Ab't the tools:

There is a vast difference between using a laptop with a Wifi PC card in a coffee shop to serve web pages, and using a four-way sixteen-core HP DL-580 with 32Gb of RAM, a 4.5 Terabyte external fiber array, and a fiber connection to a load balancer with an OC-12 to shovel the bandwidth.

I'm not necessarily calling Poser the 'laptop' in that comparison (prolly more like a low-end 1U single-core server). While a professional can make do with either hypothetical setup, he or she is going to have an obvious preference.

Quote - Yeah, your store bought toy car technically IS a scale model,too, but the judges are only interrested in it if you BUILT IT ALL YOURSELF.

Depends on the judge. If the judge is a customer in the local advertising biz, and the result is appealing and pleasing, then who cares? OTOH, if the customer is a games developer or film producer, and must have perfectly clear title and copyright on the results and their components? Then Hell yes - it matters.

Most pro shops and houses require the kind of anal clarity in copyright and royalty that you see in the cgtalk crowd. It's not that they're snobs, it's that they make their living off of their skills, and by necessity they have to be able to build it from scratch if needs be.

I like the idea that Poser is shooting for the higher-end in some ways - mostly because it can open up a LOT of opportunities and options (e.g. a Linux version, or perhaps the ability to plug in any renderer you want) that would otherwise not happen. The only kick I have against it would be, well... it's that same feeling one gets when a 10-year-old kid shows up at a Major League Baseball game and demands to have a turn at bat.  It's obvious that the thing --while making progress, certainly-- isn't anywhere near ready for prime-time.

/P