Are we all orphans? Those bad news about MC gave me creeps! I remember very well what happened with VistaPro4 after it was sold to RomTech: NO MORE upgrades! So I've moved to Bryce and also to Poser, and kept waiting for major upgrades. Unless MC sells both of them to a strong willing company, our chances seems very poor. I wish luck for those 100 employees fired just 2 weeks from Christmas and TONS OF BAD LUCK FOR THOSE GREEDY MC BASTARDS!!

I feel for the 100 poor souls canned just before the holiday's: been there, had that done to me, and it really really sucks. I'm sure everyone here wishes all of them all the very best. As to the board of MC... well, they've got to look out for the shareholders' best interests and this, they feel, is for the best - no matter how misguided we think/know/believe them to be. IMHO they went about it all wrong but, there you go - that's the suits for you. Poser and Bryce won't die, with such a vibrant and dedicated group of folks like yourselves rooting for it. And look at the amount of outside development; the new realistic eyes, trans-mapped hair, better figures, superb texture maps - we, the users, are making P4 better and better all the time. And to the creators of all the wonderful props, textures, figures, clothing that are eating up my HD - long may the sun shine on all of you. We still have the possibility of a buyout by another company to consider, and the owners/creators of the software have all expressed their intentions to keep Bryce and Poser alive. I just wish they'd release the patch already! Paul Today's little ray of sunshine :)

my friend told me that he heard poser was being taken over by adobe I don't know if that's just speculation, but he is into general computer stuff, not 3d so I don't know where he would have heard about it other than in general computer news which, to my way of thinking means it's unlikely to be an idle rumor. Then again, he wasn't very sure of it either, so who knows I just hope it continues, if poser5 increases posers abilities like poser4 did to 3 then it'll be awesome SewerRat

I don't think poser could exist as a $700 program the whole point of poser is it's easy to use, at that price range you'd be making it pretty much only available to professionals, who can probably do a much better job using things like 3dsmax, lightwave etc. just my opinion, I guess time will tell SewerRat

Not spoiled, just not ripped off. Metacreations has found Poser to be a profit maker....just not a BIG a profit maker as what they think they can make in e-commerce stuff. If a company makes a good product at a very affordable price and still makes a profit...I dont think the customers are spoiled, but you have to wonder what is happening with the other very similar products selling for over ten times as much. Scarab <(still bends over to pick up a penny)

Hi Folks! Sorry Scarab, but with all respect I have to agree with Allerleirauh. I had a conversation with a colleague who was formerly with Specular (Infini-D, LogoMotion, etc.), one of the earlier casualties of MetaC's lack of focus. His take on all this is that the 3D market just isn't expanding enough to compete with the lucrative opportunities that are opening up on the Web. The LucasArts and Pixars of the industry will sustain high-end producers--for a while--but producers of low-end stuff like Poser are struggling. He believes there may be some other shakeouts before some sort of equilibrium is established. We are spoiled, I'm afraid. I started animation in college on a PDP-11 computer running Turtle (LISP) and an Oxberry animation stand. I waited years for the technology and the market to become within average consumers' reach. If Electric Image or Lightwave would have been my only options, I might still be doing jerkies with PowerPoint. I hope someone picks up Poser, Infini-D and all the rest for us little folks. But as dismayed as I am about MetaC, I'm grateful that they made it possible for me to afford some really cool stuff--stuff I will continue to use for many years to come. Hell, I'm still using Cinemation and Animation Works; anybody remember them? Peter (Dr Zik)

My point is that, if you are being sold something and it is not at a loss to the producer...you are not "being spoiled", you are getting a fair (albeitly very good) deal. The question it raises is, why are other platforms so expensive? To answer my own question, it is similar to the book market...popular books can be mass produced and can expect a larger market, justifying the lower retail costs. Specialty books, such a technical journals, medical books, etc. cost no more to print (though the research involved is more intense) but must charge much more per volume to justify the printing. (so there)...Poser is the Stephen King paperback of the 3D graphic world..... Scarab <-loves Stephen King

My point is that if Poser and Bryce are sold to different companies, our hopes for an cheap integrated environment are gone. To my knowlege, the only way to animate characters in landscapes is trought WB2 or WCS + Character Studio + MAX and that means a lot of money!

I posted a new message that gives a bit of hope. It links to an Internet Eye article that can be found at: http://the-internet-eye.com/features/dec99/metacreations_special_report.htm We're not necessarily done for yet! (Thanks to Grey at Poser Forum.org for the original alert!)