Sadly, I feel that I have wasted my money buying Poser 8. I am seeing no advantage over Poser 7 whatsoever. Is there something in it that I am missing?

From the forum comments , faster rendering and actual Global illumination for two. A different runtime library view also and some changes to python which havent been fully investigated yet. 

You have I think 30 days to ask for a refund from Smith Micro.  There seem to be a number of things irritating people at this time. Mayve the service release will address some of them .  

Hi.. I have the SR1, but my poser 8 crash when i'm in the material room and sometimes under rendering..

I really wish that the programs could work as they should:-)

I also bought PoserPro a while back ago, and that was the same problems with...

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2783229

 Have you installed the SR1 into poser 8 yet?
If you have then I guess you have to wait for the Sr2.
I think once it is working properly poser 8 will be quite good. It has nice lighting, and things work quite fast on it eg loading stuff.
Love esther

If you do not see any advantage over Poser 7 and have to ask about new features in P8 on a forum, you're better of returning it and spent the money on something else.

I highly rccommend people wait when a new product hits the market, there are often bugs in first time releases, waiting may cost you new release deals so there is a down side to waiting unless you wait long enough when they are releaseing a newer version like, then you would find a deal on the product with all it's fixes.

The best option is to have patience, they wil fix the problems, they do read these forums and customer support complaints of thier products then they have to dupilcate the problem to find out whats causeing it so it takes time to find all the bugs.

What I find very funny is how this escaped thebta user program prior to release if they indeed had a beata user program in operation, that kind of thing is gagged so beata users are not permitted to let others know they are in the program if I were to take an educated guess.

Quote - What I find very funny is how this escaped thebta user program prior to release if they indeed had a beata user program in operation, that kind of thing is gagged so beata users are not permitted to let others know they are in the program if I were to take an educated guess.

We had a large beta program, and many of the beta testers and developers have and are posting publicly on this very forum (BagginsBill for example) and have been since the launch.  As has been repeated many times, there are too many iterations of setups for the team to have tested every real world installation for the application, and sometimes things slip through.  The team is working diligently to address issues as fast as possible and have delivered strong with SR1.  If you have difficulties, questions or a desire to return, please contact Smith Micro directly, and they can assist you with accurate information about the current status of bugs.  Reporting your bugs, rather than relying on others to report the situation also allows us to more correctly determine the problem across a variety of setups.  Many situations crop up due to bad drivers.  We recommend making sure your drivers are up to date before contacting support.

Thanks!
Tori Porter
Online Marketing Manager
Smith Micro

Quote -  Sadly, I feel that I have wasted my money buying Poser 8. I am seeing no advantage over Poser 7 whatsoever. Is there something in it that I am missing?

I think as with any new version, your mileage may vary.  How do you use Poser?  What are you trying to produce with it?  Poser 8 has been reported to have improved rendering times, advanced lighting features and more...but these may not be things you need.  Some buyers are still on Poser 4 and find it fits all their needs!  Some people just need a compact car, others need an SUV....

What types of improvements are you looking for?  I think that's a good place to start!

efstarlet..
Thanks for your input..  I have been a poser user since P2.  It is and has always been My favourite Program.

That being said.  I have never had as many issues with a new release as I have had with Poser 8 ..
I have been publicly critical of Smith Micro in these forums,  especially regarding Beta testing.
(enough to have bagginsbill swearing at Me..)

I am STILL having problems with library folders,  and also material room settings..  (Reported to SM..)

When Can we expect SR2 ??

I'd like to say something positive about P8.

Remember when we were all worried when SM bought Poser and it was felt that they would not develop the product anymore... well I am very pleased with the efforts that they have put into this release and the involvement by SM with the Poser community.
This is a lot of bang for the buck and I have bought all the releases since version 4.

I say, well done SM... keep up the effort.

 here here Willber!

Quote - I'd like to say something positive about P8.

Remember when we were all worried when SM bought Poser and it was felt that they would not develop the product anymore... well I am very pleased with the efforts that they have put into this release and the involvement by SM with the Poser community.
This is a lot of bang for the buck and I have bought all the releases since version 4.

I say, well done SM... keep up the effort.

Yup, I agree wholeheartedly!

All I am saying is that Poser 8 is more troublesome than any previous version.
I have never had reason to worry about whether or not things would improve or not. all has been great for Me until now..

Smith Micro have done a great job with ALL versions of Poser,  until release 8 .

Well, I have to be positive for Poser  8 as well.

Yes, I have a few irritations with it which I am going to be reporting to SM, however, I'm getting faster render times, better results with lower render settings, LOVE the library system, love the docking of the windows thing, love the search and the favorites.

Overall, it has been a good experience for me and I have found some of the things that have effected P8's performance has actually been my firewall being greedy with cpu resources.

I think they have done a very good job, I think the Beta Team did the best they could do....no one can test for every system, every driver and every driver update out there.

I find nothing to be highly critical of SM myself, but everyone's mileage is going to vary.  But that being said, some of it is NOT the software, it's the user or the system.

ahh... SM had nothing to do with versions previous to P7. I have had some issues with previous versions but was always able to find a work around or help from the kind people on this forum.

P8 SR1 is very stable for me so I would start to look at your hardware system if you are having problems.

My stable system
WinXP 32bit
Q6600 Intel quad
Asus MB
Nvidia GeF 9600 GT

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1927979&member

I have had good things to say about Poser 8 ..

Like most people, the complaints get srtonger as the bugs become apparent.

Quote - efstarlet..
Thanks for your input..  I have been a poser user since P2.  It is and has always been My favourite Program.

Quote -
Smith Micro have done a great job with ALL versions of Poser,  until release 8 .

If you've truely been a Poser user since version 2 you would know that Smith Micro had nothing to do with previous versions of Poser whatsoever. You would also know that Poser 5 still holds the record as the WORST Poser release ever. It took 4+ Service releases before it was stable.

I am fully aware of the history of Poser ownership,  and I never had a problem that was not fixed within days of reporting a problem..  With any of the previous owners.  ( I have never had many. )

Fractal Designs also  had an AMAZING program called PAINTER,  eventually this prog ended up with COREL.  Currently its version # is 11 .  I have also been a user of Painter since version 2 .

What I have said is that there ARE issues that should have been picked up in beta testing.

Quote - I am fully aware of the history of Poser ownership,  and I never had a problem that was not fixed within days of reporting a problem..  With any of the previous owners.  ( I have never had many. )

Fractal Designs also  had an AMAZING program called PAINTER,  eventually this prog ended up with COREL.  Currently its version # is 11 .  I have also been a user of Painter since version 2 .

What I have said is that there ARE issues that should have been picked up in beta testing.

Then you must have skipped over Poser 5 then is all I can tell you because you've been ranting about Poser 8 being the worst release Ever:

Quote -
All I am saying is that Poser 8 is more troublesome than any previous version.

And frankly, it just doesn't compare to the Poser 5 disaster yet. Now if we get to SR 5 and it's still buggy as crap, I'll join you in ranting.

I really and truly hope that SR5 is never needed,  and all I am saying is that Poser 8 is the problem for ME.   I certainly did not use Poser software as intensely as I have during the past two years.

Quote -  Sadly, I feel that I have wasted my money buying Poser 8. I am seeing no advantage over Poser 7 whatsoever. Is there something in it that I am missing?

It renders faster and crashes faster. I prefer poser 7.

I am having so much fun with P8, no problems, and quite stable. But I am not running a Mac, I have heard that many of the Snow Leopard owners are having problems.  But considering how new that version of Mac is the team very likely had little time to test it.

To the Op: By all means please return it, I am sure D/S will suit you. 

 I have to say I really like Poser 8. I'm really frustrated with the library. Personally, I preferred the old library interface. But I know I'm in the minority on that issue. I have a project to finish up so, I've had to go back to using Poser 7 for now. But when I finish, I'm going to try and adjust to the new library.

I like the features of Poser 8, but it's very buggy (for me.) Even after SR1 it still crashes after I render a scene. And although it opens up very quickly after; it's not the smoothest workflow. Despite help from tech support at SM, I still cant find a workaround.

So it's a refund for me and back to Poser 7. I might get interested again when Poser 9 comes out.

The crashes after accessing the libraries are still there,  and More frequent..

Quote - The crashes after accessing the libraries are still there,  and More frequent..

Noel, I'm almost certain your problems lie more with your system than with P8. I have P8 on a Mac and no crashes, opens smoothly, renders fast. I'm using 10.5, got two gigs of RAM, and it's a Mac Mini.

Then PLEASE do not upgrade to 10.6.1

Quote -  I have to say I really like Poser 8. I'm really frustrated with the library. Personally, I preferred the old library interface. But I know I'm in the minority on that issue. I have a project to finish up so, I've had to go back to using Poser 7 for now. But when I finish, I'm going to try and adjust to the new library.

You need to get the XL Library system for Mac's to replace the P8 Library. Been running XL on a Mac for about 5-6 days and it is amazing. Excluding one glitch in how the icons are sorted which is out D3D Ralf's control, you'd have to kill me before I would give it up.

I agree, XL is great, much better then the P8 library! I still think it a shame they had to replace the original library.

I'm not sure how everything behaved before SR1 on a MAC, but you always could re-install the hotfix, that will replace SR1. For me that has been the best solution, at least P8 is usable for me again. Some of my reported issues weren't fixed in SR1 and I've reported the new ones, hopefully everything will be fixed in SR2.

For now P8 with the Hotfix works, I just need to keep some workarounds for bugs in mind and then Poser works well. Library issues I don't have anymore since XL has been installed, it also gives me a larger workspace, XL doesn't get in the way at all.

Hi gang, presently I have Poser 5 and am seriously thinking about upgrading to Poser 8 (via PurPlus.net for $179.95 incl free shipping).  Things I need to know, does Poser 8 contain P6 and P7 figures too (Poser 5 had P2-P4 figures).  I believe that Poser 8 has full body and head morphs just like Poser 5 has. However, I'm not sure how detailed they are (are they similiar to DAZ head and body morphs).  Jan

Quote - Then PLEASE do not upgrade to 10.6.1

I was going to, but I've heard a lot of complaining about 10.6, so I'm holding back. First time, i've ever heard so much  grief about a Mac OS.  Not saying there hasn't BEEN grief, just that this is the first time I've heard about it.

my.smithmicro.com/win/poser/updates.html

Poser 8 upgrade from v4 onwards is $129.99 + S&H

There is a legacy content bundle which seems to include everything.

Quote - > Quote -  I have to say I really like Poser 8. I'm really frustrated with the library. Personally, I preferred the old library interface. But I know I'm in the minority on that issue. I have a project to finish up so, I've had to go back to using Poser 7 for now. But when I finish, I'm going to try and adjust to the new library.

You need to get the XL Library system for Mac's to replace the P8 Library. Been running XL on a Mac for about 5-6 days and it is amazing. Excluding one glitch in how the icons are sorted which is out D3D Ralf's control, you'd have to kill me before I would give it up.

Could you tell me where you got the Mac version of XL please.

Me too please..!!

Beta tested it for Ralf. All done. Few minor fixes to the win version is all it took. There is an issue that SM is looking into regarding part of the wxpython mac package that comes with P8 that does not behave correctly.  Icons are supposed to display left to right and wrap horizontal, not up and down where you have to scroll left to right vs up and down if they overfill your display space. Wicked fast, and easy to navigate even with that one glitch.

The win version displays like this
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
to get to 10,11, and 12 you scroll down like the older Poser libs

Mac
1 4 7
2 5 8
3 6 9
to get to 10,11, and 12 you scroll right

according to wxpython.org, it is supposed to work like the win version on all platforms.

I hope nobody minds if i take this P8 thread in  a slightly diffeent direction for a sec -

I don't follow  SM's marketing strategies too closely - I am pretty happy with my P7  and the figures Sydney, Miki, (and I also  bought DAZ  V 4.2  a while back) -

But I was wondering if it is a long standing tradition of  SM/ E Frontier,  whoever,  that they  DO NOT  offer the figures  as stand alone.

I would be very interested in  having Alyson but i DO NOT  want to buy  P8- based on what I am  seeing in the forums.

I suppose SM  will never let me buy a la carte  Alyson, though  :-(

Could somone post  a shot of her upper body  in wireframe  or shaded lined?

I am curious to see how that is put together and what the body part seams are ..... 

I would be very interested in  morphing the crap out of Alyson -  she looks too wimpy  in the upper body  and her face is a little skanky, IMO

New versions of Poser implement new joint controls for the figures, like P8 for instance; so purchasing Alyson and using on P7 would not work correctly.

"After" I get my Poser 8, maybe we could have a competition on Alyson's head and body morphs.  The winner would get pictures of Alyson's alter egos (for that matter, anybody that wants them).  Jan

"After"  some time in the next 12 or so days and after I've downloaded me SR1 update and after I figure my way around me new Poser.

PS there would be no cheating (using any V1 through V4-strickly Aylson).

 Does Poser 8 have Puppet Master built in?

Poser 8 does not have Puppet Master built-in but it does have a stripped down version script to convert Universal Poses.

[/quote/]

There is a legacy content bundle which seems to include everything.

Where?

I have tried to find such a bundle without success.  (Puppet Master is NOT it.)  I have Puppet Master.  I is a python script, and some data files to transfer & update content for the older figures to newer figures.  I does not include the geometries for the older figures (needed for some of the available older content, especially the ones that include an encrypted alternate mesh.

efstarlet,  I'm very frustrated with this latest version of Poser.  Some of my old shaders don't look the same.  The render engine hangs on reflections.  The new figures quite frankly suck.  Why was P8 not an expanded version of Poser Pro rather than an experimentation with a new interface?  Why did we have to trade off gamma correction for indirect lighting?  Why is so little of the clothing content dynamic (and none of the hair)?  There just seems to be a lot of justifying the product rather than addressing the issues that have been presented.

If P8 was an expanded version of Poser Pro, then what would P8 Pro be? Your questions are illogical. P8 is what they say it is, and it is an upgrade from P7. If you like/need the capability of Poser Pro, and want to upgrade, then you wait for the upgrade to Poser Pro, which is not P8.

No!  My questions are very logical and pertinent.  There has very little difference between the Pro and base of Poser in the past - only really a slight difference in rendering options.  It's ludicrous to minimally tweak some render settings and then call it a "Pro" version of the same software.  Poser (7) Pro was not such as improvement from Poser 7 as you would think - so holding the potential release of a Poser 8 Pro over our heads just isn't going to cut it.  There was a previous Poser Pro which was another version of Poser 4.  Poser 5 and onward did include its features.   It's not like Poser incorporates advanced modeling features and tools that cannot be included in successive versions.  So far all I see is the potential of a "Pro" version of Poser in name only.

Quote - efstarlet,  I'm very frustrated with this latest version of Poser.  Some of my old shaders don't look the same.  The render engine hangs on reflections.  The new figures quite frankly suck.  Why was P8 not an expanded version of Poser Pro rather than an experimentation with a new interface?  Why did we have to trade off gamma correction for indirect lighting?  Why is so little of the clothing content dynamic (and none of the hair)?  There just seems to be a lot of justifying the product rather than addressing the issues that have been presented.

Why? Because of the demand. SM took put out a questionnaire asking the poser users what thy would like and they gave the community what they asked for. At least that's how P8 was presented. Seems like the majority of people who filled out the questionnaire wanted a new interface and library. I made it pretty clear in the questionnaire that I didn't find that a priority at all, but according to SM the community asked for these new things, that's how they presented the update to the community. It contains what you asked for.......

The odd thing is that when presenting the full version to new users SM states that the new interface and library where implemented to make P8 more accessible for new users. Strange though if you think about it. The new UI isn't that new at all, sure you can move around a few things here and there and get annoyed by all the terrible docking where you don't want it (that annoyance is new at least) , but aside from that, it's not that mind blowing at all. Imo the new library isn't more accessible then the old one, on the contrary. For a new user getting started with P8 or P7 wouldn't be much of a difference and I wouldn't be suprised if P7 is a bit easier to get used to then P8 is.

I'm really thinking that SM wanted this and is now looking for excuses to present their poorly done experiments. Some changes are needed, but SM took the easy way out. Instead of messing with the core and updating that, they decided to take out some stuff and replace it with external coding. Easiest choice, since I can imagine that the core is pretty complicated and only a few have real inside in how it works, flash is much more common. I think in future we may see more of these choices, SM taking the easy way out. Less permanent staff needed, more coders available that you can hire on a freelance basis. SM has a clear picture in mind of how they see Poser in the future. They made it pretty clear that the choices they made are needed for future developments.

They made those choices and we have to learn to live with it or start looking elsewhere..... I'll be looking elsewhere, since I made it very clear in the questionnaire that I liked the old interface and library.... a lot and I still do even after using P8 for a few months now. If it didn't have the awesome rendering speed improvement I would go back to a previous version.

Quote - Some changes are needed, but SM took the easy way out

No, they didn't. For the past few weeks you haven't made any stupid claims like this, so I've not beat you up.

Time to get the stick out. You don't know squat about the decision process, and your conclusions are wrong. They took the most expensive, most difficult path, for reasons which you know nothing about.

Move on. Render something. I have to go eat.

Quote - They took the most expensive, most difficult path, for reasons which you know nothing about.

That may be true from your view point - but the cost hasn't necessarily translated into the most desired features for users.

I disagree
It is exactly what the majority of users have asked for since a long time:

• Make the User Interface more flexible
• Improve the library
• Indirect lighting
• improve the morphing tool
• improve the hair and clothing room
• Faster rendering
• Better rigging
• Normal mapping
• New figures
• Better plugin support

These are all new features not present in Poser Pro 7
Of course there is room for improvement, but they certainly listened to their customers

And if there are problems or bugs, report them to Smith Micro so they can get fixed. I do not have those problems with reflections and different shader outputs, so I can't help you with that

 I've just had a little first time play with rendering using the free version of DAZ Studio, and like it enough to consider buying a full-blown rendering prog. But which??

I'm looking at Poser 8 now, and am concerned about the negative comments applying to Poser 8 and my Mac 10.5.8 system.

Can anyone tell me why e-frontier's Poser 7 is so much more expensive than SmithMicro's Poser 8?