Whenever a render is about to complete, Poser will stop responding.  I have no choice other than to close the program and reopen it for a second attempt.  This also happens when I hit the cancel button.  I've tried to run it in a separate process, but that doesn't effect the outcome.  This doesn't happen at random, but almost every attempt to render a scene or character.

On that note, it doesn't matter how much content is in the scene.  I tried to render a simple M4 character without any hair or clothes, and it stopped responding at least a dozen times in a row.  That's not an exaggeration.   In fact, the only random aspect of this issue is the actual success of a rendering process.  Curiously, whether I'm doing a test render of a final render makes a difference.

When I do test renders, the program stops responding almost every single time.  Yet when I beef up the settings to something I'd use in a final render, it'll actually render to completion a few times before it finally stops again.  This whole issue is more of a recent development as well.  It didn't happen during the free trial of the program (which I acquired late last year), but started up about two months ago.

Aside from rendering in a separate process, I've also reinstalled Poser and performed a factory reset on my computer.  I've tweaked the settings I use to render, and I've even created a new runtime with only a few pieces of content to try rendering.  I've pretty much exhausted every possible solution I could think of, and nothing has made any difference so far.

Just in case it helps to resolve this issue, I have an Alienware Aurora with the Vista 64-bit OS and 6 GB of RAM.  If anyone has an idea I can try, I'd greatly appreciate it.

PS: I apologize in advance if this problem has been posted on the forums already.  I tried a search, but nothing came up.

Have you installed the latest Poser 8 SR?  Poser 8 out of the box presented stability problems for many users.  The current SR seems to have helped with that.

When I was having P8 stability problems, SM customer service had me update my video drivers, which seemed to help a bit, until the SR came out.

Yes, indeed!  I have version 8.0.3.11793.

I also have updated drivers.

HI.

I too have similar problems where the app just simpl stops working. This is primarily if I delete the default character when the windows dialogue box appeared. I have no Google Chrome or anything like that (know prob) and have to save regularly as it can happen at anytime.

I have used a user defined startup with no initial figure but it can still happen. Can't establish a credible pattern to reproduce on demand but it will happen over time so could be a memory leaj or some other cumulative resource eating prob.

Win7 Home Premium, Intel core 2 quad with 4Gb Ram. ATI Radeon 5450 card with up to date drivers and latest poser 8.

It happens to me periodically too.  When that happens and after after a few words that can't be written here or at Renderotica, I close Poser and do a computer clean up, close down the computer for a few seconds, get more coffee and bring her on line again and all is right with the world--until it happens again.  For me it usually happens when I cancel a rendering.  Jan

Happens to me quite frequently. I'm running Win7. Most of the time, I am given the option to wait for the program to respond. If I then close whatever else I have running (such as a browser or whatever), Poser almost always responds.

That said, ever since I was advised to run Poser at a lower priority in windows, I have not had this particular problem.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=3753806&ebot_calc_page#message_3753806

Hmm.  I'll have to close down some program while it renders to see what happens - in the event I have another one running, that is.  What's this about running Poser 8 at a lower priority, though?  I assume that's different from a separate process.

I've swapped my graphics card for the one in my wife's machine. I used to have a Radeon5450 and now have a Nvidia. So far so good. Shame about the ATI as it was quieter becasue it doesn't use an additional fan.

Quote - Hmm.  I'll have to close down some program while it renders to see what happens - in the event I have another one running, that is.  What's this about running Poser 8 at a lower priority, though?  I assume that's different from a separate process.

Yep. The thread I linked explains it. If you go to task manager and look at the processes tab, highlight poser.exe and right click on it, you will see that there is the option to set priority. (The thread explains how to create an icon to load poser always at this lowered priority).

By default, I think, poser.exe is set to normal. By setting it to below normal, it gives priority to other processes. That would seem to suggest that poser would run more slowly (and maybe it does... slightly). But it also seems to prevent momentarily cpu intense processes from competing  with poser and causing it to hang. At least, that's how I understand it, and it has improved things for me. As always, your mileage may vary.

There are probably other things that cause Poser to hang. Installing into program files, instead of its own directory, under Vista or Win 7, for example. Or not installing the !DAZ folder for Daz figures in the main poser runtime. Or using content with incorrect paths that force poser to search for files.

Actually, on the last one, it seems that poser sometimes just randomly forgets where stuff is located. It may load a prop just fine in one scene and then spend an eternity searching for a texture the next time. I have no explanation for this other than that when runtimes exceeed a certain size (mine are 97 gb) amyloid proteins begin forming in tangles that disturb the normal neuronal functioning causing poser to suffer from early onset dementia.

Then again, it could just be me.

I didn't even notice the link the first time I checked the post.  Yet as soon as I check for updates today, I see it before I read your newest.  x.x

Anyway, we seem to have had the exact same problem!  I tried the method of closing a browser when Poser stops responding, and sure it enough it was kicked into completion the instant I did.  I don't understand why, and I'm not sure I care to.  The fact it works now has made me leap for joy.  So, thank you very much for providing me this fix!  I'll also follow the instructions on that link in the near future to give that a shot as well.

On another note, is it a bad idea to install Poser into Program Files?  No one ever told me anything like that before.

Regardless, I've had weird things like that happen with my content as well.  There was one Head INJ I had that didn't load the face morphs, but only increased the size of the head to drastic proportions.  I did this every time .. until one day it didn't.  I've also installed content that wasn't linked to its textures, and I had to link them up one by one the first time I loaded it in Poser.

Needless to say, I'm inclined to agree about Poser having dementia - Alzheimer's disease, specifically.

Quote - On another note, is it a bad idea to install Poser into Program Files?  No one ever told me anything like that before.

Actually, now that I think about it, I'm not sure it's a bad idea to install poser into program files, but I do understand that, because of issues with UAC under Vista and Win7, SM recommends you install your content into a separate directory.  I suppose the easiest way to do that is to install everything into something other than program files. 

I'm glad the suggestion is helping. :)

I frequently have the problem that Poser 8 says rendering is done when it isn't done rendering at all.

My workflow:

• Reboot PC

• In the render setting set the bucketsize to 2

• Save the scene

• Render

• And hope the render finishes...

Quote - I frequently have the problem that Poser 8 says rendering is done when it isn't done rendering at all.

My workflow:

• Reboot PC

• In the render setting set the bucketsize to 2

• Save the scene

• Render

• And hope the render finishes...

Yeah. It's funny. Sometimes that works beautifully. Sometimes it doesn't.

In frustration, I took a scene that only rendered an additional 2% or so on bucket 2, and ramped it up to bucket 128. I figured if it wasn't going to finish, it might as well not finish faster. The scene rendered to completion. I have no idea why.