First of all, I really appreciate Steve giving us all the previews and participating in answering some of the questions raised here in the forum. But I can't help but feel that we are in for a bit of a dissapointment when it comes to Poser 5 in using the Pro Pack functionality. The big question that has been cleverly dodged like a masterful politician is - Will Poser 5 have the same abilities (plugins) available in the Pro Pack? Will we be able to have the same functionality while using Lightwave, 3DS Max, Cinema 4D? This is much more important to many of us than some of the other lesser concerns. Are we not getting a straight answer because the answer will be one we won't want to hear?

does it mean he's dodging the question or does it mean we won't be needing plugins at all? maybe people have asked the wrong questions, if you remember the plugins were tacked on after the fact, but with poser5 they have started from the ground up so the plugins might just be built in from the word go this time. Rob

Well, I think if that were the case, it would have been "big news" right along with hair, cloth and new rendering features. But we have neither got a yes or no from them. I emailed tech support and was told basically just to wait and see.

true but with all the new features in poser5 the other programs aren't going to be as important as they used to be, why bother to export a figure to max/Lw to do the wonderful things you can do with them when you can do the same thing in poser far more easily? I get the impression CL wants people to use poser not just as a staging area for other programs but as the weapon of choice. Rob

I think you're right on the money there c1rcle.

In Kupa's last post he indicated that more details would be available when the new Curious Labs website came online "In a few days" (quoting from memory). I don't have any explanation for the reluctance to reveal more information, unless the they are holding it back for a big launch of the new site, but I doubt if anyone has any real reasons not to show a few days more patience. Bill

I'm patient, I'm patient, I've chewed chunks out of my desk trying to stay patient ;) off to take a couple of valium now. Rob

Circle, as Woody Allens says" You need a Valium the size of a hockey puck! :O) I'm just hoping the new computer I just ordered is big enough for this new Poser 5. I hope I will be able to understand the new poser. My bet is they won't be shipping till end of Sept.

If your machine can run the most recently released games then poser should be happy with it......I hope. Rob

I'm patient too, but I find it kind of unsettling that Steve and others at Curious Labs are so quick to answer all the other questions except for this one. What's the big mystery?

As I said, possibly the website launch. I have a list of queries as long as my arm, but they can all wait (and if Steve and co. did answer all the queries currently posted, the next day people would have come up with a whole new set anyway). Probably the only one that may need to be asked is the system requirements. People are upgrading all the time, and it would be a shame if anyone was caught out. Having said that I suspect that the basic requirements will fall well within the low spec end of the market. Things have changed a lot from the situation a few years ago when buying new software more often than not necessitated a hardware upgrade. Bill

i wonder also... what makes me wonder is that release date in august. if they're going to do that, it means that the software is ready, manuals are out printing and traveling along to selling points. thick manuals need some week for drying & binding so i'm really anxious about that date... and nobody ever saw more than california dreams pictures - one would expect some screenshots for the manual to be ready. i guess that plug-in stuff will come eventually in some later update, if at all. i would sure like to continue to render my figures in max...

'I find it kind of unsettling that Steve and others at Curious Labs are so quick to answer all the other questions except for this one' That's hardly the case, pzrite. They've given us a few peeks under the hood, but for the majority of users there are other, far more important questions still unanswered. Things like upgrade price, library structure, sys requirements, Mac release date...I could go on for a while here. I understand your concern, but I don't think your section of the community is being slighted. There's just a general lack of info...full stop. And that's totally normal when a new product is being finished up. No doubt we'll get it all within the next few weeks. mac

Okay, I get your points. I don't want to escalate this into a case of "question wars" :) But as aleks said it sure would be nice to know if you could continue to render figures in max. Well, for now, I'll try and put my mind on other things like paying off bills and world events. ;)

I've seen a print ad for P5 in the new Computer Graphics World magazine. Latest issue. Looks nifty but can't remember enough to say what details they cite.

Attached Link: http://66.70.166.29/promo/clothbx.mpg

in fact the next generation hosting plugin will be what steve called a "super plugin" that will allow us to re-pose and re-animate the imported figures in Cinema etc

Poser 5 for all its new features, still does not come close to the environmental volumetric lighting,nurbs, modeling and high end particle systems ,SLA Procedural shaders and water simulation effects available in Cinema and lightwave etc

so i will still be using poser5 a character animation plugin for cinema4DXL

That's interesting Wolf... Do you know if that plug in ability will be part of the P5 software about to be released or if it will be a "down the road" upgrade or patch? I agree with you completely that the ability to integrate Poser into C4DXL, LW & Max would greatly enhance the flexability of P5 and the hosting software. While some feel that the new P5 will have the ability to do everything as a stand-alone, (and perhaps to some extent it will), it will not be able to offer all of the features of the other programs mentioned. Nor do I believe that they are representing that it will. Poser is a fantastic program from what I have seen, and, as a new LW user, absolutely cannot wait to add Poser's functionality to it. Their introduction of Pro Pack, in my view, was setting the stage to allow users of other 3d software to integrate those programs with the unique qualities that Poser posesses: the absolute best and friendliest character generation and animation tool around. If integration of P5 is going to be possible with those other apps, recognition of Poser as a serious tool will absolutely skyrocket (in my humble view) and all of these independant artists who create content for it are going to have there mailboxes full of orders. Everyone will win, and win big. My best wishes to all involved, and congrats to CL for creating something that literally everyone will benefit from.

"That's interesting Wolf... Do you know if that plug in ability will be part of the P5 software about to be released or if it will be a "down the road" upgrade or patch? "< i got the impression from Steve Cooper that the new Hosting plugins are "further down the Road" unfortunately :-( but they say patience is a virtue :-)

"true but with all the new features in poser5 the other programs aren't going to be as important as they used to be, why bother to export a figure to max/Lw to do the wonderful things you can do with them when you can do the same thing in poser far more easily?

I get the impression CL wants people to use poser not just as a staging area for other programs but as the weapon of choice."

I am pretty sure that CL knows how important it is to support the advanced systems. It will be crucial for Poser to make the next leap that those who are in professional environments be able to fir Poser5 into their workflow - not have to give up all the experience and utility of the rendering engines they love to go to Poser as the final output system.

I don't think that you could be more correct, soulhuntre. Curious Labs is in the unique position of being able to please not only their loyal following of Poser users, but also gain favor with users of other applications who are equally loyal to the software that they have dedicated themselves to learning. I can easily see Poser being a favorite "companion" program for owners of any 3D app that CL chooses to make Poser integrate with. Just do LW first, willya?