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Poser - OFFICIAL F.A.Q (Last Updated: 2025 Jan 09 3:46 am)
Subject: Marc Keohane from Curious Labs
Personally I'm a "once burned, twice shy" type of person but I can also be convinced to give people a second chance if I believe their hearts are in the right place. Curious Labs might have made mistakes in rushing out Poser 5 before it was ready but I'm still glad that I have the opportunity to use a program that is so much fun and relatively inexpensive. If it looks like they've learned their lesson I'd be willing to take a look at a Poser 6 or Poser Artist. I owe them that much for providing me with a platform to express my ideas.
"Why P4?" Probably because Poser Artist is intended as sort of an introductory/educational version, so there'd be no point in basing it on P5 with all its extra features, neither would there be as much incentive to upgrade to P5. Or maybe it's because P4 is more stable for more people. Just guessing, here...
Well, to be honest here, I seriously doubt that I would even be interested in a P6. Now if that poser artist version would have fixed the memory leak, added nested folder/multiple runtime capability and better lighting I would consider THAT. But if it's gonna have a learning curve anywhere near that of P5 they can just forget it, I'll stick with ProPack til doomsday. Kate (who has thrown her P5 in the trash and has chalked up the wasted money as a learning experience)
My guess is that Poser Artist is more or less a P4 in new packaging and with a new (low) price tag. So don't expect any learning curve and don't fear that they have spent valuable R&D resources on it. I believe it's more like a marketing initiative. Development resources will probably go into SR4 and a future P6.
FYI, there is another product out - at least at Fry's. Poser 4 with a ProPack in the box. Saw it 2 weeks ago when I finally dispaired of CL ever fixing Poser 5 so that it becomes an viable alternative to ProPack, and bought the Propack upgrade ($89 at Fry's). Can't remember but think it was $129 or $139 for the 'combo' pack. Less than the cost of buying the 2 packs separately - 2 x $89 at Fry's. I fear that the premature reference to 'Poser 6' is to start "softening us up" for paying $ for the real fixes to what ails Poser 5 - the unfixed Poser 4 legacy bugs. I predicted this when SR1 was released, that we'd be charged for the antidote. I wanted so much to be wrong on this one! But if they can't fix these issues in over a year, it's not just because Poser 5 was pre-released. There's been more than enough time to address it. It has to be that they don't feel the need, for whatever reason... Meanwhile Poser 5 sits on my harddrive only in case an useful SR is released. Normally I'd uninstall and reinstall later in this situation, but I just don't want to go through that Interlok debacle again - so it just sits there, spinning away unused. I did put in a question - about memory leaks, window focus, and loading all features into memory. But the Ack notice on submission makes me less than confident of a reply. The phrase was "all legitimate questions"! :-O
yeah when i saw..."all legitimate questions" the one i asked was, will i be able to use DAZ models in the P5 thats out now and the future P6 on the OSX? i would think this is a legitimate question. yet i also notice it didn't get posted or was ask. so i guess some of us Mac users won't really know. what do you think of the question?
I asked if you'd still get both the PC and Mac CD's with Poser artist and how much it would cost, (ballpark) as well as whether P6 would be based on the P5 codebase, I too have my doubts, but you never know. P5 is sitting on my drive unused too, if SR4 doesn't make is usable, then I'll unistall it, it'll make installing content easier, and I won't keep cursing when I click on a file and it opens in P5 instead... :) Still, nice to see them at least trying to "press the flesh" a year too late, but it's better than nothing :P later jb
praxis, you make a valid point about "at least trying". But if the message he says he wants to bring is to ring true, why on earth mention Poser 6? I can't see any reason. It's too soon, and to me at least, raises questions of integrity. It's all what we could do tomorrow, rather than what we are doing today, to fix this mess. Re NW316's question on the memory and speed limitations today, Keohane started his reply with: "Our next step is to do another service release for Poser 5. After this we plan to start Poser 6, where we plan to tackle these issues." So I guess that equates to no real fixes in SR4 either, and no SR5. Sells me P5 before it's time, refuses to give me my money back, doesn't fix it in a year+, then expects me to shell out $'s for the fix? Sorry, customers learn from their mistakes!
My question: "Marc, thank you for meeting with us. My question has to do with the additional content Kupa promised here at the release of P5. He stated that new animals would be released by CL as additional content for P5. I know you stated to Dave-So that due to the expanded features CL wasn't doing them, Kupa did promise them to us when he was representing your company. In light of this, will you be releasing the additional content?" Was I nice enough? It wasn't easy.
praxis, "when I click on a file and it opens in P5 instead" I believe you can fix things so that P4 rather than P5 opens a double-clicked .pz3 files as follows: Open Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options... > File Types > search for and highlight PZ3 > Advanced > Edit... > set Application used to perform action: to "C:Program FilesCurious LabsPoser4Poser.exe" "%1" (include the quotes too). You can repeat on other filetypes, or leave as is so that e.g. .pzz opens still in P5. Leastways that's what mine was reset to when I installed ProPack after installing Poser 5. ps. Pleas let me know if this works, and what the value was that you over-wrote so we can document how to convert back to Poser 5 as default opening application.
Oops. It should have read: "I'll answer to EVM thou'" EVM - Extremely Vocal Minority Term coined by Poser 5 users (and non-Poser 5 users !?!) at P5 release time who claimed there is/was nothing wrong with P5. They concluded that there were just a few of us, and we were detracting from CL's good name, etc. LOL!
It my understanidg that hardware accleration/openGL is someting that needs to compiled in the core of an application when its written like in MAX,LW etc. poser will NEVER have this ability without a total rewrite. and what are the chances of that ??
wolf359, A well writen application uses standard routines to do rendering and screen display. Changing only those set routines to call openGL code should be very easy to implement. Recompiling the code on a modern system should only take a few minutes to a couple of hours. That said: I agree with you . I bet it'd require a complete rewrite. And if he doesn't start talking more about SR4 instead of P6, he's going to lose more sales. Fix the GD current product to the point where it does what it is advertised to do first.
what is this "poser artists" thingy?? are they going to try and remarket P4 somehow
Enough, already! When I first saw Poser 5 in alpha mode (March of last year), Kupa told me that there would be new animals, and who was doing them. I have other critters by this artist, and they would have been of high quality. HOWEVER, CuriousLabs ran out of money. I don't know how many of you remember that. They had to lay off staff. (I mean it was talked about here... frequently... and we knew who and how many.) If they were like most companies, the free-lance contractors would have been let go before the employees, and priorities would ahve been examined carefully. If you look at how long it is taking Mallenlane and Anton to make a cat, you just might realize that building an animal from scratch isn't trivial, fast, or cheap. Considering that Poser 5 has new people (with textures), new clothes (with textures), and new hair (with textures)... none of which are trivial, fast, or cheap, either... you really ought to count some of the blessings instead of bitching. Look at how much a single figure from DAZ costs and determine what an entire family would set you back. (And DAZ is extremely reasonable compared to models at Turbosquid! I've seen bad figures there for $800 bucks.) Poser 5 already is a bargain based just on the content. Considering that you guys complain about Judy's face and about the hair and about the lighting and about the rendering time and about how hard it is to learn the program, perhaps it is a good thing that there aren't new animals, or we'd have to listen to you complain about them, too. Carolly
Carolly, I understand that CL has problems. I also understand that a deal is a deal. If I bought a car and was promised floor mats as soon as they came in, I'd be sure to get the floor mats. If the company can't deliver, then I expect compensation. Their money problems weren't caused by me. I paid full price for P5, prerelease. Unlike a lot of people who waited less than a month after the release when the discounting began. It's too bad they had to lay off staff. I got laid off last year, and still no steady job. That means the money I spent on P5 was very important to me. And everything they promised is what I have a right to expect. Their internal problems and financial woes are not my concern. My missing ocntent and functionality is. They have a responsibility to deliver. For their own sake they should. A company that delivers only part of a product is going to get such a bad reputation that no one will buy from them. I do agree that P5 has some wonderful features. And if the parts that don't work as advertised and the content had not been offered as part of the deal, I'd have still bought it. Like I'd have still bought the car without the mats. However, CL did promise those features and content. I think they should deliver them. BTW, percentage-wise, the missing content and functionality is a lot higher a problem than missing floor mats. It's just the example that came to mind. I'm sorry you don't like the complaining. I'll try to tone it down or drop it in the future. But I hate being cheated.
was'nt here a group of content creators who were poised to be merchants of P5 content in "Content paradise" ?? isnt it possible that they simply fled in the wake of the BSOD's and other issues caused by the first release of P5??. there seem to be very little interest in content( clothing etc.) for Don&judy,just check the rosity marketplace. And i think most talented figure makers dont create new animals because they dont see any large scale demand for it in light of the Vicky3 Juggernaut.
I have to stand with pdxjims on this one. CL made a public statement, in writing, from a high-ranking member of the staff, promising certain items (in this case, the new animals). It stands to reason that a certain percentage of pre-orders, and even post-release orders, were influenced in their purchase decision by these public statements. The promised items have yet to be delivered. Yes, CL has undergone some rather drastic changes, and dramatic upheavals. This changes none of the above statements. In some states, this could be considered grounds for a class-action lawsuit, under the allegation that CL made these public statements to promote sales, knowing full well that the promises could not be fulfilled...basically, intent to defraud. Laugh if you like, shake your heads and say to yourselves 'couldn't happen'. I work with a contract and copyright lawyer, and it happens more often than you think. Now I think the majority of us know that isn't the case. The circumstances CL was faced with determined that the additional promised content could not be delivered. Does this relieve CL of their obligation to somehow compensate for this? No, it does not. Even if they have decided that the additional content can't/won't be done, they have an obligation to the customer base, as a company of conscience (which they proved to be under the leadership of Kupa), to make some small compensation for promises broken, even if it means a hit to the bottom line. How to do this? Well, a very simple and obvious means would be a $10-$20 DAZ gift certificate to every registered Poser 5 user. (Yeah, I know...CL giving you 10-20 bucks to spend at DAZ...like that would ever happen). I'd almost be willing to wager that DAZ would even cut them a deal on the total bill...what do you think? In one fell swoop, CL could make every current Poser 5 user feel somewhat better about the money they spent, and reaffirm their commitment to the Poser Community. Instead, they're repackaging Poser 4 to draw in the "consumer" base, and enlarge the market. No, they're putting a new package on an old product because it's a cheap way to suck in new users and generate nearly overhead-free revenue, which 'positive cashflow position' or not, they need. Let's call a spade a spade. Instead, they're in the planning stages for Poser 6, and Poser 5 SR4...How long has it been since Poser 5's release, and it's still not working properly? And they're planning 6??? "They don't see DAZ Studio as competition for Poser". No? Then why are they now looking at a complete rework for Poser 6, to include the OpenGL functionality that DS has already shown to be using? It would be far more honest a business stance to say "Sure, we can see DAZ Studio as a competing product, and we hope that will fuel us to make Poser that much better a product."...far more believable anyway... I guess my overall opinion is this: Curious Labs is now a cold corporate machine. The 'family' atmosphere is gone, they have your money, and they need to focus on selling more product. If you're not buying, you're not high up on the priority list. That is, until the next product is (supposedly) ready for market....then they're all about the customer. DAZ, conversely, has steadily proven to be about the customer...past, present, and future. They listen, they respond (without making us feel like idiots), and they support every product they offer, without exception. And when they screw up (and they have), they fix it, plus. That, in my opinion, is the sign of a well-run business. Wow...didn't mean for that to rant on...guess I had it built up... :-) ChromeTiger
Poser4 was already given away FREE on the cover disc of 3D world magazine a while back. why should anyone buy it now???
Looks like old Marc has answered his questions for today. He did 6 more, this time saying no to everything. My question wasn't answered. Guess he doesn't want to cover legal issues. That's the problem when they can pick and choose the questions to answer. No hard questions answered. Mostly "We can't do it, it's too hard", "I'm not sure", and "It might be in P6". This isn't give and take. It's not really answering anything. Today's summary: 26) Poser Artist is Poser 4 in a new box. No new features, no new nothing. We're selling it this way to make money off of newbies. 27) No pluggin for Deep Paint. Reiss must not have the manpower. 28) 3rd party vendors are on their own when it comes to piracy 29) No undo in P5 in SR4, CL doesn't know if it'll be part of P6. Don't count on it - it's hard to do (right, like almost every other program doesn't have it). 30) No dual procesor support. Too hardware specific. 31) Use Renderosity to get training on Poser. We can do better, but why should we when all you suckers are here helping each other. The really sad thing is that every time CL has a chance to make good, even if it's only an apology, they choose the wrong road. I feel like I'm watching a presidential debate. Nothing but spin and crap. Does this man understand how sad he sounds?
Well, since the only thing I found even close to useful in P5 was the nested folders and multiple runtimes, and those won't be part of "Artist" it looks like I won't be making any further purchases of CL products. Oh well, ProPack works pretty well for what I need done, no need to "upgrade" further.
Poser Artist and Poser 5 - (IMO) The real reason Dead simple. With the release of Poser 5, Poser 4 sounds like an outdated product. Since Poser 5 is still unreliable on a lot of machines and has a learning curve that would have given Oppenheimer problems, CL don't want to alienate new users by pushing them onto it. So, the easy answer? Rename Poser 4 'Poser Artist'. It sounds new, it (sort of) works and the bucks will maybe start rolling in with little or no new investment. Marc Keohane said "Undo capabilities is one of the top requests for users. This will take a lot of engineering effort to implement throughout the application...... Hence this feature needs to be part of a major revision, rather than through an update. I don't know of yet if this will be part of Poser 6" In other words, everybody wants it, but nobody's gonna get it in the foreseeable future. Because, despite the glaring fact that Poser coding, as it stands now, sucketh, we're all stuck with it. Full stop. End of story. I have to say, I saw this 'CL communicates with the masses' thingy as a hopeful sign. But the selectivity of the questions answered has put the dampers on any hope I had for open and frank discussion, or of the Poser community's input being taken seriously in any way. As Chrome Tiger said above, the comparison between the way CL and DAZ do business is like night and day. mac
None. Marc didn't answer any as of 5:00 Pacific time. Did we run him off? I was rereading the questions asked, and I somehow missed number 5. It's about EGISYS-AG going bankrupt. That's CL's parent company. I know that Marc said the CL had a positive cash flow and was fine, but in a bankrupcy, subsidiaries are considered assets, and are up for grabs to the creditors. I went looking for news at EGISYS's websites, but they're all gone. Should we be putting a claim in against the EGISYS bankrupcy for P5 undeliverables?
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Sometimes I miss things on the front page, and in the banners. I usually catch them here. For those of you who are like me, Marc from CL is doing questions and answers for the next few days. It's just started. You might want to post a question of your own. He's already mentioned P6 and SR4. I, however, will be content to watch. I don't quite trust myself, and I was taught to be polite to guests.