Ok, people are talking about Poser Artist, and arguing over what they think it should be or is, but does anyone really know? Is Poser Artist just Poser 4 with a different box, or is there any merit to the "no genitals" and other rumours? I was looking around a year ago for Poser 4 to give to my friend as a birthday present and didn't get anywhere, is my search over or not?

Poser Artist is just Poser 4 with a new box.

Attached Link: http://www.curiouslabs.com/

From our discussions in another post and imput from CL itself, essentially Poser Artist is P4 renamed and repackaged for the hobbiest/novice market. CL wanted to offer a Poser that was eaier to use than P5, but their vendors wouldn't sell an older version of Poser concurently with Version 5. Poser Artist is supposed to undergo separate product developments and upgrades. CL's ads clearly state that people who own P4 should not buy Poser Artist. I'm very interested in a easier version of Poser undergoing a separate development because as I don't animate don't need dynamic hair/cloth, and the materials room just confuses the hell out of me.

That sounds like "yes", or is it more "sort of"? I've been to Curious Labs' site already, and they don't explicitly say whether or not it's Poser 4 from what I can tell, only that it's "based on Poser 4 technology". I'd want to know that anything I created or used in Poser 4 could be used in the same way in Poser Artist, I don't want to give my buddy Poser Artist then find out there's things I could do in P4 that he can't or models that came with P4 that don't with PA.

you scared me for a minute I though this was going to be one of those tired old IS poser art or NOT threads ;)

I'm just about to purchase Poser myself and I am also a bit mystified. I don't need animation for sure, and my target artwork is Sojourn-like realisic looking comics. What characters out there in the market that won't work in P4/Artist? Will I be sorry if I get Artist and not P5? I've gotten recommendations for both products... I DO hear that Artist will run a LOT FASTER than P5.

The best way to find out is to contact Curious Labs directly and simply ask. From my understanding Poser Artist is just Poser 4 with a new name, so anything that was P4 compatible should work with it. That being the case P4 will animate it just won't have these dynamic cloth/hair functions or wind effects. Even so if you wanted to simulate wind in a still picture you could use magnets and morphs to do that and some Daz hair is poseable as well. I think that even some native Poser 4 hair is as well. An email to Curious Labs or a phone call should clear that up, but also do a search on Poser Artist on the forum here and read right from the horse's mouth what Poser Artist really is.