Software Review – Gimp and Poser

Software Review – Gimp and Poser

Long ago, there was a time that drawing was available to only a few persons, who had the talent to draw images. Naturally, not everybody can draw. Conversely, today, many more people can draw because of existing software designed specifically to draw, model and render. Perhaps the most famous, or one of the better known such software are Maya by Autodesk and Adobe Creative Suite. However these programs are fairly expensive and difficult, if not at least lengthy to learn. Luckily, there are on the market much easier and user friendly options. While the achieved results differ significantly, the programs are ideal for the beginner. The following quick review focuses on two programs, namely Poser from Smith Micro and Gimp.

Gimp is a free and open source software, which means that you can simply download it from the Gimp Website and use it. Gimp has often been called the layman’s Photoshop. You can edit your images, add colour, draw, add special effects and text. The interface is simple. For example, to create transparent text in Gimp, the work is done by layers. First you add a text layer, write your text and then make that layer transparent. Gimp also has interesting lighting effects, not to mention its Filters tab, which can enhance, distort or add a special something to the image being edited.

Alternatively, Poser is a commercial software, but Smith Micro often offers discounts on its products. Many people compare Poser to Daz Studio, however the two systems are very different. Poser comes with in-built figures (characters), poses, props and much more. The software is more modelling oriented and has an excellent rendering capacity. You can choose your figure, pose it, render it and voilà – you have an artistic image. Daz Studio, while offering high quality pictures, is a free software, but it requires that you add figures, poses, places and so on, which come at a cost. Poser is very easy to use, but for added performance, one can always either read the corresponding manual or rely on the thousands of Web tutorials on how to use the program.

Three edited images by Megan Jorgensen: