Well yes I suppose the hands should be facing the other way. hehe He is extra double jointed it seems. :) I'll correct the pose now. Thanks. ablc, I have a low res version prior to subdivision but too many changes have been made since then. Since I didn't do him as a subpatch model, no low res subpatch LW version exists. Pieces were done seperately and grafted priper to subdivision.

priper=prior

Although he is sort of upside down, you can tell that not only is the figure appealing from the front, but he also has a really good profile :)

can you post one render of his head profile? the ear looks good from close up btw!!!

Better I think, if I wait till he is further along before showing more. I'll keep ya posted though.

Very nice work! One morph I always like that is NOT in V2 - is the Eyes Large that enlarges the entire eye socket area - not just the eyeball! LOL! (For more fantasy characters. I think having the most common morphs included with the cr2 load is nice - having oddball ones with injection would be cool too. :-) So interesting what you say about the flow of the mesh-lines.

Excellent Anton. Keep going. :] Fish

Anton, I hope we don't get another young looking male figure, I think we have enough with V3 & Michael 3. I care about the Freak but I don't think we have a worthy sucessor to Michael 2 Muscular 4 yet because there is a big gap between Michael 3 & the Freak plus Michael 3 looks horribly deformed when extreme muscle morphs are applied to him so I haven't been able to use him for a render I would wish to keep. To me he is right there with Don, Judy and all the figures I'll use someday. Just my opinion. I'm from the group that only does action figures so I would like to get a good bodybuilder out of Maximus, plus the ability to get thicker forearms and bigger arms and feet.

rigged for LW is good :)

Anton: Sell him from your own website...100% is the best and it's a nice even number too

Thanks. Will keep you all posted as to what happens. Will likely have more progress to show by the end of the month. Don't forget to send me pics. Simon, don't worry. Scan above. I touched on that abit. Okay off to go work hard before I have to jump back on my monthly contract projects.

Maximus is a great looking base figure, Anton! I hope you will be adding some "ethnic" face morphs, e.g. Afro/African, Asian, etc. for a variety of possible characters. He looks like a promising successor to M2 in terms of the realistic male nude figure. Being a bodybuilder enthusiast, I would also like to see "muscularity" morphs in Maximus that exceed existing figures in their convincing portrayal of the male bodybuilder physique. M3 in this respect, was quite a disappointment, if not a total disaster (the only saving grace being the Freak, but they should have given him morphs for regular-sized hands and feet from the start). I can't wait to see your "Maximus bodybuilder"! (Hint: be a good tease and give us a preview when available!) A mesh and its morphs are only "half the story"; a good texture is often a key factor in making a figure "come alive". Unless Maximus takes existing texture maps (e.g. M3), I guess he will require his own custom-made textures? If so, support from talented texture map makers (e.g. Catharina "Mec4D" Harders) would be critical in ensuring the success and viability of your figure. I am also glad that you have made Maximus "anatomically complete" from the very beginning, which is perhaps the difference between one who really cares about the realistic male nude figure (and pays attention to the ALL the details) from those would "rather not go there". Ideally, I would like to see Maximus exceed the flexibility and functionality of "Ulf's prop". In this regard, I am confident that you will do all of us proud; Maximus is in good hands! I've also e-mailed you some examples of face/muscularity morphs/body types that I hope you will consider incorporating in Maximus. Regards and best wishes, :-D

Anton, The hands look fine... although the little fingers look a bit odd, especially the middle joint. The tips of my little fingers curve inward, but I don't know if that is a common trait. It looks you have enough mesh there to accomodate wide spans (basketball and pianist and gesturing wizard hands). The ear is very nice. General profile looks good, too, but I'd have a straighter nose to start with: morphs can then be added to dish it, flare it, or arch it into a nice aquiline beak. (The nose in the first head shot could have been broken at one time, the arched profile looks straighter.) I'm not interested in yet another body-builder, although I suppose you will have to do some extreme musculature to appeal to those who apparently are fixated upon superheroic proportions. (Are not THREE bulked-up steroidally-deformed nitwits enough? Just like the toonimals and the toonydolls, the market is saturated.) After 3 1/2 years of life drawing, I find the normal human body to be very rewarding in its variety. I'll be glad to get some more variety in my virtual humans, too. :) Carolly

Please send email. Thanks.

anyway, no subP. is not a problem if he is rigged >:) the dream will be LW rigged and mimics compatible :) thanks anton

Anton, do you think you could supply this figure with an an FBX file for those of us wanting to work in Motion Builder and other higher end software for animation. Just an FBX file should be enough to please everybody.

Very nice work, Anton. :) Beth

I second the fbx request. Then he can be used in max, lw, maya, cinema4d, xsi, and my personal favorite MotionBuilder :) -Mark

hey anton, i was looking for antonkisieldesigns.com but it's no longer there. you could very well strike out on your own and not have to go with existing brokerages. build it and we will follow and all that. you were always best as a soloist ;) also whatever happened to that other figure you were thinking of before you joined daz... you mentioned it once on a front page interview here and you were working on it with dmentia.

Stores are tricky. Daz, for instance, will not broker products for items not sold at Daz. And some sites to not support other site's products. But everyone seems to support Daz products. It is just tricky. But it will all work out in the end I am sure one way or the other. We'll see what happens. Still have lots of time to decide. Thanks for the support though for sure. Someone with a strong knowledge on FBX email me and i'll look into it. Regards, Anton

AprilYSH, I forgot to answer your question about Fravashi. Back in 2002, at the time of the interview you mentioned, I was getting ready to open my own store which was the Platinum Club. Shortly after realizing the future would be uncertain with the upcoming release of P5(I saw the alpha), Daz and I stuck a deal where I would brng my store concept to them and do it's content under contract. That was July of 2002. V3 was midway done and I was very aggressive with "getting on-board with V3", something that sadly would only happen that one time. Many of Fravashi's design ideas(names means "she who is many"), I tried to get incorporated into V3. Some I succeded in getting in place. These included the expanded ethnic morphs, clothing material zones, more universally spread morphs, etc. Some things which I had wanted still, sadly never made it. Much of myself went into V3 just prior to her release. One of my early faces I designed for Fravashi was blended with the Daz V3 face to create the default face, though I wished a larger percentage of it was used. So as a result some of my work exists in all the unimesh figures though my original V3 morphs have almost faded from each new unimaesh character, male or female. So in some ways, Fravashi merged with V3. So that is why I shelved the original Fravashi. However, with the development of Maximus I have come up with more new ideas and approaches unique to a female figure, new mesh ideas, etc. The Fravashi mesh was scrapped except for a few elements I salvaged for Maximus like the ears. I do plan to do a new female figure, of my own, early in 2005. Her name won't be Fravashi but after I have fully developed Maximus I will take a break and do my female. Studio will be hopefully out and complete and I can make sure she and Maximus are fully untilized.If I have to I don't mind making updates for Maximus and such but don't really want to have to do it twice for two figures if that need arises, not that it will. In that time Daz will likely release more females including V4. I would rather wait till after her release so there is no worry about any copying. Daz has a very healthy and guilt-free sense of competition and of "smart business moves". I want to make sure I am poised not to be submarined or upstaged, even if "coincidently" or "unitentionally". Many things I have done first have been copied later (Names, marketing styles, etc)and I have to be careful how I time things. You kinda end up competing with yourself which is tough at times, if that makes sense. I would hope that is an unfounded fear, but better to be safe than sorry. I know that is a very long answer to a very short question but there you have it. hehe -Regards, Anton

Thanks :) That's very much what I thought happened, reading between the lines of the events as they happened. So I was curious if your total immersion in V3 was why it came about that you are beginning with a male figure. For a change!!! lol Definitely good news. More development in the male side of things :) Talk to SteffyZZ, PhilC, and your pal neftis and all those others who set up their own solo shops. :D And you wouldn't know how many people were sad to think we'd lost you to the sims lol

I'm glad that you're working on this character too. I think it's great that you are getting imput from the community so early in his development. It will make it a lot easier to get content makers to support it if they have the feeling their imput was valuable. Thanks again to Anton for all your hard work :)

Looks great so far, Anton. I'm curious about something though... I see a fair number of triangles in some of your images above. They may be located and sized in a way that it won't matter in the end, but I'm just curious of your view on using triangles (vs trying to keep it all quads)? - Keith

you wrote: "They may be located and sized in a way that it won't matter in the end" Of course they don't matter. No reason why they would. Quads are more graceful and alow for creases than large patches of trangles that can restrict chnages in folding directions. Triangles are fine so long as they are used for a reason. You actually need them at times when changing polygon flow or resolution. Actually if you look at the hands there are no triangles, though a few of the quads look like em. Triangular polygons aren't evil, but you have to use them for a purpose. A model of nothing but quads is often wasteful.

Anton, do you have a pic of what Fravashi looked like?

hehe. No. SHe was still quite crude. I don't anymore. I delete almost anything I don't touch for 6 month. She kinda looked like a young Cher at the time.

As I mentioned, it looks great so far and I'm not one to argue with success ;). I was just curious about your methodology (I saw that the hands were quads, I guess I was looking more at the head shot). Triangles are indeed useful for direction/flow and resolution changes.

WOW Anton!! I read all the LOOONG post!! I truly am i awe in front of your work! I really can't wait to see him all textured, with hair and clothing! Have you show this on CGtalk??? You are up for an award my dear!Well I can wish you at least can't I??? ;) Just don't mention it's for poser in the begining of the post!! LOL Ok that was a joke... anyway, you go boy!! And congrats

Thanks. Yeah CGtalk would rip him apart. They have issues with the Poser community. I think they feel it is unfair we get attention for out "primitive" toys. :)

Hey I hear ya;) I tried once and as soon as they knew it was for poser !It got ugly...for me that is:) But never mind, poser people can have much talent, sometimes even more than any other app... Thing is, in modeling, it's almost all the same, polyflows ,good joints, good morphs...The ending result is what really count. And here, the 'almost' finish result is REALLY top already;) I guess what I really meant to say is NEVER MIND the application! It's the talent that counts!

Since your modelling him in another app, you won't run into any of that prejudice at this stage.... but you never know, you might get some useful feedback on mesh topology. You might not of course :)

By the way - any hints on your process? You doing sub-d or nurbs or other? My guess is non nurbs because of the control you want over every polygon... but it never hurts to ask :)

Yeah I like Nurpbs but it isn't my favorite method.

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