Virtual Pose 4

Very useful for my Anatomy Drawing class! These action poses are perfect for gesture drawing practice. And the DVD included is awesome to get perspective in 360 degrees.

The poses in VP 4 are a bit more dynamic and so they are less "artsy" than some of the previous versions. It is a nice addition to any figure artist's library as long as they have a computer since the DVD is the true value.The ability to rotate the figure in the viewer is quite nice and can help the novice and pro alike practice drawing the same figure from many different angles to get a better understanding of the human form.My only complaint is that I wish they would make the images be in a much higher resolution so the zoom can go in closer. In this edition they are much higher than in the past but still much too low, especially when you compare it to the high res DVDs you can get from Ballistic Publishing or some of the sites on the web which all use the turn-table concept but don't include a viewer.

GREAT reference book.I'll list the positive then negative impressions I have.POSITIVE:1) Beautiful photography. Very well-done multi-angle turntable images of dynamic poses, with excellent lighting (good shadows without totally obscuring any parts of the model).2) Excellent quality, high-resolution images on the accompanying CD-ROM. They're in a Quicktime format where you just click-drag on the image to manually "rotate" the model in front of your very eyes. The image is so large, it wouldn't fit on my huge 24-inch Dell monitor!NEGATIVE:1) It's difficult to find something wrong with Virtual Pose 4, but if pressed my one critique would be there isn't a lot of diversity in age & fitness of the models. They're all relatively youthful & in good shape.This is generally a fine problem to have ^.^ But if you're wanting reference for old or overweight people, you're out of luck.All in all, I highly recommend this book, and most definitely do not regret my purchase.

I bought this book to improve my gesture techniques. The majority of the book is great for that. The poses are interesting and varied. The addition of a CD is great because it allows me to work digitally as well. It would have gotten a better review from me if not for one gripe of mine.More male models would have been nice. The book comes with two "males". I put males in quotes because one of the male models postures himself like a woman in all his poses. What use do I have with a male model that postures himself like a female, especially if my intention is for gesture drawing? A more masculine male would have made much more sense.I didn't buy any of the previous books, but this book was enough to warrant another purchase of the previous additions when I run out of material on this one. Hopefully, my gripe is only present on Book 4 of the series.

Awesome, interesting poses - I think the disc with rotating views of the models is the most useful part of this book, though.

Some of the poses are so bizarre and extreme that I didn’t find them useful.

My computer still uses Windows 98, so it could not download the newer version of Quick Time from the disc. It sounds as though the newer version makes the models even more accessible, but I use the older QT that I have. I do, however have an old 80# 20" monitor which helps.I just love it! When can I ever afford a life model? Too bad projectors are so out of sight expensive.I have not seen any of the previous versions.

Several improvements from earlier books in this series. There are 76 poses of models of several ethnicities, 52 of young females. Good choices of positioning props, several action poses supported by a transparent yoga ball. Another improvement over earlier editions is that they appear to have dispensed with the airbrushing for this edition. Good photo definition, mostly under diffuse lighting without hard shadows. Facial expressions are again rather serious. Easy to view, rotate and print pictures. However, I'd recommend replacing the cheap vinyl disc holders glued to the inside back cover. Vinyl is not archival grade and contains solvents that soften plastic - that's why photographers don't use it any more to store photos (see my review of Virtual Pose 3 for more details). To export still photos into photo editing software - to compose scenes, magnify details, etc. - you'll need Quicktime Pro...another $29 if you don't already have the "Pro" version. Virtual Pose 4 is a pretty good product, but could still be improved, as noted above. For easy export, photo quality, and models I still like the Art Models series  Art Models 4: Life Nude Photos for the Visual Arts (Art Models series) .

very useful

brilliant

This is another very good tool for the figurative artist. The ability to view the model from different angles and distances is invaluable. The standard of the images is first class. Most helpful for the sculptor.

No sure if I like it