Hi all

it's been a while since I've posted here, and usually to the DAZ Studio forum at that.  But, here goes:

Poser 9 appears to be on offer for $64.99 for a short period of time.  I'm very tempted, but I have some questions and I'd be grateful if somebody can answer them.

1.  My current machine is quite old and has an ATI Radeon X1250 graphics card.  This works OK with DAZ Studio 3, but not DAZ Studio 4.  I'm told by DAZ that this is because of the Open GL implementation.  Would Poser 9 work with this particular card?

2.  Does anybody know the size of the download files?  I will look around and see if I can find this myself, but if anyone does know then it would help.  Downloading can be a pain here in the sticks - usually interrupted when the line drops although with Firefox it seems to recover 'gracefully.'

3.  Is there a good reference book that you can recommend - reading and printing the manual would be a bit difficult (I have a cycling injury that restricts the time sitting down at the PC so would prefer to have a hard-copy to read, and the cost of printing and no doubt the time taken would be a right pain in the ....).  I started years ago with Poser 4 and then have used DAZ Studio 1 to 3, but have always been tempted to go back to Poser.  I think, though, that it would be a steep learning curve.

4.  I have a lot of DAZ Studio content.  Some of it is actually in Poser format folders.  Is there an easy way to migrate or is it a question of re-installing the content?

5.  Is there another version of Poser on the horizon?

regards and thanks

Pete

Well, Poser 9 is less than a year old so I don't think another version is immediately forthcoming ;).

There are no printed manuals that I'm aware of. Sorry about that.

The actually Poser 9 files are extremely large. I won't lie..lol. But I guess you could skip most of the content if you really wanted to.

Your Daz studio content should work. Some you may have to reinstall. I'm not sure about the graphics card you have. Your best bet would be to go to Smith Micro's site and look at the system requirements.

Laurie

Laurie

many thanks for quick response.  In theory the PC exceeds (but not by much) the recommened minimum requirements - I just went back and rechecked.

I've not come across any specific problems mentioned on the internet with this card  in relation to Poser, but wondered if anybody else had experienced them.  There are problems with the Open GL implemention reported by gamers as well as the DAZ Studio issue, so from what I can gather the OpenGL implementation is suspect and ATI are not making any further changes.  Ah well, the machine will no doubt need to be replaced eventually.

It's a shame that there isn't a printed manual available, but c'est la vie.

Will go and check the size of downloads - that may help me to make my mind up!

regards

Pete 

I beleive you can also buy a cd of it for a few dollars more as well, if you are concerned about download size. It comes with a TON of content.

Most of your ds content will work, with the exception of items that were developed ONLY for DS. (Anything for genesis will have issues of one kind or another, but the generation 4 figures  or less work perfectly.)

And if you are in the US there are always cheap deals for Poser on Amazon too ;).

Laurie

1- if you use the SreeD option (software visualization), there will not be almost problems with it, as every 3D software you need a good CPU (maybe 4 cores) and a lot of ram, if your system is 32bit there will be some limitations in how complex can be a scene, with a 64bit system you have less problems. However the program is 32bit, only P Pro is 64bit.

2- File sizes:

Poser installer 880 MB (may vary a little with the updated SR);

Poser docs 29,7 MB;

Animals 222 MB;

CartoonFantasy figures 300 MB;

Clothings 521 MB;

Hair 302 MB;

Nude figures 1,08 GB;

Props and Scenery 783 MB;

Reference Figures 267 MB.

3-as LaurieA said... but the manual in pdf is very good.

4- as with DS, you have to point Poser's library where the files are, since you can have multiple runtimes, you can use what you have inside DS.

I know that some files are for both Poser and DS in the same folder, some other are separated installers.

5- yes, Poser 10, but it's still in our dreams! :lol: 

Yep, and I want Poser 10 to create and render the scenes for me using only thought process

Just kidding ;)

Laurie

I would recommend...if you have the $$$....to get the Shaderworks Figure Manager and Library Manager over at RDNA.  They add up, but they make it MUCH easier trasitioning from Daz Studio to Poser...IMO

Wow!  Thanks all - that's great, really helpfull! 

Gareee - unfortunately the offer is for the 'digital version' only, so it's $64.99 for a download and $249.99 for a CD unless I've got my wires crossed! 

Largest file I've managed to download successfully so far was DAZ Studio 4 at 451MB - those file sizes look daunting, fanpaolo. Could be a problem....

I don't know, I like the idea but......

Need to think, but once again many thanks:) 

regards

Pete

Yes, I know Audienne, for that purpose I've given you the full list, could be a pain...

I don't know if is possible to resume a download at SM, I never had problems, but I always had a bit of fear during download.

Quote - Yep, and I want Poser 10 to create and render the scenes for me using only thought process

Just kidding ;)

Laurie

Why? :huh: 

There isn't that feature in the next release? :scared:

Doh! ...I don't know if I'll upgrade! :mad: 

...I'm kidding too! :biggrin:

Quote - Gareee - unfortunately the offer is for the 'digital version' only, so it's $64.99 for a download and $249.99 for a CD unless I've got my wires crossed!

That is my understanding also.  There is another thread here about using that version, then paying full price fot the "sidegrade" to Poser Pro 2012 at full price to end up with a "reduced price" total for the sidegrade.  Helpful for people who want to end up with PP 2012.

Quote - Largest file I've managed to download successfully so far was DAZ Studio 4 at 451MB - those file sizes look daunting, fanpaolo. Could be a problem....

Is your concern with internet speed or with an unstable connection?  Or, if I may, is it with the electric bill?  If it is just the speed, let the thing d/l over night and check it when you wake up. :)

fonpaolo

the information was much appreciated as it means I can make an 'informed decision' which is great.  Many thanks.  I think, though, that I really am going off the idea at the moment because I don't fancy the downloads.  

Gremalkiyn

the problem with long dowloads is that the connection / line invariably drops.  The 451mb download of DAZ Studio was done in 2 chunks.  DAZ Studion did not work after implementation, although the downloaded installer worked and was the 'correct size' - but one is never 100% sure.  It means hours of keeping an eye on the PC, nursing it when things go wrong etc. and then hoping that whatever has been downloaded is really OK.  This, plus the fact that Firefox is currently playing up (I'm using IE today) make me very reluctant to try!

regards

Peter

Doesn't SM have an option to burn your downloadable products on a disc and shp them for a modest price?

That was my thought.. buy the digital download, and then just have it lumped in with other purchases on a disc.

@Audierne I would not let file size sway your decision.  I am sure that someone here  could drop a "split" version (i.e. using 7zip or similar) of the downloads on Dropbox or something for you so you can download smaller chunks.  Since you can't run it without a serial number, I am thinking this would be allowed.

(...someone can correct me if I am wrong?)

$64.99 is a GREAT price for hair room, face room, dynamic clothes and much more fun!

Hi

I'll have another look at the site and see if they will do the disc first.  I've never bought from Smith Micro, so don't know my way around.

regards

Pete

Just to let you know..... Poser 9 does crash on my old machine a lot and it isn't even as old as yours. Poser 8 runs great on it, but Poser 9 tends to crash a lot. Not so on my new laptop, it runs very smooth on it. If you have an older machine you may consider getting Poser 8 instead, it is less demanding then Poser 9 is, but still pretty good. You'll be missing some of the new features.

You can always test drive Poser 9 to make sure. If it doesn't work you can always return in within 30 days and returning a download version is much easier then returning a boxed version. Or buy it and hold on to it until you get a new machine perhaps?

Also keep in mind that the Poser 9 absolutely isn't going to work well on a machine with the bare minimum requirements, not at all. I'm not sure why they keep those there, they should be changed. I wouldn't want to have Poser 9 running on a a 1.3 GHz Pentium 4 or 1.65Ghz Athlon 64 with1 GB system RAM at all. I remember my old Athlon 64 3400+ (2.2Ghz) with 2GB RAM and running Poser 6 and Poser Pro 1 on it, that wasn't a happy happy time at all. Too little memory for serious work and way to slow for rendering. That one had a  ATI Radeon X1650 Pro with 512Mb and the OpenGL just was slow slow slow. One figure was OK, but adding more figures or props was already too much. The graphics would become slow in updating the scene when zooming in/out rotating posing and so on. Getting a Core2Duo with a entry model radeon HD and 3Gb RAM after that was a huge relieve and ran P6 and Poser Pro fine and also Poser 8 and Pro 2010 no problem. Running Poser 9 and Pro 2012 on that machine is a different matter. It's no fun, crashes, slow and the graphics card cvan barely handle stuff that goes on.

I don't even want to try and run Poser 9 on the old Athlon machine, my daughter has it upstairs, I don't think that would be fun at all. Poser 6 runs, Poser Pro runs, both slow. Poser 8 and Pro 2010 run, but very very slow, not great at all.

Just keep one thing in mind, DS3 is still more along the lines of working and demands as Poser 4 or even 5 was and those ones ran great on any Athlon or P4. From P6 onwards the game changed a lot and those are way more demanding the Poser 4 or 5. I would say DS 4 is more like Poser 7 in terms of demands on a machine. Smith Micro should really beef up the minimum requirements a lot for Poser 9, those haven't changed in a long time, but the application has.

If it's any help - as a fairly new Poser user...

Poser 2012 runs just fine on my old and cranky PC, so I would've thought you'd be Ok.

I was concerned about the downloads too as my broadband is broken and cuts off constantly due to a line fault, but I was able to get everything without too much trouble, even though I'd originally thought I might have to skip the content.

The pdf manual is great. As you can search it quickly for what you need you don't have to spend too much time reading.

I moved to Poser when 2012 came out and it picked up my highly customised DS runtime (previously used for getting figures into Vue) with no problems. Only thing it didn't like was V4 which I've had to reinstall a couple of times for some reason.

They are working on it.. 

last I heard they were working on the algorithim that would select the intended thought to be rendered and not inadvertantly produce disturbing renders from the subconcious mind.  .... crap... i think i just broke an NDA...

Quote - Yep, and I want Poser 10 to create and render the scenes for me using only thought process

Just kidding ;)

Laurie

aeikema, toastie

thank-you.

I spent some time checking prices at Amazon and read some of the reviews.  Interesting - I formed the conclusion that Poser would run like a dog (if at all) on my PC, an AMD 64 dual core 2.2ghz with 2GB RAM, which is running 32bit windows.  This is in line with the DAZ technician's comments on running Studio 4 which they said that even if I replaced the offending graphics card would run so slowly that I'd soon get fed up with it.

So, new machine needed etc.  Currently I've no plans to replace the machine.

This is beginning to look like a non-starter.  Perhaps I'd better wait until the 'thought process' upgrade arrives.  This was referred to as the 'think bar' peripheral in my ICL 1900 days (over 30 years ago) and we're still waiting!

regards

Pete

At least you do have a dual core, that is better then I thought. My AMD Athlon was a single core. Perhaps it's possible to add a little more Ram so you get 4 gb and add a better graphics card? That shouldn't cost too much and takes you a long way.

That's what I was thinking too aeilkema...however, if it's DDR2 memory, that isn't so cheap anymore...lol. My Intel dual core has DDR2 in it. It's about 5 years old.

edit: if you buy from Amazon it's pretty cheap! :D

Laurie

aeikema

thanks, yes, it's a thought and I must admit I've been looking at some of the bits on Amazon.  The problem with the machine though is that it is 5 years old and we live close to the sea - tendency to get high humidity and for electronics to die very quickly (DVD players last 2 years on average) which is why I originally dismissed the idea when Studio 4 wouldn't work.  This is the longest a PC has lasted here - but yes, I'm looking into that although I've never worked on a PC in my life (which is odd after so many years in computing - but then I was mostly into designing / building commercial systems and then running projects etc.) so haven't a clue about adding stuff....

regards

Pete

I'm sure you should be able to get something going with Poser 9, especially if you add more memory. My old and cranky machine can handle PP2012 fairly well to set up most scenes and render the simpler stuff. It can't render any massive sized scenes with lots of SSS and other fun stuff so those have to go off to my big render-beastie instead, but I actually prefer working on my old machine as much as possible.

So I guess it depends on what you actually want/need Poser 9 to be able to do, as to whether your machine can do it. If that makes any sense! :)

I ma sorry anyone knows if this offer is still availible and could send me a link??

Hello it is here: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2851312

Hope this helps and it ends on 6/24 I think :-). I just got it myself...lol.Thank you and take care.

 Edit: Sorry if link is too long have no idea how to make it shorter :-(

Quote - I ma sorry anyone knows if this offer is still availible and could send me a link??

I did test runs, (and still do testruns) of Poser 9 and PP2012 on the lowest of the lowest of the lowest possible specs.

I have 6 machines to do testruns here with and the lowest of the lot is;

Intel Atom CPU N270 @1.6GHZ, 1GB RAM, Mobile Intel 945 Chipset.
And with a screen resolution of 1024x600 => That is well below spec.

But mostly there is a 1920x1080 monitor connected.

Both Poser9 and PP2012 SR2.1 run trouble free and render. => SLOW, with this low spec CPU, but they render.

If the video card does not support OpenGL (as my Mobile Chipset 945) you can use Posers Sreed option.

Crashes? It has been months since my last Poser9-PP2012 crash.
And I Poser every single day.

Tip:
For older machines : keep your sytems clean...

Download, install and run Advanced System Care free from IOBIT (version 5.3)
Run deelpclean a few times.
It cleans and speeds older systems up quite a bit.

isladngurl thank you very much.. Smith Micro gave me great birthday gift this way ;)

You are welcome gloomy :-). Now all I need to do is save up for the upgrade/sidegrade to 2012...lol. Thank you and take care. Hope you had a wonderful b-day :-).

Thank you ( It was last week, but I held of with getting a gift.. done right ;) )

Hope you wil menage :) Hopefully there wil be another upgrade/sidgrade offer in some time ;)

Hi again

Been away for a while (mentally, that is).  I've done the deed and ordered, also got suckered in and ordered Mikki (eh?) at the same time.  Now for the downloads - as I've never used Smith Micro I don't know what to expect.  With DAZ you just log in and download....

It's also for my birthday, but a bit early.

regards

Pete

Wait for an email, with links in it. I also bought something first time, and had links really quickly in ;)