I'm thinking of upgrading to poser 9. I currently have Poser 8, but as of late I'm beginning to question if its a legitimate copy. I bought it from a computer show close to a year ago for about fifty dollars, but despite the reassurance by the vendor that it is legit the label on the disk looks a bit off. It might be perfectly fine, but I might have been sold a bogus version.

I'm looking at getting Poser 9--from either Amazon or some other online site thats more reputable. I think it might be better since my computer is a 64 bit system and I think poser 8 is only 32 bit. Perhaps it would run better and I could take advantage of some of my computers fairly quick processor.

Anyway, is poser 9 a good upgrade over 8, or should I hold out til Poser Pro2012 drops a little in price. I'm on a budget and can't spring for poser pro at this point, but poser 9 might be realistic.  

Poser 9 is 32bit, same as poser 8

A lot of new features, but you have to be the judge of P9 vs Pro2012.

Bill

Computer shows in California (when they used to have lots of them) always sold warez copies of software.  The real deal was sold only if GameStop or the actual software companies had a booth at a show.

Just learned there was a Poser Pro 2010. Is that more recent than Poser 9? From what I'm reading that might be a good option--reasonable price wise and it appears to be fairly current.

2010 is in the same family as Poser 8. If you go for a newer version, you might as well get the Poser 9/2012 family so you can use WM'd figures. In the long run, that will pay off and won't leave you in the dust.

If it's a legit copy you should be able to sucessfully register online it when installing with the provided serial number.

If it's indeed a legit copy, you can use the serial to get the upgrade to 9 or Pro 2012 at a discount from Smith Micro's website...

http://poser.smithmicro.com/index.html

If the label on the disc is burned in, say with Lightscribe, it is pirated. Smith micro prints their labels. It may pass registration, but trying to update catches it. Don't ask how I know.

Well, I have a copy of Poser 5 and the disc came in a sealed box, the labeling on the disc appears very professional and I'm 100% sure its authentic because I purchased it directly from Curious Labs, which was making poser at that time. This one here the label looks to be made of paper, the type that could easily be done by anyone with one of those cd labeling kits they sell at Staples or whereever. It says Poser Pro 8--wihch in itself is a little odd because I thought it was simply poser 8.

However I was able to register the serial number--though the instructions given to me were a little odd. I guess its a "bulk institution" type license that can be used as often as I like, not just for a single computer.

http://www.purplus.net/smmipopro20.html

Try this if it's not too much.

It seems pretty likely that your copy of Poser 8 is bogus and you may very well not be able to upgrade from it - but you could try.

There doesn't seem to be any discount for upgrading from Poser 5. Personally I believe it is worth skipping Poser Pro 2010 and going straight to the Poser 9/Pro 2012 level, because the differences are huge. The difference between Poser 8 and Poser Pro 2010 is mostly related to Gamma Correction, and Bagginsbill's shaders do a very good job of Gamma Correction in the non-Pro versions of Poser.

The current generation of Poser is faster, more powerful and totally worth the money. To take advantage of your 64 bit system you should get Pro 2012. Otherwise wait and save up for it. Or investigate the feasibility of buying a legal copy of Poser Debut and upgrading from that.

I have a hard copy of poser 8 and it does not have a paper label. You could contact Smith Micro and see if the company you bought it from was a ligit dealer. It's possible though highly unlikely that the disks were different because of the show. I'd plan on buying a new, ligit copy.

Quote - I have a hard copy of poser 8 and it does not have a paper label. You could contact Smith Micro and see if the company you bought it from was a ligit dealer. It's possible though highly unlikely that the disks were different because of the show. I'd plan on buying a new, ligit copy.

The proper label is not paper, but inked printed on the outside of the disk in ink, rather than burned into the disk. I have a few Smith Micro discs. All are this way. Plus mine came separate Mac and PC discs.

I did buy a pirated disc from an Amazon partner. It registered. But I got an error message when I tried to update it. Communication with SM revealed the problem. Amazon shut the pirate down and refunded my money promptly.

A guy sold you a disk titled "Poser Pro 8" with no packaging and assured you it was legit? Was the serial number scrawled on a Post-It Note or something?

I wonder how many copies of that warez download the guy burned onto disks and sold for $50. He wasn't too familiar with the software, if he titled it Poser Pro 8. No such thing.

Well, at his table he had a very legitimate looking Poser 8 box, but when I purchased the software it came in a sleeve with a label that--IMO--didn't look like something that would be sold by a professional software manufacturer. However I should add that it did come with a serial number and that serial number did indeed register the software to Smith Micro. I'm able to update it as well as upgrade it to another version of Poser. I'm a little confused because if it was clearly an illegal copy I don't understand why Smith Micro recognizes it.

Also, no the serial number was not written on a post it note. I might not be a professional graphics guy, but I'm not quite that naive. The serial number appeared legit, but the label listing it as Poser Pro 8 doesn't -- since, as you mentioned, there is no Poser Pro 8.

Well, anyone can print up a professional-looking label, sticker or anything at all. It doesn't make it legitiimate. The post-it comment was overboard, sorry, it was more a slam at people who pirate software. I'm sure the real Poser box was intended to do exactly what it did: make you think the deal was legitimate, Maybe he burned copies of a real Poser 8 install disk. And grabbed a bunch of serial numbers from the same people who distribute warez. Probably somebody else eventually got the same serial# and was unable to register. Whatever, the fake "Poser Pro 8" title gives it away. Sometimes these guys can't resist doing one more little thing, and blow it.

All is made right by buying a real Poser 9 / 2012. :)