Well, Platinum Club members have finally received another update. This time DAZ was careful NOT to state a specific release date for the Alpha/Beta. They are still dealing with some "import issues". "Import" in this case meaning "loading", not short for "important" (though it IS an important issue). We have been informed that the program will be roughly 20 megabytes, so users with dial-up connections can expect a respectable download time. It WILL be available in Win and Mac formats. DAZ has also stressed that Plat' members should report any anomalies when loading their home brewed PZ3 scenes. That's why we'll get it first. The package will come with a couple of test PZ3 scenes, but, of course, those are designed for D|S. Our personal creations will serve as the acid tests. Again, DAZ did NOT state a specific date in the latest update. So we might as well stop the "countdown". I know, it's not the best news, but I thought you deserved to know. Sincerely, Bill

Thanks for the info Redfern! - Baz

Oh, I should have stated I read it within the DAZ "Members Only" forum. It was NOT in the form of an e-mail. Sorry for any potential confusion. Sincerely, Bill

Ok that's it, I don't care anymore. I'm moving on to something IMPORTANT. sob I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE, MAN!!! blows snot clear through kleenex I can't take this constant jerking of my emotions... sob I can't wait around for you forever.... sob sob I just can't do it!

We have been informed that the program will be roughly 20 megabytes .... * continues "cleaning house" on hard drive *

Dude, I hope you have more room that 20megs!

arghhhh..... well thats it!! I'm gonna pull out the good ol' faithful Etch-A-Sketch! teehee

Why not wait for the English version of Shade to come out then watch the battle begin. I like Etch-A-Sketch, it dosen't crash or freeze. lol

NEver heard of Shade...please tell us more!

shade is the product of e-frontier, a japanese company who i believe just took over the parent role for curious labs. i guess it's like owning them but not exactly.

Attached Link: http://www.kotapress.com/Art/Reviews/ShadeR4/Review_Shade4.htm#

Here is a review for Shade. Caution: It is expensive! There is also a link to the homepage - in Japanese. Look for the English translation link. http://shade.e-frontier.co.jp/en/demo/demoinfo6.html This is the demo page.

Attached Link: http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Press/PR.php?date=November%205,%202003

No, e-frontier entered a partnership with E-on software. I guess it was because of the names. :-) http://www.e-onsoftware.com/Press/PR.php?date=November%205,%202003 Interestingly, e-frontier apparently bought Shade only in April of this year. BTW, how much is 9800 yens? That's how much myShade/iShade costs. It's probably horribly limited. The Professional version costs 174000 yens. BTW 2, they apparently mean business cause their English pages are quite professionally translated.

Dude, I hope you have more room that 20megs! Yes, but it was close; I was down to ~88MB yesterday morning. Currently 432MB free on my primary drive. I have a lot of video files and Poser stuff on here. In any case, the download is only 20MB; once unpacked and installed, it'll likely be far larger. Don't worry, I have a 120GB drive on order. Should be here by Tuesday. I'm actually hoping that DAZ continues to delay Studio so I'll have time to hook up the new drive, power supply, and graphics card. I wonder if Studio will run on Win98 First Edition? If I can keep finding excuses to put off my installation of WinXP, I'll continue as long as possible.

Attached Link: http://www.therenderfarm.com/expressiontools/review.html

I didn't go to the Yen / US Dollars currency exchange page, but here are some USD prices I found: SHADE R5/E Pro $1,499 SHADE R5/E Personal $499 ...and the link.

I think CL may have priced themselves out of their presently lucrative market. But, I'll wait and see what kind of upgrade offer is presented.

Well, if CL is going to dump P5 and go with this Shade thingie, yes indeed they'll lose market share. But we don't know for sure. I am as curious and hopeful as you all are, about Daz Studio. But you know, many of us Posers also work with another program, i.e., Vue d'esprit in its current 2 versions, or Bryce. I have become very dependent on Vue's tight integration with Poser. We lose that with Daz Studio. Of course I say that, but I'll still participate in the beta, and may even buy it when released... Norm

LD, you should have gone with Win2000 Professional. Nice and stable, no needless bells and whistles. I now have a box with XP Pro on my shelf but I'm also reluctant to move from Win2000. This is my only computer and mucking about with it is ... not recommended. :-)

Doesn't matter which OS I choose, Erlik; it's the hassle that deters me. It'll likely take me at least a couple of days to prep my system, install the new OS, get it configured the way I want it, and then update all my software and drivers. A couple of days, assuming everything goes smoothly, and what are the odds of that?

Heck, I didn't upgrade to Win95 until Christmas '97. I only made that move because I wanted to play Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2.

LD - you can run the Windows XP Files and Settings Transfer Wizard in 98 from the XP CD, backup the file it creates (if you don't keep it small and send it to a Zip to start with) and then load it into XP after installation. It is far from perfect (I had to manually set the decimal separator in Regional Settings before Poser would let me have fractional dial settings, and all my email addresses ended up under the Main Identity in OE, for example) but it is a big time-saver.

as far as the xp upgrade, first, i wouldn't bother with xp to start with, and 2nd, its always better to start with a fresh install. haven't tried it yet, but i understand that the upgrade soft for win2k will work so long as you have a full version 98 to work off of. with daz studio being delayed more, that means that i now have more time to finish saving $$ for the last few parts for my 2nd system. besides, i think the better the system, the better the software performance. kt

Well, if CL is going to dump P5 and go with this Shade thingie That won't happen. Why would you get that idea?

Shade has had an English version out for about 1.5- 2 years now - I know I have it.