Thank you for reacting so quick with your clarifications :-)

Will this happen again? I understand it is a technical requirement for probably monthly or otherwise periodical activity?

In this case I would suggest, if I may, to add (code) a simple automatic text message to the checkout page, in the same place where usually the store credit payment is done, telling:

"Store credit payments are unfortunately temporarily blocked for technical reasons and will soon be available again."

Anyway, thank you again for taking time and reacting fast answering my subject :-)

METOO  ;-)  I nowadays never received Order confirmation mails. Last time I received an Order and payment conformation email from Renderosity was on April 3rd 2023, in my case.

I also am nowadays notoriously beeing notified that I need a valid email adress for registration! But my email adress works perfectly well in any aspects for business and private purposes, I never had any complaint from any out of hundreds contacts or other sites where I am registered. I checked my spam folder, there is no indication anywhere that a problem might exist with Renderosity mails. I do receive the Renderosity notification emails which I have signed for without any problems. But Order conformations are missing and upon login I keep getting this annoying "Change your email, you need a valid email adress"!! So really where ist the problem that Renderosity has with my email adress, which I am using for years and years here and elsewhere without any trouble?

using my Android phone, with Renderosity open in Firefox browser, I have no longer an option to use my store credit for purchases. The usual options for gift cards and coupons are available, but no option or button to do payment from my store credit account exist. Has this been forgotten, or been moved elsewhere for Android users?

ByteFactory3D posted at 2:51 PM Sat, 18 February 2023 - #4456248

A second issue from my side:

I tried to update my phone contact, but nowhere in my profile settings, or "edit profile" tab can I find a way to change my phone number, which I had long time ago been asked to enter for verification reasons.

I suggest to add an option to change the phone contact in the same place and method where a change of the email contact or of the password can be requested.

Your phone number is under your vendor settings

ByteFactory3D posted at 2:46 PM Sat, 18 February 2023 - #4456246

ebasham posted at 5:19 PM Wed, 15 February 2023 - #4455998

PaulaL posted at 11:12 AM Wed, 15 February 2023 - #4455972

I`ve found a bug, I can`t actually purchase anything, I go to check out, but the place order button isn`t working, I click on it and it says to select an item in the list?

I have no idea what is going wrong or if I`m doing something wrong, all my info is correct, it just isn`t working.

This is actually because you need to select a State/Region in the payment details.

I'm having the same issue, when trying to purchase from my existing Renderosity credit account. I tried clicking or not clicking my usual "Paypal" method first, but it doesn't make any difference, the "Purchase" button remains inactive, even if the payment amount has reduced to zero, and I get the same error message telling I should make a payment choice from the list.

Also let me add personally: In my country (Germany) the State/Region of residence is of no relevance at all for any payment or shipping. The postal code/Zip is already enough, while already typing the name of the city of residence is redundant and irrelevant information for any shipping or financial transaction. These are all entirely coded in the Zip/Postal code anyway. I suggest to leave the "State/Region" an optional entry for those who want to use this.

A second issue from my side:

I tried to update my phone contact, but nowhere in my profile settings, or "edit profile" tab can I find a way to change my phone number, which I had long time ago been asked to enter for verification reasons.

I suggest to add an option to change the phone contact in the same place and method where a change of the email contact or of the password can be requested.

PaulaL posted at 11:12 AM Wed, 15 February 2023 - #4455972

I`ve found a bug, I can`t actually purchase anything, I go to check out, but the place order button isn`t working, I click on it and it says to select an item in the list?

I have no idea what is going wrong or if I`m doing something wrong, all my info is correct, it just isn`t working.

This is actually because you need to select a State/Region in the payment details.

Thanks for clarifying this, I was in the same trouble, grateful to find this post!

I was used to find the upload button hosted somewhere in my own gallery, and was really getting desperate, thinking I was too blind to see...

hornet3d posted at 3:37PM Tue, 28 April 2020 - #4387603

While I admire the effort that Renderosity are putting into Poser all I basically want to do is to use Poser to create art. After 11.2 was launched I was constantly being told there was an update available but 11.2 was working fine for me so I just turned off the update notifications. It remains the same in 11.3 so I can continue to play with Poser without having to constantly update. I trust that Renderosity will inform me when there is an update I really need to install.

See, there are different levels existing, where "update" is only a vague overall expression. In Poser 11.3.816 ,

11 is the version number, so Poser 12 would be called a new version. A new main version is usually called "upgrade", not "update", and usually for most existing softwares you pay for a new version, because the implemented new functionallity needs funding.

The second number, 3., is called a "minor release", it usually contains new functionallity but not to the extent of a new version. So the "minor release" offers you whatever new functionallity the developers offer, without asking you for a payment. In the latest minor update to 11.3. the main issue was the cut in the license support from Smith Micro side, which forced the new owner to release a minor update with a new licensing functionallity, so Poser wouldn't stop working only because Smith Micro had shut down their licensing server.

The third number, which was the topic of this thread (and which has, in my oppinion as OP, been fixed in the mean time) is the "build" number, also called "patch" number or "hotfix". This is a new status where the developers have not added new functionallity, but have fixed bugs. They are constantly working on solving reported issues, and when things get important enough to make a new build available quickly to those who suffer from problems, then a new build is being released. This can happen even after only a month or so, which is good, because the new builds are being done for reasons, there are customers who have problems and want them solved, while other customers may not even be aware, because they don't use elaborated functionality or they are on different operating systems or hardware or drivers. So basically, new builds are always a good and recommendable thing. Programmers don't do them just because they are nasty or feel bored, after all... However, like Tim mentioned above, if your system is running well, and you never encountered problems or reasons the way it works, then you can easily skip a build and just keep using the recent minor release. In this case, forget about the third decimal number. Only if you contact customer care and complain about a malfunction, these will most likely ask you to first try the latest build, because the malfunction mentioned may have been fixed already before with another build.

Skipping a minor release is a little different. Sure, if your system works well and you are satisfied with everything, you can skip it. But the latest Poser minor release 3 was done (and luckily early enough) to avoid shut downs of Poser due to server shut downs at Smith Micro. So in my oppinion: much recommendable. Otherwise you could just wait if a breakdown of Poser happens, then still do the minor update. In other cases, if you skip a minor update, you may be missing new functionallity which the developers have added, sometimes in advance for a new major version, when marketing department wants to add value to the running version and not wait for the full new release. So in my personal oppinion, also a "minor update release" in very most cases is recommendable to do. The new library function is an example for such an added functionallity free of charge, which people didn't want to delay until a new "major version" (which would be Poser 12) comes out. So they included it in a minor update, which was needed anyway to replace the dying Smith Micro licensing servers.

When it comes to cumulative software release notes, these are meant for customers to inform themselves about what has changed when, and which is the latest of them all, and such things. This way, every customer can read the history since his personla last update, and can judge and decide on his/her own, if they want to do the listed "minor" or "hotfix" update, or not. Like Tim mentioned above, the hotfix builds somehow cause problems for technical reasons to be included in the release notes. This is why he chose to now indicate the latest build number at least on the download page, so clients can verify which is the latest available and compare to their own installed build numer and decide whether or not to use the latest build. Now in this case, the improvement with hotfixes are not contained in the release notes. However, now you can at least check and verify on the download page, what is the latest status, and if you really want to check what has been improved with hotfixes, you can still ask in the forums or customer care. At least, you KNOW and can monitor the hotfix/patch builds, and maybe after a while decide to use a new build after numbers have gone high.

Yes, I think the issue here is also, if it is an item onthe one hand, where usually users love to do their own designs and creations, like clothes. Or if it is on the other hand an item, which needs very many details even in the texturing, like I usually do them, vehicles, in example. What people like to customize in vehicle textures is most likely the overall color plus specific decals like number plates, stickers. In these products I take care to arrange the UV mapping in a way which should be easy to use for customized textures in these areas. Of course, an area where a decal or sticker should be placeable cannot be torn apart in various UV islands. But Substance Painter even makes such torn apart UV islands easy to paint on, same applies for Blacksmith3D, so probably this lures content creators into bad habits, and probably this is what the mentioned vendor meant when he said he does his textures in Substance Painter and therefore doesn't care about UV mapping?

But talking of clothes, I entirely agree with you here. While I don't usually create clothes as my content, I VERY often, if not literally ALWAYS re-texture existing clothing items from my libraries to use them. In these cases I use Substance Painter to create my new textures. This is when I discover many bad habits and negligence in UV mapping in so many items. Torn apart UV islands in areas where I want to have a continuous design is only one of them. Another one is, in areas where I want a straight line on the model (like sides of the legs, for example) to place a seam and stitches, I find the UV mapping done in a way which forces you to "curvy painting" in order to achieve a straight line on the object... Or you want to place a writing or a fashion brand, and you find the UV distorted in a way that you cannot write on it with a constant letter size but must distort things in UV space so they appear undistorted on the object later... Another very bad habit (in my personal humble oppinion) is: No UV mapping at all... Sure you can take a shortcut and skip your chrome areas during UV mapping and later apply a Poser shader tree to them. Poser materials often don't need UV mapping, they know the model geometry and will work in 3D space often enough without complaints. HOWEVER: When I want to apply my own textures (i.e. PBR texture maps from Substance Painter, Quixel, or downloaded from free sources), the regions without existing UVs cause severe problems. Imagine I dont want chrome, but instead painted areas there? Or I want a high quality chrome from Substance Painter with all the small scratches, spots of dust and rust, even blueish color variation because it is a heated motorcycle exhaust pipe? Only way I can do this is by re-mapping the model, putting in place proper UV mapping instead of the existing. In 8 or 9 out of 10 cases where I start re-texturing any existing Poser asset, I discover that I will have to start afresh with UV mapping first, unfortunately... Sometimes I realize the items are simply old content from the days when the Poser material room was the best quality you could get, so content creators became used to simply (not to say "lazily") skip UV mapping and put a shader in place instead. But in other cases of more recent content items, I realize, that often enough it is (simply and honestly said) just poor UV mapping skills on the vendors side (and their used software).

These things are very easy to handle with Substance Painter. For painting you can chose to do it in the viewport directly on the object, or "wrapping" around the object with a constant scaling, or in the traditional 2D way in the UV space. So you can easily find a solution for any upcoming problem. However, we (content creators) should not expect any customer to have the same. And once a client has found out, that the models of a specific vendor are a pain to do desired re-texturing, that vendor will most likely be skipped when it comes to new purchases, not true?

So I would, just like you, Miss B, like to encourage content creators not to forget clients needs when it comes to re-texturing (or other vendors to create fitting textures for your items, which can also boost your sales).

Even if my preferred modeling application Lightwave has UV creation and even "unwrapping" capabilities plus plugins, I never used these again ever since the moment I purchased UV Layout. I had also been using UV Mapper Pro for a while, but still forced to think in a "projection cage". UV-Layout lets you kind of cut the skin from your 3D object in a way you feel like holding it in your hands and simply cut pieces from it with a knife or scissors. No matter if these pieces are already flat, or if they have any shape imaginable. Then you go flattening it in the UV space. If you discover it cannot flatten well like this, you can add some cuts here or there, weld back other previously made cuttings, and try flattening again, or put the entire piece back on the model and start again with a different approach, until you have a desired result. With UV-Layout, UV mapping has not only become less painfull or less nuisance. It has instead become a real pleasure and FUN of its own in the content creation process! There are times when I look forward to UV mapping and can't wait finishing the construction. Had you told me before I had UV-Layout that UV mapping can be real fun, I might have shouted at you "go away and leave me alone with UV mapping!!!" Also the issue Miss B and others mentioned, distorted UVs: in UV-Layout you very easily relax the curved flattened poligon areas to a minimum distortion. Colored areas help you find stretched or compressed regions, where you can then easily apply corrections. Or, if you need a region perfectly staight in projection, because you want to place a straight line there or a decal on the template with Photoshop which should also be a straight line later on the model, you can easily place constraints which achieve exactly this.

Having re-mapped so may existing Poser content items, like I have done, practically almost daily for like 4 or 5 years now, I guess I could write a book about the various habits, mistakes and (un)capabilities you can find in them when you analize the UV mapping in object files. I'm not complaining, because I have learnt A LOT for myself from studying these non-desireable mappings and by improving or replacing them for my own personal use of the items. So many great items out there (even between the VERY old stuff from the content libraries), unfortunalely often with so poor UV quality.

'nough said, you see I can get emotional with this topic, because it is really such a pity when great content artists and modelers sometimes don't seem to be able to wrap their heads around UV mapping. Everybody interested in this should really try UV-Layout, there is a trial available and the cost is really considerable. And the creator and owner is an extremely friendly and helpful guy, Australian. Imagine, when I moved back to Europe after living for many years in Africa, I didn't yet have a bank account ready when I wanted to purchase UV-Layout. I contacted him and asked, how we could find a solution to transfer money to his account. Guess what he answered? "I have put in place for you the desired Pro license, so you can use it already now without limitations. Give me your adress, so I can ship the dongle. You can transfer the pay later, whenever you have managed to set up your financials." I will never forget this, thank you, Phil.

Does it mean there is no way for me to verify as a customer which is the latest downloadable Poser 11.3 build? Only by re-downloading it and re-installing it and then starting it and verify in the "About" tab if there appears a new number? Or if it has remained the same after re-downloading and re-installing? Why is it not just being mentioned and documented in the "Release Notes.txt"? At least, this is what I assume release notes are made for? No offence intended, like I said, I'm just puzzled. Obviously I must have missed an updated build somewhere in between, because I was not aware I was not on the latest build (which you say was 11.3.816, while I assumed I was up to date until yesterday with 11.3.740?) If developers want to save the work for describing changes for updated builds in the Release Notes, at least the current most recent published build number could be indicated, which would take a minute or two for typing and uploading?

Oh thank you so much! So it has probably just been forgotten to update the "Release Notes.txt" file in the download section.

Also don't forget that lights have similar properties like other objects have. You can parent an object (like a simple primitive from the library) underneath a light, on the ground. Then it doesn't disturb, if the light is high up on the ceiling and out of camera view, you can see the position always through the referring object. Also you can parent a light to an object. Assume you place a point light inside a car, to mimick the interior light of the car. Then parent it to the car. If you later decide to relocate the car because a different parking in your scene seems better, just move the car there, the interior light follows. See: Object:Change parent menu. To disengage any parenting, chose "UNIVERSE" as the new parent. You can also parent a spot light to your camera. This way you have a fixed spotlight like a flash light on a real camera, it always follows any movement you make in the scene, always lighting what is right in front of your camera.

MeInOhio posted at 10:51AM Mon, 27 April 2020 - #4387489

Thanks for the tips! I'll try them.

Additionally I suggest tinting the lights in strong opposing colors temporarily, so you can better judge which light does what in the scene. I do this all the time when setting up lighting with specific needs in mind. Later for final renders, switch the colors back to whatever serves you well.

perpetualrevision posted at 3:30AM Mon, 27 April 2020 - #4387049

Miss B posted at 5:12PM Wed, 22 April 2020 - #4386810

I can't think of anything else that could make texturing something easier than using Mat Zones.

I can think of something!! UV maps that match the structure of the item in a human-readable way are MUCH easier to re-texture than maps that break items into lots of little parts in order to squeeze them all onto the UV map space! By "matching the structure" I mean laid out like a sewing pattern, so you can easily tell what goes where if you're texturing in a 2D app.

Summoner's dragons come to mind as an example of the kind of UV maps that prioritize maximizing the UV space over being easy to retexture, although I've made changes on a few items using blender nodes and masks for things like teeth, horns, or ornaments (which I had to painstakingly select in Photoshop). I wouldn't have any idea how to create a new body texture, however, unless I had the ability and talent to paint directly on the model, which I don't.

Summoner's stuff does usually have more than one mat zone, with separate ones for the body and the eye and maybe other areas you might want different spec or reflections on, but all the zones use the a single texture map (plus spec + bump maps). I suppose if the single map had the UVs laid out like a sewing pattern, it wouldn't be too much bother to re-texture, but when the UVs are all over the place, your only option is 3D painting!

I wonder if what's what's going on with the vendor who commented that he has only one mat zone b/c he uses Substance Painter? Because he uses SP, he may unwrap his models into only one UV space (not separate ones for each body part or mat zone or whatever). If you're intending to paint directly on the model, that would certainly be easier for you, but not for anyone else who doesn't have the same tools!

I totally agree here, using Substance Painter should not be an excuse for poor UV mapping. I hate this just as much as you do. Personally I use UV-Layout, I never use the automatic unwrapping of any software (Substance Painter can do it, but results are not acceptable, torn apart polygons, just like you told).

But look at my template below for the Public Phone, wouldn't you be able to create your own texture in Photoshop, if you wish? So painting different colors, but modifying or keeping and re-using roughness and other maps?