Thank you everyone!
Yes! PE is innovative but isn’t that what 3D is all about? It’s that innovation which steers progress and advances our chosen media. She isn’t for the load, pose and render set as much as the artists amongst us who want more (and that’s what we are, isn’t it?), including the ability to take our work further with a figure which enables us to do just that!
Now, I freely admit that I tend towards the load, pose and render set myself, at least as far as stepping away from the purely visual side of 3D is concerned. I have neither the time nor patience to start learning new techniques just to create the clothing, textures, materials etc. I need to create the images I want. There are other people out there who can do that far better than me and that’s why I find that ‘wait and see mode’ disturbing. There is a prime example of that right here at Hivewire in the form of Dawn (and Dusk to an even greater degree!). Dawn is way beyond V4 in many ways but how does she stand in the market place? Simply by looking at the output for V4 (since Dawns introduction) compared to Dawn will give you the obvious answer to that which is not anywhere near as highly as she should be by now. Dawn is head and shoulders above V4 so why is she so far behind? I suspect that the answer to that is because too many vendors are in ‘wait and see mode’. Yes! I know there are vendors creating for Dawn (albeit very few at the present time) but not as many as there should be. However, that attitude could also be interpreted as fear of stepping outside of your comfort zone, which can only lead ultimately to failure because it tends to stifle innovation and that should be the last thing anyone with a love of 3D wants!
Equally disturbing to me is the attitude that PE having genitals makes her somehow not worthy of attention:
‘Knowing ero, she probably has all the right stuff for making the sort of comics he does. He has even admitted that the whole things started because he wanted things the other figures couldn't give him.’
Why, oh why, do I get the impression that that comment should have ‘snigger, snigger’ after it in brackets!
Yes! She does have all the ‘right stuff’ (in common with the worlds female population) but not for the reasons suggested. In fact,, rather than extend an overlong reply even further, I would suggest you go along and read why Ero created PE which are certainly not for the reasons you seem to assume. The good news is that all the documentation comes free along with the PE Demo version, which includes all her rigging so you can try before you buy (or not which is your choice). At the end of the day, that’s just a matter of common sense. To do otherwise can only result in the sort of uninformed, dishonest and spurious comments which have caused such ill-feeling on other forums about Dawn versus V4.
Looks are a matter of personal preference of course. For myself I like the girl-next-door look she has in her basic form as well as her fuller figure which, to me, makes her much more realistic, though bear in mind she does come complete with thirteen other characters covering ethnicity and fantasy which makes ringing the changes simple.
All of which is a matter of personal choice. I spent a few days playing with her Demo before I bought her for no other reason that I was so impressed with her and I’ve been buying precious little these days because of the sparsity of products for Poser. There are some areas which I find bothersome. For example: turning collision off on her multitude of handles when using dynamic clothing. (Don’t try to do it by hiding the handles because Poser takes that as also hiding the relevant body parts, unless you like to watch you’re carefully set up clothing slide floor wards!). On the other hand, that’s part of the price you pay for innovation isn’t it? Progress has a learning curve and learning goes with our chosen pastime, doesn’t it?
Edited to add:
Hair intended for V4 fits pretty well in most cases with only very minor adjustments for x and z scale plus equally minor adjustments for y and z trans. Fabianas KiriTi on the other hand fits perfectly which I'm delighted with because it's also my go-to hair style. The only tip is to double-click rather than drag and conform which simplifies any adjustments. Poses intended for V4 also work well!