So... since Metacreation is throwing how development on the Poser/Bryce line to focus on Metastream... which we now know can be used to create an OBJ.... Where does that leave us...the red-headed stepchild? Is Poser bound to end up going the way of the dodo? I wonder if Zygote could spin off a new team to buy Poser and re-vamp it... I mean, seriously, how many of the models from Poser 4 were Zygote's originally anyway? This really has me bummed. I'd hate to see Poser fade away...

According to posts on other forums. Zygote has expressed some intrest in either buying, or co-owning Poser and Bryce (it is after all in thier best intrests, I mean, how many of us would have bought thier models, if not for Poser. Sure if we used Max, we may have, but Poser is the first kind of program that a hobbiest can buy that has high quality models and the models on Zygote's site, while pricey are rather good. ) Larry Weinberg, the Creator and Head Developer of Poser is still the part owner of Poser. I have also heard that the PoseAmation guys were also looking at buying the duo also. But I don't think it'll happen. But don't worry about Poser fading away. Larry Weinberg and the guys at Ghost Effects are trying to keep Poser alive. They have released Beta patches, offered support, all for free! January 5 (or 15) was the deadline for bids and no one really stepped up to it (not that we know of that is...) but it leaves it open for someone to buy it. I kinda hope that some company with some decent distribution and quality standards pick it up and don't charge an arm and a leg for it.

I thought Larry Weinberg had full ownership of the rights to Poser. He said that MetaCreations never bought the rights from him, they merely published it, and he was actively looking for a new home for it. Melanie

I don't think it was full ownership, but I think he had all the creative rights to it. But I think Larry will find a good home for Poser. He's too devoted to the program. Heck,he's even making a plugin SDK, so I guess he figures, if there is a way of making plugins for it, then even if the program takes a while to get published, it won't die. He's great guy, heck, he's answered each of my e-mails. Give him an e-mail. I think he likes hearing people give him support.

I also heard that the originators of both Poser and Bryce still own at least a part if not all of the original code to their programs. Fractal Design Expressions was also a part of the Metacreations Mix. The original developers, creaturehouse, has stated on their web page that they have "taken back" the rights to publish the program again and are coming out with a long-overdue update. The creators of Poser and Bryce have stated that they are no willing to see there efforts die on the vine. All of that is beside the point, these programs are really pretty good as they are right now even if worst comes to worst. I've seen some really "cheesy" stuff done on great (&expensive) software and also some great stuff created on "hobby" software. In short, I wouldn't worry about the future of the software. In reality, the spirit and innovations of these programs lies within the Bryce/Poser user communities. Without the innovations, utilites and shared knowledge found here these programs would not be used by more then a handful of people, periode. In fact, the forums have done more to keep these programs alive and did a better job of promoting them then did Metacreations Corp!

Glad toknow I'm not the only one who hates the interface!

I guess I'm one of the few who actually likes the interface. I thought that was what was so unique about most of MetaCreations' products was that their interface was so user friendly. On the other hand, MC's Ray Dream Studio, which has a more conventional Windows interface, is completely useless to me. It's been a $300 paperweight for me. I can't even begin to figure it out. Poser and Bryce were so easy to use, I never even had to consult the user manual to learn them. Oh, well, everyone to their own taste, I guess. Melanie