Poser 11.2 Update discussion/info

[Ken1171]

So you are saying the installer will ask to uninstall Poser 11, but in reality it doesn't?

 

[Satira Capriccio]

The executable I downloaded and ran did not ask to uninstall Poser.

But as Alisa said, it's not the version we are supposed to download and install tomorrow.

I'm just not going to freak out if the servers are massively busy tomorrow and I am not able to get the update downloaded. Then too, I telecommute Thursday, so I can try throughout the day rather than having to wait until evening.

 

[Alisa]

I think not freaking out is an excellent plan for all of us

 

[Miss B]

I wonder what time tomorrow it'll be available, or is that any time tomorrow after 12:00am Central Time.

 

[Miss B]

The main uncertainty I've had is whether Poser Pro 2014 would be affected by the Smith Micro phone home servers being shut down.

From what I've read on the Renderosity forums, your version of Poser Pro 2014 is fine. They didn't start that "phone home" issue until they came out with Poser Pro 2014 Game Dev. That, and Poser 11/Poser Pro 11 are the only versions that have to "phone home", as it were.

 

[Hornet3d]

I wonder what time tomorrow it'll be available, or is that any time tomorrow after 12:00am Central Time.

Now I am really confused. Over on the Rendo Poser Tech forum there is a thread, updated today, that states that 'we all will have to install the new BondWare 11.2.nnn version. That server is ONLINE and apparently working a treat!'. The Poser.exe install file that I downloaded is Poser 11.2.271 so if the quote is correct this will avoid the problem when the SMS servers are shut down.

I tried the the install and it did not ask for the earlier version to be uninstalled but the release notes states with the Poser.exe states the old version must be uninstalled so, based on the fact I was going to loose it anyway, I deleted Poser 11.1 via the control panel. I choose use existing preferences and all went well. It did not ask for my serial number but it did wipe out all my third party addons and Le Femme exists in the Poser 11 Content .

I guess I might just as well leave it at version 11.2.217 for the time being and see if it fails notification in a few days time, unless someone downloads something different tomorrow.

It doesn't really matter of course but if this version keeps Poser running when SMS shuts down their servers I would be one less person trying to download it tomorrow.

 

[Rae134]

From the email I got for those that are interested in what the updates are: What to expect from Poser Pro 11.2 The Poser Pro 11.2 update will be released Thursday morning, Sept. 19 for some versions above Poser 10. Poser Pro 11.2 is a "bridge" release, which means it does not contain epic new features, but rather bridges differences between the old Smith Micro version and the new Bondware version of Poser. But the main reason for the update is the depreciation of Smith Micro's licensing system and implementation of Bondware's licensing management for some versions above Poser 10 (Poser 2014 Game Dev, Poser 11, and Poser Pro 11). This update will convert your Poser to Poser Pro 11.2 at no additional cost. If you have Poser 10 or below you do not have to update. Upgrades are $99 and can be found at PoserSoftware.com/store. Main Changes • Streamlined menus (We removed broken links and added links to the official forums, support, and the Renderosity community.) • Rebranded from Smith Micro to Bondware • New licensing management • New Help PDFs • Streamlined internal and external content search (Now you can easily search Renderosity for new content from within the program.) • Refactored minimum basic runtime to improve performance (We reduced folder depth and removed redundant files.) • 21-day free trial feature added • Restored HDRI rendering option for Firefly • Control props for Figure grouped under Props listing • La Femme is the new default figure • 8+ gigs of new content, including Superfly lights by Blackhearted; HiveWire3D's Dawn, Dusk and Baby Luna figures; HiveWire3D's Gorilla for Dusk; and HiveWire3D's Horse; and the original toon figure Maisie • In total, there is more than 15 gigs of additional content, which includes legacy content, like older figures, clothing and other assets that were previously included with Poser. Bug fixes • With importing some Python scripts • Removed broken height and gen menus • Streamlined the installer • Removed license/registration requirement on Queue Manager (for network rendering on other computers) • Fixed issues with figures with animated origins affecting toon characters. Read More >>

How to download the update The 11.2 update must be downloaded from PoserSoftware.com/downloads. Download either the Mac or Windows version and update. You will be your serial number to complete the update process. And don't forget to download your new assets by clicking on"Download Additional Content Files (License required)" This will also require entering your serial number.

 

[Hornet3d]

From what I've read on the Renderosity forums, your version of Poser Pro 2014 is fine. They didn't start that "phone home" issue until they came out with Poser Pro 2014 Game Dev. That, and Poser 11/Poser Pro 11 are the only versions that have to "phone home", as it were.

That is correct but I think some of the confusion is caused by the wording in the "Why you should update to Poser 11.2" which states "But the main reason for the update is the depreciation of Smith Micro's licensing system and implementation of Bondware's licensing management for versions above Poser 10 (Poser 2014 Game Dev, Poser 11, and Poser Pro 11)" It may be nit picking but I can see why some would see Poser 2014 to be above Poser 10 and it would be of great concern to those running Poser 2014.

Again I am not complaining but if there are some users desperately trying to download Poser on 19th when they don't need to so urgently it is only going to increase the demand on the server.

 

[Rae134]

For those that have 11.2.XXX installed, you might have somehow got access to the early adopter files which have been updated on a regular basis so it might not be the final one that gets released. But it should be enough that you might not need to update straight away (since it says Bondware down the bottom its not linking to SM anymore so shouldn't "phone home" to SM).

 

[Glitterati3D]

For those that have 11.2.XXX installed, you might have somehow got access to the early adopter files which have been updated on a regular basis so it might not be the final one that gets released. But it should be enough that you might not need to update straight away (since it says Bondware down the bottom its not linking to SM anymore so shouldn't "phone home" to SM).

Exactly, Rae. I don't even have the final version yet, so I doubt anyone else was lucky enough to get it already. Though Hornet sounds like he might have, woooooot!

At any rate, I know PP11 is not going to go offline on my computer because I have the daily builds installed and have some form of 11.2 on the system right now. I can wait for customers who really need to get those files and grab them when things settle down a bit.

 

[Hornet3d]

For those that have 11.2.XXX installed, you might have somehow got access to the early adopter files which have been updated on a regular basis so it might not be the final one that gets released. But it should be enough that you might not need to update straight away (since it says Bondware down the bottom its not linking to SM anymore so shouldn't "phone home" to SM).

That is nice to hear, I got the download from the Poser - 3D Rendering & Animation Software and the files was dated 09 18 2019 -@12.09PM so I guess it is fairly close to the final release. I seem to have everything listed earlier other than the Hivewire content but that is not an issue as I have pretty well all of that already. The activation screen certainly refers to Bondware and not SM and does the 'about Poser' screen. I have been reading the Poser reference manual, which the splash says is Poser 11.1, but just below that it lists the Poser 11.2 development team so it is updated. There is a very well written and detailed section covering activation/deactivation and the automatic procedure and the manual method if the Poser computer is not connected to the network. Highly detailed, so well done Rendo.

 

[Hornet3d]

Exactly, Rae. I don't even have the final version yet, so I doubt anyone else was lucky enough to get it already. Though Hornet sounds like he might have, woooooot!

At any rate, I know PP11 is not going to go offline on my computer because I have the daily builds installed and have some form of 11.2 on the system right now. I can wait for customers who really need to get those files and grab them when things settle down a bit.

I don't think I have the final version, I downloaded it from the website stated above and I believe the early adopters went elsewhere for their downloads. So far I am more than happy with how it went and all the references are to Bondware so I have a 50/50 chance it will survive the SM server shut down. On the basis of 'if it ain't broke don't try to fix it' I will leave others to pick up the files tomorrow and worry about the downloads if my version does deactivate at some point.

 

[eclark1894]

They finally removed the height menu from Poser. Cool! Been asking for that for forever.

 

[Alisa]

If there are no HiveWire Figures/Products included, it is not the final version..

 

[Hornet3d]

If there are no HiveWire Figures/Products included, it is not the final version..

Yep, I thought that was the case.

 

[Hornet3d]

Bondware seem to have done a job on the new content. Other than the primitives I don't think I ever used the content that came with Poser but doing a quick scan of the version of Poser 11.2 that I have there is loads there that I am going to be using. Early days yet but the signs are that this is going to be a good home for Poser.

 

[RobZhena]

When I downloaded the early adopters version, I renamed by Poser 11 folder Poser 11.1. I then ran the installer and got a clean install. The Mac installer never mentions uninstalling. I've installed each build right on top of the last, with no issues. I have chosen to redo my prefernces each time, because we identified a needed fix to the Mac prefs, which happened. So I was never certain that there were not more changes to the prefs.

I converted my 11.1 license to permanent at the SM web site. It still runs fine. There are issues that Rendo is trying to resolve with some D3D python scripts (the creator being deceased and unable to update them), so I plan to keep 11.1 running for when I need this scripts, like DSON Loader. Hopefully, that won't be forever.

I hope this helps. Cheers.

 

[Ken1171]

I cannot be sure, but I bet any 11.2.xxx version will be safe from the SMS servers shutdown. No matter whatever else has changed, this is the most important thing. I am saying this based on the info that Rendo has postponed the release from the 16th to the 19th purely because of the HW deal to include the figures with the bundled contents. Chances are the software changes are already in place.

 

[Miss B]

I converted my 11.1 license to permanent at the SM web site. It still runs fine. There are issues that Rendo is trying to resolve with some D3D python scripts (the creator being deceased and unable to update them), so I plan to keep 11.1 running for when I need this scripts, like DSON Loader. Hopefully, that won't be forever.

Will you be able to do that Rob? The reason I ask is, usually you can have more than one "version" of software installed, such as PP11 and PP12, but in this case, it's just an update of PP11, not a brand new version like PP12. I'm not sure you'll be able to keep PP11.1, unless you have it on a separate computer from the one where you'll be installing PP11.2. Then you might be able to do so.

 

[Ken1171]

I have just installed 11.2 and it was NOTHING like I expected.

1. It didn't ask me to uninstall Poser.
2. The default option is to backup my preferences, and I've changed it to "use existing preferences".
3. I have installed 11.2 on top of 11.1, which makes sense, since it's just an update - not a new version.
4. All of my existing scripts and customizations were preserved, to include my preferred launch state, which is very customized.
5. It didn't even ask me for my serial number. It already knows what it is, so it just called home and validated it on the Rendo servers.

It was as easy as pie. No need to uninstall anything. It was just like any other update I did from SMS. The only bummer was that it requires a reboot after installation, but that was all. I have launched it after reboot, and everything is just like it was before. My preferred launch state has no figure, and that was preserved (see #2 above), so LaFemme didn't show at launch. Poser 11.2 got me a note, though, claiming the official launch is tomorrow. I think the only difference will be on the bundled content.

My only question now is what to do with Poser Pro 2014 Game Dev, since this update only affects Poser 11.