I was pondering buying P6 but after reading these messageboards I decided not too. I'd like to thank everyone for posting their ordeals and saving me the headache. CL has ruined yet another poser version it seems and maybe will have it running in a year. I mean heres the summary I get from reading these boards. 1) Save everytime you move the mouse and save in multiple directories because p6 corrupts your files, crashes or just exits for no reason. 2) The content is all dorked up, the figures suck 3) LW export broke 4) Python is flaky 5) Half of the vicky stuff wont work or is messed up in some way. 6) Theres a giant memory leak that CL knows about and does nothing probably because they just as mystified as we are. I'd love to see the software lifecycle on this, probably scribbled on a gum wrapper or something Long Live PRO-PACK!!

I don't think they ruined it. All it needs is the memory bug fixed.

I've had no trouble using V3 stuff in P6.

What do you want to export to LW? I just open up the original .obj's and resave as .lwo's.

Poser 6 has been fantastic for me... haven't even had the memory leak issue!! To me it's leaps and bounds ahead of Poser 5 which was leaps and bounds ahead of ProPack!!! I actually still quite like ProPack by the way!! Later! G

I personally think James is hot....maybe that is just me, but the more I use him...the better he looks, much better than that stinking Don and Judy with her big Lucy looking eyebrows. Yes, I have issues, and yes, it does wacky things sometimes, but I will deal till they fix them, hopefully, soon.

I haven't had a single corrupted file, exiting for no reason, messed up Vicky (nor "half her stuff") nor memory error. Haven't gone looking for the missing thumbnails, nor used much python, nor tried to export to LW so i can't really comment on that. From my point of view, you just look silly. Die PRO-PACK die!!

I still don't get it when people make threads like this. For what reason? Obviously, if you only look at the "problems" people post, and not the good things people are saying or doing with it, then you will end up feeling this way. Yes, it does have some annoying problems, but that's not to say it's unusable or unenjoyable. Every image in my gallery is P6-rendered, and I've posted several animation threads using P6. Not everything I say about it is positive either; I try to remain objective. So apparently, you CAN get work done with it, even with the memory "bug". It's true that large scenes with multiple figures will experience problems due to the bugs, but it's not unusable or even difficult to work around them for now. Also, I haven't had any trouble working with Vicky, or any of the Mil figures so far in P6. I simply don't understand the 'militant' negativity that surfaces every once in a while. It was more understandable with P5's initial release perhaps, but now?

Not a single problem here at all. No memory bug yet either.. No V3 Issues at all... Python's workin for me... Not a single crash... Oh and I LIKE CORNDOGS Neener~

I don't think they ruined it. All it needs is the memory bug fixed.

Agreed.

If you don't get P6, then it's your loss.

Once the memory bug is fixed, there will be absolutely no comparison between P6 and older versions of Poser.

There isn't a comparison right now -- for many renders.

Just problems on certain scenes, that's all. Other than that, P6 is a Beautiful Thing my friend.

They'll get it together. And when they do -- P6 will be the only game in town. Bar none. At that point, you'll be able to chuck P4/PP/P5 into the trash.

And the content problems aren't that big of a deal. Those should be relatively easy to work out.

Jessi/James are decent figures. Far superior to Posette/Dork or Don/Judy.

I suspect that they'll be making them even better with time.

So: you should buy P6.

I despise the memory bug. With a passion.

But I'm glad that I bought the program. VERY glad.

And I'd do it again. So should you.

Jessi looks just like this girl that my daughter used to hang out with...

I like Poser 6. For $109 its a great deal.
Once I downloaded new drivers in works like
a charm. Loads faster than Poser 5, renders
fasters. I like the extra lights and materials
room features. The cloth room seems
to work faster. The hair room seems
to create better looking hair.
Animations go faster. Plus I can
do animations from the preview window,
with Open GL they look that good.
Did a 1024 frame animation in preview
mode of a woman dancing in under an hour
and it didn't crash, ran flawlessly and
the movie looked great.
(Yes, that is one thousand and twenty four frames)
I don't have the weird python bug I had in P5.
Haven't really noticed any memory bug.
Basically I have already tossed P5 in
the trash, as I haven't loaded it up
since I got Poser 6.
I can't figure out what you don't like
about it.

Coming from P5 I like P6 well so far. It's running stable (even if I meet only the minimum requirements!) and has some neat new features. I can't complain!

if you are going to do a survey then do it fairly...make a list of the praises and a list of the complaints and you'll find there are more praises....but if you are looking for a reason not to get it then don't get it...there's no need to tell us about it..

Well, I pretty much agree with everyone, even razor24. Poser 6 is buggy. It has corrupted 3 of my files now. On my system, which has 2 gigs ram, it frequently informs me I have run out of memory without warning and without any way to correctly save the file in progress (i.e., if I try to save it after the warning, it will be 0 bytes long). By the way, even if I rename the file when saving it, it will also reduce the original file to 0 bytes!! Figure that one out. And I have seen a few other disturbing glitches. On the other hand, when it works, Poser 6 is a pleasure to use. Faster, sleeker, more intuitive than Poser 5 -- which for someone who never got the chance to use Poser 4 is a godsend. Anyway, if not for the memory problem, and with a few other more minor fixes and improvements, Poser 6 is likely to prove a very productive upgrade. And I fully expect at least the most important of those fixes and improvements will be forthcoming in fairly short order. I've done some programming myself, and CL should be able to find and at least partially fix the memory problem fairly soon. There are plenty of tools for that sort of thing. Still, if I'd known Poser 6 was not really ready for prime time, I probably would've waited.

I'd like to say "LONG LIVE PRO-PACK" - not because I've heard bad things about P6 but because I simply cannot afford it. This thread is yet another flame war, and you say really stupid things. Tyger_purr, could you please shut yourself with "Die Propack" ? Please ?

I wouldn't go yelling great things about software they won't even sell you anymore. You can't get Pro Pack and not everyone has had the problems with P6 that you've described. Judging something you haven't bought based on rant threads at 'Rosity is a sure way to short change yourself really fast. People bitch about things here at the drop of a hat for no good reason.

I am glad that i bought Poser 6 Special Edition and i must say,i havent experienced any problems so far.And if i experience any problems i still have my Poser 5.So no real bad deal,especially with Shade 7 LE as nice bonus.

Half of the vicky stuff wont work or is messed up in some way. Is also a big reason why I stayed away from the upgrade, for now. I want the DAZ figures to work fully with it or else the upgrade is no good to me. (my humble opinion)

If you want to render in P6, and personally I prefer POV-ray, you have to give P6 a whirl. Yes, the P6 figures are a major step backward but P6 has too much to play with.

"I want the DAZ figures to work fully with it or else the upgrade is no good to me." P6 is exactly as screwed up as Poser 4 and Propack are. No worse, no more no less. There are people who refused to upgrade to Poser 4 from Poser 3 becuase of all the problems with this damned bug it had that messed up confomring clothing. (that bug was crosstalk, btw) ALl of that said, I'd like to mention that Vicki and Mike (and the progeny since them) have Never worked fully with poser -- any version. Ever. "fully" is the potent part of the phrase. Fully would indicate that the people who made the figures created them with theintention from the get go of making them work entirely with the program. Daz never intended the figures to work fully with Poser. This was a conscious decision on their part, as well. Wasn't "wrong", wasn't "bad". They chose to do something different. The figures have never functioned properly with the walk designer (which has led people to label it worthless). They have never functioned properly with the figure options (which has led people to label it worthless). They are, in short, good enough. In some ways, they are better because of that decision, in some ways they are worse. In any case, to base a decision not to upgrade on that facotr alone isn't forward looking and is not progressive. But that happens. It's not "wrong", either. It just is. It is my humble opinion that the statement needs to be thought through a bit more for clarity, is all. :)

I'm not refusing to upgrade. I just had to get a new laptop/ old one died. so, whats more important to me? Upgrading Poser or getting another laptop? guess what? The laptop won out. Not everyone can afford too upgrade when a new release comes out. I do not see the mad rush to get a new release. I've never had any problems with the DAZ figs in Poser or PP. Not once. I just lost all my stuff as it is when the old one died on me. People are gonna have different opinions about a product, people have different computers, laptops, not everyone is the same and not every software is going to work the same on every computer. some people will rave about the new release, some people won't. Different strokes for different folks. :)

Vilian: Tyger_purr, could you please shut yourself with "Die Propack" ? Please ? Just a bit of humor Vilian. Ok. Maybe only half joking. Ive never even used Propack but I do think in some ways people who refuse to upgrade can hold back progress. The poser 5-6 material room seems to be a largely untapped resource because the market feels it has to cater to p4/pp. I understand the history and animosity toward P5. I just think the opposition to p6 is largely unjustified (based on my experience) and I hope we can all move on to the new technology.

I'm "holding back progress" because I WORK WITH WHAT I CAN AFFORD. That's why I don't like to hear "Die ProPack" - since I won't be able to upgrade this year, and probably not next year either. It's NOT FUNNY, really. I'm not the only one who won't buy P6. It's like you're laughing at us, guys/gals with no spare money to spent on hobby. Dammit, we have to eat something and sleep somewhere. It's not like we're refusing to upgrade - we just don't have the possibility. Is it so hard to understand ? It's easy to buy something 5$ worth once a month. It's much more difficult to spent 100/200/300$ at once. I have no idea what is wrong with some of you people. Poser merchants are getting their money because they support older, still very popular versions. I'm sure most of them wouldn't get as much cash if their stuff was ONLY P5/P6 compatible.

I too have had no problems with V3 but the memory problem... Jeese, im begining to think that CL don't know how memory works, ok P5 worked ok, but it still had glitches, but this P6... i can't even render one GIRL figure with a V3 texture with a texture resolution set to 4096 without the memory warning appearing, now thats "shite".... P5 could do that and more and even have time to make me a coffee. But that all and said P6 is miles better than P5 tis just a shame about the memory bug, But what software comes without hiccups???? So is it worth it??? HELL YES... and people who say,"im glad i didn't buy it", well you don't know what your missing, the bugs will be sorted.

1. I always save two copies of important files I've been working on. It's logical because a computer is only a machine and can go belly up at any time. I have yet to have a file corrupted by Poser. On another technicality, this is the same as number 6 below. So I guess there are only 5 things on this list. 2) James is very handsome. The figures, IMO, look better than Mike and Vicki do. 3) I've never used LW. I don't know anything about it and personally don't really care about it. 4) I've never used the python stuff either. 5) Again, I never use Vicki so I guess I'm fine here also. My SP3 works great in Poser. No problems with it. 6) How do you know they are doing nothing? You expect them to just whip out an SR1 in 24 hours? It takes at least a month or two to get something like that ready. I've only run into the memory problem once. I can wait to render that image in P6 (or render it in P5). Over all, I love P6. I've not had too many problems and think it's a good program. It was worth the money I spent.

I mean no disrespect to anyone who honestly can't afford to upgrade. I've been there, I understand. I've had more than one hobby that I was hanging on to the trailing edge of technology. I still enjoyed myself. i just had to accept that most everything coming out on the market would not work for me for quite some time. I don't like the idea of leaving people behind, but at some point technology will move forward.

That's quite a list there for someone who hasn't even used the software. I love P6 so far and get such a kick out of these defensive upgrade threads (no one is holding a gun mesh to your Vicki's head to do it).
Whether one chooses to upgrade or not, base it on reality and not forum quotes. Obviously not everyone has the same problems.

Technology has already moved. But in this hobby money is the clue. Merchants still support P4/PP users because it gives a hell lots of money. Until most of people with P4 will be rich enough to upgrade, I don't think any merchant will leave eventually money behind. I agree, there should be more support for P5/P6 features. But think about D|S Studio users: program is free (features similar to those of PP), and those people can spend their 200$ on lots of marketplace/store stuff, supporting merchants doing P4/PP stuff, not P5/P6. It'll never end, so just get over it. Ask for more dynamic clothes & hair/shaders/whatever, but don't ask to kill something which is bringing money to some, and fun to others. You say you do understant the situation, and yet you refuse to understand.

I loved P4/ProPack when I used it, but will never turn back. ProPack wasn't so much pulled as it was incorporated into "Poser Artist," which is pretty much the same as P4/PP.

The allegation that DAZ or Victoria-specific items don't work in P5 or P6 is a strange one. There are some issues with MAT poses not working 100% properly, but so far as I've seen they're easily fixed in the Materials room. An extra five minutes of prep time never killed anyone. Not being able to afford an upgrade is definitely frustrating, and obviously a valid reason not to upgrade. However, some of the reasons being stated for not upgrading are based on false claims or false assumptions. A fair evaluation of comments to the forums would reveal an overwhelmingly positive reception of P6. Focussing on the true and not-true
complaints about the program is unrealistic. The positives outweigh the negatives by a long shot.

Wow, you must have been looking at a completely different application then I'm using. Sounds like you're very misinformed, except for the mem bug which isn't half as bad as you make it out to be, I cannot relate to any of the things summed up.

With all due respect, every time someone posts a complaint about Poser 6 that isn't a universal one (like the memory bug), they get mobbed. I think it's good that Razor was able to hear both the good and the bad about Poser 6 before making his decision. Maybe all of his negative points aren't completely justified, but he was justified in thinking twice about purchasing after hearing about those issues (almost all of which I have heard about myself). I still think most everyone is really underestimating DAZ Studio at this point. I have had virtually no problems with the last few versions, the interface is clean and quick, content can be placed wherever like with P5 and P6, and there's a far less chance of running into problems with Vicki, Mike, and the most popular figures because DAZ will most likely put their content's future compatibility with Studio above Poser 6. Above all, I think the release of the SDK will be the one factor that will enable DAZ Studio to truly grow. It's the community that has always pushed Poser beyond it's limits, and our being able to actually build upon the core software will be an advantage that we have not yet had with Poser. I hope the advancement of DAZ Studio will not create a split in the 3D figure community, but it's already sounding like there's some heat between those who praise P6 and those who praise anything else. Anyway, thanks for your time. Take care. SnowS

Render an image in production firefly mode in Poser 6 : 4000X4000 @ 300 dpi. Please tell me the result. :o)

Which DAZ figures has everyone tried in P6 so far? Which ones have worked and which ones have not? I'm just curious if you guys even use the DAZ figures or, do you just stick to the ones that come with Poser? I ask because I haven't seen too many V3 renders yet from P6. :)

"With all due respect, every time someone posts a complaint about Poser 6 that isn't a universal one (like the memory bug), they get mobbed."

Perhaps, perhaps not, but most of the issues brought up here I don't seem to have at all....

"I still think most everyone is really underestimating DAZ Studio at this point."

Imo, this is just as bad as mobbing..... why bring up D/S in a post like this? D/S has nothing to do with this at all. Besides that D/S compared to Poser 6 has now become a mere toy imo and I don't think that's underestimating it at all. Message edited on: 04/12/2005 11:50

"Imo, this is just as bad as mobbing..... why bring up D/S in a post like this? D/S has nothing to do with this at all." I brought it up because some in this thread mentioned price being a problem as well as issues with DAZ content not working like it should in Poser. D|S needs to be considered an alternative to those who either don't like Poser 6 or can't afford it. "Besides that D/S compared to Poser 6 has now become a mere toy imo and I don't think that's underestimating it at all." This I have issues with, especially since D|S is free. You and I are obviously in different camps as far as which software we believe in, but come tell me it's still a toy once the plugins start being released. SnowS

While I have had some issues with Poser6, overall I'm glad I bought it. i seem to have stabilised it on my system at the moment although complex scenes with 3 or more V3 type figures does "kill" it. That said I'm not heard of any or experienced any file corruption so I don't know what that's about. Poser6 is up there as a great tool once the very few problems are ironed out. thefixer poser coordinator [watching!]

I don't know much about D|S -- except to say that when it gets serious, then I'll take a serious look at it. But I don't really expect that to happen for some time to come.

Once again -- that **&&&&^^^%%%%$$$$##### Memory Bug needs to go away. It'll be a great day when that happens.

But beyond that one issue, P6 is the only way to go. I wouldn't even consider returning to P5 (not to mention P4) -- except out of necessity. Like when I want to import a scene into Vue - then I'll use P5. Until such time as e-on gets P6 compatibility built into Vue.

Then I will abandon P5 for good. Just like I abandoned P4 shortly after P5 came out on the market.

P6 is wonderful application. Once we are past the vagaries of the dreaded memory bug, then we'll see something new. Something that everyone who's serious about their Poser addiction will want to have.

You need to buy P6. For your own advantage.

Message edited on: 04/12/2005 12:38

::sniff sniff:: Is that TROLL I smell???

I finish reading all this. Conclusion: ridiculous thread. Poser6 isnt the Eight World Marvel, but I love it. In several things is better than Poser5, in other is only question of time and a SR. Of course, its bertter than PPP and its famous libraries bug. I cant work with all my libraries cutted. This is like saying: LONG LIVE WINDOWS 3.1!!! Long live to a far far past, yes. If any havent money to buy Poser5 or 6, PPP is perfect. But evolution is evolution, and the step from PPP to P5 is a 180 degrees roll And yes, ericwitz, it smells like a troll ;) Dont checking "email when someone replies". Bye.-

Don't you miss Commodore computers and IBM-Dos? I do :P

"Which DAZ figures has everyone tried in P6 so far?" V3, M3, David, SP3, Aiko3, Hiro, Gremlin 1&2, Gorilla, Millennium Dragon (versions 1&2 including the Asian Dragon,) D-Bot, D-Spot, D-Brat, numerous associated props, clothing, and hair from DAZ. Not a single negative issue with any of them in P6. I don't have The Girl but as has been discussed, there may be issues with that figure in P5/P6. "I'm just curious if you guys even use the DAZ figures or, do you just stick to the ones that come with Poser?" I don't think that a majority of posters to this forum stick to the default figures, although in her day Posette (P4 Woman) was very popular. Jessi and James are very fine models in many regards, however, they're unyielding when it comes to variety of appearance, so I suspect that once people get tired of the "same old" faces and body shapes, they'll be less inclined to use them frequently. Perhaps Curious Labs recognized that at this point, the community and general content availability are such that it's understood that the default figures won't be the sole ones that users rely on, so they gave us very good default figures in Jessi and James, fully understanding that they offer somewhat limited variety. If that's the case I'm totally cool with it. At least those figures are better than P5's Judy and Don. I see the default figures as mostly being for new users ... they're certainly good enough to learn Poser with. I understand that other buyers would prefer to receive Millennium-like figures with Poser, but IMO that's unlikely to ever happen. When recently discussing "the memory bug" with persons who are more technically astute than I, it was explained that this isn't necessarily a bug proper but rather a legacy relic of ... inelegant base coding. Thus, it's not necessarily something that a service release can fully patch ... I'm not 100% clear on that, I confess. I mention this because people might be setting expectations for SR1 that aren't totally realistic. I know that CL has admitted to memory management problems, so I'm hopeful too, but it might be best to take a "wait and see" attitude regarding P6 SR1, and in the meantime, contact Curious Labs directly and succinctly with reports of memory-associated failures and one's polite but explicit emphasis that this problem needs to be addressed. :-)

Thus, it's not necessarily something that a service release can fully patch ... I'm not 100% clear on that, I confess. I mention this because people might be setting expectations for SR1 that aren't totally realistic.

If this turns out to be the case, then we've got a problem.

and in the meantime, contact Curious Labs directly and succinctly with reports of memory-associated failures and one's polite but explicit emphasis that this problem needs to be addressed. :-)

Curious Labs is probably working on this as furiously as they can. I feel certain that they understand just how critical of an issue it is.

Hey Martian....I still have my Commodore 64. Unfortunatley all the floppies are bad, so I can't use it anymore. Ahhhh THOSE were the days! ;)

**Or we could talk about the vast improvement from the C64 to the Amiga... Anyone? Anyone?

I had an Amiga 500. I don't have it anymore.

The computing world lost a lot when the Amiga went the way of the Dodo.

When it came to graphics, the Amiga beat both IBM/Intel machines and Mac's by a mile. It's a nice fantasy to imagine what the Amiga could be today.

Oh, well. I enjoy daydreaming as much as the next guy.

"Which DAZ figures has everyone tried in P6 so far? Which ones have worked and which ones have not?" I've had no problems with any Daz figure yet. But Koshini 2 Doesn't seem to pose properly. It looks a right mess if you turn the chest - But is that a fault with P6 or Koshnini2? Besides that I've had no other reasons to complain and am happy with Poser 6. Nigel

Criticizing someone for making a comment is pretty much the same as censorship.

Well, I won't say the original poster is a troll, but he/she appears to be either seriously misinformed, or very selective in his/her reading. To summarise - I've had none of the problems mentioned, including memory problems. P6 is as solid as a rock on my system (running win 2k). Having said that, I'm still not happy with it, but I'm not a typical poser user. I use poser to assemble and test products and my primary interest is a smooth workflow. Something that poser, with all it's glitches and pecuilar dialog behaviours, sadly lacks. But I'm realistic. Poser will probably never work properly for me, in the way that other software does. I don't like that, but I can live with it. As I said, I'm not a typical user. I spent most of today doing a promo image, first of all in P6, then P5. Eventually, I gave up and did it in daz studio. I'm afraid that's still my app of choice for poser content, despite having high hopes for P6. A toy? Well, let's see. Daz studio has OpenGL preview, negative lights, MAT save, multiple undo, multiple object and surface selection, far more advanced cameras than poser will ever have, good memory management, displacement, refraction, texture clearing, unlimited nested libraries, a spot renderer, and an interface that wasn't designed for schoolchildren. And it hasn't even reached version 1.0 yet. I'm not trying to start a fight here. All versions of poser have their valid points, and studio certainly lacks a lot of features at the moment. But one great thing about DS is that, if you want something, tell the Bug Tracker and it'll be considered. I've seen quite a few features I've requested added in in recent versions. I've been using poser since v 2.0 and I strongly support CL. I just wish they would fix a few basic things. And I wish people would try software before calling it a toy. Especially when it's a free download. mac

So ming, by your own rules are you trying to censor us? LOL STOPPING someone from speaking is censorship. Having an opinion about what they say and expressing it is called the free flow of ideas.