Book publishers are known to be pretty firm with their release schedules so I just betcha Curious Labs feels confident on having us our new baby this fall. I seriously doubt the book would have a release date without a great amount certainty Poser 5 will be available by then.

The only thing I haven't seen mentioned before is a blurb on the front cover about plugins. Since it covers P5 and ProPack, you think there may be a new Propack specifically for P5?

I love Poser 4, but I can't wait to have a decent requester for pose libraries... and hopefully python scripting... and the new rendering engine and... all the other new stuff!

I thought you were hoaxing at first, but I found several other references to the P5 Handbook on the 'Net. I'd best start saving my pennies ....

So I guess this guy is beta testing it???

i dont know - ive seen several things like this before. the characters/render on the front of that image looks like poser3 at best. i think its a publicity stunt by the author to boost sales, or a misprint. as far as i know, and from conversations ive had with steve cooper of curious labs, p5 still has a long way to go. so i wouldnt go pre-ordering that book anytime soon ;) cheers, -gabriel

Humm, I only got references to Poser 4. You have a url or is this a joke after all? Marque

Just as I thought, went to the Charles River website and nothing...good joke though. Marque

Attached Link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1584502290/qid=1021604732/sr=1-13/ref=sr_1_13/002-2849670-87

This author has written several books for graphic apps and most are panned pretty badly in in the reader reviews at Amazon. I have never bought or even read one, so I really can't comment. I am NOT recommending this book! Just starting crazy rumors on the the release of Poser 5! I was just browsing Amazon since I got 10% off coupon to lure me back since I haven't ordered anything from them in about a year. All my money goes to the MP here and Daz. lol. Anyway, just wanted to share the info. I mostly lurk here, but I thought this was "post worthy" I know we'd all like to see P5 as soon as possible.

Attached Link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1584502290/qid=1021604894/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-3870627-0692

well, honestly, no offense to the guy or anything.. but youd think if this guy has propack and p5, and is a self-styled 'poser guru', and is selling a how to book, he could come up with something a little more professional for the cover. that looks like the p3 girl rendered with the default lighting, lol. i could probably look at any rosity gallery page at random and pick something far better for the cover.

wow, those are some pretty low reviews. i wouldnt even dream of buying from someone who has almost straight 1-star ratings on all of his products. thats got to mean something.

well, youve just summed up a large part of the problem with the poser market, and almost any market in general - people out to make a quick buck selling something thats thrown together and that they havent given much effort in creating. the good thing is that the lack of repeat customers forces these people to seek other pursuits (usually, not always as is demonstrated above), so theyre not around for very long. the bad thing is there are always many more to replace them, out to make a quick buck.

I think the real question is-- did he ever put out a book that was for vaporware, for a product that was not forthcoming? As one of his reviews mentions--"the aptly named Shamms" Ouch! But as a Painter user, I know the program is rarely as idiotic as the people who write about it. In other words, he might be a farce, but still able to use a calendar. Emily

The book is being offered as a prize (4th place, amusingly) in a Carrara contest.

http://theedgeoftheuniverse.com/carrara/contest.html

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. That cover image is worth maybe, hmm..., let's be charitable: eight words, and not a letter more. No focus, no balance, no contrast, no interest, and absolutely no sense of the psychology of color. He might know how to use a calendar. Might. But my cat could come up with a better promotional image. Carolly

He wrote the Poser 4 book and we all know how worthless that one is. Marque

lmao if this guy is a member of rosity were all going to get our asses banned for personal attacks

I bought his poser4 book and sent it back the same day for a refund. I've since bought the poser propack book by Rick Schrand and it's great. if Rick does a book for Poser5 I'll get it straight away, as soon as I can buy poser5 of course (-: Rob

I didn't know he wrote books, but I remember he had a graphics column in one of the Amiga computer mags.I was using a souped up Amiga 500, before I went PC. His columns were very interesting. I know nothing about anything else he's done. By the way I still have my Amiga.

I'm glad other people thought the Poser4 book was worthless. It basically repeated everything in the manual that comes with the program. I received it as a yule gift last year, and didn't have the heart to take it back.

I was an Amiga user as well, and remember Mr. Mortier as a very interesting writer for the Computer Graphics community. His artwork that accompanied the articles always struck me as if he had learned to use the software well, but as an artist just had very little to say. Throw 5 or 6 objects on screen, put some weird textures on them, done. We all do this in the beginning, but we advance. I wouldn't want Mr. Mortier (or anyone else) to give up, just try harder. But find an experienced Computer Artist to do the illustrations for your books, please, Shamms?

Mortimer posted maybe two months ago on a Poser list asking for input, as I remember, in exchange for credit and a free book. Got some rude responses. Seems to have an agreement with the publisher to do the next book in the series. Staking a high profile early is probably aimed at discouraging other authors and publishers from doing one, if they assume the Poser market can't support another book. Some writers have an extremely close, established relationship with a company or a key developer(s) from the early days of a new version, some just get a beta copy a bit before release, and some rush that baby out as soon as they can after they get the released version. Folks who do creatures seem to like Shamms' books, those who do more realistic people (and those who read the manual and posts/tutorials here) don't. I don't know, but get the feeling Richard Schrand has more interaction with Curious Labs and people doing interesting things with Poser. I liked his Pro Pack book and would check out any he did on Poser. I expect someone selling a book about an application to have intimate knowledge of all its nooks and crannies, to be current on how it's being used on the cutting edge, and to teach at least a few techniques beyond what's available in the manual. Books on software upgrades are listed with a specific release date, but often come out a month or more later. If you preorder with them, you're less likely to cancel and buy it somewhere else.

As far as Shamms Mortier books being bad...I personally learned alot from them. You have to remember that people on Amazon.com like to get there name mentioned...If you checked the book sales on Shamms Mortier you would know why CL would give him a beta copy of the program. I personally think that CL will be releasing Poser at Siggraph... If you look at the history of Meta Creations on Poser and Curious Labs on Poser all releases were at Siggraph.

I don't know if this question has been addressed but: If we assume that this book is for real (and that it really covers Poser5), then why are we, the LARGEST Poser community, only hearing about it now? Why haven't we heard ANY kind of release date (actual or projected) for Poser 5? Why do we have to find out like this- by finding a pre-release offer of a book, rather than an official announcement from Curious Labs? Then again, maybe the publishers added a "5" to the title of the book so buyers wouldn't think it was obsolete IF Poser 5 came out before the book was printed. Or maybe the publishers want a longer shelf-life before they have to reprint it to cover the new features in Poser 5. It may be worthwhile for someone to pick up the book and actually see if it covers any of the features of Poser 5 (such as the ones listed by Steve Cooper, in other posts). If the book DOES cover these new features, then we'll get a good taste of what's to come. If the book DOESN'T include the new features, then it's false advertising! --John

bah, why spend money on what is probably a sham (no pun intended) - someone could just email steve cooper and ask him :) his rosity username is kupa just IM him and ask him. im not going to bother since im too lazy this morning and i dont buy 'how-to' books anyways. but if you folks are interested then take a moment to get the facts from the source. steves cool, hell tell you right away whats going on. cheers, -gabriel

I've never read or even seen one of this persons books and I know I shouldn't (and usually don't) judge a book by it's cover, but if this is the best image the author can produce; one that my cat could do better with walking across the keyboard, than I have no interest, what-so-ever...I just wanna know when P5 is actually gonna be here...:-) asrai

This is Jenifer Niles, the Publisher for Charles River Media and I hate to burst your enthusiasm, but the pub date for The Poser 5 Handbook is not set for October. We have been planning to do this book for over a year, but have been waiting for information on when Poser 5 is coming. We are working with CuriosLabs, but to date we have no firm information and have simply been keeping the book on our frontlist until we can finalize it. Unfortunately, we have an automatic feed of our databases to accounts, so everything in our dbase gets picked up by our accounts by pub date and put on our Web site if it's listed in our database. We usually change pub dates of books that have slipped before the feed, but this one was missed. We are definitely planning to do the book when Poser 5 is available, but there is no definite plan for Poser 5 to date. Sorry for the false alarm, but hope you will look for the book when there is a Poser 5! It shouldn't take too long to do the book, because it will be based on earlier versions of the Poser Handbook.

This is Jenifer Niles, the Publisher for Charles River Media and I hate to burst your enthusiasm, but the pub date for The Poser 5 Handbook is not set for October. We have been planning to do this book for over a year, but have been waiting for information on when Poser 5 is coming. We are working with CuriosLabs, but to date we have no firm information and have simply been keeping the book on our frontlist until we can finalize it. Unfortunately, we have an automatic feed of our databases to accounts, so everything in our dbase gets picked up by our accounts by pub date and put on our Web site if it's listed in our database. We usually change pub dates of books that have slipped before the feed, but this one was missed. We are definitely planning to do the book when Poser 5 is available, but there is no definite plan for Poser 5 to date. Sorry for the false alarm, but hope you will look for the book when there is a Poser 5! It shouldn't take too long to do the book.

Thanks for the info Jennifer. My original intention was just speculation on a possible release date for Poser 5. I didn't really mean to start a debate about the book. The only how-to book I've ever purchased was the Real World Bryce 4 book and I thought it was quite good. I do remember that e-on software didn't give notice of Vue 4 till just a few weeks before it shipped. Same with Bryce 5 too, I think. So we may not even know it's coming till it's on us. Fingers crossed for a release this year.

My question if they are planning a book...and it's not in the works...why is cover already done?

Just fyi -- we do covers as soon as a book is planned because of all the promotion that has to be done so far in advance. We have covers for books not due until January and February of 2003. As I said, we do plan to do this book, but just don't have solid dates yet. Jenifer

IT SHOULDN'T TAKE TOO LONG TO DO THE BOOK???!!! For a major rewrite of the application? By folks who have been dying to do it the way they've wanted, but were not free to? After a couple years of innovation in this community and the field at large? When Kupa has already promised us a few specific major advances? Oh, yeah, already got most of it in the old wordprocessor - play around with the app for a couple days, good old search and replace... If it was my book, I'd be furious if my publisher admitted that they were satisfied to sell fast rehash.

yeah, that just dispelled any small chance of me ever buying it (not that this would have been very likely). as for promoting the book even before the app its created for is released? sounds like folly to me. ah well - this confirms my previous statement - a lot of people are out for a quick buck. also, when you edited the post to say 'It shouldn't take too long to do the book.', you forgot to delete the earlier post that says 'It shouldn't take too long to do the book, because it will be based on earlier versions of the Poser Handbook.'

You know, all of you guys are jumping to conclusions for a book that NONE of you have seen, regardless of the author's past track record. You are making blanket statements and rendering a judgement based on absolutely nothing. So much for objectivity here.

well, they are presumptions, but theyre heavily based on facts that surround the case. the book cover, the reviews of the other books at amazon by previous customers, the word of previous purchasers right here in the thread, and the statement by the publisher that it should be a quick book, based on earlier ones pretty much has made me form a solid opinion on it. im not trying to influence anyone else here, but i have made my own decision whether or not i would purchase it. cheers, -gabriel

(laugh) We are rather protective of our favorite programs, eh? Objectivity aside, I believe a past track record is an excellent indication of what MAY be expected in the future. It is reputation that makes or breaks someone in any business. Right now, Mr. Mortier's past record forwarns us to, "buyer beware!" Whether the book should be advertised now or not, is moot. Jennifer Niles already said the release was mistaken. Rest assured this community will thoroughly review it once it's truly published. Even after reading reviews posted here, though, I look forward to reading some of the new Poser book at Barnes and Nobel (or BooksAMillion) BEFORE I decide to buy.

Ms Niles, You may be shaking your head at the can of worms opened here, but there are two salient points which you might want to consider in order to extend your sales. This community is made up of absolute newbies (who may already be established artists in traditional media) and gurus who pushed the program far beyond original designs, as well as regular users, and they have different needs. Who is this book targetted at? If the newbies, then it should be clear, concise, and inspiring. If it is the established user base, you'll need to include material and tricks not easily gained by clicking on the menu bar. Considering the 85,000 or so members here, and the folks at 3dcommune and PoserPros who do not come here, it is quite likely that the established userbase is well over 100,000 people, which ought to represent a nice market for a technical book. I've used PhotoShop in various incarnations for almost a decade, and still buy the "WOW!" books because of the additional content and wonderful tips. I suspect tht you will need something like the WOW! book for Poser in order to induce us to open our wallets. Covers make or break sales. I know, having done my share of cassette and CD covers and working on various games. If the customer picks the package up and turns it over to read the blurbs on the back, you've made half the sale. If the customer grimaces and walks on by, you've lost it. Considering the elegance of the Poser packaging and interface, the product deserves better. More important for your publishing house, better art ought to translate into better sales. Since you have 5 months or more until this book hits print, I strongly recommend that you hire another artist to do the cover image. You ought to have an image which causes a viewer to think "Wow, how did he do that!" as he reaches for the book. Carolly