, but you will learn an amazing amount of very useful techniques for getting the most from these other programs.)

Rating:
Summary: Don't bother
Review: The book is awful! The artwork is hideous, and the "lessons" are useless. Mr. Shamms Mortier is a con-artist, and every book he has written is scam. If you don't believe me, take a look at the reviews of other books he has written; he's left a trail of destruction behind him on Amazon. Thank goodness for free speech!

Mortier's use of English in this book is extremely poor. His understanding of the Poser is extremely poor, and his understanding of how to teach is also extremely poor. What I can't understand is why any sane publisher would allow this man to write books. Poser 4 Handbook is basically a republishing of the online material, only more confusing (Shamms can't even plaguerize well). To anyone who wants to learn Poser 4, just read the online documentation for now, and maybe someday there will be a more useful book on Poser available.

Rating:
Summary: Absolute garbage...
Review: This book is a complete waste of money. Having owned Poser since version 1, I was looking for this book to contain in-depth data on advanced topics such as: Morph Targets, Textures, Grouping, etc...

Well forget about it. This book breezes over these topics in a paragraph or two.

Instead, the reader is treated to entire chapters on "wacky animal creations" or, as a previous reviewer wrote, turning the dials to make useless distortions.

Please, until there is a writer who is intelligent and serious about the software, don't waste your money on this book and go online to get better information.