Sheesh, I hope none of my fellow unwashed masses wander in here by mistake - they might be offended. If I squint just right through the blinding fake GI radiance emitted by The Elect, I can see their pain though it's hard to respond to utter contempt with sympathy.

In my unwashed and pitiful ignorance, it seems to me that the rendering engine is the most decoupled part of Poser. While having every bell and whistle integrated would be ideal, there are certainly alternatives, ranging from free, Kerkythea or DS to moderate Vue, to pricey C4D and Max all with the ability to import Poser content directly. Yes, I know, they're imperfect because most/all of them don't do the stringy Poser dynamic hair (which I'm sure looks nifty in the hands of the elite) or clothing and you have to use their materials. But hey, you get to roll with the big dogs (except DS, another haven for the troglodytes) and not have to worry about that SmithMicro (purveyor of kitschy screensavers) will cater to the benighted masses and their dirty money instead of being a real, big time,  Academy Award winning 3D company. Maybe the bankruptcy court will find a better buyer than the one they're probably negotiating with as we speak if history is any indication.

On a lighter note, is SmithMicro even coding enhancements to the Tempest rendering engine they licensed from Pixels 3D and christened FireFly? Are they free to (and capable of) adding all these goodies or are they dependent on the mothership because as far as I can tell Submarine Surface Rendition (is that right?) isn't exactly on Pixel's priority list. That was when I last time checked on teh interwebs, but their sight uses big words and those shadow thingies so I'm not sure.

"Every great cause, begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket." - Eric Hoffer

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken