Why ask is. I stopped upgrading studio 4.10. Because the way they did program will put your comp into 100% processor and mem. Causes many problems. I cant even render lot scenes now through updates as only way is to save scene load into vue 7 to render or into poser 11. Studio mow crashes comp out messes up windows can cause major probs. i bought studio from version 2. Iray has caused more probs. Now is studio 11 update same. computer crashes windows crashes ect through new update taking up to much memory. Millions of daz studio and poser users dont have latest super computers. Cant afford million bucks for new comp. Lot of studio users not upgrading and new people not buying program. People asking if they can get hold older program. Do you understand when you upgrade a program so 70% of users cant use they get enraged. Now i have use older laptop to render in poser as cant afford pay for new desktop. I like millions private sector workers have had take wage cut to keep working. REMEMBER AT LEAST KEEP A POSER VERSION THAT MOST PEOPLE CAN USE AND PRODUCTS. IF SOMEONE CAN ONLY USE POSER 2012 AND CANT AFFORD POSER 11 DONT IGNORE THOSE OLDER POSER PEOPLE BY WIPING OUT FIGURES AND STUFF THEY CAN USE.

I'm actually in pretty much the same boat. I need a more powerful computer, but can't afford a top the line new one. My solution will be to go with a refurbished or used computer. Some people say to go with building your own, but I don't have that skillset.

3d art is a computer intensive hobby. You won't be able to do it on a potato. If you can't afford a $400 dollar computer, 3d art isn't for you. That is just how it is.

Go to ebay - 8 core/16 thread workstations can be had for under $400. You can do a lot with these.

BTW, if you tell us what you are working with today, we can give you an upgrade path.

I am waiting for Memorial Day to buy my new AMD tower.

The online retailers should be quite desperate by then. ?

Hate to say it, but CGI eats horsepower. I use laptops these days (because until recently, the folks I work for made me use my passport a lot), but even at the gaming-laptop expense level, you can get a decent CG-capable portable computing device for a decent amount of cash. The one I'm typing on was a firebreather w/ an i7 9th-Gen, 32GB RAM, SSD disks (2.5TB total storage), 17" screen, and a GTX 1060 GPU onboard when I bought it 18 months ago (still is)... paid $1700 for it, which for what I got as a laptop, was a hell of a steal.

Desktops? I bet you could get refurb bits to replicate what I got in a desktop form factor for $400-$500 or so... just gotta know where to look (newegg, pricewatch, etc), and YouTube is chock full of videos to help you assemble it if you're not sure how.

ssgbryan posted at 2:39PM Mon, 04 May 2020 - #4388087

3d art is a computer intensive hobby. You won't be able to do it on a potato. If you can't afford a $400 dollar computer, 3d art isn't for you. That is just how it is.

Go to ebay - 8 core/16 thread workstations can be had for under $400. You can do a lot with these.

eBay is evil. (hissssss!)

wolf359 posted at 2:41PM Mon, 04 May 2020 - #4388095

I am waiting for Memorial Day to buy my new AMD tower.

The online retailers should be quite desperate by then. ?

Dude, you are quite sadistic!

ssgbryan posted at 3:12PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388087

3d art is a computer intensive hobby. You won't be able to do it on a potato. If you can't afford a $400 dollar computer, 3d art isn't for you. That is just how it is.

Go to ebay - 8 core/16 thread workstations can be had for under $400. You can do a lot with these.

BTW, if you tell us what you are working with today, we can give you an upgrade path.

Exactly this. You can't expect software that's being worked on in 2020 to be kind to hardware that's several years old, and by the description in your post it's probably much older than that. Things move on, software/figures/features improve thus requiring more power to take advantage of said improvements. Stagnation is death for any program that won't keep up with the industry, especially 3d.

I'm also curious as to why you mention that you "bought" Studio. Studio is and always has been free. I think you're somehow confusing Daz Studio and Poser.

JohnDoe641 posted at 4:07PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388258

ssgbryan posted at 3:12PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388087

3d art is a computer intensive hobby. You won't be able to do it on a potato. If you can't afford a $400 dollar computer, 3d art isn't for you. That is just how it is.

Go to ebay - 8 core/16 thread workstations can be had for under $400. You can do a lot with these.

BTW, if you tell us what you are working with today, we can give you an upgrade path.

Exactly this. You can't expect software that's being worked on in 2020 to be kind to hardware that's several years old, and by the description in your post it's probably much older than that. Things move on, software/figures/features improve thus requiring more power to take advantage of said improvements. Stagnation is death for any program that won't keep up with the industry, especially 3d.

I'm also curious as to why you mention that you "bought" Studio. Studio is and always has been free. I think you're somehow confusing Daz Studio and Poser.

Once upon a time they charged for it.

CHK2033 posted at 9:08PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388263

JohnDoe641 posted at 4:07PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388258

ssgbryan posted at 3:12PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388087

3d art is a computer intensive hobby. You won't be able to do it on a potato. If you can't afford a $400 dollar computer, 3d art isn't for you. That is just how it is.

Go to ebay - 8 core/16 thread workstations can be had for under $400. You can do a lot with these.

BTW, if you tell us what you are working with today, we can give you an upgrade path.

Exactly this. You can't expect software that's being worked on in 2020 to be kind to hardware that's several years old, and by the description in your post it's probably much older than that. Things move on, software/figures/features improve thus requiring more power to take advantage of said improvements. Stagnation is death for any program that won't keep up with the industry, especially 3d.

I'm also curious as to why you mention that you "bought" Studio. Studio is and always has been free. I think you're somehow confusing Daz Studio and Poser.

Once upon a time they charged for it.

They charged for the "Pro" version at one point, but never the base software from what I remember all those years ago.

JohnDoe641 posted at 10:07PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388273

CHK2033 posted at 9:08PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388263

JohnDoe641 posted at 4:07PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388258

ssgbryan posted at 3:12PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388087

3d art is a computer intensive hobby. You won't be able to do it on a potato. If you can't afford a $400 dollar computer, 3d art isn't for you. That is just how it is.

Go to ebay - 8 core/16 thread workstations can be had for under $400. You can do a lot with these.

BTW, if you tell us what you are working with today, we can give you an upgrade path.

Exactly this. You can't expect software that's being worked on in 2020 to be kind to hardware that's several years old, and by the description in your post it's probably much older than that. Things move on, software/figures/features improve thus requiring more power to take advantage of said improvements. Stagnation is death for any program that won't keep up with the industry, especially 3d.

I'm also curious as to why you mention that you "bought" Studio. Studio is and always has been free. I think you're somehow confusing Daz Studio and Poser.

Once upon a time they charged for it.

They charged for the "Pro" version at one point, but never the base software from what I remember all those years ago.

I seem to remember them having two prices. One for the base software and one for the Pro, or Advanced. I do recall that some users were upset because after they had paid for the "pro" or Advanced" version, they made DS free. It was supposed be free for a limited time, but they changed it and made it free in perpetuity.

For what it's worth, this is from the entry in Wikipedia:

"Daz Studio is designed to allow users to manipulate relatively ready-to-use models and figures as well as other supporting 3D content. It is aimed at users who are interested in posing human and non-human figures for illustrations and animation. It was created as an alternative to Poser, the industry-leading software in use for character manipulation and rendering. Daz 3D began its business model selling 3D models of human beings (and a few non-humans), as well as giving away a few of the more popular base models for free from time to time, and clothing and props for the same, and all of these models were constructed to be used in Poser. Daz eventually created their own character-manipulation software, first for sale and later distributed for free (originally just the base edition, but eventually even the "pro" version)."

It was originally free, and then went to a paid for version and a free version, then just free again. Daz studio 3 had a free version an Advanced version (paid for) and I believe a Pro version (paid for). I bought the advanced version in 2009

EClark1894 posted at 1:33PM Wed, 06 May 2020 - #4388276

JohnDoe641 posted at 10:07PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388273

CHK2033 posted at 9:08PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388263

JohnDoe641 posted at 4:07PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388258

ssgbryan posted at 3:12PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388087

3d art is a computer intensive hobby. You won't be able to do it on a potato. If you can't afford a $400 dollar computer, 3d art isn't for you. That is just how it is.

Go to ebay - 8 core/16 thread workstations can be had for under $400. You can do a lot with these.

BTW, if you tell us what you are working with today, we can give you an upgrade path.

Exactly this. You can't expect software that's being worked on in 2020 to be kind to hardware that's several years old, and by the description in your post it's probably much older than that. Things move on, software/figures/features improve thus requiring more power to take advantage of said improvements. Stagnation is death for any program that won't keep up with the industry, especially 3d.

I'm also curious as to why you mention that you "bought" Studio. Studio is and always has been free. I think you're somehow confusing Daz Studio and Poser.

Once upon a time they charged for it.

They charged for the "Pro" version at one point, but never the base software from what I remember all those years ago.

I seem to remember them having two prices. One for the base software and one for the Pro, or Advanced. I do recall that some users were upset because after they had paid for the "pro" or Advanced" version, they made DS free. It was supposed be free for a limited time, but they changed it and made it free in perpetuity.

I was one of those that got so pissed about it that i haven't bought anything from them since that happend.

ghostman posted at 8:09AM Wed, 06 May 2020 - #4388290

JohnDoe641 posted at 4:07PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388258

ssgbryan posted at 3:12PM Tue, 05 May 2020 - #4388087

3d art is a computer intensive hobby. You won't be able to do it on a potato. If you can't afford a $400 dollar computer, 3d art isn't for you. That is just how it is.

That's not quite true. You can, and I have, bought computers for far less. One place you can try is your local state surplus store. Some times they sell it first come, first serve, other times in an auction. I won't buy in auctions though, which is part of the reason why I avoid places like ebay. You can also try local computer repair shops or even flea markets once the pandemic is over. The laptop I'm on, now, even though it's old and I need to replace it, I originally bought from a flea market under $200.

If you live near Portland, OR, you could always try Free Geek - they often have usable stuff for next-to-nothing, and the proceeds go to charity. From the looks of it, they even ship (though if you live outside of Oregon, you might want to ask how much they'd charge for shipping.)

(Lost count of how much fairly high-horsepower-but-out-of-support-contract hardware we'd dropped off there from nearly everyone I worked for in/around PDX...)

thats a good link there, already seen a backup msi gaming laptop I want..lol

EClark1894 posted at 10:47AM Wed, 06 May 2020 - #4388293

That's not quite true. You can, and I have, bought computers for far less. One place you can try is your local state surplus store. Some times they sell it first come, first serve, other times in an auction. I won't buy in auctions though, which is part of the reason why I avoid places like ebay. You can also try local computer repair shops or even flea markets once the pandemic is over. The laptop I'm on, now, even though it's old and I need to replace it, I originally bought from a flea market under $200.

If your time is no value, sure.

You can get by on a 4 core/4 thread system with 8Gb of total memory, running off a 5400 rpm drive. (Ask me how I know)

It won't be a good experience, however.

If you don't have a lot of money - then your best bet is to get a OEM potato, and upgrade - It can be very inexpensive, IF you are willing to shop around & go with used parts, and can use a screwdriver.

My gaming rig isn't a bad Poser boxen:

Z 210 mini-tower $47 Xeon E3-1270 [4 cores/8 threads @3.4Ghz] $25 off ebay. 32Gb of 10600R ECC ram - $25 RX 480 8Gb - $75 120 SSD Boot drive - $25 1Tb HHD Data drive - $39 1 tube of arctic silver - $8 (used when replacing the original i3 CPU with the aforementioned Xeon.

Right now, you can get a Z210 Small Form Factor (SFF) with 8Gb of ram and a 4 core/8 thread xeon for $112 - upgrade ram to 32gb of ram for $25 & you are looking at less than $200. It will hold 2 hard drives, so you can add storage as needed. SFF systems only take low profile video cards, which are expensive relative to their full - height brethren; they also have small power supplies - usually 240 watt - but that is 90% or more efficient, so you could actually fit a low profile GTX 1650 in it.

Heh - my very first (non-company-funded) home computer was built from spare parts scrounged from local geek shops. Wouldn't call it a waste of time if you learn along the way (or you get into homebrew)

Penguinisto posted at 4:40PM Wed, 06 May 2020 - #4388345

Heh - my very first (non-company-funded) home computer was built from spare parts scrounged from local geek shops. Wouldn't call it a waste of time if you learn along the way (or you get into homebrew)

I also know people who routinely visit the school and state surplus store, buying up as cheaply as possible whatever kind of computers they have there. Then they will sometimes cannibalize some of those computers for parts, using them to fix some, and upgrade others. I did it myself, until the state stopped selling directly to the public and went online auction. You could pick up some nice deals back then, so no, I don't consider it a waste of time at all.

Unfortunately, when the state went to online auctions, I stopped following computer parts and lost my knowledge, what little I had, of what I needed to have a decent computer. I used to read a lot of the computer mags at that time, as well, mostly about Macs, but some Windows machines, like PC Magazine.

@Clark what is your budget??..

The actual hard limit you cannot exceed.?

EClark1894 posted at 3:24PM Wed, 06 May 2020 - #4388349

Unfortunately, when the state went to online auctions, I stopped following computer parts and lost my knowledge, what little I had, of what I needed to have a decent computer. I used to read a lot of the computer mags at that time, as well, mostly about Macs, but some Windows machines, like PC Magazine.

You can skip a lot of research by buying a "barebones PC", which has a motherboard that has everything needed built-in except disk, memory, and CPU (purchased separately). You then add the requisite missing pieces (HDD, RAM, CPU) and they generally tell you what types to get for it. Then, you maybe get a GPU-accelerated video card to slap in if you want (not 100% necessary unless you're doing uber-high-end-render engines, in which case it'll save you megatons of render time - maybe do that later to keep things budget-friendly... in the meanwhile most have basic/decent video built-in), and you're generally good to go.

Mind, the link is just an example - the industry at large knows what a "barebones PC" is, so you can go to most sites and find them, often for reasonable prices. For the GFX/CG world, a "Gaming" type of PC (or "gaming barebones") will cost a bit, but gets you fairly high(er) end stuff that will handle CG stuff nicely (especially consumer-grade CG apps like Poser and DS).

CHK2033 posted at 3:40PM Wed, 06 May 2020 - #4388324

thats a good link there, already seen a backup msi gaming laptop I want..lol

I was thinking more along the lines of this, or maybe one of these...

...and certainly not this

All of these come from the same place. A bit of research is required, but a lot of these can run Poser 11 well enough as long as you went easy on the polys (though an external HDD would be needed). I mean, if you're on hard-end budget, it's way better than nothing at all.

wolf359 posted at 6:50PM Wed, 06 May 2020 - #4388350

@Clark what is your budget??..

The actual hard limit you cannot exceed.?

At this time, I'm trying not to exceed $600 for a desktop. I figure I'm pretty safe for Poser 12. It's actually Blender that concerns me.

If it was manufactured in 2015 or later, you are fine for Blender 2.8x

especially since you mostly model and won't be rendering smoke &mantaflow fluid sims etc.

You can get a 12 core Z800 from PC Servers and Parts on Ebay. I was running the Mac Pro 4,1 version of this.

$390 (free shipping) will get you a 12 core/24 thread system, 12Gb of ram (6x2Gb sticks), 1 500Mb of spinning rust, Win10 Pro, and an 128Mb video card.

A 1Tb SSD starts at $100.

A RX 470 8Gb can be had for less than $100.