My history is this:

I have not touched a Daz product in several years. I need a model that has limbs that can be mistaken for normal, and I cannot fix abnormal limbs in postwork, because this is for animation.

I had to abandon Daz and Vickie years ago, because there was no forthcoming solution for her abnormal shoulders, inward-curving upper arm, pipe-cleaner arms overall and the bent drinking-straw inner elbow deformation. I could see no way to make a serious drama animation with such conditions.

But sadly, Jessi and to only slightly lesser a degree Miki, share this trait. We all know it is because of the limits imposed by the simplistic Poser rigging and bones. Jessi and Miki also have hands that do not work for me, outsized knuckle joints that resist work-around. Ok.

I have been verbal with both Dan Farr, who called me as a courtesy once, and CLSteve, about the issue. Not only could Poser/Studio become the workshop for short films should this problem be solved, but the model would go on to high fame and fortune in projects in Vue, Max, etc.

My reaction to this situation was to take a year off from animation and 3D to write a screenplay and compose a piano concerto. The only bright spot when I departed was Apollo, or the option of moving up to Max/Maya/Xsi with models from Turbo Squid.

Now that I am back I discover that Anton has departed due to some byzantine struggle that I do not wish to understand. All I know is that he is gone and Apollo is orphaned.

Now, with the release of Poser 7 and its short (but sweet) list of animation improvements, I am ready to go again. I held out hopes Sydney would have normal limbs, but frankly, from playing with the base model and looking at the promos of Colm's morphs...I agree she is a step up from Jessie, but not enought to make my day. Some artists are working on a female version of Apollo called Apollina. That project actually has significant promise. I hope it continues.

But then, there is V4. I don't call her Vickie, ever. She is Miss 4 to me. Daz has attacked and solved some of the problems that vex me.  Even the default arms, shoulders and deformations at the elbow are a vast improvement. If you dial in some fitness, definition, bodybuilder and play around with thin (negative) and forearm thickness and biceps bulge, you get the payoff...

Lovely, shapely arms and shoulders.

Is it perfect? No. We now have a new critter, the too-high-cut of the armpit. Already some are working on deformers to attack it; it may be addressable with these tools. When you lift her arms well above the head, the underarm area looks too deep/substantial. Also, the deformation of flesh at the inner elbow when the arm is bent up does not completely convince. But compared to that other v-girl, it is a large improvement.

I know not to what function others put these models. I am not concerned about extreme bending poses. I want them as actors on a stage in costume for opera virtual performances, and actors in stories. Sometimes nude, but mostly clothed. But did you ever notice, even in such mundane circumstances, nude or not, the shoulders and bare arms of a woman are...................important.

I am just beginning my work with V4 and Poser 7. I lost 15 hours of work poured into an animation because of the bug that V4 is not compatable with Poser unless you turn off external morphs (no .pmds). But so far, I am ecstatic. I have a female model that works for me, at long last.

::::: Opera :::::