Muvizu

18/04/2017 17:13:17

Dreeko
Posts: 1257

Today is a sad sad day.

Good luck everyone. I hope you find something soon

Thanks for the opportunities, and the memories.

Cheers
D
edited by Dreeko on 18/04/2017
edited by Dreeko on 21/04/2017

18/04/2017 18:02:13

bigwally
Posts: 399

Boy, this is a strange, cryptic message. Hello Dreeko, what's up?

19/04/2017 19:31:27

PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738

if anybody from Digimania is monitoring the forum... officially or unofficially.... it might be good to offer some concrete information now before rumour and sensational exaggeration run amok (too late!)
edited by PatMarrNC on 19/04/2017

19/04/2017 19:49:36

ukBerty
Posts: 975

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

19/04/2017 20:11:24

clayster2012
Posts: 645

Its only the end if you want it to be,but we can keep it alive!

19/04/2017 20:59:27

lillilulli
Posts: 6

ok now I have undestood everything!
The digimania has collapsed!
Well, it's time to contact paypal
thabk you to everybody rather than these digimaniac people!
They do not have even the decency to tell the truth to their customer!
What a depressing company!
Bleah! I feel womiting right now.
Let's catch TooVidio, better!
Bye to all

Lilli

19/04/2017 22:42:45

klevinbeer81
Posts: 3

Hi Lilli, im in the same situation. how do you know the company collapsed?? Did they finally get in contact or did you read this somewhere?? If anyone has any info please share?

lillilulli wrote:

ok now I have undestood everything!
The digimania has collapsed!
Well, it's time to contact paypal
thabk you to everybody rather than these digimaniac people!
They do not have even the decency to tell the truth to their customer!
What a depressing company!
Bleah! I feel womiting right now.
Let's catch TooVidio, better!
Bye to all

Lilli

20/04/2017 00:30:28

Rodrisilva
Posts: 113

If the end is true I have to say this is really a bad day.
Worst than a rumor is to stay frozen in this uncertainty without an answer from those who must show respect and protect this community.
However, we live in a time where the bombs explode without warning.
Hope this will not be true... silence tells me something else !

If this is the end let me greet all who in this forum and outside of it, have done beautiful things. It was a pleasure to share these moments with all of you. Forgive me if at any time I was not worthy enough of your trust.

Rodrisilva

20/04/2017 00:45:43

richinri
Posts: 13

All I know is SmithMicro is offering a sale this week on Voxelise and they are not known to sell products going out of development.

20/04/2017 00:50:48

richinri
Posts: 13

I got this on March 6th

Jamie Hill (Digimania Ltd)
6 Mar, 14:17 WET

Hi Richard,
We are still very much active. You can check our release history here: http://muvizu.com/Wiki/wiki/50/
I don't have any details on the next update to Muvizu but we tend to release updates 2 or 3 times a year.
If you have any further questions, please let me know.
Regards,
Jamie.
edited by richinri on 20/04/2017

20/04/2017 02:29:13

bigwally
Posts: 399

richinri wrote:

I got this on March 6th

Yes, but it's now April 19th.

20/04/2017 12:50:58

lillilulli
Posts: 6

Hi guys,
see, whether the failure of digimaniac is true or not, in both cases they sucks:
If the company has collapsed, they suck because they are giving unnecessary troubles to new customers as well as old ones by not telling the truth and not informing anybody of the tragic event.

On the other hand, if the company is still working, well, in this case they suck even more, because now it's 20th of april and since the 8th of april I am not able to use my muvizu, after purchasing a regula key, so they have read all emails of mine, they have merged all of them into a single numebr ( this is the proof that they are reading my emails, unless there is an authomatic machine who does the job).
and lo, they are not at all unswering to me, neither providing me with any possible solution.

So, guys, it has been a pleasure chatting with all of you, but I am out!
Enough is enough!
This digimaniac sucks in both ways, so there is no menaning for anybody with a little brain out there to use this software managed by crappy people!
keeping on writing them and waiting for a never coming help further more will remove my dignity as a human being!
Go to hell Digimaniac people!
Go to hell!

Farewell!

20/04/2017 13:21:10

sgnrmedia
Posts: 36

bigwally wrote:

richinri wrote:

I got this on March 6th

Yes, but it's now April 19th.

Well, I know that the Muvizu team were alive and well and active up until at least a week ago when they took down one of my videos and sent me a message explaining why my video and thread were removed from the forums.

Is anyone on the forums from the general area where Muvizu is headquartered? I know that the Easter holiday just came and went and was wondering if it might be usual for people to take an extended holiday following it.

20/04/2017 13:30:54

lillilulli
Posts: 6

No, dude, what extended holidays?!
They are gone!
There is no reply at all!
they have not even reply to Paypal!
Why wasting our time here!
better to get out of this mess up and make a new life with another software. There are plenty out there:
iClone
Cinema 4D
Go!Animate
Source Filmmaker
Maya/3D Max
Moviestorm
Blender
ToonBoom
Modo
Powtoon
Toonvidio
crazytalk

20/04/2017 14:26:47

richinri
Posts: 13

As stated in a previous message, SmithMicro that recently did a promo sale on Muvizu is doing one this week on Voxelise. I questioned them regarding these messages and received this today:

John replied:

Thank you for contacting Support. I do not have any information that they are going out of business. This company is digimania.
http://digimania.com/

John Csaky | Customer/Tech Support
Smith Micro Software, Inc. | www.smithmicro.com

20/04/2017 15:11:09

clayster2012
Posts: 645

richinri wrote:

As stated in a previous message, SmithMicro that recently did a promo sale on Muvizu is doing one this week on Voxelise. I questioned them regarding these messages and received this today:

John replied:

Thank you for contacting Support. I do not have any information that they are going out of business. This company is digimania.
http://digimania.com/

John Csaky | Customer/Tech Support
Smith Micro Software, Inc. | www.smithmicro.com

I also got a reply from muvizu support saying that moderation on the store will be done when they can and that was a few days ago, maybe they have some kind of events with the company going on, or again this could be their vacation season and they or short staff!
edited by clayster2012 on 20/04/2017

20/04/2017 15:22:20

lillilulli
Posts: 6

Guys, maybe you don't want to understand and keep ion justifying these people:
vacation or not, prolonged holidays or not...IF YOU BUY A SOFTWARE AND GET AN EMPTY BOX IS A CHEATING!
There is no holiday enough to justify their silence.
I have a non working software since the day I have purchase it and nobody is gonna reply me from the team...Ah!Ah!Ah! What team?
There is only one crappy person out there.If they close is far better!
I donno why you keep on justifying these cheaters!
Ah, now I know...because your sfoftware is working!
well, pout yourself in my shoes with a non working exe and then let me know if you still are able to justify weeks of silence altogether!
I have been left all alone. Eevn paypèal is giving me fully reason. They have verified all the entire story and I am right 100%!

20/04/2017 23:38:59

primaveranz
Posts: 520

I'd try ringing them on 00 44 141 582 0600 (in the UK) and get them to ring you back.

21/04/2017 08:26:51

richinri
Posts: 13

lillilulli wrote:

Guys, maybe you don't want to understand and keep ion justifying these people:
vacation or not, prolonged holidays or not...IF YOU BUY A SOFTWARE AND GET AN EMPTY BOX IS A CHEATING!
There is no holiday enough to justify their silence....

I don't think anyone is being insensitive to your complaint. It is valid and most of us have experienced the same frustration from one company or another at some point.
edited by richinri on 21/04/2017

21/04/2017 08:32:39

richinri
Posts: 13

I might add I do wish Muvizu would post something on this thread to alleviate anxieties.

21/04/2017 10:08:19

lillilulli
Posts: 6

Oh my Go guys,
you are being so kind with me!
If only I could get a third of attention that you are gicing me from the muvizu team, it would have been the best customer suport ever...
instead I have been warned to no to post anything anymore on this chat, can you immagine?
In other words, I have been asked to shut up.
Here is the message from this MrDrWho13 (I donno who this guy is, whether a memeber of the team or a simple user):

QUOTE: "...The future of Muvizu is unclear at the moment, so I urge you to stop whining in the community forum about your case. We can't help. I hope PayPal can give you a refund (they tend to be good about those things)
Doc"

Ah, thanks to the guy who is trying to make being contacted by phone...it's very kind of you, dear friend, but at the moment I am in India, so I don't think they will call me. Anyway thanks for trying helping me!
I appreciated a lot!

21/04/2017 10:41:00

MrDrWho13
Posts: 2220

@lillilulli I would like to apologise for the aggressive tone of that message. That certainly wasn't what I was going for. I wasn't asking you to "shut up", although I don't think spamming the chat every day with the exact same information could do much to help.
The issue you are having on your computer doesn't seem to be something anyone in the community can fix. The support team are gone for now (see my next message). However, I would like to repeat the troubleshooting steps I have sent you over the last few days because I haven't heard the result yet.

Have you tried using the previous version? https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-_4UVPr59ACXzJVWVNJNzhESk0
Have you tried installing and activating Muvizu on another computer?

edited by MrDrWho13 on 21/04/2017

21/04/2017 10:44:22

MrDrWho13
Posts: 2220

I've left it several days to see if there would be any form of official announcement, but nothing has turned up as of yet. There seems to be some conflicting information in this thread and I'd rather make sure the rumours were based on reality rather than pulled out of the air.

So here's my unofficial announcement:
Digimania, the company behind Muvizu, went into administration a few days ago. It was only a matter of time before this would happen - Muvizu seems to have been coasting for a number of years now. This is not the definitive end of Muvizu, but the future is less clear than before.
Myself and a few other users have tested out if Muvizu will still work should these servers go down, and it would appear that once activated, Muvizu will continue to work offline at any point (although the licence is tied to you MAC address so you can't move it to another PC). However, it is still possible that whoever is currently in control will execute some sort of kill command on the licences. (I very much doubt this)

So feel free to continue using Muvizu. If you have been having trouble with the latest version, you may want to try the previous version: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-_4UVPr59ACXzJVWVNJNzhESk0
While the store remains online, you should still be able to buy licences. However, if you activate your licence too many times, you won't be able to contact support after getting error W2.

In my opinion, the best case scenario would be another company taking over responsibility for Muvizu, or the entire project going open-source. I have had no hints from anyone involved of which is most likely so it appears to all be up in the air at the moment.

If this truely is the end, then I would like to thank everyone involved with Muvizu. All the staff and forum members have been helpful and friendly throughout the years and I wish you all the best.

21/04/2017 11:07:22

Brucik
Posts: 12

Wow that's really sad news indeed. So who does one contact to buy the software? I know a couple of Russian companies that could do a great job with it.

21/04/2017 19:21:38

Ammostro
Posts: 42

If it's really the end, is there another software that is about the same as muvizu. For the same price, not a couple of hundred.
If not, we stay at Muvizu of course.

21/04/2017 20:00:23

clayster2012
Posts: 645

I would keep using muvizu until we get a final word, we haven't really got any official word from digimania yet so lets keep going as we always have and see what happens, but if something better comes along then I would say go for it!
edited by clayster2012 on 21/04/2017

21/04/2017 20:36:41

Ammostro
Posts: 42

I knew there was something wrong. Posted last week some set's ans movies, and they aren't approved. Not normal.

Hoping at good news.

21/04/2017 22:23:25

PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738

Ammostro wrote:

If it's really the end, is there another software that is about the same as muvizu. For the same price, not a couple of hundred.
If not, we stay at Muvizu of course.

as long as the program still works and it meets your needs.. why change at all?

21/04/2017 22:43:39

Dreeko
Posts: 1257

Yeah, it's true.

I had been asked to hold off on confirming that Digimania has indeed gone into administration until today's working day was over. So in the absence of an official statement, this is as close as it gets -

So what happens now?

Can Muvizu still be purchased?
If so can it be activated?
How long will it work for?
What happens to the payments that uploaders are due from store purchases?
etc., etc.

No one knows yet. Time will tell

My advice is BUY NOTHING! Without an official statement about the present situation nothing is guaranteed to work in my opinion.

But lets stop thinking about Muvizu's demise for a minute and how we personally are affected by the possibility of our favourite toy breaking on us but instead lets take another look at the image above and realise that there are people with families and responsibilities who have lost their jobs this week. Lets show a bit more sympathy to them. None of this is their fault

D

21/04/2017 23:17:37

Rodrisilva
Posts: 113

Dreeko wrote:

Yeah, it's true.

...
But lets stop thinking about Muvizu's demise for a minute and how we personally are affected by the possibility of our favourite toy breaking on us but instead lets take another look at the image above and realise that there are people with families and responsibilities who have lost their jobs this week. Lets show a bit more sympathy to them. None of this is their fault

D

I agree with you
There are people suffering right now.
For me, it is not a question of selfishness . I understand that the situation is tragic enough to not play with it.
I wish none of this had happened. We would all be happy.
The curious thing about it, whatever they say, there is no substitute for Muvizu. With all his imperfections, he is perfect.
Characters have life and substance.
Do not talk to me about alternatives like Iclone and their artificial humanoids empty of expression and where I could not find the passion that Muvizu has in itself.
Muvizu is unique and is about to die ...

It is sad.. not only for being at the threshold of Muvizu loss but above all for losing the companions of this forum.
edited by Rodrisilva on 21/04/2017

21/04/2017 23:56:57

PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738

thanks for the update Dreeko.

22/04/2017 00:57:36

clayster2012
Posts: 645

Rodrisilva wrote:

Dreeko wrote:

Yeah, it's true.

...
But lets stop thinking about Muvizu's demise for a minute and how we personally are affected by the possibility of our favourite toy breaking on us but instead lets take another look at the image above and realise that there are people with families and responsibilities who have lost their jobs this week. Lets show a bit more sympathy to them. None of this is their fault

D

I agree with you
There are people suffering right now.
For me, it is not a question of selfishness . I understand that the situation is tragic enough to not play with it.
I wish none of this had happened. We would all be happy.
The curious thing about it, whatever they say, there is no substitute for Muvizu. With all his imperfections, he is perfect.
Characters have life and substance.
Do not talk to me about alternatives like Iclone and their artificial humanoids empty of expression and where I could not find the passion that Muvizu has in itself.
Muvizu is unique and is about to die ...

It is sad.. not only for being at the threshold of Muvizu loss but above all for losing the companions of this forum.
edited by Rodrisilva on 21/04/2017

I agree Rodrisilva, my feelings exactly!

22/04/2017 02:51:50

richinri
Posts: 13

I just got Muvizu very recently and, having worked with several other programs, could easily see how unique it is, even with all it's warts and workarounds. I am VERY disappointed and hope some good comes out of this. I was looking forward to working with it and, given the rapid pace of technology, I am hesitant to work with programs that suddenly stop working because the technology moved past the program's last version. Either way, I am waiting to see how it all pans out.

22/04/2017 07:45:26

ikes
Posts: 282

It's very sad for the employees of digimania and muvizu. You guys made a program for $30,- that stood way above all the expensive other animation progs out there. I've searched for muvizu alternatives and there simply aren't any that can put together an animation that easy and fast!

Thank you very much for all the work you did, guys. May you find another job soon where you can use all your skills.

If this website go's down... I'm very proud to have been a part of this great community and I've been here almost daily. It's been very nice to have "known" you all.

I hope we will find another place to show our creations to eachother.

Good luck to all!!

-Ikes-

22/04/2017 08:18:04

Ammostro
Posts: 42

lillilulli wrote:

No, dude, what extended holidays?!
They are gone!
There is no reply at all!
they have not even reply to Paypal!
Why wasting our time here!
better to get out of this mess up and make a new life with another software. There are plenty out there:
iClone
Cinema 4D
Go!Animate
Source Filmmaker
Maya/3D Max
Moviestorm
Blender
ToonBoom
Modo
Powtoon
Toonvidio
crazytalk

First and foremost, I hope that muvizu can continue to exist. I'm sure that if the company is taken over, people with that knowledge can definitely get back to work. I hope so for them. If not, this people can find other work, undoubtedly.

secundo: I have looked at the list that's published here.

There is no program as Muvizu. The only one I would buy is moviestorm. But thats no comic - cartoon. And expensive.

22/04/2017 09:40:05

klevinbeer81
Posts: 3

Hi guys very sorry to hear this news, i feel for all involved.

In regards to users, perhaps we could set up a facebook group to stay in contact just in case the site goes down? i have many questions still in regards to how the program works and i count on the forum for advice. Would anyone be interested in a facebook group maybe?

In regards to the program still working, the program still works when we are not connected to the internet i believe so the only way we would would not be able to use it is if some kind of killswitch was sent out (i doubt this would happen though, or am i wrong?).

Just a thought but if we disconnect the program from getting updates (were not going to get any now anyway) and connecting itself to the internet would this stop any kind of kill command?

22/04/2017 12:21:47

Ammostro
Posts: 42

A facebookgroup where we can post our clips, sets, idea's,.. . Maybe a good idea. So we can stay in touch.

I also hope that if the plug is pulled out, the program will continue to work.

22/04/2017 13:30:14

PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738

Ammostro wrote:

A facebookgroup where we can post our clips, sets, idea's,.. . Maybe a good idea. So we can stay in touch.

There is already a FB page dedicated to Muvizu... ZUCHAT
https://www.facebook.com/groups/zuchat/

Unfortunately, FB doesn't offer a way to trade sets. I think a yahoo group would be a good idea, since they have an area for file storage

I also hope that if the plug is pulled out, the program will continue to work.

I hesitate to make any claims because so much is still not known... but a number of people have tested to see what would happen if the server goes down, and we feel pretty sure that Muvizu will continue to work as long as you run it on the computer where it was originally licensed.

The problem is that if/when your computer fails, you won't be able to reinstall on another computer. So if your computer is fairly new, you probably have a long time left to use Muvizu. Hopefully in that period of time, new options may arise. Put my name on the list of people who hopes that the administrators allow it to go open source, or that a buyer emerges.

-----------------------------
edited by PatMarrNC on 22/04/2017

22/04/2017 13:34:41

MrDrWho13
Posts: 2220

Pat did you just talk about Yahoo in 2017?

Facebook does allow you to upload files to your posts, so sharing sets and objects should be fine.

However, the facebook group doesn't have any method of sorting posts, so is not an exact replacement for the forum.
edited by MrDrWho13 on 22/04/2017

22/04/2017 14:46:00

clayster2012
Posts: 645

Theres a lot of free forums out there,maybe that would be a good option!

22/04/2017 14:52:49

ritsmer
Posts: 110

Well - 'In Administration' is not necessarily equal to a total 'Insolvency' close-and-forget.

And - as we can read in the letter to the employees: ...'there are a small number of interested parties for certain parts of the business'.

The management of Digimania surely will have tried to contact possibly interested companies already - but often there are so many factors in such a transfer of assets that it is only doable in combination with a close down of (some parts) of the company - which also probably will bring down the price tag of the assets.

If one considers the facts then it is quite conceivable that there might be companies wanting to continue the great work already invested in the development of Muvizu platform.

So let us hope the best.

22/04/2017 15:20:52

roroduck
Posts: 28

ritsmer wrote:

Well - 'In Administration' is not necessarily equal to a total 'Insolvency' close-and-forget.

And - as we can read in the letter to the employees: ...'there are a small number of interested parties for certain parts of the business'.

The management of Digimania surely will have tried to contact possibly interested companies already - but often there are so many factors in such a transfer of assets that it is only doable in combination with a close down of (some parts) of the company - which also probably will bring down the price tag of the assets.

If one considers the facts then it is quite conceivable that there might be companies wanting to continue the great work already invested in the development of Muvizu platform.

So let us hope the best.

I can only echo everyone's thoughts - I hope and believe the staff will end up OK from this - we users are also a resilient bunch so - we'll figure out something - I like all the suggestions I've seen so far

22/04/2017 19:17:02

Dreeko
Posts: 1257

Hello,

This is from an anonymous developer who has kindly decided to reply to the questions on this thread -

"What happened?"

Digimania went into administration on the 18th of April. Everyone was made redundant on that day and sent home. We'd heard a few days before that it was going to happen and we'd managed to remove our personal possessions. We were told not to release the information though, for legal reasons.

"Is everyone okay?"

We've been told we won't be paid for April, we have to claim it back from the government and it will take around 6 to 8 weeks. It also won't be the full amount we're owed. In the meantime, everyone has bills to pay and families to feed.

"Why was nothing announced?"

Sorry. I hate to say it but it's not our job to any more. We're busy panicking about mortgages and rent, and writing CVs. But the real reason is that the administrators were supposed to take care of it and we didn't want to interfere or step on their toes. Obviously that hasn't happened and I can only apologise on their behalf. I don't know their reasons, but I know they've been busy dealing with what they probaby see as more important things, such as looking for buyers and making sure everything is accounted for.

"Can Muvizu still be purchased?"

I believe so, yes. But it's up to you to decide if you want to since there will be no support.

"Can it be activated? Will my existing Muvizu still work?

An activated Muvizu will keep working indefinitely, unless your MAC address changes. It can currently be activated, but I don't know for how long. Assuming there is no buyer, the administrators will sooner or later turn off the server, or at least the company who runs it will realise they're not getting paid and turn it off themselves. At that point, the activation process won't work. So make sure you have it installed on any PCs you're likely to ever need it on. Although the licence says you can only use it on two PCs, it will only stop activating once you've had ten activations.

"What happens to payments from uploaders?"

I don't know. I believe any money flowing into Digimania is ending up in a big pot that will be used to pay the administrators fee, and anything remaining will go towards the people it owes money to.

"What will happen with the forum?"

Unknown, but I suspect it will be turned off in the near future if there is no buyer.

"Will someone buy it and develop it further?"

Again, unknown. I haven't heard anything.

"I'm getting an E2 error since the 8th of April and everyone's ignoring me!"

An E2 error when activating means that Muvizu is having a problem writing the licence file to the hard drive. This can happen on some PCs because Windows is over-protective of certain folders and you need the right permissions. A simple Google brought up this response that will likely fix the problem without any tears:
https://www.muvizu.com/Wiki/wiki/134/troubleshooting-e2-error-when-upgrading-to-play
edited by Dreeko on 22/04/2017

22/04/2017 19:45:39

Tangledbliss
Posts: 66

Thanks for that info Dreeko, and thanks to all Muvizu for a lovely accessable program. Completely free for a long time and afterwards still very cheap. It must 7 years or so I have been using it. It never quite got all the full range of bells and whistles of those big flashy expensive programs, but it has a charm and humour that outshines any one them. Perfect for humour but when you look at the movies of Rodrisilva real poignancy. A bunch of us over on zuchat are keeping our fingers crossed that it might be taken over and kept intact and even developed.
Come and join us https://www.facebook.com/groups/zuchat/

Geoff Clarkson (Tangledbliss)

22/04/2017 20:25:01

MrDrWho13
Posts: 2220

Thank you very much to the anonymous dev who came forward and answered our burning questions with definitive answers (And thanks Dreeko for facilitating this).

I very much hope that the former staff manage to find alternative jobs as quickly as possible. Everyone I've spoken to since first playing around with Muvizu 7 years ago has been enthusiastic and always happy to help.

I'll be sticking around on Zuchat if the forum disappears.

22/04/2017 20:41:00

klevinbeer81
Posts: 3

Thank you Dreeko for posting that info. I hope all the muvizu staff find new jobs soon.

22/04/2017 20:45:31

richinri
Posts: 13

PatMarrNC wrote:

Ammostro wrote:

A facebookgroup where we can post our clips, sets, idea's,.. . Maybe a good idea. So we can stay in touch.

There is already a FB page dedicated to Muvizu... ZUCHAT
https://www.facebook.com/groups/zuchat/

Unfortunately, FB doesn't offer a way to trade sets. I think a yahoo group would be a good idea, since they have an area for file storage

I also hope that if the plug is pulled out, the program will continue to work.

I hesitate to make any claims because so much is still not known... but a number of people have tested to see what would happen if the server goes down, and we feel pretty sure that Muvizu will continue to work as long as you run it on the computer where it was originally licensed.

The problem is that if/when your computer fails, you won't be able to reinstall on another computer. So if your computer is fairly new, you probably have a long time left to use Muvizu. Hopefully in that period of time, new options may arise. Put my name on the list of people who hopes that the administrators allow it to go open source, or that a buyer emerges.

-----------------------------
edited by PatMarrNC on 22/04/2017

Actually I do see many groups on FB that have file areas and they do exchange files.

22/04/2017 21:41:25

35litretheatre
Posts: 33

Having been away from Muvizu for a while, I was really sad to see this. Hoping the staff will find jobs soon , sending my best wishes x

23/04/2017 01:42:03

tonyob67
Posts: 211

I have being very busy trying to survive and give my sons a better life working in 2 jobs. If this is the end of muvizu I will like to say thank you to the very nice people I met here. Pat, Clay, Ziggy, Ikes, Rod Silva, MrDrWho...Thank you guys, It´s being a pleasure. I will follow you on facebook

23/04/2017 04:25:40

PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738

tonyob67 wrote:

I have being very busy trying to survive and give my sons a better life working in 2 jobs. If this is the end of muvizu I will like to say thank you to the very nice people I met here. Pat, Clay, Ziggy, Ikes, Rod Silva, MrDrWho...Thank you guys, It´s being a pleasure. I will follow you on facebook

good seeing you again Tony! I will always remember your winning entries in my contests! I like your sense of humor... you are a good man and I am happy to have met you as a result of using Muvizu. Your sons are fortunate to have such a loving and hard working father! Best of luck to you in whatever future endeavors you choose to pursue!

23/04/2017 07:31:06

ukBerty
Posts: 975

It's all such a shame. The technical team at Muvizu have always been a pleasure to deal with and I'm sure you'll be snapped up by another company up there in "Silicon Glenn".

Keep in touch - you know where I am....

23/04/2017 09:11:28

mindiflyth
Posts: 77

Jeez, first Xtranormal goes under, now this. It seems like every time I get really into an animation program and invest a lot of time and effort (and some cash) into it, the company goes under. I'm starting to feel like the kiss of death!

That's (mostly) a joke and I don't really mean to make this all about me. I feel bad for all of the employees who lost their jobs so suddenly, and I hope they can get good new jobs soon. I also hope this program can be salvaged somehow. If it goes away, there's really nothing like it to take its place.

23/04/2017 10:54:04

Tangledbliss
Posts: 66

It all seemed a bit gloomy a few days ago - but stay positive. If it gets bought and run by somebody nice thats good. Otherwise there is a lot of enthusiasm to maybe keep this all going on a cooperative community basis. Come and jopin the gang on zuchat. https://www.facebook.com/groups/zuchat/

23/04/2017 11:40:26

Brucik
Posts: 12

I am an online games developer and it wasn't hard to see that such an ending was unavoidable. Digimania had a good product going here but they were also a good example of "bad community management". I followed the Muvizu blog even though it came very rear and I never found helpful info there. I also read all news letters but they were always selling us something too. The YouTube channel was last updated 3-4 years ago, Facebook page has one post a month too. There was nothing to engage the consumer into spending something. Users gained a culture of work "arounds" to compensate for the little "short coming" in the program. This could have been a signal to the devs to improve and bypass the work "arounds" update after update hence showing the user that the devs were paying attention to their needs. To my surprise, most of the developments proved the devs had no idea where they where taking the project for example the:
Oculus VR expansion pack
What I would describe as a great but useless toy not worth the time limited and resources used on it.
If only there had been more "animation life" changing developments like the
Key framing expansion packIn this mobile age, characters still can't fully interact with smartphones they can't put food in their mouths etc, so instead
of releasing useless packs why not give the users more freedom to create their own custom actions.
With a little more attention from the developers through a community management or marketing team, this could be an international animation household name. This could be a hit on Steam and other platforms, hence taking care of the business side of things. I wrote about this a while ago too, I guess I was a prophet of doom in a way. The devs should get what is coming to them as they could have influenced the fate of this project while they had the chance but didn't.

23/04/2017 14:15:46

PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738

now that we know the program itself will continue to run as long as it stays on the same computer, most of us will have years of access to it, even if nothing changes with its ownership.

One thing that probably WILL change, (and pretty soon) is this forum. Now would be a good time to download all the sets. There no guarantee that any of them will make the transition to Zuchat

24/04/2017 00:28:19

Rocque
Posts: 359

A couple of more thoughts before moving on for the day. I am still hoping that somehow Muvizu keeps running, but I am the eternal optimist.

1. If anyone can contact the support team for Muvizu, maybe ask them to set up a Go Fund Me account or something similar, and those of us who want to help them through this difficult time can send a few dollars their way. If anything like this happens they can contact us over on Facebook.

2. If anyone finds a way to keep the site up and running or legitimately wants to buy the business, they could also set up a type of funding account. I am not sure how they work, but hopefully the money is used for the purpose for setting up the account.

3. There have been rumors of cutting staff back where I work from time to time, and it is a horrible feeling when your job is not secure, and you are not prepared to lose it. Keep the good thoughts and/or prayers going out to the people behind the product as others have mentioned.

4. The licensing key thing and being able to use Muvizu without the website is intimidating, but I will have to try it. I just open Muvizu and it should work then? I will test it out to see.

Once again, thanks for everyone's help and patience on this site.

24/04/2017 08:49:10

Witchy
Posts: 25

Shocked and saddened to hear this news. My thoughts are with the staff and their families. All contact I've had with them was prompt, helpful and professional. Very sorry it has come to this.

25/04/2017 17:48:01

Rodrisilva
Posts: 113

Perhaps this is already one of the few moments that we have left. Muvizu finished but not our will to use it. This may be my last movie with this software. We have the hope of better days.
Thank you Muvizu team for having been with us during these years.

This for you.

25/04/2017 18:36:41

Ammostro
Posts: 42

Nice. Hopefully everything will be fine for them.

25/04/2017 18:56:23

tonyob67
Posts: 211

Rodrisilva wrote:

Perhaps this is already one of the few moments that we have left. Muvizu finished but not our will to use it. This may be my last movie with this software. We have the hope of better days.
Thank you Muvizu team for having been with us during these years.

This for you.

OMG

25/04/2017 18:56:43

zuijlen
Posts: 3

Rodrisilva wrote:

Do not talk to me about alternatives like Iclone and their artificial humanoids empty of expression and where I could not find the passion that Muvizu has in itself.
Muvizu is unique and is about to die ...

It is sad.. not only for being at the threshold of Muvizu loss but above all for losing the companions of this forum.
edited by Rodrisilva on 21/04/2017

Let me say first of all that I was shocked to learn about Muvizu, and that I'm sorry for the Muvizu users. Muvizu wasn't for me, but I always considered it a sympathetic product. Hopefully a buyer can be found and so that the product will continue.

So while I understand you are upset, why trash other products? iClone users like myself have feelings too. In the hands of a talented person iClone is very capable and it is continuously improving, but it's different from Muvizu, which is only a good thing. I don't believe in animation having to look a particular way. Diversity is the key.
edited by zuijlen on 25/04/2017

25/04/2017 19:00:19

PatMarrNC
Posts: 1738

that was awesome Rod.. as your videos always are! But I hope that wasn't your last video in Muvizu... the software will continue to work, and a new forum has already been created in case this one vanishes.

In reality, the user's experience isn't changed a whole lot by these current events. Of course, you are the only one who can set your path in life, I hope you remain with us, as we value your friendship.

New forum will be here:
The site address is: www.anizu.co.uk
To go straight to the forum: www.anizu.co.uk/forum

25/04/2017 19:02:53

MrDrWho13
Posts: 2220

zuijlen wrote:

Let me say first of all that I was shocked to learn about Muvizu, and that I'm sorry for the Muvizu users. Muvizu wasn't for me, but I always considered it a sympathetic product. Hopefully a buyer can be found and so that the product will continue.
So while I understand you are upset, why trash other products? iClone users like myself have feelings too. In the hands of a talented person iClone is very capable and it is continuously improving, but it's different from Muvizu, which is only a good thing. I don't believe in animation having to look a particular way. Diversity is the key.

I'm not sure he was completely trashing iClone. However, Muvizu almost forces you to give the characters a bit of "personality" - taking some of the control away from the user as a way to make the whole film-making process simpler and faster.
With iClone, you have to manually add the elements of emotion. I agree with you that there always needs to be diversity. Neither product could have got this far if it were just a clone of something else.

25/04/2017 19:28:54

Rodrisilva
Posts: 113

zuijlen wrote:

Let me say first of all that I was shocked to learn about Muvizu, and that I'm sorry for the Muvizu users. Muvizu wasn't for me, but I always considered it a sympathetic product. Hopefully a buyer can be found and so that the product will continue.

So while I understand you are upset, why trash other products? iClone users like myself have feelings too. In the hands of a talented person iClone is very capable and it is continuously improving, but it's different from Muvizu, which is only a good thing. I don't believe in animation having to look a particular way. Diversity is the key.
edited by zuijlen on 25/04/2017

I'm not good at fights over primacy. You do not know me well enough to understand the extent of my words. If I want and I can spend time in animation I would never choose any of the programs under discussion. I would choose those the professionals use. And yes I am capable of doing it. As an amateur my time is limited so I use the tools that guarantee me better efficiency. Iclone is certainly very good. Animating avatars so similar to humans is no easy task and requires hardware features that most users do not have. Otherwise what you see is the ice faces of most Iclone videos on internet. Show me one that not suffer from that disease. A cartoon is always a cartoon. In my opinion most fun and funny. If I want to make an animated film with humans, I choose real humans. Iclone is a good business tool. You buy it and keep buying an amount of packs to complete it. Meanwhile in this frenzy of improvements the user deviate from his goal and the fever is to acquire a better machine, or another pack but none of this substantially improves the speed with which animation is produced.
I respect all forms of animation. I love the originals. In fact none of them are usually made with these programs including Muvizu itself.

25/04/2017 19:33:05

ikes
Posts: 282

WOW Rod, very nice made!

25/04/2017 19:39:12

Tangledbliss
Posts: 66

Rodrisilva wrote:

zuijlen wrote:

Rodrigues,

I do not believe you. I do not believe that will be your last movie with muvizu. We see plenty of movies that make us laugh, but no one has made movies to make us stop and think like your movies do. Please, please stay with us, and make more movies, they are special.

Muvizu will keep going I am very sure, maybe commercially or maybe just among us enthusiasts. It has limitations we all know – but you use other software with it as we all do. All the ingredients are there and it is up to us to provide the imagination to use them.

Thanks you for sharing that latest movie. Please don’t let it be the last. We have our little flower and we will all look after it.

Geoff Clarkson

25/04/2017 20:08:51

richinri
Posts: 13

Rodrisilva wrote:

zuijlen wrote:

Let me say first of all that I was shocked to learn about Muvizu, and that I'm sorry for the Muvizu users. Muvizu wasn't for me, but I always considered it a sympathetic product. Hopefully a buyer can be found and so that the product will continue.

So while I understand you are upset, why trash other products? iClone users like myself have feelings too. In the hands of a talented person iClone is very capable and it is continuously improving, but it's different from Muvizu, which is only a good thing. I don't believe in animation having to look a particular way. Diversity is the key.
edited by zuijlen on 25/04/2017

I'm not good at fights over primacy. You do not know me well enough to understand the extent of my words. If I want and I can spend time in animation I would never choose any of the programs under discussion. I would choose those the professionals use. And yes I am capable of doing it. As an amateur my time is limited so I use the tools that guarantee me better efficiency. Iclone is certainly very good. Animating avatars so similar to humans is no easy task and requires hardware features that most users do not have. Otherwise what you see is the ice faces of most Iclone videos on internet. Show me one that not suffer from that disease. A cartoon is always a cartoon. In my opinion most fun and funny. If I want to make an animated film with humans, I choose real humans. Iclone is a good business tool. You buy it and keep buying an amount of packs to complete it. Meanwhile in this frenzy of improvements the user deviate from his goal and the fever is to acquire a better machine, or another pack but none of this substantially improves the speed with which animation is produced.
I respect all forms of animation. I love the originals. In fact none of them are usually made with these programs including Muvizu itself.

I feel compelled to add something here. As someone that invested CONSIDERABLE money into iClone5 I can say it is a good animation program IF you have the right hardware and are aware your original investment WILL lead to more investment. Do not go by their minimum requirements. I agree with the following quote 100%: "Iclone is a good business tool. You buy it and keep buying an amount of packs to complete it. Meanwhile in this frenzy of improvements the user deviate from his goal and the fever is to acquire a better machine, or another pack but none of this substantially improves the speed with which animation is produced."

25/04/2017 20:19:18

clayster2012
Posts: 645

Rodrisilva wrote:

zuijlen wrote:

Let me say first of all that I was shocked to learn about Muvizu, and that I'm sorry for the Muvizu users. Muvizu wasn't for me, but I always considered it a sympathetic product. Hopefully a buyer can be found and so that the product will continue.

So while I understand you are upset, why trash other products? iClone users like myself have feelings too. In the hands of a talented person iClone is very capable and it is continuously improving, but it's different from Muvizu, which is only a good thing. I don't believe in animation having to look a particular way. Diversity is the key.
edited by zuijlen on 25/04/2017

I'm not good at fights over primacy. You do not know me well enough to understand the extent of my words. If I want and I can spend time in animation I would never choose any of the programs under discussion. I would choose those the professionals use. And yes I am capable of doing it. As an amateur my time is limited so I use the tools that guarantee me better efficiency. Iclone is certainly very good. Animating avatars so similar to humans is no easy task and requires hardware features that most users do not have. Otherwise what you see is the ice faces of most Iclone videos on internet. Show me one that not suffer from that disease. A cartoon is always a cartoon. In my opinion most fun and funny. If I want to make an animated film with humans, I choose real humans. Iclone is a good business tool. You buy it and keep buying an amount of packs to complete it. Meanwhile in this frenzy of improvements the user deviate from his goal and the fever is to acquire a better machine, or another pack but none of this substantially improves the speed with which animation is produced.
I respect all forms of animation. I love the originals. In fact none of them are usually made with these programs including Muvizu itself.

Right on Rodrisilva nicely said!
edited by clayster2012 on 25/04/2017

26/04/2017 01:12:59

dltanner99
Posts: 20

A core group of the Muvizu folks should look into taking the company back and developing an open source/paid version philosophy with crowdfunding. It is a good product, but could be so much better if its features and functions were available for user enhancement. So many things never made it to Muvizu, and its potential is enormous. I hate to see smaller companies at the mercy of larger ones, who invariably misunderstand or mishandle their brand and marketing. This is not Muvizu's failure. It could be made all the better if input was allowed by some very talented developers. Sad day indeed...
edited by dltanner99 on 26/04/2017
edited by dltanner99 on 26/04/2017

26/04/2017 02:32:49

thebiz75
Posts: 9

Hi Muvizuers,
This is sad news and indeed I wish those involved in the change well.

I just wanted to mention that www.TMUnderground.com is a machinima/real time render/Virtual Cinema based site which has a small but active group of members, a forum, movie upload site and a Cloud based storage site tied in. Many Muvizu members have been a part of TMU over the years and we always enjoy seeing muvizu movies uploaded on the site.

As a side note TMU came about from the death of another machinima tool - "The Movies" so we've been there as well. Good luck to all and I hope to see you and your creations around.

thebiz

26/04/2017 10:01:13

Wabby
Posts: 98

I'm sad to read it all of that. I am not very present in the forums because I do not speak good English and especially because I have to take care of my two young children but if it is soon the end, I also wanted to tell you that the users of Muvizu form a very beautiful Community and it was really a pleasure to see your videos.

Concerning my sets in the store, it's really damaging because I thought to increase my production and offer you many new sets ... I have already worked hard to make the decorations that are in the store, and until today I did not reach the threshold of 100 pounds so I did not earn anything. I will suspend my publications.

For those interested, in a while, I will open a shop on the site CGTrader (see my website www.wabbysland.com) for the link. You will be able to can buy decors in 3D stardard formats (OBJ and FBX).

I'd also like to redo videos, but my PC is old and Muvizu crash all the time. I hoped one day to have a new computer but at that time, there may be no more Muvizu ... :-(
edited by Wabby on 26/04/2017

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