Curious Labs' Poser program is a 3D art and animation program targeted at the home user. Poser uses a subset of the Alias object (OBJ) file format natively and a text-based markup for content-files. This customizability has helped draw a large number of people to the program.

Poser is marketed as a human and animal figure posing and animation tool, although other articulate models as well as "props" can be easily animated. Poser comes with libraries of human, animal, and robot figures, poses, hair pieces, props, hand gestures, and facial expressions. Facial expressions are implemented through the use of morphs, which are also used in many models to allow customizing of body and other features.

As Poser does not allow for original modelling of objects except in the simplest of senses (stacking cubes etc), a community of merchant/artists creating, buying, and selling content for the program has sprung into existence.

Many websites focused on sharing information, art, and marketing Poser content can be found online, including Renderosity, Renderotica, DAZ3d, and PoserPros. Specialist niche websites such as the SF and military related Vanishing Point also serve an active community.

Poser 1 was released in 1995 by artist and programmer Larry Weinberg , who created it as a replacement for wooden mannequins used by artists. Poser 2 was released in 1996, Poser 3, with a new user interface, in 1998, and Poser 4 in 1999. Poser was owned by MetaCreations until its collapse and the sale of Poser to Curious Labs during version 4. An expansion called Poser 4 Pro Pack was released in 2001, allowing new features, such as 2D motion blur, an implementation of Python scripting, custom figure rigging, and the ability to host Poser scenes in 3ds max, Lightwave 3d, and Cinema 4D. Poser used a phong shading render until the implementation of a raytracer called Firefly in Poser 5.

By late summer of 2003, Poser was in its 5th version for both Windows and Macintosh platforms, though some controversy surrounds whether or not version 5 was ready for release at that time.

The lastest version 6 is presently (March 2005) being sold to some previous purchasers. As with version 5, there is much communinty debate about its merits and new features.

External links

• Curious Labs website
• Sixus1 Media website
• Zygote Media Group website
• DAZ3d website
• PoserPros website
• XFX-3d website
• Radio Free Ironbear Forum/Cooperative Blog
• 3-D Arena website
• Renderosity: a big web site with several forums and art galleries about several CGI programs including Poser.
• Renderotica adult-themed Poser art
• Animotions website
• 3D Commune website
• Tom Miller's Poser newsblog
• Vanishing Point website