Bondware Inc., parent company of Poser Software and Renderosity Digital Art Community, announced Wednesday, Sept. 16 the pricing structure for the release of Poser 12.

Full versions of Poser 12 will be offered for $249 and upgrades from Poser 11 will be $129 when the new version is released in the late fall.

"We have adjusted the price so all users can get the great features that were only available in Poser Pro at a lower price," said Tommy Lemon, vice president, Bondware Inc. "We also want to reward our long-time users by offering a deal to upgrade from Poser 11."

With the new lower pricing model, even users who upgrade from an earlier version to Poser 11 and then to Poser 12 will end up paying less total for the program than buying a full version, Lemon explained.

Because of the updates to Poser 11 and resources needed to develop upgrades from other previous versions of the software, there will be no upgrade path to Poser 12 from any other previous version. Poser 11 will no longer be available for purchase after the release of Poser 12, Lemon said.

"There's a complexity in upgrades from the other versions," Lemon explained. "Simply it takes more resources and programming to update from an earlier version."

To help those who haven't upgraded to Poser 11, updates will be available at a 10% off discount through the Renderosity marketplace through Wednesday, Sept. 23. The full version of Poser 11 is also discounted at 40% off.

"We want to give our long-time creators an opportunity to save on upgrading to the new version," Lemon said.

If you still haven't updated to Poser 11, you can do so at PoserSoftware.com or Renderosity.com. Or you can upgrade a previous version at Renderosity. 

What's planned for Poser 12?

As addressed in a previous post, Poser 12 represents the next step in the revitalization of the Poser software brand.

Poser 12 will update several core technologies that have evolved significantly over the five years since the last major Poser release. This includes the Cycles (Superfly) render engine and the Python embedded scripting language. New features will include Post Render Effects to speed or embellish renders for single frame or animation renders; Integrated Download Manager for Included Content; Improved Download Manager for Purchased Content; Material Room overhaul with material assignment power tools; and more.

The new version will drop "Pro" from the title and simply be named Poser 12. 

Most of the new features are now complete and in beta testing. More detailed information about Poser 12 will be revealed as the release date approaches.

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