What is going on here, peoples?? I read Mimic's press release on why they will not be making a verion of Mimic for the Mac platform, and I was so upset by it. They say that polls told them that Mac users mainly use Poser for stills and not animations...but even if that's true, why couldn't they make a hybrid platform CD with both Mac and PC? I say all of us Mackies who animate bumbard them with e-mails disputing what they have stated. Maybe it will do something...but even if it doesn't, I bet it will annoy them a little. :o) is there anything out there for Mac that can do pretty much the same thing that Mimic does? I haven't found anything, but if anyone out there knows of something, I would be much obliged. Thanks, NightMyst

Yeah, that disappointed me too. With all the PC shareware/freeware utilities for Poser, I think it's almost worthwhile getting Virtual PC to run them. Making a Mac version of a program is somewhat more difficult than making a Mac-readable CD with, say, models and props, which are basically data that can be fairly easily converted from one format to another. Programming for different systems involves different ways of doing things (reading and writing files, drawing windows, etc.) that have to be taken into account in the way the program is written. It would be nice if the Virtual PC folks could provide PC developers with a kind of "emulation wrapper" they could put their program into to make it quickly Mac-compatible (although with a tremendous performance penalty). I suspect the RealPlayer people have done something like this with their product; if you look at the minimum system requirements of their Windows vs. Mac versions, the Mac version needs about 3-5 times the processing power as the Windows version.

Yes, this is all true. I have Virtual PC, actually, but I have to wait a month before I can put it on my computer because I'm buying the new iMac (with the CD-burner)with 256MB RAM and the proggie will run a lot better on that one. My current iMac only has 64MB RAM, and it's a wonder I can run Poser at all--but then again, I always have problems. But anyway, I was wondering, to use Mimic with VPC you would have to reinstall Poser as a Windows version, wouldn't you? I personally prefer the look and feel of the Mac version... :o(

Mimic just creates pose files. Once you've created the files with Mimic in VPC you can use them on your Mac version of Poser.

Oh really?? Well, that's a plus. :o) But those people who do not have VPC will be buying Mimic and then spending an extra almost $200 just for VPC. I guess they're just going to have to really want Mimic...

Supposedly, you could also have your friends who have a PC or VPC and also have Mimic run the .wav files for you and send you the poser files. Or you could always pick-up a cheap, used PC with the minimum system-requirements and do it yourself...if you're lucky, you might be able to pick up a PC for less than VPC.

Yeah, that brings forward another question----how do you record a .wav file on an iMac?? do you need another programme just to do that? and if so, does anyone know where to find one?

Are you asking how to get sound in to the iMac or how to convert an Mac sound (AIFF) to .wav? I don't know how to do the first one (my BeigeG3 has a sound in port for recording), but to convert a aiff to wav, you can use QuickTime Pro, export sound as .wav.

I wanted to know how to record, say, my own voice or someone else's onto my iMac as any kind of file that could be converted to or is a .wav file so I could use it in Mimic once I purchase it. But thank you for telling me about the QTPro info! :o)

Has this one been mentioned in a while? Underdog's online app "Poser Sync" that takes typed English text, converts it to phoneme's and spits out a zipped Poser face (.fc2) file of however many frames you select. Requires some nudging but gets you in the ball park. Underdog's original forum post
Underdog's Fantasy3D

Yeh, it's funny what some marketing people think. Major 3D software companies are finally moving into MAC OSX after many years & "wanabees" are content with the staus-quo. You might check these sites for shareware sound converters in the multimedia sections: http://www.tucows.com/ http://www.macupdate.com/ By the way, if you have Toast I think it normally comes with soundjam (or something like that) that will convert sound file formats. I agree that you may be able to buy a used PC for less then VPC, especially if you're in a populated area or close to a university. As for the sound, go to www.macfixit and search for info on sound for your system (I don't remember if it has built-in sound input). You can buy USB sound in mics at the very least. Nance, thanks for that reminder, a most elegent solution.

Burn in Hell Mimic........... Burn in Hell!! Someone in this forum wrote a python script recently that was making a little mechanical arm attached to his PC duplicate the movement of his poser figures arm as he posed the arm on screen I wonder if a python script could be written to automate lipsync on the Mac HMMmmmmmmm? Mocap

Mocap- You could probably write an AppelScript to do the translation & if you know what you're doing perhaps even use the Text to Speech built-in software. Beyond what my capabilities are though.

Add Mimic to the HUGE list of cool things not available for the Mac. In the gaming community and forums over the years, people got so sick and tired of Mac user's whining about games not being made for the Mac that eventually they stopped arguing with them and just started ignoring them. (Don't get me started on the myriad of web apps that won't run on a Mac either.) As a software developer myself the answer is simple ... IT'S NOT WORTH THE TIME OR MONEY TO DEVELOP A PRODUCT FOR SUCH A MINUSCULE USER BASE. You can bombard them with all the emails you want, the simple fact is ... THEY COULDN'T CARE LESS. BOTTOM LINE: LipSync is a business, and as business they are in it to MAKE MONEY. Just go and buy a Windows PC for half the money a Mac costs and you'll be a lot happier in the long run, trust me. You'll be able to use all the software on the planet, you won't be locked into an expensive and propriatary machine design, components will cost you less, and hey ... you'll actually have a mouse with more than ONE button. ;-) Let the flames begin! -Tim

No Mac vs PC flame War Please!!! I am a long time mac user who has actually grown up and lives in the real world I work as an in house graphics Guru at a digital printing and design company. I use Macs and Win 98/NT machines Daily. trust me It $$$pays$$ to be an all around "Computer Guy" rather than just a Mac Or PC specialist I actually found an old abandoned PC in the trash room of my building (pentuim -s 133mhz) I reformated the drive using "fdisk" under DOS installed win 98 installed a used sound card from a friend to plugin speakers and my kids now have something to play those Disney learning CD roms and my son (age 5) is getting pretty good in old bryce 3D on the PC What was upsetting about Lypsynch's "Mimic" is that they strung us poser mac users along for over a year with promises that "A Mac version is coming soon" only to finally admit that the promise was Bullsh*t!! At least the ,PC only, gaming companies never botherd to lie about porting their product to the Mac OS only to kick us in the teeth later. Mocap

I can't really blame Lipsinc for not wanting to put forth the effort to develop for a niche market in a niche market, although in their case making a Mac version is probably trivial -- basically all their software does is read in a sound file, analyze it, and write a pose file (which is just text, the same format on Mac as PC). It's not like a game where there are video and speed issues involved. An experienced programmer could probably port it in a week. But there's the rub, Lipsinc probably hasn't hired any experienced Windows/Mac programmers. As mocap said, their stringing along Mac users is what rankles. I would suspect that the way to go in the future would be Python scripting, which could run on either platform, and be portable (with appropriate plugins or support files) to other animation packages as well, but that wasn't available when Mimic was under development (and is available only to Pro Pack users, but people who need Mimic probably also need Pro Pack anyway). No flames, timoteo1, just a simple observation that most people who have used both Windows and Mac systems (including myself) prefer Mac for its ease of use and consistency, although admittedly Windows has come a long way in recent incarnations. True, if I want to run the widest variety of software (90% of which is crud, in keeping with Sturgeon's Law), I'd use Windows -- but if I want to run the best software, and be most productive, I choose Macintosh. Technologies that are now PC standards were widely introduced to desktop computers on Macs: 3.5" floppies, SCSI, USB, FireWire. Apple had the guts to push the new technology so that the peripheral makers started making more products, and the PC makers followed by offering those features on their machines too. And it works both ways, Apple now supports inexpensive PC peripherals: I can buy a cheap IDE hard drive and VGA monitor for my Mac if I want. I'll admit that Macs aren't for everybody. But then, neither are BMWs. Some people are more comfortable driving Chevys, and if they're happy with that, fine.

Right on, petercat! Very well and intelligently put. :o) NightMyst

Mocap: I forgot that LipSync was promising a Mac version in the beginning. Yes, shame on them for that! When I developed my software I told people from the beginning there would not be a Mac version. Naturally I still had a few Mac users whining and repeatedly asking "why?" Petercat: I was a mission support specialist from 1994-1998 at NASA (Goddard Space Flight Center) and my job was basically computer and network guru. I used both PCs and Macs EXTENSIVLEY. After that I did contract work as a computer consultant in which I ended up using Macs most of the time. I'm not saying all things are bad about Macs ... not at all ... but the notion that Macs somehow have better software and are just a better system is absolutely absurd. The functionaity of a Windows PC is lightyears ahead Mac. You talk about productivity ... it's the main reason I choose PC over Mac. I can run circles around Mac users because of downright STUPID implementations Apple has (LIKE A SINGLE MOUSE BUTTON ... what a joke) or lack of shortcuts ... like MINIZIME ALL WINDOWS as just ONE of dozens of examples. Also, I'm not aware of ANY good software that is available for the Mac that isn't available for the PC. Now for the converse, I could present you with a LONG LIST. Now that I have multimedia and video-post production company, I'm amazed at the incredulity of Mac users who just can't believe I only work with PCs. Like it must be impossible to use After Effects and do ANY kind of graphics on a PC. I just tell them, yeah ... I can do everything a Mac can and more, do it faster, and do it a LOT cheaper. Some of them do (thankfully) see the light when I present them with the bill and the excellent work. I don't hate Macs ... I just hate it when people assume that Macs are somehow superior to PCs. Is it just because they cost more?? Or do Mac users still think Windows is still in version 3.1? I don't know, but I'll drop it right here because this is an argument no one will ever win. -Tim

timoteo1 ... I have to disagree on the functionality. I also have to disagree on a number of other things. Suffice it to say though I would go insane in a number of days if I had to work on a PC. They are sooooooo dang frustrating. Yes they do have good games and they also have more stuff in some instances but they are the most annoying thing to work with from my point of view.

Maybe try doing it with AppleScript. Hm? Is Poser AppleScript scrip-aware/scriptable? Does anybody have experience with that kind of stuff?