So far so good. One of the very first things I noticed about Poser Pro was a marked improvement in just how fast Poser Pro opens, compared to Poser 7. Render quality seems to be improved (will post a comparison when I have time), as well as faster than Poser 7, thanks to the 64-bit version of the seperate FireFly rendering engine. I also noticed that FireFly 64 seems to use less memory than the Poser 7 version. Scenes and area renders that used to to crash Poser 7 (specifically area renders over objects that use raytraced reflections and refractions) don’t crash in Poser Pro. From browsing the Renderosity forums, I’ve found that people who upgraded from Poser 6 to Poser Pro saw more improvements in speed than did people who upgraded from Poser 7 to Poser Pro (like me, for instance). Hence the feeling I picked up from other Poser 7 users that Poser Pro is really just Poser 7.5. Perhaps that is true, but the main selling point for me was 64-bit rendering and leaves me to my main pet-peeve. The Poser Pro executable is still a 32-bit executable. I think that is where Smith Micro/E-Frontier screwed up. In reality, Smith Micro/E-Frontier should have gone in the direction that Eon did with Vue 6 and released two versions of Poser. A 32-bit version and a 64-bit version for those of us who work in a 64-bit environment. I still haven’t scratched the surface of what Poser Pro can do, and there is still the matter that Poser Pro offers other features that wasn’t in previous versions of Poser such as network/background and queue rendering to help increase workflow. So my opinion is this: if you are upgrading from Poser 6, then it might well be worth the $150/$200 to upgrade. If you’re upgrading from Poser 7, well, that is up to you. The fact that Poser Pro is still not a true 64-bit app kind of left a sour taste in my mouth, but some of the potential has managed to mellow that sour taste just a little bit.

Next: Part Two, comparison render

System specs:

• CPU: Athlon64×2 4200+ (Windsor)
• Motherboard: M2N-SLI Deluxe
• RAM: 4GB Kinston RAM
• Video: Geforce 7300 GS 256MB
• OS: Windows XP Pro x64

OT: If you’re going to give me a pingback, at least get the name of the site right. Otherwise, its spam and it will be deleted.

Its finished, but I’m not ready to release it. Since Page 8 (in the new line-up) brings Syleth into the storyline, the next pages gives you a sampling of her personality.

Well, I also just (and I mean just) found out that Smith Micro released Poser Pro about a month ago and I somehow missed it. Probably school. Oh well, I caved in and bought the side-grade for around $200, and its downloading as I’m typing this. After I’m done with my tests and all that, page 9 and after will be rendered in Poser Pro. Some of the reviews I read on the Renderosity forums about Poser Pro were encouraging; little things like render time and stability. The main reason I’m going with this upgrade (or side-grade), is the fact that Poser Pro supports 64-bit rendering and all of my 3D work is done in Windows XP Pro x64.

I really cannot wait for this download to finish

No, I haven’t forgotten about the Webcomic Manager plug-in. I have plans to release it shortly after school gets out for the summer. I’ve been pretty busy with school and the comic, that I haven’t had much time to work with it. Really, though. I need a snazzy, Web 2.0-style name for the plug-in.