Quote - 4 years is considered a looooong time in computerland.

I'd agree with that long ago, but changes with computers seem to be more incremental now. Back in the old days with 8086, 286, etc. processors, there were huge jumps in processor power and speed with each new chip. Speed with processors seems to have leveled out for a while and now it's more a matter of having multiple core processors, 64 bit processing, and focusing on operating systems and software to take advantage of what the processors can do. I don't see the dramatic changes that used to occur. Four years in computerland ain't what it used to be.

The Millennium 3 figures came out around 2003 with the Millennium 4 figures around 2006 and the new figures haven't exactly been a quantum leap in capabilities. None of the new Poser 5-8 figures have set the world on fire. Poser and DAZ Studio have added features that put them a bit more in line with higher end 3D applications, but not enough to challenge the big boy programs on anything but price. I can't recall any massive jumps in capabilities between Poser 5 and each increment--certainly not to the degree that occurred between Poser 4 and 5. That's not to say that IBL and other features aren't good to have. The addition of the new materials and cloth room were bigger jumps.

The last four years in Poserdom's little corner of computerland have been interesting but not startling (though I will admit to being surprised that V4 has been around for four years). Poser and DAZ Studio are still based on fairly ancient figure processes that haven't changed much in a decade.

In all honesty, not having RSR thumb support in Poser 8 isn't the greatest calamity the world has ever seen. With the vitriol I've seen in this thread, one would think I spit on everybody's holiest icon. How dare I question why SM won't restore that functionality. The Poser gods shall smite Renderosity for such blasphemy. Kill the heretic! I'm grateful there is a workaround. I'm also grateful that the Spanish Inquisition isn't around. The only reason there is a workaround is because the product isn't doing what it should to begin with--and did do before it was recoded. Workarounds aren't needed for programs that are programmed correctly. I won't be carrying picket signs outside the hidden secret lair of SmithMicro demanding that RSR functionality be restored. It doesn't seem that great a sin to want the software to be a little more efficient than it is right now.

Based on the response here, SM ought not fix the problem because so many customers will be pissed that they can't run their favorite workarounds. Don't worry if SM decides to restore RSR thumbs. You can still run workarounds. You just won't have to. I'll be danged if I know why you want to, but will defend your right to waste however much time you want to waste.

I really think that the lack of RSR support was more an oversight than a deliberate effort to do it. SM probably doesn't pay a lot of attention to the various Poser marketplaces and probably didn't know that RSR-only thumb Poser content lasted as long as it did and that there's still a large amount of available content that won't show thumbs in their latest version of Poser. Software developers don't typically abandon something that is still commonly around. The format may be obsolete, but its usage isn't.

Since I've gotten more involved in other hobby forums, I've got to admit that I don't see the kind of obsessive behavior that I sometimes see in Poser forums. There are the typical arguments everywhere with people that vehemently disagree with each other. I don't see the type comments where people come back time after time to complain that they hate a thread and want it to stop. People stop visiting the thread and let it die out when they see that it's going nowhere. Threads die on their own when people stop commenting on them.

...And I still think the StreetTrigger arguments are a good analogy because people are arguing against improving something. The improvement will either help the people arguing against it or have no affect on them and certainly will not hurt them. The size of the improvement doesn't matter.

Bagginsbill programmed the new interface and routinely visits this forum and would know what effort would be needed to add RSR support. If it's trivial, it might be implemented. If not, it'll just be on my wishlist and not ever happen. The working arrangement with SM might prevent any discussions about what may or may not be done with the library interface.

My visual indexes of Poser content are at http://www.sharecg.com/pf/rgagnon