Editing Poser (software) (section)

==History==
Poser was created by artist and programmer Larry Weinberg as a digital replacement for artist's mannequins. Versions 1.0 and 2.0 were published by Fractal Design. In 1997, Fractal Design was acquired by MetaCreations, and Poser's interface was redesigned by MetaCreations' Phil Clevenger for release as Poser 3 in 1998. This interface has remained as the basis for all subsequent versions. In 1999, MetaCreations sold Poser to egi.sys AG, which established the subsidiary ''Curious Labs'', with Larry Weinberg as CEO to handle Poser development and publication. Curious Labs and Poser were sold to e-frontier, in 2003. In November 2007, [[Smith Micro Software]] acquired Poser as well as Anime Studio (now called [[Moho (Anime Studio)|Moho]]). Smith Micro Software also acquired the English language distribution rights to Manga Studio (now called [[Clip Studio Paint]]), from e-Frontier. The latest "stable" versions of Poser were released in September 2019, as Poser 12 is currently in open beta. Poser 11 introduced many new features, including better rigging capabilities.

Early versions of Poser were bundled with fully clothed humanoid figures specifically designed for Poser. As the program evolved, add-on packages of human figures were sold by the manufacturer of Poser, and eventually, third-party companies began creating figures which work with Poser. As clothing became separate from the humanoid figure, collections of 3D garments were created for specific models which conform to the shape and pose of the Poser figure. 'Poses' for figures were packaged and sold by the software vendor and by third parties. 'Morphs', allowing customization of body or face shape or other features, were also sold. Different skin textures, frequently combined with settings for morph technology, are marketed to allow one base model to be customized into many different 'characters'. Similarly 'texture' packages allow one garment to take on many different appearances, an animal to represent different breeds of the same species or a vehicle to show many different color schemes.

On July 2, 2009, [[Smith Micro Software]] announced the creation of a new platform for distribution of assets for use in Poser called [http://contentparadise.com Content Paradise].

On November 9, 2018, [[Smith Micro Software]] announced the closure of Content Paradise on December 3, 2018, the content moved to Renderosity.

On June 20, 2019, Smith Micro Software announced they sold the product line of its Poser software to Bondware, Inc., owner of the popular online marketplace, Renderosity.com, and longtime Smith Micro resale partner.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Version
! Release date
! Publisher
! class="unsortable" | Improvements / Notes
|-
| 1.0
| {{dts|1995}}
| [[Fractal Design Corporation]]
|
* First release
|-
| 2.0
| {{dts|1996}}
| Fractal Design
|
* Ability to add props
* Animation
* High resolution models
|-
| 3.0
| {{dts|1998}}
| [[MetaCreations]]
|
* New user interface
* Facial posing and animation
* Human figures with jointed fingers.
|-
| 4.0
| {{dts|1999}}
| MetaCreations
|
* Natural-media sketch renderer
* Figure sculpting via deformers
* Transparent mode for materials
* Conforming Clothes
* Transparency (which lead up to TransHair that increased the quality of hair sold today)
|-
| 4.0.3
| {{dts|September 1999}}
| [[Curious Labs]]
|
* Markup path names made to use relative paths
* Currently sold as entry level ''Poser Artist''
|-
| Pro Pack
| {{dts|February 2000}}
| Curious Labs
|
* Add on pack for Poser 4
* Implementation of [[Python (programming language)|Python]] scripting,
* Custom figure rigging
* Ability to host Poser scenes in [[3D Studio Max|3ds max]], [[LightWave 3D]], and [[Cinema 4D]].
* No longer available
|-
| 5.0
| {{dts|2003}}
| Curious Labs
|
* FireFly [[Reyes rendering|Reyes]]/[[Ray tracing (graphics)|ray tracing]] renderer
* Dynamic hair and cloth
* Collision detection
* Morph Putty Tool (Interactively work with morphs)<ref>{{cite book|title=Poser 5 Reference Manual|publisher=eFrontier|page=4}}</ref>
|-
| 6.0
| {{dts|March 2005}}
| Curious Labs; e-frontier
|
* [[OpenGL]] Hardware acceleration
* Image-based lighting, Ambient Occlusion
* Cartoon outline rendering effects
* Inclusion of "Primitives" Zygote Props
* Binary Morphs (allows you to load the morphs for characters in a separate file linked to Cr2 resulting in faster load time in Poser)
* Inclusion of male and female genitalia
|-
| 7.0
| {{dts|December 2006}}
| [[e frontier|e-frontier]]
|
* Simon and Sydney (new AdultG2 male and female figures)
* [[Wildlife]] including [[eagle]] and [[wolf]]
* Updates to Ben and Kate the Poser Child figures with new morphs, textures and rigging
* New motion capture data, light sets, poses, and materials
* Talk Designer for lip-sync animation
* Multiple Undo/Redo
* [[Thread (computer science)|Multithreaded]] rendering
* [[High-dynamic-range imaging]]
* Brush morphing
* Animation Layers
* Universal Poses for bipedal figures, with automatic conversion of Poser 1-6 poses
* Streamlined access to Runtime libraries
* [[Universal Binary]]
|-
| Poser Pro
| {{dts|May 2008}}
| [[Smith Micro Software]]
|
* Poser Pro was released adding [[COLLADA]] support and plugin support for [[Cinema 4D|Cinema C4d]] and [[Autodesk Maya|Maya]].
|-
| Poser 8
| {{dts|August 4, 2009}}
| Smith Micro Software
|
* 8 new characters
* New [[User Interface]]
* New Content Management System
* Cross body morph tool
* [[Global illumination]]
* Improved [[OpenGL]] performance
* [[Tone mapping|Tone Mapping]] and exposure control
* [[Normal mapping|Normal Mapping]]
* Wardrobe Wizard
* Performance optimizations
* [[wxPython]] support
|-
| Poser Pro 2010
| {{dts|March 10, 2010}}
| Smith Micro Software
|
Enhanced User Interface
* 8 new human figures with advanced rigging
* Full set of legacy figures
* Over 2.5 GB included content
* Keyword and online content search
* Parameter change indicator
* Joint strength indicator
* Recent render palette
* StuffIt Connect image export
* Facebook image export

Professional Art and Animation Tools
* Full body part morph import
* Auto-conform drag and drop
* Conform with scaling
* Updated PoserFusion Hosting plug-ins
* Dynamic cloth and strand based hair
* Improved OpenGL real-time scene preview
* Face Room
* WalkDesigner and TalkDesigner
* Dependent Parameters Tool
* Improved joint rigging system
* Cross Body Part Morph Tool
* Wardrobe Wizard Tool
* wxPython support

Refined Lighting and Rendering Tools
* [[High-dynamic-range imaging|HDRI]] Export
* Gamma correction for linear rendering
* Normal mapping
* PSD layer rendering
* Network rendering
* 64 bit render engine
* Indirect Lighting for Global Illumination
* Physically correct light falloff
* Tone mapping and exposure
|-
| Poser Debut
| {{dts|February 13, 2011}}
| Smith Micro Software
|
* 80 fully rigged, fully posable, 3D characters
* Includes 2 GB of content
* In-app Project Guide teaches how to use Poser with video
* Drag and drop content from Library
* Poser FireFly rendering engine.
* Poser 8 rigging system
* OpenGL real-time scene preview
* Supports spotlight lights, point lights and infinite lights
|-
| Poser 9
| {{dts|September 21, 2011}}
| Smith Micro Software
|
* [[Subsurface scattering|Subsurface Scattering]]
* Vertex Weight Map Rigging
* In-app Project Guide
* Expanded Context Menus
* Multi-select Drag and Drop from Library
* Grouping Objects
* IDL and AO Rendering Support
* OpenGL Scene Preview with Real-time Normal maps and Soft Shadows
* Constraint Channels and Constraint Objects
* Light Casting Objects
* Tablet Support for Morph Tool
* Rotate Object/Frame Object Camera Controls
* Pre-render Texture Caching
* Python 2.7 Support
* Mac OS 10.7 Lion Support
|-
| Poser Pro 2012
| {{dts|September 21, 2011}}
| Smith Micro Software
|
* Includes all new features in Poser 9
* Vertex Weight Map Creation Tools
** Weight Map Auto-Transfer
** Weight Map Creation
** Weight Map Painting with Tablet Support
* Poser Fusion Plug-ins
** [[LightWave 3D|Lightwave]]
** [[Cinema 4D|CINEMA 4D]]
** [[Autodesk Maya]]
** [[Autodesk 3ds Max]]
* [[COLLADA]] import/export
* Import Full Body Morph
|-
| Poser 10<ref name="posersoftware.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.posersoftware.com/|title=Poser - 3D Rendering & Animation Software|website=www.posersoftware.com}}</ref>
| {{dts|May 21, 2013}}
|Smith Micro Software
|
* Includes all new features in Poser 9
* Magnet and deformer weight map painting tools
* [[Pixar]] [[subdivision surface]]s
* [[Bullet physics]] for rigid and soft body and hair dynamics
* Cartoon preview
* Magnet and deformer weight maps
* Material compound nodes
* [[Ray tracing (graphics)|Ray tracing]] preview pane
* New human figures
|-
| Poser Pro 2014<ref name="posersoftware.com" />
| {{dts|May 21, 2013}}
| Smith Micro Software
|
* Includes all new features in Poser 10 and Poser Pro 2012
* Fitting room
* Copy morphs from figure to figure
* Display hidden channels
* Change calculation order of channels
|-
| Poser Pro Game Dev<ref name="posersoftware.com"/>
| {{dts|August 5, 2014}}
|Smith Micro Software
|
* Includes all features of Poser Pro 2014
* Polygon Reduction tools
* [[FBX]] Import/Export
* Unseen Polygon Removal
* [[Kinect]] for Windows® support
* Updated content distribution licensing to allow for use in and distribution via games. 
|-
| Poser 11<ref name="posersoftware.com"/>
| {{dts|November 17, 2015}}
| Smith Micro Software
|
* Includes all new features in Poser 10
* SuperFly Render engine based on Cycles
* [[Pixar]] Subdivision Surfaces Version 3
* Multi-resolution Morphs for Subdivided Meshes
* Customizable Shortcut Keys
* Scalable User Interface
* User Adaptable Rigging
* Smooth Linear Transformation
* Body Control Props
* Cartoon Mode Control Panel
|-
| Poser Pro 11<ref name="posersoftware.com" />
| {{dts|November 17, 2015}}
| Smith Micro Software
|
* Includes all new features in Poser 11, Poser Pro 2014 and Poser Pro Game Dev
* Custom Pose and Rig Symmetry
* Custom Partial Scene Export
* Export Morph Injection Files
* Create User Adaptable Rigs
|-
| Poser Update 11.1<ref name="posersoftware.com" />
| {{dts|December 17, 2017}}
| Smith Micro Software
|
* 3D path-based animation to simplify control of objects in a scene
* User-customizable keyframe categories
* Feature enhancements and bug fixes
|-
| Poser Update 11.2<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.posersoftware.com/article/429/poser-pro-112-update-released|title=Poser Pro 11.2 update released|website=www.posersoftware.com}}</ref>
| {{dts|Sept. 19, 2019}}
| Bondware Inc.
|-
| Poser 12<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.posersoftware.com/article/500/poser-12-for-mac-released|title=Poser Pro 12 for Mac released|website=www.posersoftware.com}}</ref>
| {{dts|January 29, 2021}}
| Bondware Inc.
|
* Includes all previous Pro-only features, unifying into a single version
* Upgrade Superfly render engine to utilize hardware ray-tracing
* Post Render Effects to speed or embellish renders for single frame or animation renders
* Integrated Download Manager for Included Content
* Improved Download Manager for Purchased Content
* FBX import/export improvements as this becomes the primary method of exchanging content with other programs/tools
* Material Room overhaul with material assignment power tools
* Unimesh support features sprinkled throughout the code base
* Refactored Poser Reference Manual using RoboHelp to simplify localization and render to multiple formats (HTML, PDF, etc)
|-
| Poser 13<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.posersoftware.com/article/575/unleash-your-creativity-with-poser-13s-new-features-and-tools|title=Unleash Your Creativity with Poser 13|website=www.posersoftware.com}}</ref>
| {{dts|March 30, 2023}}
| Bondware Inc.
|}