I've been using AOI as a fantastic addon to Poser for a year now.  I can create objects in AOI, export as OBJ, then import into Poser. Adjust the textures, add bones, etc. in Poser and save as props or figures.  It's great for easily making detail objects or simple figures for your scenes or animations. And, it's free!

I've been using the animation feature, and it is actually very powerful. You can actually animate individual vertices, edges and faces, etc. as well as bones and joints.  This gives you a lot more control that I wish Poser had.

AOI has a very powerful procedural texture AND material capability.  great for making fire, fur, and much more.

For me, AOI is the object modeling tool, Poser forgot to include...

Yes, AoI is a great addition to any number of programs.

One problem I've Found: No library.  Okay you can set up some template objects, primitives like rounded cube and such. But anything more than a few basic primitives gets unwieldy -- fast.

With AoI you always had to make a scene file with whatever materials, objects or textures. And there are a few, like a metals scene which acts as a library.

A recent update, 2.9, gives you that library function now. So AoI is even better.

Edited by D856C on 05/15/11 11:16 AM.

I agree Art Of Illusion is excellent.

I have used it for a few years now and am never disapointed. I do the large bulk of modelling in AOI and then take an .OBJ into Carrara Pro for texturing and animation. I don't personnaly think it needs a Library, although I can see why some would want one. The only thing I wish it could do was export usable bones and animation straight to Carrara Pro.

Whats more is the application is 100% free!

The current version is 3.1.0, released July  2019.

More than 20 years of activity, this is incredible !