Poser 11 and Poser Pro 11 have been released today! UK prices are £95 for 11 and £239 for Pro 11. USA prices are $139.99 / $349.99. Both Windows and Mac version are available now, and are heavily discounted.
New features in v.11 include:
* an integrated (‘Superfly’) version of Blender’s professional level Cycles render-engine, including caustics.
* the Pro 11 version supports Nvidia CUDA, giving a GPU-assisted boost to render times.
* new Poser base female character, Pauline, shipping as standard.
* add realistic tattoos and scars, via new layered materials.
* improved OpenGL ‘Comic Book’ real-time rendering, adjustable ink outlines.
I wonder if we might start to see new semi-toon characters + presets dedicated solely to the comic book look?
Plus there’s…
* a new scalable user interface, for those working on humongously large monitors.
* it’s now easier to step back and forth between characters, as you build a scene.
* Pro also has bone control handles, and direct character manipulation is now easier.
* new rigging features, with some automation.
* customisable tool/dial/character palettes and hot keys. Adjustable auto-save.
Looks good. Let’s hope that the Blender/Cycles ‘Superfly’ rendering engine gives fast and good-looking results with standard characters, without having to faff around applying/tweaking three-dozen new materials by hand. And that ‘the comic-book look’ is viable for producing comic-books which will please the highly discerning eye of comics fans. If Poser 11 gets those two things right, then I’d say it’s back in the game against DAZ Studio.
Carrara 8 is DAZ Studio's official 'big sister' software.
Carrara loads all DAZ and Poser characters and scenes,
and supports LuxRender for top-quality realistic rendering.