I help moderate the Amorphium Pro forum for Electric Image, and 90 present of the time a new person will state, ( I'm using the demo, or I just purchased ). Maybe because it is the software company's forum, people using illegal software are reluctant to post or very cautious when writing their message. Where in the forums not affiliated with the software companies ( like Renderosity ), people using illegal software ( warez kiddies & crack babies ) are more likely to ask or post their questions. Some very blatantly ( hey... somebody give me your SS# for Bryce 5...I lost mine ) But some are more discrete. And as a person who does not support warez or cracked software, I will try to determine if the poster is using an illegal versions. Judging...yes it is. But most people who spend 200+ dollars for a piece of software will read the manual. I don't learn well from reading. But I read the manual when I purchased Bryce. Didn't understand much of it, but it helped me find my way around and get the basics. If a legitimate user, doesn't read the manual, they are really inhibiting the learning process of the software. After I read the manual, I didn't understand much of it. But a year down the road it started coming together. And now 3 1/2 years latter I can completely understand when I look something up in the manual. Surly most know, there are countries in the world that do not honor international copyright laws. Where cracked versions of graphic software can be purchased for pennies on the dollar. And the people who burn software that doesn't require a doggle key, so it doesn't need to be cracked. How does this hurt the legal user, well it depreciates the value of the software ( I've paid over 10 grand for ). And it takes money out of the software companies pockets, which would help pay for future development. On the other note, Hopefully when the backroom is finished, it will help relieve some of the repetitious post. Like: ( How do I export out of Bryce ) 3 post under it ( Export out of Bryce, How ) At least it will give us a quick page to point to for these repetitious post.

Stephen Ray