I would like to know what kinds of programs that are out for making creatures. Also do they stand alone or do they need a base program to run them?

Any program except Poser can do this. Pick one, download a demo, and see if you like it.

Most people use programs that model with Nurbs and/or Sub-Ds, but metaballs ( like Bryce ) can be used to.

I use Amapi to model complex shapes. It's cheap and in theory you can make anything you want with it. You should try out a demo before you buy it though, some people love Amapi (me being one of them) and others consider it useless and un-intuitive. If you have a little more money you could go with C4D. The newest version (R8) has a modular approach, so you can buy the base module relatively cheap and do some nice creature modelling in it. Then if you want to animate the creature at a more professional level you can buy animation modules. If you want to go staight to the professional software you can use 3DSMax wich has some great modelling tools. If you combine it with Character studio it's powerfull enough to make almost any character animation you could possibly think of. I've also been told Maya is very easy on character animation. If you only need a modeller C4D, Rhino or Amapi are great, if you also want to animate your creatures the additional C4D modules are a great option. There's also a less wellknown app called Hash Animation Master and it's supposed to be a great and easy to learn program to create animations. I don't think it's very good at modelling though because it's only modelling tools are deformation based.

Attached Link: http://www.fxrsoft.com/default.asp?page=products/standalone.html

Problem with Creature Creator, at link above (I have the standalone version) is that you can't pose the creatures. I didn't realize this when I purchased it. I wanted something to make monsters, and while you can mix and match a large variety of variables to get cool looking creature, unless you have a program (and the know-how) on how to put bones into them etc, they are standing at a default position kind of like the default Poser model position. It's a cool program, don't get me wrong, but would be a lot cooler if you could modify the pose of the creature without needing to do a lot of work in another program.

Creature Creator was made as an add-on to Poser, that's why it doesn't pose. It was made to simply make new characters for those people who didn't feel like or didn't have the skills to model their own new creatures.

Character creation : The fabled other side of the fence in 3D graphics...! Bryce focuses mainly on environments, of course, but now we have metaballs and that adds a lot of flexibility! All of the above programs rule, although Creature Creator is kind of basic, more basic even than Poser itself. Poser 5, in my experience, is obnoxious and buggy. Poser 4 Pro is in contrast rock solid, andrarely crashes on me. But those are mainly for tweaking/posing/animating. Lightwave, one not mentioned above, has almost all of the tools one would need right out of the box. Skelegons, bones, nurbs, and even Meat-balls! (grins) Maya has a slightly better clothing interface, but alas I have little experience in Maya. If you want to create characters, and expect to do it easily, just get some clay. It is a complex and ridiculous field to go into! But take heart : it is POSSIBLE to do! Dig in...

Attached Link: http://www.wings3d.com

Thank you for all the great info. I am glad I am not doing this to make a living I would have starved a long time ago. I will use the links and search some more but I think making my strange little pictures in bryce will have to do for the time being. At least until they come out with something to make full creatures. I love this forum, everyone is great! Thanks again. Renee

You could try a free program called Anim8or. You can model and it has bones that you can add to the character.