I just saw this on the other forum! Follow the link (hopefully, if this isn't in Web Resources it will soon be) for the details: http://www.curiouslabs.com/

Interesting! I've never heard of this company. Melanie

I've never heard of them either Paul

It looks to all intents and purposes to be a management buyout for Poser. I doubt we could have better news than this. :-)

Hey. Steve Cooper is now the president of that company. And will again be one of the key folks involved with Poser. He was such a cool guy and would frequently hang out on the Poser list with us users when they were working on Poser4. The product is in very good hands now. This guy knows his Poser chops. It's nice to have him back with us. ScottA iamsba@aol.com

Damn' that IS good news Scott :) Paul

A more complete announcement (complete with source): <<Willow Poser Forum Team posted 04-13-2000 07:22 AM Staff Use Only: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- egi.sys AG in Joint Venture with the Creator of Poser Acquires Professional Graphics Products from MetaCreations Poser and Office AdvantageTM Add Dimension to egi.sys AG's 3D Strategy Carpinteria, CA and Tingen, Germany April 13, 2000 egi.sys AG and MetaCreations Corporation (Nasdaq: MCRE) today announced that egi.sys AG has acquired and licensed industry-leading graphics software products and technology from MetaCreations. egi.sys AG has purchased Poser, the award-winning 3D-character animation and design tool for digital artists and animators, and Office AdvantageTM, a plug-in application for Windows which runs right inside Microsoft Office to create more compelling and professional PowerPoint presentations and Excel charts. These applications complement egi.sys' current graphics offerings in the area of three-dimensional computer graphics. Under egi.sys AG, Curious Labs, Inc. will develop, publish, market and distribute future versions of the Poser product. CEO Larry Weinberg, the creator of Poser, together with Steve Cooper, president, and Seath Ahrens, vice president of research and development, are co-founders of Curious Labs. Steve Cooper was the Poser product manager at MetaCreations and Seath Ahrens co-lead engineer. Curious Labs expects to hire additional marketing, sales, service and support professionals from MetaCreations, together with developers and engineers who have been associated with Poser to ensure the smooth transition and continued development of Poser. "We are very excited to be working with egi.sys to establish Curious Labs as the new home of Poser," said Larry Weinberg, CEO at Curious Labs. "It is already clear that egi.sys shares in our vision of bringing affordable and compelling creative tools to people everywhere. With egi.sys' research, technology and distribution capabilities in Europe, and with almost all of the development and marketing team of Poser intact in the United States, we will be well positioned to continue to innovate and grow this proven product line that has already proven itself successful under MetaCreations." MetaCreations will continue to handle customer service for Poser and Office Advantage until April 30, 2000, after which time egi.sys AG will provide full customer support. In addition, MetaCreations will provide technical support until May 19, 2000. egi.sys AG will handle technical support starting May 20, 2000. egi.sys AG has also agreed to honor support and upgrade privileges to registered owners of Poser 4 and Office Advantage, subject to proof of purchase and within applicable time limits. MetaCreations, based in California, sold the professional graphics software to egi.sys following a decision announced last December to restructure its business and focus solely on e-commerce visualization solutions for the Web. MetaCreations' e-commerce visualization business is centered on the Company's industry-leading, patented MetaStreamTM technology, specifically for the streaming and display of interactive 3D virtual product presentation over the Web. While the company decided to divest its graphics applications, it has continued to develop and support new versions of the products. egi.sys AG egi.sys AG, designs and develops tools, technologies, databases, and solutions that utilize 3D animated models and motion data, integrate within popular applications such as Microsoft Office, and can be delivered via the World Wide Web. The company was founded by an independent research group from the University of Tingen, Germany. For more information, go to <www.egisys.de>. Curious Labs, Inc. Curious Labs, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of egi.sys AG, designs, develops, and publishes software tools such as Poser, which focus on 3D human and character visualization for artists, designers, and web developers. The company is located in Santa Cruz, California. For more information, go to <www.curiouslabs.com>. MetaCreations Corporation MetaCreations Corporation is focused on e-commerce visualization solutions for the World Wide Web, and the Company's Internet strategy is being executed through its subsidiary, Metastream Corporation. The company is headquartered in Santa Barbara County, California. For more information, go to <www.metacreations.com> and <www.metastream.com>. The company's stock is traded on the Nasdaq stock market under the symbol MCRE. This release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties affecting the Company's business. Such risks include, but are not limited to, the following: no assurance that under egi.sys AG, Curious Labs, Inc. develop, publish, market and distribute future versions of the Poser product; that Curious Labs will hire additional marketing, sales, service and support professionals from MetaCreations or developers and engineers who have been associated with Poser, that egi.sys will be able to continue to innovate and grow the Poser product line. For a more detailed discussion of factors that affect MetaCreations' operating results, interested parties should review MetaCreations' SEC reports, including MetaCreations' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999, and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. # # # MetaCreations and Metastream are either registered trademarks or trademarks of MetaCreations Corporation. Poser and Office Advantage are either registered trademarks or trademarks of MetaCreations Corporation and have been assigned to egi.sys AG. All other products, fonts, company names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.>>

hehe - Poser will be german now... (sorry) I'm happy to see that Poser will be alive and that Larry Weinberg and Steve Cooper are with it. I wish you all the best for your new Company and I'm looking forward to see lots of new tools and functions in the new Poser. Regards Chris

At least they got the people who know it best... and Larry has busted his butt on this from day one. Nice to see Poser's "parents" are still with it.

YEHA! Good News! :-) -Ede

Nobody could have asked for a better fate for Poser. The people who have poured their blood, sweat, and tears into the program can still call it their own (now more so than ever, I suppose...) Bows This is a happy day in Poser Land.

STEVE!!! STEVE!!! People, Steve is the coolest person you could ever meet!! Jack

sorry Jack, but the coolest person you could ever meet is still Iceman from the original X-Men.. though Steve is pretty close.... (yup, I'm giddy from the news)

I say, brothers and sisters, raise up your voices, CAN I GET AN AMEN?

AMEN !!!

but who the dip are egi sys ag?? i've never heard of them either... although i do live under a rock. (er, at least on a rock, sticking out into the ocean.) and if you guys say this is the greatest thing to ever happen, then i guess i can't argue. but what are egi sys ag gonna do with poser? integrate it into microsoft office? huh?? it IS good that the poser team are still working on poser. but forgive me if i dont celebrate until i see what becomes of it. sorry. :)

Larry, Steve & Seth RUNNING THE SHOW??!!.....WHOOHOO!!! PARTY AT KUPA'S HOUSE!!!!

Ok. Adobe has Carrara and Curious Labs has Poser. Is there any hope for a Poser plugin for Carrara? Is anyone from Curious Labs reading this??

I have to suspect that EGI Sys AG is kind of like a holding company or maybe a Capital Investment firm; they provide funding for other companies in exchange for a slice of the profits and such. I don't know, but that's the impression I have from what little I've read so far.