I've been buying plenty of DAZ3D models lately, I'm planning on getting the Victoria CD and the upgrade to Victoria 2 soon but I'm thinking with Poser 5 coming up if all that money I've been spending is money well spent. I mean how do I know if Poser 5 wont already bundle the Millenium figures and other DAZ 3D models like the clothing packs, hairstyles etc?

You don't. ;) ______ Have you read the TOS today?

I read a thread from Daz in this forum saying that the Millenium figures WILL NOT be part of Poser 5 You may be able to search "Kupa" the prez of CL for the thread

I think we will see new Poser 5 people with new clothing and hair. Kupa had some nice new features for Poser 5 (strand based hair, collision detection for clothing, ...). The "old stuff" aka P4/Millenium will probably not support these features. I really hope we get some nice new animals with P5. ______ Have you read the TOS today?

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=619013

I think as customers we shouldn't be prived to this kind of information. I would feel a lot safer spending my money on things that won't get obsolete overnight. I mean if Curious Labs is coming out with models that will support features that will render Mike, Victoria, Stephanie and the kids obsolete then what's the point in spending my money in DAZ products. I mean in my particular case: DAZ products are wonderful and I'm in love with them but I'm not incredibly wealthy, I have a family to support and this is only a hobby. I'm afraid I'll be stocking up with DAZ merchandise and in a couple of month's (probably more)when Curious Labs finally releases Poser 5 everything I've been buying from DAZ (already hundreds of dollars spent)will be rendered obsolete because they won't support the new features. I know I'm going to be spliting hairs just thinking about all that money I spent.

We've had as-definite-as-computerly-possible assurances that the exisiting items will work with P5, just probably not with the new features (or at least not fully). Since it will take a while for creators and users to learn the new stuff (compare out-of-the-box P4 with DAZ stuff, or good free stuff like Sergemarck's or Kozaburo's) there will be, at least, a period following launch when you are likely to prefer working with P4-style legacy items to the new features.

Honestly, I would prefer to have Curious Labs come forth and give us a timeframe we can expect to see Poser 5 released. If it will be still a year from now then I can safely justify keep buying DAZ products but if the time frame is 8 monyhs or less I better start saving now.

Guys - it would only make sense for P5 to come out with backwards-compatibility. I mean, look at it this way, if it were not, then a huge chunk of the established consumer base would not really bother with upgrading, since an investment was already made in all the stuff from DAZ, Runtime DNA, R'osity marketplace, 3D Commune Marketplace, etc etc. Also, look at Poser's history: I've still got Poser 2 characters lurking about in my directories for Hell's sake, and I never use 'em. Yet they are still there, for those users who had Poser 2 and 3 but also had stuff they were working on from Poser 2. I wouldn't worry too awful much - from a business sense, I'm dead-sure that Poser 5 will have and use all the goodies that DAZ and others put out for P4. /P

CuriousLabs CAN'T give you a time frame. For various reasons. But my favorite reason is that if they announce a date.And it isn't finished. Then everyone will jump down their throats. And pressure them into releasing it too early, with bugs still in it. Good things come to those who wait. ScottA

I wouldn't worry too awful much - from a business sense, I'm dead-sure that Poser 5 will have and use all the goodies that DAZ and others put out for P4.>> I don't worry too much about this. It wouldn't make sense not to make DAZ products compatible with the next version but my main worry is how much until these costly products are made obsolete by the next version of Poser?

I said this in the earlier thread as well. Think about it. Wheteher DAZ and CL are "working together" or not. It's not in either company's best interest to make products obsolete or incompatible. They are not going to shoot each other in the feet. As far as a time-frame, in the tech industry that's a hard thing to nail down with precision -- especially in an area like 3D, where advances are being made almost weekly. By the time you think you're a month from launch, someone comes up with a new technology or technique that just has to be implemented in your new build. These guys are busy, busy people -- too busy to put energy into intentionally stringing their customers along just to tease them or piss them off. They're running a business and want to keep us happy so we will continue to support their products. Let's please not blame our frustration and child-like impatience for new toys on these good, hard working people. I'm waiting for P5, white-knuckled like the rest. But I want them to take their time and do it right.

DAZ said in a thread a long while back that vikki and mike would not be in poser 5.......Steve

Let's please not blame our frustration and child-like impatience for new toys on these good, hard working people. I'm waiting for P5, white-knuckled like the rest. But I want them to take their time and do it right.>> I'm actually not impatient at all for Curious Labs to come out with Poser 5 at all. I'm really happy planning my next DAZ purchase and I'm interested in learning to do clothing figures myself. I would just like to know I'm spending my money on something that will not be obsolete as far as being the latest and greatest in a matter of some months.

My question is: if Poser 5 really has collision detection, cloth physics, and dynamic hair simulation as I've read in other posts, then how expensive is it going to be? All that sounds like high end type stuff to me. I'm wondering if I'll be able to afford an upgrade to Poser 5.

My question is: if Poser 5 really has collision detection, cloth physics, and dynamic hair simulation as I've read in other posts, then how expensive is it going to be? All that sounds like high end type stuff to me. I'm wondering if I'll be able to afford an upgrade to Poser 5. >> I hope they can keep it under $300.00. One of the best things about Poser has been its affordability. Really artist friendly.

Upir, I wonder what transparency maps and whatever other features that distinguished poser 4 from poser 3 seemed like. I think poser has a niche (sp?) and is aware of the constraints (pricewise) of the user base. I don't expect it to be too different from what it is now. Of course, I could be completely wrong. i agree SimonWM, once stuff extend beyond the $300 zone, it loses it's appeal (and affordability) for me. I'm happy with P4, so if P5 is out of my $ range, or can't use what I have, I'm in no hurry to switch. eric

I don't know why everyone says those features are so expensive. If they're not hiring out, maybe that's why it's taken so long? CL already said they're going to stay in the same price range. Maybe they're planning a modular release. You know, the base program for a set price. If you want the Animation Module (or plug-in, add-on, whatever) you buy it extra. If you want collision detection/gravity, that's another purchase. And so on... Just a thought.

The reason I would think of those features as expensive, is that they are pretty much on the forefront of the technology at the moment. Hair dynamics in particular seems to be a hot topic for computer graphics research. I've gotten hold of a few tech papers detailing cloth physics and hair modeling, and it is not a trivial problem. Just consider how much money was spent on Aki Ross' hair in Final Fantasy as an example. I may be out of line, but features that you would tend to relate to very expensive programs like Maya, sound like they would be expensive in a program like Poser as well. The combination of Poser 4 and the Pro Pack is a little over $400--Somehow I don't see it getting cheaper with added features. Maybe I'm wrong--hopefully I am, but I'll believe it when I see it. If it turns out that my speculation is wrong then I'll be eating crow, but . . . I've been playing around with programing my own cloth simulation application--just to see if I can really. Anyway, even if they do release all these features within the same Poser 4 price range, they would be computationally expensive. Next to price, I'd be interested in system requirements. If I have to upgrade my poor old computer (A Pentium III 400 MHz), which seems pretty likely, then that's one more expense that unfortunately is a limiting factor for me.