I've not used Poser for a long time, but with my recent purchase of the Poser 6 upgrade I'd like to get back into it again--but I want a new male figure to work with. I'm tired of Micheal 2 and the native Poser figures turn me off. I have some questions I hope you guys can help me with. I can either afford Apollo with his adds ons or the Freak and his add ons, but not both right now.

1. Is the Freak independent of Micheal 3? Can I just buy The Freak and have a fully functioning figure with morphs or do I have to buy the Micheal 3 body and head morphs. Micheal 3 leaves me cold.

2. Are there texture map templates available for Apollo if I want to try to make my own textures for him?

3. Using the new Clothing Wizard can I adapt Micheal 2 clothes to Apollo?

I'd like the support Anton's work because I really like what he does, but I've had some difficulty downloading things from Content Paradise. On the other hand I am not currently a Daz Platinum subscrber but would become one if I did purchase Freak. How do users compare the 2 figures? Who should I buy?

There's simply no contest. ApolloMax is a superior figure. You can use PhilC's wardrobe wizard to convert your existing clothing for him.

As impressive as Apollo Max is (and I wish Anton every success with this figure, Anton certainly deserves it) I won't be buying yet ANOTHER extremely high rez figure with all the issues too many polygons creates... :(

KBOC...I hope you reconsider. There are so many good figures out there. ApolloMax really isn't a drain on your resources and has such a unique look. Anton really put a lot of energy into making a figure that represents the next level of innovation and evolution in poser. It should also be mentioned that Neftis' Elle can now have clothing from V3 adjusted to her using Wardrobe Wizard. I haven't done that for this image, but this is M3's clothing adjusted for ApolloMax.

Don't get me wrong, I think Apollo very beautiful from the renders I see. I'd consider him a lot harder if I hadn't already got Mike and VicMale.

That's cool Jeremy:)Is she grabbing his b**t or what??? LOL How are Apollo Max's expressions?? I haven't seen any yet..not showing any smile or anger or anything .I would like to see this.I am planning too on buying him so I can create some content...If time allows me.God please help! I need a 30 hours day for at least 1 week is this possible???

Elle and Apollo Max certainly make an excellent pair :) To answer your question, ApolloMax's expressions are superb. Anton has some preset characters in the face library and Max has some additional phonomes. The expressions you are talking about are included as dials as well, but you might have to experiment to get the overall desired facial effect you want. I haven't played with all of his expressions yet as I'm still experimenting. What I can tell you is that all his morph dials are unique and so none of the character morphs are spins of existing dials.

KBOC, Apollo is not at all hi-res, he clocks in at 40,000 polys, an obj of 4378kb and a cr2 of 14493kb. No strain on the system at all. Despite that, he renders a dream, no line of corners that I've seen so far. Apollo gets large very easily and with a little work with the scale, he can match the Freak for size and bulk. This morph was from spinning about 3 dials, but can be refined with a little more. Right now, I would go with Apollo at $50. The Freak is going to cost you somewhat more: $40 for the base, another $30 for the maps and morphs, and another $25 for the body suit. All of which is included with Apollo. Further more, because The Freak is unimesh, that's a lot of polygons for you to render if you're using any V3s or M3s in the same scene.

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

Mychelle, there are some promo pictures on Anton's site you might want to look at :)

I guess all are in favor of Apollo Maximus, except some. Personally I don't care about Apollo Maximus, as great as all of the advantages are, I just don't like him. There something about him that puts me off. I have yet to see a render with him in it that I do like. On the other hand, I love the freak. A while ago he came with a magazine and I've used him on a number of occassions. He's awesome.

Attached Link: ApolloMax & Wardrobe Wizard Tutorial

Kalyso has a great APolloMax & Wardrobe Wizard Tut available.

Aeilkema, the figure was just released. If you wait a couple days and watch the galleries you might seem him in a way that catches your imagination :)

PapaBlueMarlin, just love that pic of Max with Elle. I have never seen the promiscuous side of her before, always thought she was such a sweet and innocent girl !

Like I've been saying all along, Elle can be a real vixen! Because she has such a unique look and real sense of character she compliments any figure she's posed with. The same goes for Max as he's a real stud and a such an advanced figure as far as forming characters and creating new expressions :)

There are certain things I really like about Apollo, but because he is such a different type of figure in terms of design, he is arguably more "difficult" to use than the "standard" style poser figs. Apollo has a certain "look" by default; it's a look that's different from the many M3's and Davids (and even Freaks) out there, but it does seem to take some effort to get rid of that default look. I've seen many renders here and elsewhere so far that look very Apollo-ish. That said I've seen a few that look very different from the default as well. This tells me it is possible, it just takes time and effort. As to my recommendations to the original poster, I'd say it depends on what you're planning to do. If you want to do mostly "big guy" style renders, I'd say go with the Freak. I like the figure a lot myself. If you want something more general purpose, go with Apollo, especially since you've already mentioned Wardrobe Wizard. Think of it this way: Freak is very good for what he's intended as (being a BIG guy), better IMO than Apollo. Apollo however is much better as a general purpose figure, able to do many things, fill many roles. And yes Freak is independant of M3, you don't need one to use the other (not sure if this was answered already). FYI Many of M3's head morphs (all of them? I'm not sure) do work on the Freak as well.

First, Maximus has 39668 verticies, while the Freak has 72712. So Max is a much smaller object file. Max is less of a drain than any Unimesh figure (since they have the same sized object file). Max looks great due to Anton's amazing design. One of those cases where bigger isn't better. Max comes with a body suit, morphs, and textures. The Freak and M3 don't. Second, Max is a new character so doesn't have nearly as many cloths or textures as M3, the Freak, David, or Vittorio. He should have more very soon (I'm working on a freebie set of leathers now). Don't forget David and Vittorio, both Unimesh figures and IMHO better than M3. Vittorio comes with 6 included morphs, and can use David and V3 injections. There is also a few free morphs I've done for him. One is a "Freaky" morph that turns him very close to looking like the Freak. Max can bulk up VERY well too. Third, consider price: M3 is free (but you have to get his morphs - an extra . The Freak costs $39.95 (his morphs and maps cost an extra $24.95), Maz costs $49.95 (but comes with a ton of morphs, a texture set, and bodysuit). David costs $39.95 (but you have to get his morphs - $14.95 each for head and body). Vittorio costs $7.99, on sale for $6.36 (he comes with 6 base morphs, with others available for free, though not nearly as many as Max). Max is cutting edge. He's a superbly designed figure with options not seen on any other figure. All in all, he may be the best bang for the buck. And that's a pretty strong recommendation from me, since I made Vittorio.

For my money, I think David is the most versitle of the male figures around right now (and worth noting that Hiro can do a decent realistic look too). And I really like Vittorio as well. But I still wound up getting Apollo when he was released because 1) I have loved virtually everything Anton has ever done and never been let down in the quality department, and 2) Apollo just looks different. He's not about to replace David as my favorite, and most used male figure, but if it is just between he and the Freak, I think you'd find more reasons to like Apollo.

Apollo seems interesting but seeing renders I react on the peculiar looking transitions between deltoid and upperarm and sometimes also between upperarm and forearm. Not smooth, looking like Meat Lego put together. Have I eyeproblems or Apollo shoulderproblems?

matsmolund, I personally think his shoulders look quite sturdy. It couldn't be worse than M3/V3's dreadful shoulder problems ?

Okay, I've got the FREAK, M2, M3 and just got Max. My advice is... Get Max and the Wardrobe Wizard. Max can then wear anything that M2 & M3 wear (excapt gloves. He is far less recourse intensive and, I think will soon be supported quite well. M2/3 poses can be adapted and resaved for Max. Wait till DAZ releases a free version of the FREAK, then get him as well.

Well, I managed to scrape up enough money to get Apollo and the Freak in the end. I am sure that both will have their purposes. I am glad that Apollo is not morph injected, but there are certain aspects of Freak I really like. Now I have to save to the Wardrobe Wizard. I was a little upset, the day I bought Apollo, the Wizard went off half price and I felt it's regular, unreduced price tag a bit steep. So I'm without it for the time being, but now being a Platinum Club member I've been able to get a lot of cool Freak clothes in the mean time, which Apollo will be able to share in the future.

Tom, Apollo Maximus comes with a skin suit (body suit) and cut down variations of that. I've done the following free clothing for Apollo Maximus, as well as an injection version, and some injection morph poses. Check my posts here for the complete list of freebies.