Most people who use graphic programs are aware that MetaCreations sold all of their innovative graphic programs to other companies. In the case of Poser, this program actually went home. It was purchased by a new company called Curious Labs Inc. which is a wholly owned subsidiary of egi.sys.AG. Poser's creator, Larry Weinberg, is the CEO of Curious Labs.

Of all of MetaCreations' programs, I use and relied on Poser the most. I was upset and wondered how long it would be before OS's changed so that I would no longer be able to use Poser. I was greatly relieved when I found out to whom it had been sold.

In October of this year, Curious Labs released its first update for Poser. It will update the program to 4.0.3. The update is free for owner's of Poser 4.x. It is about 11 MB, and it can be easily downloaded from the Curious Labs' site at http://www.curiouslabs.com/downloads1.html

The cost of a Poser upgrade from versions 1, 2, or 3 is $99. The cost of a full version for new users of Poser 4.0.3 is $219.00. The system requirements are the same as they were for Poser 4.0.

This new version of Poser has many bug fixes and modifications to make it a stronger program. Its interface and other characteristics appear to me to be the same. The fixes, etc. are listed on the readme file with Poser 4.0.3. Since they are numerous, I have included them in another file. Link to List of fixes.

I use Poser to create generic and/or allegorical figures for my artwork. The two illustrations above are examples. I could not do this with any other program. Poser does this easily and cleanly. For those who are not familiar with this program, I am including some illustrations of how I use it as well as pictures of the interface and some of the working screens.

Poser is a powerful program; it has a fairly steep learning curve because one must learn how to properly manipulate the whole figure as well as its individual body parts. In the very early versions of Poser, if I remember correctly, one could not modify such elements as a person's thumb or index finger. In Poser, the figure is three dimensional and can be viewed from any angle imaginable. This is important because what might look good from a frontal viewpoint could look improperly positioned from a side view. This multi- view capability I find to be very important because I can render and then export a figure from many angles of view and then use them that way in Photoshop. Also, if I create a new window in my rendering screen, I can render fairly large figures at 300 dpi.

I have really just described a few components of Poser. This program can be used to create certain type of figures; as a model for computer or noncomputer art artwork in different mediums, or one can render a figure and, then, with the use of filters create a pastel, charcoal, or other type of figure, etc. Obviously the list can go on. However, I have not mentioned that scenics can be created in Poser using backdrops, multiple figures, and props. One can also use Poser to create complicated animations in which the figures speak and the shape of their mouths reflect the words or sounds that they are saying. In addition, one can morph body parts so that the figure changes shape gradually.

Although I have used Poser since its inception, I found that in writing this review I discovered areas to Poser that I did not

Poser users who have older versions of Poser, including the last MetaCreation's update, should upgrade to 4.0.3 in order to take advantage of other programs that Curious Labs a has in development.

Poser Pro Pack is due to be released in the fourth quarter of this year. This program will provide integration of Poser figures with such programs as 3D Studio Max, Lightwave, and others. It will allow exporting of Poser animations using Macromedia's Flash. This is only a sample of what Poser Pro Pack has to Offer Poser 3.0.4 users.

I know that I am looking forward to using this new product and am happy in knowing that Poser is alive and well.