Major Problem! = Poser (Patreon)

So I have some very, very bad news. On Saturday, while working on Bim U, Chapter 21, Poser crashed on me. When I brought it back up to continue working, it prompted me to re-license my software.

The reason for this was that whole thing I mentioned where Bondware purchased Poser from Smithmicro. I risked not updating mine as I had a "permanent" license, but that bet just bit me in the ass. So I had to upgrade this weekend. I already had all of the files downloaded, so I didn't hesitate to run the new install.

It went very smooth. Basically no issues with the update itself, which is a big improvement compared to updates and new releases from Smithmicro. So Bondware had already done a better job in that regard.

However, I soon noticed some things had changed. This is normal with an update. Now the question was, just what was different and how much would it affect me. I needed to play with it for a day or two to see if it was going to be a problem.

Sadly, I now know that it is indeed a problem. A big problem! My rendering times are at least two to three times longer. So a render that would normally take 6 hours, is now taking 12 to 18. I don't have an exact time sorted out yet. It's just way, way longer. 

With render times that long, Poser is simply not usable for me to produce comics right now. 20 pages would take over 360 hours to render on my main machine. Now I do use multiple machines, but they are considerably slower than my main machine. Instead of rendering an extra image per day, they will be more like 3 extra images a week. 

So let's assume I get 3 renders from my server per week, and 2 renders from my crappy little helper computer. That's 5 renders, so my main machine only has to do 15. Well 15 renders times 18 hours per render is still 270 hours of rendering. Since there are only 168 hours in a week, you can see how this would be a serious issue.

So I am going to have to cancel all current comics for now. Bim U, Bimbo Nurses, the Halloween Comic, and even TBND 2. All current story lines and comics are permanently on pause, because there is literally no way for me to produce 20 pages a week right now in Poser.

Now all is not lost. You guys have paid for October's content already. I'm not going to just abandon you and be like, "Sorry, but this is out of my hands". I will see what I can do in Daz Studio. I will produce something for you so that your money isn't wasted. You will get content for October.

It just won't be the content I had planned, which I am very, very sorry for that!

I will be posting additional details and information regarding this situation in the days to come. I haven't given up yet. The situation may change. The future is mutable after all, and Bondware is patching fairly regularly.

So... I'm not sure what else to say right now. Honestly I feel really horrible about all of this. But there really isn't much I can do about it. I am doing everything I can though, so we'll just have to see how things develop.

Happy Monday?  :P