Well once I get PoserPro (If it happens and it works), I will have all I need from poser as a standalone application. I can them move on to better implimentation and integration with the next level of apps, Cinema is my choice, in my case.

Poser as an application has a fintie level of progression verses the market in which it is used and it has almost reached that level in my opinion. Clearly Daz has removed a large chunk of market share from Poser, with Daz Studio and the huge Potential of C6Pro, leaving Poser with possibly to small a user base at this market level to progress or be viable, hence the desire and need to develop into the Pro market.

There comes a point of diminishing returns. Poser users want all of the features of more expensive applications without paying the cost that developing and maintaining those features costs. The amateur market cannot support the further development of poser because it balks at the associated costs, hence the Product begins to stall, which I feel we have witnessed over the last 12 months or so and with Daz chomping away at  what was once a Feeding ground where Poser was the only application capable of doing what it did and you have the possibility of extinction.

Carrara is an interesting application because it sits at the cusp of the Professional and amateur markets in relation to functionality and features. Being a jack of all trades, it is probably best positioned to survive but it does cost more that Poser (C6Pro). But it could also begin to fade as it reaches the limits of its chosen market. Lets face it C6Pro is not much of a significant upgrade to C5pro. Indeed if you compare it to the upgrades that have recently been made for cinema to V10.5 and the introduction of Vray rendering Plugin for that app as well, it looks pathetic, but I guess relevent for its target market.

It would be nice to be optimistic about Posers future and as people have said it has survived ten years with various different owners, but I feel that as an application Poser has nearly run its course in its current incarnation. Poser Pro however may offer a light to the future of the App, but only if the market is there for it and willing to support its development, which will mean it costing more.

We shall see. Just my modest view. Heehee.

Nick.