The Poser 3 Handbook

Rating:
Summary: A major disappointment.
Review: If you have even the slightest experience with computer graphics you will find this book (like all the R. Shamms Mortimer books) to be useless! Not only does he appear to have no real skill with the product his examples consist of page after page of mindless repetition. Ex: here's how to make a man with a fish head, and now here's how to make a man with a dog head, and now here's how to make a man with a horse head, etc, ad nauseam. Instead of giving master advice on how to make the most of this tool (as part of a greater software toolkit) Shamms simply plugs pieces together mindlessly and passes them off as lessons. There are maybe ten useful pages in the book and ALL of them are almost directly from the Poser manual. Avoid this book at all costs.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful guide for getting the most of Poser,
Review: This is a wonderful guide for getting the most out of Poser 3. Its clear step-by-step instructions make it useful for beginning to advanced users. There are lots of b/w pictures to guide you and an awesome full color gallery.

First, it covers the basics in detail teaching how to pose, composite & animate characters. It also covers morphing, rendering & customizing templates. The CD is packed with animations, extra props, reference files & demos.

The advanced sections are where it really shines. It explains how to use Poser with other programs including importing characters that can be animated like any native poser model. Zygote characters are included & covered in depth.

The master tips, including everything from lip synching to adding clothing are also invaluable. I found the projects including a moving carousel & a centaur to be excellent training tools as well.

Rating:
Summary: Look before you buy
Review: This is an odd book at best. In reading this you can garner the information you most wanted to know and that's the strength of this book. However be prepared for 2 things. No. 1 the writer has an odd style of writing and the examples border on the grotesque side. In fact that is my biggest complaint he spends much time in the book creating many examples of mutant figures (male heads with horns). This may not bother you, I just didn't see a need for it. My personal use for Poser has always been for realistic modeling. Now the good news. this is the Second part. No.2 To his credit he does tackle the tougher issues invovled in creating additional figures and props. I waited along time for a resource to describe whats involved. One thing to note Poser 3 is an incredible program. In the 3d arena few programs match the style and ease of using Poser3. Perhaps the best thing I found out was the incredible resources from other poser users.

Bottom line is be prepared. If you find the book look through it and see if it answers your questions. In my opinion it does answer the toughest questions there bye making it worth while. Also of note is the information on human studies in motion as well as Animals in motion. These are included on the cd and should be interesting reading in itself for anyone interested in more realistic animating. I'm not a profressional animator bye any means so I love being able to learn from others. You can spend Hr's learning what takes minutes to read. This the best reason to buy any book and there is alot to learn.

Rating:
Summary: A much-needed resource for 3D artists, but a *long* read.
Review: This is the third and FINAL book I will ever read by R. Shamms Mortier. This is the only book dedicated to Poser3 and sadly it has to come from such a wretched author. There are so many great features about Poser3 that could be discussed that are only merely 'touched upon'. His "I don't like this feature so you MUST NEVER USE IT" attitude bothers me. His work is pittiful -My non-artist friends make better pictures than he does and they do it with Poser1 ! To R. Shamms Mortier- stay out of the graphics resource documentation business!

Rating:
Summary: Don's Waste Your Time Or Money...
Review: Why did "Top 50 reviewer" Angel Lee feel compelled to rate this book TWICE and give it five stars each time? Without those two gushing, unrealistic raves, the book ends up with the one-star rating it deserves.

If you like creating silly, useless morphs, this is the book for you. If you're serious about learning Poser, visit Renderosity and the other great on-line resources for tutorials that will really teach you something useful.

Rating:
Summary: Shamms is a poser.
Review: Why? Cause he poses as a professional, when clearly he is not. I mean shouldn't you know something about the subject before you start teaching others. I have the manual I can look through it. I have the program I can play with all the different buttons, this literature brings me no closer to learning the program.