I always enjoy those whacky/out-of-the-way DAZ Studio or Poser packs, if they’re well made. Quality model maker The AntFarm has just released one such, “Artifacts”, on the DAZ Store. Two authentic-looking ancient masks…

I always enjoy those whacky/out-of-the-way DAZ Studio or Poser packs, if they’re well made. Quality model maker The AntFarm has just released one such, “Artifacts”, on the DAZ Store. Two authentic-looking ancient masks…

The third-party high-quality renderer LuxRender hits version 1.0. LuxRender is available for either Poser or DAZ Studio.
Want a cool Hugo-style clock tower interior? Just released is a fine steampunk Poser model/scene, Steampunk Clock Tower for Poser…

Snarly now has a single point for all his Poser 9 and Poser Pro 2012 freebies… Snarly’s Space…

Snow Machine was recently upgraded to work with Poser Pro 2012.
Evilinnocence has a sale on his toony “eye” characters. Perfect for those considering undertaking a webcomic, I’d say. Because you won’t have to do mouths.

A cool new set of Daleks on the Renderosity free stuff pages.
An excellent and clear little video tutorial from Daniel Persedo, newly posted. He covers the details you need to consider when taking a Collada character export from Poser Pro 2014 to Photoshop CS Extended, and then compositing your figure against a 2D background in Photoshop…
I’m exploring some of the free Python scripts for Poser. I found that Snarly has just released a useful new SceneFix Python Script for Poser 9 / Poser Pro 2012…
It can, for either the currently selected actor or the whole scene:
* Correct gamma settings for image maps
* Set Reflection_Lite and Kd_Mult to zero
* Set Ambient value to zero
* Change Texture filtering (user choice)
* Set Diffuse colour to white if texture map is attached
* Set Diffuse value (user choice)
* Remove unused nodes from materials
* Change Crease angle (user choice)
* Turn off smoothingThere are also tools to :
* Add/remove dials from actors
* Rename nodes in the Material Room
* Delete multiple actors from the scene at once
* Create a character morph with INJ/REM pose files from a dialled character
Update: still available December 2019 via my Archive.org link on this page.
Did you know that Poser users can export a bundle of the whole contents used in a scene, to a new folder? Yup, the obj base, the .pz3, and the materials, all copied out and neatly placed into a single new folder.
Of course you can now export the whole scene, textured, out of Poser as a Collada .dae file. But this older method can still be useful for porting to other software such as Vue, especially if you first need to find and reduce the size of some huge 4000px textures.
Here’s how to do it…
1. Make a new destination folder somewhere.
2. Locate your Python Scripts panel in the Poser interface…

3. Go to Utility Functions, Choose “Collect Scene Inventory”
4. Select “Copy all to Folder”, and select your output destination folder.
The camera is also exported. You may find that you get a message saying that the lights in your scene were not exported.
The new 3DS Max 2013 (shipping 12th April 2012) has new features that may make it more interesting than before, for Poser Pro 2014 users using it with the PoserFusion plugin. These include among the features list…
“a new ability to output renderings in a layered PSD [Photoshop] format”
A very cool set of Poser / Keyshot renders by David Constantine…
The workflow is…
1. Export a posed character as a FBX (DAZ) or Collada (Poser) file.
2. Import to Keyshot and stand your character against your chosen background.
3. Apply the background’s matching HDR light.
4. Render.
Keyshot is blindingly quick at rendering, at least with single objects against a 2D background. Keyshot ships with a range of background images that have matching HDR lights. These lights help the objects look as though they belong in the scene (as you can see above).
Sadly Keyshot is aimed at engineers and commercial product-photography people, rather than hobbyists, and so costs $1,000. Which does at least mean it’s blissfully simply to use, and can be fully learned in an hour. This is because it’s designed for those who are unfamiliar with 3D software, and who run screaming from the ludicrous interface complexities of software such as Blender. But the cost of Keyshot will put off many. It’ll cost even more, if you want an add-on HDR Light Studio pipeline (the latest version of this can apparently make a matching HDR from any background that you feed it).
Still… Keyshot is certainly one to consider, if you’re looking for a tax write-off and you want an alternative render engine for still images of Poser figures. Just keep in mind that you’ll need to fix eyes and eyelashes on Poser faces after import, and that Keyshot only ships with one skin material that takes ages to render.
Smith Micro have today announced some details of the Service Release 2 patch for Poser 9 and Poser Pro 2012…
“The SR2 update for Poser will enable export of bump and normal maps in Photoshop compatible fashion.”
This will enable you to export a character in the Collada .dae format, and then have it load up in Photoshop CS6 Extended with all materials properly applied and with no additional need for tweaking…
“The model comes in [to Photoshop] perfectly, with all normal map detail preserved, ready to use in your illustration.”
I’m guessing this feature may also extend to other external load-and-illustrate packages, such as Keyshot?
They’re also going to support the coming wave of 3D in Web browsers, which will work without the need for plugins (Google Chrome now natively supports full-blown 3D games, without the need for Flash or other pernickety plugins)…
“[get] animated 3D characters from Poser into WebGL-enabled browsers like Chrome”
It’s the wrong time of year, but the Meshbox Halloween 7 series is available for $39 for the complete set, if you order by 2nd April 2012. The best of them is this very cool Witch House, complete with interior.

Sea Life! A quick survey of ocean and underwater life and lighting for DAZ Studio and Poser users. (Updated, May 2014).
The Terrors of the Deep: Jellyfish pack has some nice jellifish, which seem to render best in Poser…

Although note that the starfish and shell and other content is not included — it’s just the jellyfish. There’s a Biolight textures addon for these jellyfish.
Most people should have an Angelfish as standard, as it ships with your Poser install (or at least, it did with older versions). But overall there’s a surprising lack of the sort of small colourful fancy fish that you’d see in an aquarium, at least ones with really good textures. Also missing currently is a really strong pack of corals and small intricate shells with superb textures.
Although the Toucan Museum in Japan does have some beautifully textured OBJ fish for free.
The Pacific Rockfish Collection perhaps offers the brightest colours in fish, it has good textures…

There are a variety of shark packs, but one of the most fearsome sharks — as well as the best textured — is Dinoraul’s Carcharodon Megalodon…

Stonemason made an early venture into creatures, with his Creatures of the Deep deep-sea angler fish, before he went into making his famous large scenes. Although I found the textures on these only worked for Poser…

For more monstrous ocean dinosaurs see Jurrasic Seas.
There’s also a very nicely made and textured Marlin and Ray in the Sea Life Pack 2…

Personally I found the earlier Sea Life Pack 1 to be showing its age now, in terms of the modelling and textures. The Octopus in it still stands close-ups, though.
Also lacking, these days, are most of the aquatic creatures vended by Smith Micro on Content Paradise. Only the Octopus (also available on its own) can stand close renders, but the rest are ok for middle-distance and background. You’ll find the octopus and other creatures bundled in the “Ocean Pack Bundle”, currently at $7…

The best crab is “Aquatic Crab” on Content Paradise…

Also have a look at PoserAddict’s crab.
I’ve yet to find a really good starfish.
The best Poser ocean is RD’s Poser Ocean, although this is ocean-surface only…

You might also look at the 360-degree environment Ocean Wide, although note that it’s for DAZ 4.6 only.
Those who just want beach and sea view scenes could look at the detailed Waves on the Beach scene — but be warned that this pack puts a very heavy load on the average PC, even before you try to render it.
There are some nice shallow underwater ‘sandy seabed’ scenes to be had by sinking the camera in the sea around the Ultimo Paradiso island, available on the DAZ Store…

For a lagoon also look at The Lost World for DAZ Studio 4.6 and Poser…
The deeper sea might be covered by the With the Fishes pack…

Also have a look at Aquatica Reef on the DAZ Store, which (unlike older cycloramas) claims to be hi-res and able to stand close-ups and hi-res renders…

There’s a huge bundle of underwater plant props in the Gardens of Poseidon Bundle and also hunt around for “Lisa’s Botanicals – Sea Floor Pack 1” (it seems to have vanished) and look at Runtime DNA’s older Sea Critters pack…


The best undersea light sets are the DAZ Store’s Under The Sea, which work for both Poser and DAZ. They tend to ‘moire’ when used on large seabed scenes, but work nicely on characters and props that you intend to composite into a scene using Photoshop.

Also look at Camera Magic: WaterCam DAZ Studio.
Photoshop users who are not afraid of a little post-production on their renders can generate sea caustics overlays for use with layers / Screen Mode, with the Caustics Generator software.
Toon character specialists 3D Universe have a new character out today. The new Toon Rabbit is styled with an “Alice‘s White Rabbit meets steampunk” look and it looks very usable for comics, animation, and more. There are separate DAZ Studio or Poser versions, so make sure you get the right one.
