Poser sold to Rendo

[AllenArt]

I showed Jenn the thread here and told her people were wondering if they bought all versions of Poser and were they going to develop it. Here's what she replied back:




We purchased ALL versions of Poser. We are the only owners of any Poser Software going forward.

We are only going to broker Poser Pro 11 only and price that at the low price of Poser 11 so that EVERYONE can have full access to Poser 11 and Poser 11 Pro. So everyone can use the same great piece of software.

Jenn

I think that was a very smart move . One version to support and develop rather than multiple.

Laurie

 

[eclark1894]

Entering your Poser 11 licence number gives the following:
Updates Poser 11/Poser 11 Pro to the latest version.
Version 11.1.1.35510 available.

That's the version I'm currently using so no upgrade in that direction.

While the reply from Jenn Blake is of great interest and I am sure will be greeted with joy by many, myself included. However, that still does not address the original question which has been yet asked again over at Renderosity:

"If you have poser 11 can you also upgrade for a reduced price to poser 11 pro?"

To which Jenn Blake replied:

"The Poser Pro Upgrades have to entry points. Please check the products. Each has the previous version you can update from. All are good on all versions of Poser, you do not have to currently have PRO to upgrade to pro."

And checking (again) the upgrade page clearly states:
Poser Pro 11 Upgrade from Poser 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 or Poser Debut

To Upgrade to Poser 11 Pro you must currently own a serial number from another version of the Poser Software that is Poser 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 or Poser Debut. Please be sure you are currently licensed with a valid Poser Serial number that is listed here to complete install of Poser 11 Upgrade.

It is obvious that Poser 11 is notable by its absence. It is equally obvious that Jenn Blakes response to the above question is somewhat evasive when the product page is clearly stating that Poser 11 is not included in the upgrade. Mores the pity that no one at Renderosity is willing to give a straight answer to a simple question. Yes! The fact that dropping Poser 11 Pro's price which was always bordering on the realms of the ridiculous is most welcome. On the other hand, being excluded from taking advantage of the current upgrade price because of the Poser version you own is only going to lead to further alienation in an already much-reduced support base. I may be an optimist, but I had hoped that Renderosity's buyout would have lead to greater clarity and openness right from the start. Time to stick my head back in the sand methinks!

I've been reading it all over the place. Here it is again from Bondware:

"We are excited to be a part of the future of Poser and continue our support of the digital art community. We look at this as an opportunity to support the Poser community while we continue to encourage artists no matter the software. We hope this is something all parts of our community can get excited about," said Tim Choate, CEO Bondware Inc.

The acquisition is effective immediately.

"Poser animation software has had a long history with Smith Micro, and I am pleased to see it going to a long-term partner in Renderosity," said William W. Smith Jr., President and CEO of Smith Micro.

For a limited time, Poser Pro 11 will be offered at $199 USD and an upgrade to Poser Pro 11 will be $99 USD through Renderosity.com and Posersoftware.com.


In other words, it will cost $99 USD dollars to UPGRADE to Poser Pro 11 from ANY other version of Poser you currently have.

To BUY Poser Pro 11 it will cost you $199 USD dollars.

 

[Deleted member 325]

@Mythocentric again, I would not call Jen Blake's answer evasive just yet. There is clearly a breakdown in communication. It does not help this is the weekend now and likely there wont be an answer until Monday. Let us at least let some of the confusion and chaos be dealt with and not ad to it with speculation of nefarious intent just yet. If it later is revealed that owners of Poser 11 are out of luck on the upgrade all together, I will happily join your camp in calling it out as wrong. I have put in a direct email for clarification.

I will again urge Poser 11 users who want to upgrade to contact Renderosity Marketplace support and clearly explain the issue and how the upgrade system is not accepting the serial for Poser 11. Make sure they understand it is just Poser 11 and not 11 pro that you have (I feel this is part of the confusion as I have seen it in so many threads over the years since the software split into 2 versions).

 

[Miss B]

@Mythocentric again, I would not call Jen Blake's answer evasive just yet. There is clearly a breakdown in communication. It does not help this is the weekend now and likely there wont be an answer until Monday.

I'm sure there's a lot still to deal with. Even with the announcement that R'osity now owns Poser, that doesn't mean everything has been worked out completely. It might have been better to wait to make the announcement until everything was more completely settled, but they didn't, so let's wait and see.

I know, there are folks who are probably biting their nails for one reason or another, but I'm sure all will be made clear as soon they can do so.

 

[caisson]

If there is only one version of Poser now, and that version is the Pro version, why not try redownloading the full installer via the Download Manager? Surely that should be the Pro version? In other words, if you have Poser 11 then you already have the Pro version, as there is no other version. I know the download is a fair size, but worth a try??

 

[Hornet3d]

Well anyone who has been a member of the forum for any length of time will know I am not the most ardent of Rendo fans so I have to say this is not the most warming news to me. With that piece of information firmly nailed to the mast I will attempt to be open minded about this.

I will start with the positives, firstly I applaud the decision to only have one version of Poser and to try and encourage all the users to upgrade to that one. Clearly that should also include current Poser 11 owners so I hope they mange to address what may just be a glitch. They are also in a position to try and encourage some vendors back to support Poser, they have always had a vested interest that would make this a good move but now they have a bigger interest. The other plus is that the argument that SM is a software provider and not a content maker is a little less clear under this new ownership and may change the marketing strategy, time will tell.

There are however some negatives. I think it is safe to assume that this kills any idea of a new version of Poser being available for quite some time. This is not a criticism of Rendo more a statement of fact arising of the sale of Poser irrespective of who to. Like many other I would like to see Rendo recruit an team that understands Poser but that again takes time. My other fear is this will also be used to open up debate on the well worn paths of Poser supporting Genesis but again there is little Rendo can do on that.

Thinking this through, I will have to wait to see if this is good thing or not but I am open minded enough to concede that I may have to be break my self imposed ban on shopping at Rendo. What is also clear at this point is that it will be some time before the fog starts to clear and even longer before there is any real development. With that in mind I will watch this with great interest but will be more interested in the next big plus for Poser and that will be the release of Dawn 2.

 

[Glitterati3D]

If there is only one version of Poser now, and that version is the Pro version, why not try redownloading the full installer via the Download Manager? Surely that should be the Pro version? In other words, if you have Poser 11 then you already have the Pro version, as there is no other version. I know the download is a fair size, but worth a try??

The only thing that determined Pro vs. Not Pro in P11 was the serial number. I'm assuming your current serial number, plugged into the most current copy of P11 will open the Pro features just like it does for a Pro purchaser in the past.

I know this because I won P11 in a contest and then purchased an upgrade to PP11 separately. I only had to change the serial number to the Pro version in my already installed copy of P11 and all the Pro features appeared.

 

[Hornet3d]

My major concern with this, and again this is true for whoever purchased Poser is that the sort the deactivation feature out. Having working copies of Poser suddenly stop six or so months down the road would not be a good start to the ownership for anyone.

 

[Deleted member 325]

I was given the following link for upgrading from Poser 11 to Poser Pro 11.
Granted it does not list Poser 11 on that page, but I was instructed it should work. If it does not, let me know, and I will report it .
A much better option is to reach out to Jen Blake directly with the details so it can be addressed and fixed.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Are y'all thinking Poser 11 users should be allowed to "unlock" Poser Pro 11 without paying for an upgrade license? That wouldn't bother me, but I rather suspect that would cause some hard feelings from some who purchased Poser Pro 11.

Has anyone successfully upgraded to a Poser Pro 11 license from Poser 10 or below which was previously used to upgrade to Poser 11? That might work for people who weren't a first time buyer of Poser with Poser 11. But for those who only purchased Poser 11 and are unable to upgrade to the Poser Pro 11 license, Renderosity support may need to "work some magic" to help the order go through.

It wouldn't be all that much different from what Adobe did for me after my last hard drive failure a month or so ago. I purchased Photoshop CS5 Extended years ago as an upgrade, but have always had problems activating it because I'd lost the license for the version I upgraded from (The ONLY license I never recorded!). So I always had to call Adobe each time to get a one time use code to complete the activation. This time though, Adobe issued me a full version CS5 Extended license to replace my upgrade license instead of a one time use code.

 

[Deleted member 325]

Clarification:
On the link I just provided - do not click the button to go back to Renderosity. There is a bug on the Renderosity side preventing the serial from P11 from processing. Use the lower form to upgrade and pay through Paypal if you can.

 

[Glitterati3D]

Are y'all thinking Poser 11 users should be allowed to "unlock" Poser Pro 11 without paying for an upgrade license? That wouldn't bother me, but I rather suspect that would cause some hard feelings from some who purchased Poser Pro 11.

Good heavens, not ME! I'm saying go buy a Pro serial number. Then plug THAT in to your currently installed P11 and you'll have a Pro license.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

That's the problem though. Within intervention from Renderosity, those with only a Poser 11 license cannot upgrade to a Poser Pro 11 license.

Then of course, since Renderosity is probably swamped with support tickets (and it is the weekend), their response may not be all that quick.

Friday is never a good day for a change or announcing a change of any kind.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Jen has posted links for upgrading Poser 11 to Poser Pro 11, and a link for support if you run into a problem.

Poser at Renderosity on Renderosity.com

 

[Miss B]

Yes, she posted about that in one of the announcement threads on the forum, I think the OFFICIAL Poser subforum, not the Poser technical subforums. As soon as I read it, I went and bookmarked the link for submitting Support Tickets. I've never had a need to do so before, but you never know what the future holds.

 

[eclark1894]

You guys DO know that Poser 11 STANDARD IS Poser 11, right???? It's named in the third box... for $99.

 

[RobZhena]

This will all work out. One of my suggestions to SM was that standard version really had to have the copies morph from function so that users can make any clothing fit anything, more or less. Now you get the fitting and setup rooms, too! Rejoice, my friends. With a little work, you can convert anything (Genesis 3 or 8, for example) using an obj to Dawn or any other figure and copy its morphs!

 

[Satira Capriccio]

That it will. There were Poser Pro features missing in the standard versions I considered essential for everyone, not just content providers. If "pro" pricing matches what would have been "standard" pricing with the next versions, we're all winners.

 

[Mythocentric]

An update so far:

Kagi Ryu:

"If you have poser 11 can you also upgrade for a reduced price to poser 11 pro?"

To which Jenn Blake replied:

"The Poser Pro Upgrades have to entry points. Please check the products. Each has the previous version you can update from. All are good on all versions of Poser, you do not have to currently have PRO to upgrade to pro."



That was the original question. It was asked very early in the responses, and Jenn Blake’s reply and, yes it was evasive in as far as it did not address the fact that Poser 11 (Standard) was not included in the list as it should have been if her answer was to be accurate. That’s why her reply resulted in further queries which, I am sad to relate, went largely unanswered. So where is the 'speculation of nefarious intent' in that I might ask?

As you and others have pointed out, the relevant page has now been changed to include a link for upgrading Poser 11 (Standard). Unfortunately using that link and inputting my licence number results in me being informed that I do not qualify for an upgrade. Nor does it help much to be informed that using the lower link and paying by Paypal serve any purpose other than to further confuse the issue. Why? Because if that is the case that information should be put out by Renderosity in order for everyone to upgrade. Better yet is for Renderosity to address and correct that issue without waiting for the matter to reach this stage of confusion. I can understand the situation to some degree, if as has been suggested, SmithMicro made their announcement before Renderosity was ready, but surely it is not beyond a company like Renderosity to take that in its stride and deal with it ‘on the fly’ so to speak? I have put in a support ticket asking for this problem to be dealt with, but how long that will take, Heaven only knows. The fact remains that it should not have happened in the first place, or at least, dealt with without us having to repeatedly raise the issue and be given inadequate information at best. I must admit, I do sympathise with Jenn Blake in some ways but the fact remains that Renderosity has caused needless confusion over what is, after all, a very simple matter. While I do and will continue to support Poser to the best of my ability I honestly cannot admire the way in which Renderosity have dealt with their introduction. I can only hope that it does not cause further grief to an already sadly-depleted support base. We can only wait and see!

 

[carmen indorato]

I had purchases at CP and wonder when they closed and transferred to Rendo were those purchase histories also moved to Renderosity.
I imagine it is too much to wish for!?