Hand Poser and Feet Poser, on the Steam platform. At around £13 each, that’s £26 ($34). Nice wrinkles and skin detail, but for $49 you could get the proper full Poser 12 and get SSS as well. I should add that these Steam ‘apps’ are in no way connected to the maker of the real Poser.
Category Archives: Companion software
Howler gets 9x faster
The latest PD Howler 2024.2 is available. It has an interesting new way of rendering 3D, via an innovative CPU/GPU mix. The CPU handles the grunt-work on the render, then the GPU does the final shading. 9x faster rendering than before, apparently! Supports PBR materials, tone-map and gamma. 16x anti-aliasing.
Now also includes a full word-processor! Also .GIF animation loading. And the previous .point iteration had “Dark mode support in Windows 11”.
Big dummies
Want to cuddle your custom Poser or DAZ character? Or just make a shop-window ready ‘life-sized monster’ to attract customers? Giant 3D Printer Can Print Life-Sized Human Statues. Or creatures, presumably.
PD Howler 2022 for free
PD Howler 2022 for free, in a ‘probably time limited’ summer offer. The last such offer was time-limited and in the summer. The download is build 52 buy the look of it.
PD Howler is a fine 2D painting software, but uniquely has a wealth of mature 3D-friendly features.
The last Windows 7 version was PD Howler 2021.3 build 85. In my experience, later versions will install on Win 7 but then they do things like fatally crash on exit, will not allow setting the number of CPU threads, and possibly have many other problems.
Tom Jantol’s entry for Animation at Work
Tom Jantol’s entry for the Animation at Work 2023 contest, “Unleash the Butterflies” and also a Making of video. He used Cartoon Animator (formerly CrazyTalk Animator), iClone, and After Effects.
DAZ AI image generator
DAZ’s AI image generator, apparently character-based. Private beta sign-up, hint, hint…
Interesting. Hopefully it’s not another “me too” Stable Diffusion clone like that DeviantArt no-hoper. I’m guessing it may have been trained on 12 x 360-degree iRay renders from each their best figures and various outfits? Then the picture that results would have links back to the DAZ store, so you can buy the character and the clothes. So, kind of a fancy 3D avatar version of a “try on the clothes, virtually” system that you might find in an upmarket clothing store.
Of course one can add AI to the DAZ Studio (or Poser) process already. Load, dress, pose, neutral lighting, render… then upload the render to an Img2Img AI image generator, for the prompt-driven variants and the ‘AI gloss’ and perfect lighting. This should also work for animation, once the much-touted Wonder Studio launches. This service can track and replace a ‘dummy actor’ in the footage, overlaying it with a full AI generated (and apparently face-stable) 3D avatar that retains the original head movement, expression etc.
Renderosity’s SFX packs and Comic Life 3
Useful information from the Renderosity forum, for superhero comics makers. There are three SFX 2D graphics packs on Renderosity, for the old defunct Comic Book Creator 1.0 and 2.0 software…
In total, 110 SFX. Turns out, as tested by a user, that these work fine with the current incarnation of Comic Book Creator, which is the ‘currently-developed and sold’ $30 Comic Life 3.x software that we all known and love today. There is also a template pack on Renderosity, which apparently doesn’t work with Comic Life 3.x.
Mandelbulb3D updates
I see that Mandelbulb3D updated in spring 2023.
2023-03-05: Mandelbulb3D V1.99.37 released: (optional) generating of z-buffers, including batch renders
2023-02-07: Mandelbulb3D V1.99.36 released: support of network rendering for batch renders
The Batch rendering module appeared in the version released last July.
TurboSquid Free, free
A new UserScript for your Web browser, TurboSquid Paid Asset Tile Remover In Free Sections.
Release: OIDN 2.0
Intel’s excellent Open Image Denoise (OIDN) has been released in version 2.0. OIDN offers a superb free AI model that’s specially trained to clear 3D renders of noise and grain.
This 2.0 release mainly adds GPU acceleration and support for newer GPUs, along with expanded API features. No speed boost in 2.0, so far as I can tell, other than that which might be added by using your NVIDIA CUDA or AMD graphics card to drive the denoising.
I guess it’ll be added to Poser and Vue relatively soon, as they both have OIDN plugged in by default. There’s still no Photoshop plugin for it though, so far as I know.
Update: Now at the 2.01 update, with better speed.
Ka-boom!
A big Hollywood sound FX library lands at Archive.org. Including, magic spells, sci-fi, explosions, fireworks and so on.
Technical Search updated
My Technical Search engine now includes 207 Web sites. Doesn’t include the store sites, just forums and many other pages and sites useful to those using Poser, DAZ Studio, Vue.
What’s New for Poser and DAZ, April-May 2023
Slightly early this month, but it’s time for another pick of what’s new for Poser and DAZ Studio users.
Science-fiction:
Teleportation Effects VFX for DAZ Studio. 36 of them, with 4K textures.
DZ BSuitZ for G8M & G9. Usefully generic and plain, for when you want the focus on the character and not the suit.
Bomb place set for Poser, and separately for DAZ. A 33 part set. It’s by 1971s, so you know it’ll toon well in Poser’s Comic Book renders.
Need a control unit for the bomb? There’s a new free HX Console for DAZ. A retro 1970s style computer/radar console. Also looks suitable for Doctor Who remakes and suchlike. See also this new GMDSS 6000 Series Communication equipment freebie. If you need the complete caboodle, take a look a this monster control-centre…
The Corridor, a 2001 style corridor. If you enlarged the corridor and stripped out some bits you might even get a 3D roadway for some of the new Luxor Poser Prop flying cars.
Valvepunk:
A ramshackle Radio Watchtower, evocative of Fenton Wood’s Yankee Republic series.
DD PBR Painted Wood Shaders for iRay Vol. 2. Faded, cracked and scuffed.
Fantasy:
Shattered Steel. Breakable sword blades, for Poser.
CW_Michael for Genesis 8 Male, with an interestingly ‘almost semi-toon’ face and head.
Techno-Wizard Weapons SW for G3 and G8.
Fan-art:
Thri-Kreen for Poser. A Dungeons & Dragons creature.
Wanted: Weapons of Fate for Poser. A custom character for the stock ships-with-Poser figure Jessi, based on a game character. The description says “standalone”, but that can’t be if she requires Jessi.
Harrison Ford for Poser for the M3 LowRes figure. Could be useful if you have a big heavy scene, and you don’t want the crash it by adding a high-res figure.
Halloween:
Movie Mummy for G8M. You also get the ancient coffin.
Enakh Outfit for G8M.
Pyrotechnica 2. Burning, black smokes, plus a fireworks burst, for DAZ Studio.
Suds. 3D models of soap suds, for DAZ Studio. Could also be useful for alien landscapes, horror labs, or scenes where nano-technology runs amok.
Photo Props: Candles, with texture that make them suitable for close-ups.
Figures, poses and clothes:
Malikai and Hair for Genesis 8.1 Male.
AMV_Glasses, basic cheap reading-glasses for G2 to G9.
Lina for Antonia, an Eastern European look for the Antonia figure for Poser.
AniBlock animations:
10 x ‘in bed’ AniBlocks for Genesis 9. Couples lying in bed.
21 Action & Gun AniBlocks for Genesis 8/8.1.
Ready To Fight 2 AniBlock animations for the Genesis series. Specifically, ring boxing and kick boxing.
Toon:
Flix for Genesis 8 Male. Might also be used with the free Prof Hair for G8M.
Speaking Dishes and teapots for DAZ Studio.
Chull Clothes 2, for Nursoda’s new Chull figure.
Storybook:
SAMANT Pastry Shop, for Poser and DAZ.
A free DollBox for Poser, with La Femme fit. Also the Pretty Doll Vintage Dress.
Dino 03, a free cute stuffed-fabric toy dinosaur. Plus Food for Dino 03, which might also be used with other rotund beasts of burden.
A free Swimming Ring. Might be made to fit Dino…
Hr-257 hair, suitable for a ‘girl adventurer’ type character. For V4 and others.
FG School Pack Supply plus backpack, for the FG Elementary Classroom.
A free Cheap Fountain Pen for DAZ Studio.
Tuscan Kitchen Accessories set.
Hobby Props Pottery, for all your potter’s wheel needs.
Animals:
Songbird ReMix Kingfishers, for Poser and DAZ.
Komodo Dragon by AM, for DAZ Studio.
Arkeno for Moshi The Kitten and Soffancska: Moshi, both material addons for the kitten.
Landscapes:
3D Scenery: Lush Gate from ShaaraMuse3D, for Poser and DAZ. A useful wooded summertime arch, which also has a low-spec PC version. No Autumnal makeover MAT, but I guess you just tweak the colours.
Simple free Railings of the sturdy sort you might see on the sea-front of a coastal town. For Poser and DAZ. Includes old and sea-worn MATs.
Bastion Fortress – Brick Walls for Poser and DAZ. A texture addon for the Bastion Fortress Construction Kit.
Historical:
Very little this month, in Historical.
Second World War Jeep for Poser. 13 figures, poses, props.
Utilities and similar:
A free Mosaic MT5 material for Poser
Formation-X for DAZ Studio. Billed as “Configuration and Alignment Scripts for Large Groups”. Such as spacecraft battle formations. Released summer 2019, but it’s new to me.
Expandable Color Ramp for Poser 12 & 13, for SuperFly. “It will allow between 2 to X number of color points simply by daisy-chaining the nodes together.”
A free Cubic To Linear add-on for MojoWorld 3.11.
30 Realistic Fur & Hair Brushes for Photoshop.
Software:
UVMapper 4.0 for Windows, May 2023.
Blender 3.51 for Windows 7, no installer needed. The installer having been a roadblock before now, when Blender refused to install if your graphics card was unworthy. Now you can install anyway and run it on the CPUs.
At last, a dark mode for Paint Tool SAI 2, aka SAI2.
Poser 13 has had a number of updates since the initial release in March.
Tutorials:
Essential Introduction to Genesis 9 for Content Creators. With Esha.
Toolbox Treasures : Super Scripts for DAZ Studio. With Code 66.
New video tutorials on Poser 13 Installation and Poser 13 : Installing included content.
Making advanced Pixelart in Blender, a tutorial for a free addon. Looks quite effective.
Beginner’s Guide to Texturing in Poser: The Diffuse Node.
VUE scene breakdown: Making of “Fresh Water” with Vue expert Barry Marshall. Also a new Quicktip video: Duplicating Assets in E-on’s Vue.
That’s it. More next month.
Release Blender 3.51 for Windows 7, no installer needed
Blender 3.51 for Windows 7 (early May 2023).
Now needing no installer, it will at last launch for me! Hurrah. Everything works, and it renders to Cycles using 12 CPUs with fair speed… while ignoring my unworthy GPU.
Previously the 3.x installers had decided my graphics card was unworthy, and totally refused to install Blender. Yes… I more than meet the minimum OpenGL 3.3 requirement, having 4.4.
Of course, not really needed now for most people. Since Poser 13 uses the latest Blender Cycles as the photoreal renderer. But still, nice to have it tucked away.
Combo
Hel1x has a new and fine demo picture, showing the effective combination of an AI-generated base + Poser and DAZ for the figure, Vue for added landscape (backdrop and atmosphere?) and Corel Painter.
