out of the blue, my p11 is wanting internet access to renew the lease/license or whatever. I don't understand why. More so than that I will not tolerate a piece of software accusing me of being pirate when I was the one who bought in the first place. My versions of p5-10 don't do that, which is why they are still alive, even if p8-10 are more like junk cars in the yard that don't work anymore. I wish they would fix that. So I use p7...I regret buying p11, and if p12 is like this, yeah, Im done. I know it sounds silly, but I just can't cope with stupid software needing a stool sample to prove it's legit.

I also do music and there is this 3rd party pos company called ilok. I won't touch any plugin that uses them. My hardware synths don't require internet to prove I didn't steal them and I use that basis for everything. We tolerate social constructs and allow invasive bs because we think 'that's just how it is'.

you used to be able to purchase photoshop, now you lease it.

don't tolerate bs, and for god's sake don't give the bs money...

Poser 11 has always done that,  it's not a new thing.

As I understand it, P11 makes an occasional 'call home', usually when it pops up message that updates are available: How else would it know ??

Which offers I hastily beat off with virtual '4x2'...

I've ample store points to upgrade to P_12 plus the 'goodies' thumb-drive but, so far, I've seen no compelling advantages. In fact, if P_12's material room will dump me straight into 'Cycles' snake-pit, d'uh, so not going there...

Well, not until I've perused, digested, grokked a platform-independent 'Cycles for Dummies' ...

NikKelly posted at 7:16 AM Tue, 28 June 2022 - #4440475

I've ample store points to upgrade to P_12 plus the 'goodies' thumb-drive but, so far, I've seen no compelling advantages. In fact, if P_12's material room will dump me straight into 'Cycles' snake-pit, d'uh, so not going there...

You do not need to use cycles if you upgrade to poser 12. It still has all of Firefly's features and nodes. I've been told it renders firefly faster too, but I've never tested it.

Poser 11 has always done this, but you used to be able to get it turned off if you contacted SmithMicro.

That is no longer the case. I believe the limit is 9 days. If Poser can't make contact with the mothership for 9 days, it stops working. Bondware might be able to give you a longer grace period, but you can no longer disable this "feature."

I hate it. But I think it's here to stay. Not because it's effective against piracy, but because they want Poser connected to the Internet to make shopping at Renderosity easier. E-On did that with Vue. It didn't end well. And now they're subscription only. :-P

randym77 posted at 12:16 PM Tue, 28 June 2022 - #4440485

Poser 11 has always done this, but you used to be able to get it turned off if you contacted SmithMicro.

That is no longer the case. I believe the limit is 9 days. If Poser can't make contact with the mothership for 9 days, it stops working. Bondware might be able to give you a longer grace period, but you can no longer disable this "feature."

I hate it. But I think it's here to stay. Not because it's effective against piracy, but because they want Poser connected to the Internet to make shopping at Renderosity easier. E-On did that with Vue. It didn't end well. And now they're subscription only. :-P

Peculiar that DS seems to not have such a requirement. I don't spend a lot of time in there, I much prefer Poser, but you would think...

DS is giving its software away for free, there is no need to subject users to a phone feature.  DS connection is optional, your only advantage, as a member, is connecting to download/purchase content.

randym77 posted at 12:16 PM Tue, 28 June 2022 - #4440485

Poser 11 has always done this, but you used to be able to get it turned off if you contacted SmithMicro.

That is no longer the case. I believe the limit is 9 days. If Poser can't make contact with the mothership for 9 days, it stops working. Bondware might be able to give you a longer grace period, but you can no longer disable this "feature."

I hate it. But I think it's here to stay. Not because it's effective against piracy, but because they want Poser connected to the Internet to make shopping at Renderosity easier. E-On did that with Vue. It didn't end well. And now they're subscription only. :-P

Not really effective against Piracy as if they would want to pirate it it would be Pirated for sure, but I guess there is no interest to Pirate poser any further ! It is rather very effective to loose honest poser users not expanding it any further , dropping it and jump to other 3d applications. This system is actually a real farce and damaging the whole Poser County, rather to to any good. I would not even upgrade if it were for free as long as there is a random activation system. The damage has already been done after the Forced shut down of the Smith micro version 11.1 removing the offline activation by renderosity as well the permanent versions. Users do not like such aggressive marketing methods turning there back on such in silence. You only get trust if you are able giving trust !

We certainly have our opinions and are free to express them.

I personally don't find the feature more intrusive than DAZ Central, but  I guess we all have our preferences.

And this has been a feature of Poser since the SM days.

When Adobe went down it's dark path, I picked up Affinity and grabbed gimp. I'm the customer, not the slave, I say where my money goes. 9 days is a completely ridiculous thing. Ableton live prefers you use the online activation but they have an offline activation, and after that you're good to go. I mean we're talking about choices a company makes here, and we've seen the bad ones(I saw someone point out Vue). We should sue adobe for what we paid for p8-10. We should also be able to turn off any feature in any software if we bought it.

I realize I'm a bit mad, given how human beings have less rights can do that to a person especially when a piece of software says 'I won't work unless I can...do something online'. I mean that seems much wore like malware than anything. My version of p11 was installed on 2/11/2021, it's only done this twice. If the 9 days thing is correct, in the last 18 days. Whoever runs support answered me and they say this 'feature' is a part of P10/pro onward. So I think 'hey I'll just use 9', except the library thang...

I guess it's time to grow up and learn blender and leave the action figure program where it belongs, in the dust... Out of touch corporate decisions have ruined yet another perfectly good product. Dear asteroid, we're ready, thanks.

Rhia474 posted at 4:24 PM Tue, 28 June 2022 - #4440491

And this has been a feature of Poser since the SM days.

In one hand I have to give you right as if one started how could it be possible to stop it , same with war's if one starts it cant be stopped over generations with the same old excuse that the one before started t all, justifying an act by blaming the one that started off with it. Humans are doomed as they are not able to learn on mistakes, making them even worse with the excuse ( He started with it  ) .

Btw: SM was more flexible with the license system so cant blame them.

hborre posted at 4:01 PM Tue, 28 June 2022 - #4440489

DS is giving its software away for free, there is no need to subject users to a phone feature.  DS connection is optional, your only advantage, as a member, is connecting to download/purchase content.

Good point hborre...

Okay, as usual, this went far beyond what I am willing to follow. Enjoy Blender, I agree to disagree.

Because of that license scheme, I bought Poser 11 twice.

I'm using Poser since buying a physical copy of Poser 4 in 2000, and had upgraded to Poser 11 from PP-2014 a few years ago, but noticed that some of the "NEW AND IMPROVED" features had messed up the JCM's of my custom figures.

(Turns out it was the Master Synch. Fortunately I was able to turn it off eventually)

So I kept on using PP-2014 for a few years while Poser 11 sat dormant on my old machine collecting dust.

*

Then I got a new machine, and I wanted to give Poser 11 another chance, but I was unable to activate my copy as Smith Micro had the activation server already shut off.

In order to download a new copy from Bondware, they wanted purchase info I couldn't retrieve anymore. (I always use throwaway email adresses when I do online purchases to protect my main email from spam)

Long story short, instead of jumping through hoops while dealing with customer service, I just bought the da*m thing again.

*

Poser 11 does have a few advantages over PP-2014 (MUCH better preview, "Fit to Morph" joint center functionality), so I'm not too unhappy with my (double) purchase.

It has some disatvantages, though, like spoiling my Lo Rez Vicky 2 mesh or my "poserized" Genesis 1 figures, but so far I was able to find workarounds. Same with the Master Synch issue, as I already mentioned.

*

I admit I'm very unhappy about the even stricter phoning home "functionality", though.

Not unhappy enough to skip Poser altogether and to defect to Studio or Blender, as that would mean abandoning 22yrs of hard work trying to improve Poser figures.

But unhappy enough to boycott Poser 12 and subsequent  issues for the time being unless there would be a really major incentive for me to upgrade again.

*

I also made sure to have a copy of Poser 11 as a last ditch backup that will keep on working regardless wether Poser ever changes hands again or more likely turned into abandonware due to a lack of interrest.

You know: "Fool me once..."

;-)

Really good points, even the DS one. If they want the like 80 people that use poser to stay though, it used to be 100, look at Ableton Live. So incredibly successful. Imagine having THAT cash, bondware, with the caveat that you have to allow for certain things(big boy pants that understands humanity).

Ableton live was able to do a lot of what it did because protools started using ilok(that 3rd party anti-piracy bs company) in addition to the software improvements, they passed protools.

It's quite possibly the best software ever made, it's versatile, non-invasive, allows purchases from the parent company with addons. Online activation is quick but they also have an offline activation(seriously). They even let me upgrade using some silly split it company so I didn't have to pay for that upgrade in a giant chunk. Learn the lesson, Bondware, adapt or devolve into a subscription service no one will remember.

I say this because I'm frustrated, we don't have to accept decisions made by people that have no idea what goes on down here. All they see is a powerpoint chart. Some might wonder why a DAW is being compared to a 3d barbie program. I'll tell you. Not everyone is just one thing, I draw, I write stories, I make songs. Some lady might be a mom and a sister and daughter and a teacher, it's a weird correlation... As software goes, the point is to allow a person to express themselves by creating art, it's a tool, and the better tools remain over time. I just can't see making decisions that would hedge out the handful of people left vs the millions of legitimate copies of Ableton live.

Anyone know of a good place to start with learning blender? :D

Blender itself has good tuts on their site. Blenderguru is highly praised by some people on this site I value for their knowledge and opinion.

You are aware that Microsoft is one of the highest tier corporate development donors to Blender?

"Anyone know of a good place to start with learning blender? :D"

YouTube.

Find a simple task that interests you and move outward from there.

@JoePublic great story, I knew I wasn't alone

@JoePublic.

I like mastersync, I find it useful while setting up complex dependencies. Negates the need to back out certain values in sub masters. Obviously you found the off switch but it's easy as all get out to turn it off.

Also... this statement intrigues me...

I also made sure to have a copy of Poser 11 as a last ditch backup that will keep on working regardless wether Poser ever changes hands again or more likely turned into abandonware due to a lack of interrest.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Poser 5 need an online activation code originally, but after a public outcry, this "feature" was removed with a later service patch?

I'm not sure, that was my first copy, the box & cd off ebay, which seemed to crash winxp systems, so when they gave p5 for free that one time, I just use that exe and the serial from the box thing. It's funny I still use p5 sometimes for nostalgic fun, the firefly engine back then had a weird crispness to it, like it's contrast values set a little to high or something.