Feeling a bit bogged down in a damp autumn / fall season? E-on has the perfect new PlantCatalog update… Swamps and Wetlands for Vue.
Release: Moho 14
Moho 14 is a big release for the 2D animation software (formerly Anime Studio). New graphics-engine, “near” real-time preview, new intuitive drawing tools for the new engine. Still no restored Poser import, but lots of other new features.
They also have a new 38-video beginner’s course YouTube Playlist.
Poser 13.1.469 released – real-time Comic Book Preview improvements
Poser 13.1.469 has been released. Hurrah, some improvement of non-photoreal rendering. Unspecified…
– Improvements to Comic Book Preview Draw Last feature.
Sounds good. Also, for photoreal…
– Major changes to subsurface scatter on the PhysicalSurface root node, ‘Burley’ set as Subsurface Method default.
– More improvements to subsurface scatter.
And some 2D picture export fixes…
– Added pref[erence] in General Preferences Render tab, to not export original render.
– ‘Copy Picture’ correctly pastes to 3rd-party paint programs.
– PSD Image export no longer shifts to a darker color space. SRGB successfully converting on export.
Plus some changes that may make Mac users happy…
– On the Mac: Enhanced backward compatibility on Mac OS 10.15 (Catalina) or better.
– On the Mac: The PostFX window scene preview properly fits and is better centered.
The version was 13.1.449, before this new update.
ElevenLabs is out of beta
The leader in AI text-to-speech voice, Poland’s ElevenLabs, is now out of beta. Now supporting 28 languages in ‘Eleven Multilingual v2’. Can be paired with Professional Voice Cloning, which should mean that those with the correct intonations in the input can also get these in the output in another language. They also have a ‘Voice Styles’ library.
The newly added languages are…
Chinese, Korean, Dutch, Turkish, Swedish, Indonesian, Filipino, Japanese, Ukrainian, Greek, Czech, Finnish, Romanian, Danish, Bulgarian, Malay, Slovak, Croatian, Classic Arabic and Tamil.
The Pricing is nice, though no PayPal. Someone making a short 90 minute audiobook per month would need the $22 a month subscription, but the free and starter tiers are very reasonable. Especially so for those making short 12-20 minute animations with Poser and DAZ.
SuperFlying Dreamland for Poser
Poser could be the ‘killer app’ in creative AI, in terms of usable graphics production for storytelling.
Imagine an AI that takes what you see in the Poser viewport, and works on that, giving you 98% consistent character renders which would allow the creation of graphic novels etc.
The aim would be to keep all character details consistent and stable, while also ‘AI rendering’ the viewport into a consistent professional ‘art style’. Auto-analysis of a quick real-time render from the Viewport might be needed (already here, elsewhere) and auto-prompt construction (already here). Perhaps there might be some on-the-fly LoRA training going on too, behind the scenes. Then, the AI image generation would be done.
You can kind of do all this now, outside of Poser, using Poser renders. But what if it was all neatly integrated into Poser, and ran on SDXL? All those royalty-free runtime assets then become super-valuable, since with their aid you can easily get the AI to do exactly what you want. Face, expression, pose, clothes, camera-angle. Hands. All output by the AI to the usual masked .PNG file, ready to drop over a 2D backplate in Photoshop. In three clicks. And all consistent between images, enough to satisfy even the most fersnickety regular comics reader.
The aim would not be to go wild, but to get something very close to the arrangement and content seen in the real-time viewport. It doesn’t necessarily have to be done by Bondware/Reallusion either, since Poser is Python 3 friendly and very extensible. All that would be needed, perhaps, would be to open up PostFX to be able to run a Python plugin that applies its own FX on real-time renders.
So imagine Poser’s Comic Book Preview or Sketch rendering, but done by an AI on a purpose-built ‘AI-native’ PC (coming in 2025 in retail, if not before). With No Drawing Required™ and Character Consistency.™ Let’s call it SuperFlying Dreamland.™ 😉
Auto Effects
AI-powered auto sound-effects for a video. Finds… “the right sound-effects (SFX) to match moments in a video”. A task which can take a day or more of finding, for a long video. Plus the trimming, volume balancing, and slotting in to the video.
Of course it’s not going to do much for Tom & Jerry style animation SFX, compared to the real thing. But I guess for regular normal Powerpoint things (“that’s a dog, it barks, get bark-sound”) it could be useful for those making a ‘holiday-photos slideshow’ presentation.
And it may also save time for creatives. For instance this could interface in interesting ways with the giant Freesound library’s new simple taxonomy. (“That’s a dog, it barks, get links to top-12 bark sounds on Freesound”). That would save some time. Not so much a new ‘recommender’ system (they’re always dim-witted), but more a new creative ‘options bundler’ system. Likely to find a place within the emerging and more complex AI-powered script-flow workflow software.
Renderosity Animation Contest 2023
A reminder of the Renderosity Animation Contest. The deadline is a bit close now, but a fast worker could do it: 30th August 2023. And don’t forget that Renderosity’s Poser software does real-time rendering of toons, via the easy-to-use Comic Book Preview feature.
Gift certificate prizes, no Poser 13 licences.
The featured artwork makes the mistake of ‘black on black’, a fundamental mistake which is beloved of 3D people trying to do a comic look (I blame Batman and Catwoman). Try to keep your character as ‘readable’ by the eye as much as possible. If you look at how a master like Brian Haberlin does it in his comics, he’ll often have a faint ‘fog layer’ across the whole background, as well as a ‘holding line’ around the character.
The left pigtail cannot be distinguished from the scenery.
Hand Poser / Feet Poser on Steam
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.
Release: Poser 13.1, inc. Mac version
Poser 13.1 is now available, and includes the new Mac version alongside the Windows version. It’s a free update for Poser 13 licence holders. Lots of rendering quality improvements for SuperFly (Poser’s version of the latest Blender Cycles). See the linked page for the full list.
No mention of changes to the Windows OS spec, so you should be able to run it back to Windows 7 (though without access to store-purchased third-party scripts on Windows , and likely with no helpdesk support).
No changes to PostFX on Windows, to OIDN de-noising, or to Poser’s unique abilities with real-time comic-book line-art, Firefly line-art, and Sketch rendering.
The current released version is 13.1.449.
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”.
Hr-213
The sci-fi friendly Hr-213 hair has mysteriously become unavailable on Renderosity, and has been removed from WishLists with no warning. I hope it’s not been removed due to some movie producer saying it’s too close to a sci-fi movie or TV series haircut (UFO, etc).
However, I still see it for sale at Mankahoo.
We’ve also mysteriously lost the excellent ‘dForce Space Jumpsuit’ for G8F, which has likewise vanished from my WishList.
1971s retiring products sale
The great 1971s has a “Retiring Products” sale on Renderosity. Personally I’d perhaps sell the items as a $10 bundle on another store, or even give the best of them away free as a ‘free trial’ for his content. Rather than delete forever. But there you go.
Some beautiful Poser stuff at 70% off, and his models toon very well in Poser 11+’s real-time Comic Book line-art. As you can see here from the sci-fi Angelfish, one of the models set to be deleted…
You may especially want the Crane (set for retirement), a useful accessory for 1971’s many airships and potentially also for boats.
The Jetbee (set for retirement) is also a nice Dieselpunk craft…
And the SteamBoat (set for retirement) is a useful generic small steam-powered two-man harbour launch.
New Poser and DAZ content for July 2023
Time for another monthly round-up the “what’s new” content for Poser and DAZ users. Here’s my pick of the goodies released in July 2023.
Science-fiction:
Colony Greenhouse by Coflek-Gnorg. For Poser and DAZ.
A free Sci-Fi Gun.
Nifty for Tikki the Tiger. For a somewhat sci-fi cyber tiger kitten. They’re the height of fashion on Altair III, dontcah’know… (Requires Tikki the Tiger for Moshi the Kitten).
Steampunk:
Victorian Flying Saucer for Poser and DAZ. Nice work, simple but effective. Also has interiors and poses.
A generic Jacket 002 from MightyMite, for G8M. Suitable for airship crew and the like. Or possibly even the crew of a Victorian Flying Saucer.
Steampunk Tools and Machinery, not new but currently free at DAZ. Vital tools for the Victorian Flying Saucer, I’d suggest.
A retro-future Giant Hovercraft. Might be able to be retro-fitted to be steampunk?
Fantasy:
LI Corpus Crystallum for Genesis 9.
Nature’s Throne for DAZ Studio. With Autumn / Fall material.
Felicia Ginela for G8F, an elf with what looks to be an excellent skin texture.
A free Mushroom Hat for G9.
Free Fantasy Lute Poses for G8F. And the Medieval Lute.
Barbarian Bundle for DAZ Studio. Or “gym guy”…
See also the new Barbarian-friendly Fantasy Interior set for Poser from 1971s.
Halloween:
Beholder Materials for iDemon for iRay. This is a Dungeons and Dragons toon monster, and renders would class as fan-art.
Photo Props: Singing Bowls, which could be of use for ‘Mystic Meg’ style Halloween pictures. See the new dforce XI Old Hag Outfit for Genesis 9.
A simple free Ouija board with Latin and Russian letters.
Figures, poses and clothes:
A usefully generic Corner desk workstation with computer.
M3 Extreme, morphs for M3 low-res. Especially suitable for when you want an army of similar low-poly figures in the middle-distance of your scene. Free.
A free Flatten Ears Morph For Genesis 9. “Ears, begone!” Sort of. It flattens them against the head. Possibly useful if they’re sticking out of a helmet.
A free Athletics High Jump Prop, DAZ Studio and .OBJ file.
Skillful Routine Gymnastic Poses for Genesis 3, 8 and 9.
Expressions and Face AniBlocks for Genesis 9.
Storybook:
dForce Dungies for G8Fs. Loose oversized dungarees. Also comfy clog shoes.
Simple tall Beach Cabins for Poser and DAZ.
LI FlowerPot Hair for Genesis 9
A free “Lilibet, The Hood” for G8F.
Toon and semi-toon:
The free Pinocchio – Before he lies for M3 Low-res.
A semi-toon Garden Spot set.
Animals:
Easy Mane & Tail for DAZ Horse 3. Reduce your setup time.
DAZ Ultimate Shape pack for Horse 3, giving sliders for shapes and ages. And DAZ Horse 3 Pro Material Set.
Realistic Animated Rock Pigeon. With PBR textures. Sadly the price is “for the birds” at $125.
Murderpeep the chicken. A big bad bird. Likely to fight the pigeon.
Currently free at DAZ, an Einiosaurus dinosaur.
New Bearrific Poses for AM Brown Bear.
A free Modern bottle for DAZ. Could be used for ‘mini beast’ collecting and observing?
Landscapes:
Roller Coaster for DAZ Studio. Could be paired with lush jungle foliage. Possible risk of monkey attack…
3D Scenery: Wild Stream and 3D Scenery: Magic Pond by ShaaraMuse3D. High-res textures.
A free Spring flowerwreath for V4 / A4.
A free Tulip in vase, scaled to G8.
Historical:
A free Ancient Roman Chariot, looking quite authentic to me. Could probably double-up as a barbarian tribes chariot as well.
Ancient Roman Kitbash I – walls of antiquity.
Ancient XI Roman Forum. Also new Roman accessories and outfits, on the DAZ Store.
BW Medieval Transport Wagons Set 01 and Set 02. Various wagons. though no horse presets.
A free Horse drawn carriage 2, a pioneer-type wagon.
Summer Italy Street, a finely-made hill-village street.
Victorian showmen outfits, in Show Must Go On for Phantom of the Opera – Sharply Dressed.
Smoking pipe with smoke, for G8 / G9. Might be adapated to be more of a fantasy pipe?
Antique Desk With Typewriter and PBR textures.
Radio Flyer texture makover for The Christmas Wagon.
The old man’s Repair Shop.
A 1990s looking Professional Video Camera, shoulder mounted.
Utilities and similar:
A free Digit Display “Easy set” for DAZ. Use it for a countdown timer display on a bomb, and suchlike. See also the new Spy Props set.
Signal Scope for Poser P12/P13. A set of nodes to help create an animated electronics test-bench oscilloscope screen in Poser.
Map Range for Poser SuperFly P12/P13. A building-block freebie that can be used to develop more complex Poser materials. Works in a similar way to the “Map Range” in Blender.
Texture Atlas Enabler for Genesis 9.
ApolloMaximus clothing clone for Genesis 9.
Tutorials:
How to convert Firefly materials to Superfly in Poser. A free one-hour tutorial. Vital viewing for many Poser 12 and 13 newbies, I’d suggest.
How to convert DAZ fibremesh eyebrows to Poser. Requires Blender or 3D Studio Max.
Vue 6 Rendercow on Linux with Wine.
Conquering Complex Scenes. Handling HDR images in DAZ Studio, with the help of the V3D HDR Creator.
DAZ Studio Mastery: Comprehensive Tutorial Set with Drew Spence.
Complete Guide to Animating Dynamic Characters in DAZ Studio.
The book Secrets of Poser Experts.
Software:
Poser 11 upgrade to Poser 13 for under $100.
AI’s:
How to auto-colour your line-art using the free (for now) SeaArt. Even if it’s not in greyscale (such as the line-art it’s possible to get from Poser 11+’s real-time Comic-Book renders).
That’s it for July 2023. More next month.
Poser 11 to Poser 13 for under $100
You can now go from Poser 11 to Poser 13 for $95.70…
Upgrades to Poser 13 are available for $95.70 until 11:59pm Monday, 31st July with coupon code POSERUPG13 at the checkout.” Valid Poser 11 serial numbers are now also being accepted for the upgrade… “… will accept Poser 11 or Poser 12 serial numbers for upgrade validation”. This wasn’t the case before.
Apparently the Poser 13 serial will be valid for the Mac Poser 13 Early Access, due for release very soon.
Poser 12 for $49
Poser 12 for $49, apparently. Via Graphixly. The “Windows 10” claim is questionable. It runs fine on Windows 7, though I guess it’s possible you won’t get support-desk help if you’re on older Windows versions. And some store-bought P12 third-party scripts won’t work on Windows 7 (which lacks the required Microsoft encryption modules).
Over at NeoWin, Poser Pro 11.3 is now $79. It was a huge $150 on Renderosity, last week. Ideally a non-photoreal user would want to have both 11 and 12 (they can co-exist happily), and the current discounter prices seem the best way to do that at present.