Hi all

Im very enthusiastic about Xfrog. I didnt buy it because it is yet too expensive for me and I dont understand the software too well (i tried the trial) but Ive seen their libraries and its really amazing what the possibilities are. I was especially enthusiastic to see their Red Sea library, with sea stars and sea urchins and all kinds of corals. Ok, so thats great software for modeling plants and "primitive" sea life. What I was wondering: is there any software out there, similar to Xfrog, but for modeling realistic animals? Would that lead to Poser or is that only humans? Poser seems great for humans, and although Id enjoy using humans in my renders sometimes, Id really love to use animals which look as realistic as the humans from Poser and the sea urchins and plants from Xfrog can. Anything available?

Thanx,

Remco

Poser is great for animals if you have the right animals/birds/etc. Check out Lyne's Creations as www.vistainternetproducts.com. These are Poser creatures, but some are available that you can bring right into Vue without Poser. Lin

I agree with Lin.
I've had very good results with Lyne's many animal models (Poser).

Have used her Gazelles and Sheep. I always look to her first for animals. Lyne is a member here and at Cornucopia. And her models are not expensive, like those in some other stores, such as Turbosquid.

She has the Lyne's Creations web site and sells through Vista Internet Products.

Lyne's Creations
Vista Internet Products

_jc...'Art Head Start' e-book
.......Art Head Start.com site
Art knowledge and skills for digital artists. Free chapter on lighting, some tutorials and models.

Message edited on: 01/21/2006 18:54

If you want to buy premade animal models then I too can recommend Lyne's Creations store which is mostly dedicated to Poser animals. And don't forget DAZ of course. If you want to actually model your animals, that's entirely a different story. You can certainly model some animals with Xfrog 3.5. The best candidates are those animals who have a simple body mass and many appendices, such as spiders, bugs, viruses (yep!), some fish. For animals that have articulated body mass (such as humans, felines, dogs, etc.) you will need a "traditional modeler", either vertex or nurbs or both. A very powerful combo is Xfrog 4.2 plugin with a modeling host application such as Cinema4D, Max, or Maya. Then you can have the best of both worlds - and model practically every animal your mind can think of. Of course, it will take some learning time. Orio

Thanks Orio, thats indeed what I would be looking for. But thats rather expensive isnt it? Maya is about $ 2000 if Im not mistaken.... I guess Ill buy Xfrog some day and keep it simple first. $2000 is a lot for a student! (and so is $20 for an antelope...) Thanks for your tips Remco

Attached Link: http://market.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?vendor=FXRsoft

thanks, that might be exactly what I need: building creatures from scrap! not too expensive either....

Wonder what Lyne uses? (if that's not a trade secret).

_jc...'Art Head Start' e-book
.......Art Head Start.com site
Art knowledge and skills for digital artists. Free chapter on lighting, Vue tutorials and models.

With a valid student card you can generally get big discounts on software, here's afew places to check http://www.academicsuperstore.com/ http://www.studica.com/alias/ http://www.gradware.com/ As an example at the middle link you can get Alias Maya 7 Unlimited Student Bundle for $460, $100 less for Maya Complete

Renderosity Marketplace also has some software at academic prices too (Rhino, Carrara 4 and a couple of others).