Quote - I don't think it's just an age thing. 

If you're in a commercial production environment, your software needs to fit into other people's pipelines in a way they are accustomed to, and they won't change just to suit you.

If you're a freelancer, you will think in terms of $ per hour, and if buying a figure for $30 saves you several hours of work (nevermind several months), you'll buy it.

And if you're a hobbyist, you'll want to spend your time doing what you enjoy, not what someone else thinks you should enjoy.

I totally agree with you, I was not thinking of the commercial aspect because I fall into the last category as a hobbyist.  My commercial skill set was in telecommunications with a little bit of computer work thrown in for good measure.  I have no artistic training at all and came to the world of 3D late in life.  As you say I want to enjoy my time and I have to admit, having retired, I have rather taken to the idea of not having to keep up so I don't need to have a working knowledge of Windows 8 or the latest phones from Samsung, Apple and the rest. 

I am happy to learn new skills but only if a can see enjoyment in the short to medium term.  Hence my intention to dabble with Vue because I have used it in the past and it could be fun again.

 

 

I use Poser 13 on Windows 11 - For Scene set up I use a Geekcom A5 -  Ryzen 9 5900HX, with 64 gig ram and 3 TB  storage, mini PC with final rendering done on normal sized desktop using an AMD Ryzen Threadipper 1950X CPU, Corsair Hydro H100i CPU cooler, 3XS EVGA GTX 1080i SC with 11g Ram, 4 X 16gig Corsair DDR4 Ram and a Corsair RM 100 PSU .   The desktop is in a remote location with rendering done via Queue Manager which gives me a clearer desktop and quieter computer room.