Seeing as this is the first Siggraph in five years that I will be misssing, is there any change you (whoever you are) could go by and check out BodyStudio for Max in action. I am really interested in this product, but only those who have a vested interest (developers/testers) have had much to say in these forums (and I am still waiting for independent 3rd part reviews such as magazines). I may be implying (slightly) that they are biased, but I do not doubt that they are sincere (don't take offense, Josh!) Anyways, I would be grateful for a summary of impressions and any hands-on that you might get (or a crippled demo from R-S). Thanks, - Ray

I am there right now. I will check it out tomorrow when the exhibition opens.

Much appreciated. - Ray

I was hoping to be there but I have to work overtime right now. This sux, big time.

Ray, I've been using BodyStudio for a month now (I'm a user, not a developer or tester for Reiss) and I've found it to be the most stable of all the Poser-MAX transfer systems. The image is a Body Studio imported pz3 from Poser 5 rendered in MAX 5.1 using advanced lighting with skylight and one target spot. I had to change only one parameter: currently, transmapped clothing is imported with the material as one-sided when it needs to be two-sided for a complete geometry render and GI shadow production. Not a big deal. Animation import is good - the image is the final frame of a 15 frame Cloth Room simulation. Updating the pz3 works well with pose alteration and new geometry additions - the max file is automatically updated. But there does seem to be a problem with the update of the material file: new materials are not added to the existing max file and I've found it necessary to import the pz3 from scratch to get these. Hope this helps. Ian