Quote - Ok, hopefully I'm not reiterating anything for the umteenth time - while I've been a member of both the Renderosity and Daz forums for several years I normally don't bother commenting since I have little time to.  What follows are a few points that have been floating around in my head as I've done my best to go though all of the responces over the last 6 pages.

In regards to the Genesis issue -

In a way it feels that Poser users at Daz are being shuffled asside like those of us who liked Hexagon (ok maybe this is an exaduration). Why can't a version for both platfroms be made? Just code one for Poser and one for DS Genesis - VOILA - no problems; users for both are happy. Yes this is more work BUT it doubles availabity and one would think profits. It can't be that hard since all content at its core is simply a mesh designed in 3D Max, ZBrush, Hex, etc.

---Its very easy to think that it would be that easy. Genesis took over two years to create, and though its no longer unknown ground, it would take us literally 6-8 months or more to create a totally new weightmapped figure to work natively Poser to our quality standards.... and that is just a base. It would have no clothing or morphs... and then what? We do not have the staff to support two production pipelines. We really are just a small business. It may surprise you to know that there are only 6 people making our content. If we can take Genesis into that environment... then it will have all the power and cross figure compatibility that Platform commands and that would be special.

The other thing is possibly we've become too dependant on Daz's characters. Maybe its time for Victoria to pass the torch? Recently there have been a number of V4 morph sets made available here in the Renderosity store that address the joint issues brought up in the past. It could be V5 is essentally redundant for anyone not using DS.

---I belive that we continue to make compelling content and I hope we will have the chance to overcome this compatibility issue so we can move ahead.

We seem to be comming to a point where its likely we'll eventually split into two camps like PC vs MAC - both having their ardent followers and defenders. To be honest this may have been eventual with the introduction of Daz Studio V1.

---We can get along if we decide to. I really dont know why people think there is a feud. It is my contention that this was caused entirely by folks being defensive of what their personal preferences for art creation are. that is a silly basis for a form of argument (nice twist on Holy Grail if I dare say so).

While Daz isn't obligated to support the Poser platform I do dislike the apparent removal of choice (both in content format and the installer issue if I understand it). As a person who has recently renewed his DAZ membership I'm a bit ticked off about this. I have to wonder if I'm going to have to just use my monthly credit for the sake of using it or getting content that I really want.  If Renderosity wants to gain all the members Daz may loose over the chainges they're making, a blanket discount, credit system, and/or maybe exclusive freebies would sway my choice when my renewal comes up.

On the differences between PS & DS -

Personally - Poser all the way for the interface and capabilities. The drawback is that it has never really handled cross character compatability very well.  I have yet to make wardrobe wizzard work as advertised without a lot of tweeking.

---You see, I was the other way. I didnt care for the Poser interface and that is why i started using Studio all those years ago. Everyone has their own preferences though.  I once met a man who didnt like Birthday Cake... OUTRAGEOUS!

Genesis is what I've always wanted to see in Poser - except I'd want it to be backwards compatable with all the content I already have (ok maybe asking too much but a guy can wish can't he?). 

---Genesis is backward compatible... that is one of the main selling points of it. Right now it is very compatible with Gen 4 and we are adding Gen 3 support after the first of the year. Genesis can wear clothing and textures you have owned for ages that look terrible on the original content... it now can look amazing on the Genesis morph of your choice. You can also use female and male only items on any gender you choose and every shape suddenly has a big wardrobe, even the kids and trolls can wear it all.

The problem I have with DS is that the interface is poorly planned. Its like the programmers did it this way so they would look as different as possable from Poser which has resulted in something that is NOT intuitive and feels @$$ backwards. I mean really - no manual and consistant changes without documentation (at least the last time I checked) is not a way to instill confidence in a product.

---With all due respect, it was not poorly planned. It was meticulously planned... by good people who knew that if they worked hard, they could make studio more elegant and easier to use.

The fact is that nothing you are used to using can change to any great degree and remain intuitive to you because you have preset notions of how it should work. The true test of how intuitive anything is is how well a neophyte can use it. In this area there are still hurdles we would like to overcome, but DS4 is undoubtably eaiser for new users... and we have had many users who, after working in DS4 for long enough to get used to it, ended up enjoying it more than they thought they might. It may not be immediately obvious if you have only seen a few screenshots or casually played around, but there are a several Interface options available, not to mention customizable settings, moveable widgits, changeable colors, dockable tabs and more. We cant and wouldnt make it look like Poser but honestly it really is not a bad interface. its just different.

Converters or Plugin? To be honest I have yet to see a converter work as easily as advertised. To be worth it Daz and SmithMicro really need to work together on a seamless plugin (if this can even be done in the first place).

---DAZ 3D and SM ARE working on it and have been for some time. its just honestly not an easy task.

I still think seperate Daz and Poser fomats would be the simplest way to go. Daz may not see this as feasable - I don't see why not since some of the content designers here are starting to do this now.

---As I said before, it really isnt feasable for us and even if we did try to make something, it would be hard to maintain support for two separate lines and it would take a long time to get to a release. We feel the best path forward is to keep working on Genesis compatibility and we hope we can talk you into being supportive and patient while we work

Well that's my ramble. If it come to the point where there is a split - so be it - its been fun Daz.