From my understanding it takes V4's textures and clothes which is good!!

So why would I want her?? I mean what does it give me that I can't get with V4, I don't get it.
Is it just the anime head?? That's a lot of bang just for a head!!!
[not in pc].

Just curious, not an anti DAZ rant before anyone starts!!! [LOL].

It seems that the generation 4 mil figures are an attempt to avoid the commercial catch 22 that comes when a figure is not supported by vendors because it's not popular and not popular because it's not supported. If clothes can be worn by any of the mil family (within reason) the clothes are more likely to sell and the figures will not suffer from any lack of support. Perhaps time and money is saved as well by not having to develop separate rigging--though the way A4’s arms bend suggests that cost saving and consolidation may have its drawbacks.

I have Aiko 4 & I've played around a bit with her. (ooh er misses).
She has a better base body than V4 in my opinion & finally I don't have to look at that god awful V4 face! When mixed with V4's morphs including the NGM's I feel you can make some interesting body shapes. I need to work further with the face before I have a solid opinion on this.

I must add though that this really isn't A4, it's just extra morphs for V4. Yes, it's good that you can use V4 textures & clothes which is a good plus, but really this is not what I expected, again Daz has not lived up to expectation. I was disappointed with V4 & I would normally have been hopeful of a great A4 but I learnt from last time not to expect too much. I actually feel conned in a way by not getting a new figure, it's like not getting real value for money.

I don't have M3 & I won't be getting M4. I just hope for those of you that are looking forward to the new Michael aren't going to be fobbed off with extra morphs for V4 which Daz will sell as M4. I don't feel this is the way to go.
Don't even get me started on the male morphs for V4. I won't be trying them but from what I've seen, if anyone wants to render a lady boy or transvestite then you'll be OK with these morphs! Scarey.

Quote - It seems that the generation 4 mil figures are an attempt to avoid the commercial catch 22 that comes when a figure is not supported by vendors because it's not popular and not popular because it's not supported. If clothes can be worn by any of the mil family (within reason) the clothes are more likely to sell and the figures will not suffer from any lack of support. Perhaps time and money is saved as well by not having to develop separate rigging--though the way A4’s arms bend suggests that cost saving and consolidation may have its drawbacks.

I can agree with that to some degree, but neither V3 or Aiko 3 had a lack of figure support.

I think they are going to make less money with a Aiko 4 morph - what's the real point to getting it -or- if you do... going beyond the cheaper base?  There's no reason to buy A4-specific skins if she takes V4 skins.  I haven't checked but I'm sure V4 has a hundred skin textures by now.

A magnet set (hehe) could handle clothing conversions and hair conversions.  If not that, I'm sure Philc will handle that up in Wardrobe Wizard.

Eh... who knows?

Regardless I'm not sure what it offers versus Aiko 3.  Aiko (1) versus A3 there were notable improvements and an arguably better look (out of the box).

I really hate that changes to the V4 figure force it into the Poser core runtime.  It's rather backward to have a system that requires this.  Solve one problem (multiple morph packs) to create another.

Better idea, IMHO, would have been to give V4 a pmd system for Poser users, and a separate installer for DAZ Studio with it's own morph loading system (DAZ controls DS development so a new DS-only morph loading system could be very possible).

There is none, except you have to be a DAZ PC member to get to get for free. She'll fall to the wayside soon enough. Give it a month.

I am so glad for this thread as I have been hesitating  on getting A4. I guess I just keep seeing mixed info on her.  I read she can take the V4.2 morphs ++ and then a few threads down I read she can't. Or I read she can use V4 clothes then I read down more you have to have the magnet set to get the clothes to work. So I really don't know what to do.

PaganArtist, she can take all of V4.2 morphs (++ and muscle), but some of the results are a bit funky. Most work really well though. Here's an face I made using the  Aiko 4 and V4 ++ morphs.

Oh, fitting V4 clothing to her is easy. For this outfit, all I had to do was slightly increase the top's breast size and lift them a touch. It took like maybe 5 seconds.

Quote - I am so glad for this thread as I have been hesitating  on getting A4. I guess I just keep seeing mixed info on her.  I read she can take the V4.2 morphs ++ and then a few threads down I read she can't. Or I read she can use V4 clothes then I read down more you have to have the magnet set to get the clothes to work. So I really don't know what to do.

A4 can take all of the V4.2 morphs++, as well as all of the V4.x custom morphs (although they will, of course, look a little different.) She will take V4.x textures as well. You do need magnets (or Wardrobe Wizard) to get existing V4 clothes to fit, but the magnets aren't that much of a pain to use. Also, I get the feeling from reading the threads over at DAZ, that many of the DAZ vendors are apparently planning on releasing updates to their more popular V4 clothes to fit A4.
V4.x hair will not fit Aiko out of the box, but, since Aiko is the same height as V4, it shouldn't be that difficult to get it to fit via scaling.

The magnet set is something like $6 for platinum members, $8 for non-members. Currently (through the 26th) Aiko is free to members, but will be $25 or so afterwards. (But I bet she will go on sale pretty regularly.)

Here is basically what the Aiko morphs do:

1. There are a set of body morphs which, essentially, can give V4.2 the same basic body shape as Aiko 3 (thin waist etc.) These are Aiko Base, Petite, Realistic, and Stylized. Since the body morphs are distinct from the head morphs, you can keep the body standard V4.2 to fit existing clothes and just morph the head. 2. There are a set of head morphs. Aiko base, stylized, two varieties of realistic (not quite sure what the difference is -- it seems to me that one is more of a "realistic cartoon", and the other more of a young face), and "American", which is more of an American style cartoon.

2. There are a set of facial morphs, some of which seem to duplicate the V4 morphs, but a lot of which allow for anime/manga/cartoon style facial movements. (For example, the weird anime blink, where the eyelids curve up.)

3. A few helper morphs, such as one which makes the nose a small, pointy triangle sort of thing. (Like a lot of anime.) I would love to see them come up with one to give her the sort of hampster overbite I see a lot of.

You can mix in all the V4.2 morphs as well. I'm not sure how well some of them (the brow and eye morphs especially) will work together, but you can. I've played a little with mixing in things like "amazon" with Aiko realistic and it looks pretty good.

So what does Aiko 4 give you that Aiko 3 didn't?

1. Since she's based on V4, you have a lot more content which is shareable. I imagine that, going forward, a lot of clothing producers will make clothes which fit both A4 and V4. Also, V4 and A4 poses are mostly compatible. (The exception would be on ones where the hands touch the body, but these require tweaking for use with morphed, or clothed, figures anyway.
2. Since she takes V4 expressions, you can use her in "realistic" style without being committed to those gawdaful Aiko facial expressions. i never managed to get non-goofy expressions out of A3. You also get V4s superior (to my mind, anyway) rigging.

Well I bought A4 and the magnets as well. She installed without a hitch and seems very nice to work with. Now if I can just get the hang of using the magnets. In the readme for the magnets Lyrra made mention of some python scrips in helping out the use of the magnets by that guy up there know as Netherworks. Now are these scripts part of some kind of package or off on their own?

Thanks SoCal for your render.
I've always liked anime but with just a touch of realism (like you posted) instead of the straight cartoonish feel which is most often seen.

I happened to like A3, with various character morphs that made her look realistic-human, for one reason she was short and looked natural around D3 and M3. Plus she seemed to get a lot of clothes either first or that V3 didn't get. Granted my opinions on clothes were formed pre Wardrobe Wiz 2 Yes you can scale V4 down and I have made a several scenes where I have scaled V4 down to 90 percent. But out of the box V4 and now A4 are taller then D3, which logically seems strange to me. I also hate A3 because the minute you try to put an expression to her face, make her smile. Her teeth just didn't look right for a realistic character.This appears in all the testing I have done so far to be moot in A4. She can smile and not look goofy. Pay close attention to the readmes and what daz is saying. 1.) there is something different in the way her teeth function that I haven't gotten into yet. 2.) Daz states that some V4+++ Morphs when mixed with A4 morphs are not going to work-look right. There is a thread on Daz about distortion when making A4's glute bigger using the V4+++ morphs. I think it has to with the fact that A4's waist is higher then V4's. I assume others will appear be reported in the coming days and weeks. There seems to be an eye issue when you point A4's eyes at something like a camera. There are pics posted in the Daz forums where poeple that have tried this and things like her eyebrows and teeth become unparented or don't follow head movement anymore. What some Daz staffers are posting in Daz forums is don't use the point at with A4's eyes. Not sure if this is just a Poser, C6, or DS issue; or it effects all programs. Seems very limiting to me for what is supposed to be a new character. IE Move forward, not backwards in character progress. I was hoping for the armpits to be fixed on V4.2 by Daz (vs a 3rd party morph). IE: rather have a factory fix to the mesh, then an addon. That problem now is carried over to A4 unless you add the fix. As time goes foreward I believe vendors will make morph options to solve some of the issues like the glute distorion and this is good as it will give V4 more options. Some of the expression packs and pose packs that come with the bundles have some major issues as they screw with the FBM's and FHM's. One pose pack it appears even has some tearing of the mesh at the armpit based on how the arm is posed (pics posted in the Daz forums by others). Not good and not QC'd very well it would appear at first blush. Based on all the installer issues and the above I am begining to wonder if Daz rushed V4.2 and A4 to market to get a jump on something they got wind of that EF, now SmithMicro is going to release shortly. Sort of get the first shot off and steal as much thunder as possible to protect their franchise. If this is the case, then it might shape up to be a rather interesting Spring-Summer.

Quote - Well I bought A4 and the magnets as well. She installed without a hitch and seems very nice to work with. Now if I can just get the hang of using the magnets. In the readme for the magnets Lyrra made mention of some python scrips in helping out the use of the magnets by that guy up there know as Netherworks. Now are these scripts part of some kind of package or off on their own?

They are part of his morph packages. (He has fitting morphs to add the more common DAZ morphs, plus some of his own, to clothing for most of the Mil3 figures. I don't remember where his store is though, but he does post here sometimes. I think that there were some free scripts that did the same, but I've never bothered with them/

Netherworks sells at his shop and at Content Paradise. Any of his clothkit scripts except his v4 one will work with any magnets. He also has a free version of the script on Content Paradise

Some day I'll learn python coding sigh

As for a deletemagnets script theres a free one by Ockham I think still in the freestuff here as well as the ones in Netherworks clothkits

Lyrra

I don't get all the complaining.  I remember a lot of people here working hard to find a way to put Aiko's head on V3's body, and vice-versa with mixed results.  Here DAZ has saved us all the trouble.

Thanks DAZ!

*I don't get all the complaining. 

*My post wasn't a complaint, merely a question as to it's usefulness!!
I always question if the usefulness of a product is worth the cash outlay, to do otherwise would be foolish unless you have so much money that it's value is meaningless!!

I am more of a fan of ultra-realism....

As I am a PC member I thought I might as well have her as some of her morphs may prove useful?

Unsure myself, TBH.

Klutz. :blink:

Quote - *I don't get all the complaining. 

*My post wasn't a complaint, merely a question as to it's usefulness!!

Well, let's do a non-mesh analogy.

Ferrari. Porsche. Lamborghini. Zero usefulness in any nation that doesn't have an autobahn (or its Italian equivalent). In spite of that, I hear they sell pretty well for their targeted market. :)

/P

I really hate that changes to the V4 figure force it into the Poser core runtime.  It's rather backward to have a system that requires this.  Solve one problem (multiple morph packs) to create another.

No it doesn't. You can trick the installer by placing a text file named "Poser.exe" into the directory you want to install it in. She works fine. I've had V4.0+ working this way. Never crashes.

I don't know about everyone else but I am happy that A4 can wear v4's clothes and use her morphs. I'm a pc member so i got her for free and as a college student I wouldn't have not been able to afford A4 if she were completely her own figure. A4 gives me more facial and body options so I can create a greater variety of characters and her head can do things that v4s couldn't. So I still can't figure out why everyone is complaining.

I thought A4 just looked like a morph pack for V4, (is that actually what she is? I have'nt looked that hard) and so have only given her as much consideration as any other morph character.

I don't know about everyone else but I am happy that A4 can wear v4's clothes and use her morphs. I'm a pc member so i got her for free and as a college student I wouldn't have not been able to afford A4 if she were completely her own figure. A4 gives me more facial and body options so I can create a greater variety of characters and her head can do things that v4s couldn't. So I still can't figure out why everyone is complaining.

   Firstly, as thefixer has already pointed out, nobody is "complaining", as such, but, if there are grounds for complaint, I think they may come down to the way the DAZocentric side of the community has tended to deride Poser's corporate owners in the last year or so for using standard G2 male and G2 female bodies, with only the heads differing:  James, Simon, Koji and Kelvin for the G2 men, with Jessi (not to be confused with the vastly inferior Poser 6 Jessi) and Sydney for the women.  You mention the extra versatility of A4's head, but, let's be honest, the average balloon can do things that V4's head can't manage.

Just been playing around with A4, just another V4 morph to me to generate an anime look.  Yes, it is cool to use V4 outfits but one figure to rule them all, I just don't know if I'm ready for that.  

I got her free, so it is a wait and see for me.

Quote - I thought A4 just looked like a morph pack for V4, (is that actually what she is? I have'nt looked that hard) and so have only given her as much consideration as any other morph character.

Yup, that's essentially "all" she is. Of course, what you get is an ability to morph V4 so that she looks about 95% like Aiko3's body shape (realistic, default, styilized), morphs to give the features more anime/manga/cartoon looks (pointy chin, small nose, big eyes), and morphs to give her exaggerated anime/manga/cartoon style facial expressions. So essentialy what you have now is one figure with both the Vicky and Aiko base functionalities, which was a problem with the Mil3 figures. Aiko realistic looked very good, but was limited due to her expressions. Vicky could be morphed to look a bit anime, but couldn't do the expressions. Now we have one figure which works for both.

Before Aiko4 was released, i tried to do a real manga-style character for V4 using morphs, and believe me, it was very difficult, and wasn't pretty at all.

I suspect, also, that using Wardrobe Wizard 2 you can fairly easily adapt A3 clothing to fit A4, since they are essentially the same shape, the distortions shouldn't be serious.

Quote - I thought A4 just looked like a morph pack for V4, (is that actually what she is? I have'nt looked that hard) and so have only given her as much consideration as any other morph character.

No... it's similar to how Aiko1 worked, for those who remember... though this time the clothes are a bit more interchangeable (with A1, they really weren't). -- > Quote - but, if there are grounds for complaint, I think they may come down to the way the DAZocentric side of the community has tended to deride Poser's corporate owners in the last year or so for using standard G2 male and G2 female bodies, with only the heads differing: James, Simon, Koji and Kelvin for the G2 men, with Jessi (not to be confused with the vastly inferior Poser 6 Jessi) and Sydney for the women.

The problem there is one based a lot on perception, but quite a bit on actuality as well - for eons, the default Poser figures were not all that flexible (mesh-wise), and have always seemed to be too "basic". Using the same body mesh? Err, DAZ has been doing that for V3, M3, SP3... and A3. They did change joint parameters and such, but otherwise thats the whole point behind Unimesh. > Quote - You mention the extra versatility of A4's head, but, let's be honest, the average balloon can do things that V4's head can't manage.

That can be said for any figure. /P

'What is the point of Aiko 4?'

to make Daz some more money. simple really....

Quote -

A magnet set (hehe) could handle clothing conversions and hair conversions.  If not that, I'm sure Philc will handle that up in Wardrobe Wizard.

Eh... who knows?

This is a discussion PhilC and I have. He states due to A4 is technically a morph for V4 it is already supported.  He is currently working on an addon for the V4 male morphs.

Quote - but, let's be honest, the average balloon can do things that V4's head can't manage.

LOL, nice one!!

OK, we all know that Aiko4 is just a morph package for V4. A while back I was looking forward to a new Aiko figure but after my disappointment with V4 I don't build my hopes up anymore.
I like A3, so I like what A4 has given me so far which is more versatility with V4.
Even though some people feel short changed because it's only a morph package & not a fully fledged figure, I feel the plus side is that she can take V4 textures & clothes. We may have lost out in one aspect but gained in another.

Quote - > Quote - but, let's be honest, the average balloon can do things that V4's head can't manage.

LOL, nice one!!

OK, we all know that Aiko4 is just a morph package for V4. A while back I was looking forward to a new Aiko figure but after my disappointment with V4 I don't build my hopes up anymore.
I like A3, so I like what A4 has given me so far which is more versatility with V4.
Even though some people feel short changed because it's only a morph package & not a fully fledged figure, I feel the plus side is that she can take V4 textures & clothes. We may have lost out in one aspect but gained in another.

I felt a little short changed, but I got over it. I see the pros using an existing figure for clothing and textures and the cons that some vendors and content creators will not support morphs.

Quote - I see the pros using an existing figure for clothing and textures and the cons that some vendors and content creators will not support morphs.

"Magnetize Clothing"? May overcome a lot of the whole "we don't do morphs here" kind of thing.

/P

Aiko and Victoria have always been close, but now they are virtually (no pun intended) inseparable! With this new release, Aiko is so multi-talented you won’t know what feature to try first. Delivered as a powerful set of morph targets which work on top of the solid Victoria 4.2 base, Aiko 4 contains four new body shapes, five new head shapes, and dozens of new morphs which can easily mix and match with each other AND with Victoria head and body morphs. Aiko 4 works in tandem with Victoria 4.2 add-ons such as clothing, hairstyles, morphs, and accessories. This means you are getting maximum versatility and compatibility for minimum expense.

I have to say, now I'm ticked off.

I've been away from Poserdom for a while now, but when I got the e-mail about A4, I figured, what the heck, I'll dive back in. (I was missing Poser a bit anyway.)

So I bought A4, and installed her yesterday. I haven't had a chance to open Poser yet.

So now I find out that she needs magnets to use V4 clothing? Seriously? (And I spent the big money on the "Pro" pack.)

It didn't bother to mention that anywhere in the product advertising. Actually, it was written to imply that you could just interchange the clothes at will. So now I have to spend another $6 on the magnets? GTFOH. (And while $6 may be a relatively small number, that's after spending the almost seventy bucks on the "Pro" package in the first place. Some pro version that turned out to be.)

That is my last Daz purchase for the foreseeable future. I'm absolutely disgusted. I guess that serves me right for falling for the "early adopter" trap, right? Well, I won't have to worry about that again.

Sorry for the rant, but to me, that's pretty shady.

I actually rejoined the PC so I could get Aiko 4 free due to had all the things for V4 and heard voices "morph not figure" all around me. Not sure if it was demons or just someone at Daz whispering about it. Kind of glad I did get back into PC over at Daz save me some money on some items been holding of on purchasing.
As mentioned in my previous post I see the pros and cons of the way Aiko 4 was done. I have been spending too much time trying to make a motion set for poser that I have not really rendered anything with A4 yet. I am thinking of redoing some clothing I have sold on my website in the past to include A4 morphs now.  I also redid my website over the weekend to be more user friendly.

Quote - > Quote - I see the pros using an existing figure for clothing and textures and the cons that some vendors and content creators will not support morphs.

"Magnetize Clothing"? May overcome a lot of the whole "we don't do morphs here" kind of thing.

/P

Nope. The Magnetize clothing is just a way to make clothing move about along with A4/V4's joints (and breasts, and biceps etc.) without having to have JCMs. Doesn't help with fitting.

Quote - I have to say, now I'm ticked off.
...
So now I find out that she needs magnets to use V4 clothing? Seriously? (And I spent the big money on the "Pro" pack.)

It didn't bother to mention that anywhere in the product advertising. Actually, it was written to imply that you could just interchange the clothes at will. So now I have to spend another $6 on the magnets? GTFOH. (And while $6 may be a relatively small number, that's after spending the almost seventy bucks on the "Pro" package in the first place. Some pro version that turned out to be.)

They were'nt all that clear, I must admit. However, it has never been the case that old clothing would fit a figure with new morphs. Every time you buy a figure with a super-duper specially custom morphed body, it is a pain fitting conforming clothes. They did say that A4 was a morph of V4. And, since the head and body morph independently, you can have an A4 figure wearing V4 clothes by no using the A4 morphs in the body, so you get an A4V4. (As a matter of fact, this is a lot better than the usual V4V3, or V3V2 sort of hybrid, since the body will take the V4 morphs. If you are still all that ticked off, ask DAZ for a refund, you have 30 days.

Look at V3, SP3 and A3. The point behind them was that they were all figures of different proportions. If you wanted a tall amazon, go with Vicki. A slim fashion model: Steph. A teenage-esque schoolgirl: :Aiko. But now you don't have that. You just have 1 model that has to be morphed and modded to what you want. And that kinda defeats the purpose of having seperate models.

Same with the clothes. It's nice that they're trying to create a more universal wardrobe, but if I have to mess around with magnets (that have to be purchased seperatly!) and dial  a zillion dials, then it creates a whole lot more work for me, which can be especially frustrating if I'm just starting out and not a pro like most of you are. Any clothing item can be madce to fit any other figure if you do enough work with it. The whole point of getting clothing for the model you want to use is so you don't have to do all that work.

If Aiko's just a morph, then Daz should be charging a morph price for her, not a full model's price.

I agree, I don't see the need for her at all. if she's just going to be a morph.

If Aiko's just a morph, then Daz should be charging a morph price for her, not a full model's price.

A4 was free...

Quote - If Aiko's just a morph, then Daz should be charging a morph price for her, not a full model's price.

A4 was free...

no.  A4 Base is free to PClub members.

Since A4 is a morph for V4.2 and requires V4.2 to work you need at least the V4.2 Base also installed.

Like any good drug dealer the first hit is free, the next fix will cost ya.

Daz Bloatware.

Quote - They were'nt all that clear, I must admit. However, it has never been the case that old clothing would fit a figure with new morphs. Every time you buy a figure with a super-duper specially custom morphed body, it is a pain fitting conforming clothes. They did say that A4 was a morph of V4. And, since the head and body morph independently, you can have an A4 figure wearing V4 clothes by no using the A4 morphs in the body, so you get an A4V4. (As a matter of fact, this is a lot better than the usual V4V3, or V3V2 sort of hybrid, since the body will take the V4 morphs. If you are still all that ticked off, ask DAZ for a refund, you have 30 days.

That's actually a pretty good point. I hadn't thought of that. So the problem isn't as bad as I thought. (It's still annoying that it wasn't made clear in the advertising though.)

Thanks for that response!

Quote - Look at V3, SP3 and A3. The point behind them was that they were all figures of different proportions. If you wanted a tall amazon, go with Vicki. A slim fashion model: Steph. A teenage-esque schoolgirl: :Aiko. But now you don't have that. You just have 1 model that has to be morphed and modded to what you want. And that kinda defeats the purpose of having seperate models.

Same with the clothes. It's nice that they're trying to create a more universal wardrobe, but if I have to mess around with magnets (that have to be purchased seperatly!) and dial  a zillion dials, then it creates a whole lot more work for me, which can be especially frustrating if I'm just starting out and not a pro like most of you are. Any clothing item can be madce to fit any other figure if you do enough work with it. The whole point of getting clothing for the model you want to use is so you don't have to do all that work.

If Aiko's just a morph, then Daz should be charging a morph price for her, not a full model's price.

I agree, I don't see the need for her at all. if she's just going to be a morph.

If you scale A4 down to about 92% she is very nearly the shape of A3. As to clothing, let's wait and see. Sure you need magnets to convert existing V4 clothing, but my guess is that after about two more weeks we will see most of the merchants who put morphs in their clothes supporting the major A4 body morphs.

And A4 isn't just "a morph", she is five full-body morphs, plus a heck of a lot of facial and expression morphs. So the price, although steep, isn't that out of line considering the cost of the V4 morph++ set, or the M3 or V3 expression sets.

Finally, as to the need of her -- with A4 I can do things which I just couldn't do with V4. You can't, by dial turning, get a good anime/manga/cartoon face for V4, and you can't get the sort of exaggerated cartoon expressions either. I'm actually glad that its "just a morph", because you can get realistic expressions using A4 realistic, which you couldn't (very well, anyway), with A3 realistic.

Quote -
Since A4 is a morph for V4.2 and requires V4.2 to work you need at least the V4.2 Base also installed.

Actually, your inference that V4.2 is a for-purchase item is incorrect. From the product page:

*"Don’t forget that you’ll need the Victoria 4.2 base to get Aiko 4. If you don’t have V4.2 already, you can get her free by joining ArtZone and filling out a profile."
**

You have to pay for A4, either through purchasing her through the Daz store, or by paying for the Premium club membership.

V4.2 is a for purchase item:
http://www.daz3d.com/i.x/shop/itemdetails/-/?item=4783
$29.95, $1.99 for PClub. You can get her for free at Artzone, but you have to hand over to Daz a bunch of private information (that they'll no doubt sell to a data mining firm)
Why does Daz need to know my dating status anyways?

*but you have to hand over to Daz a bunch of private information

*incorrect. you don't have to fill out a thing (other than user name etc). you can leave all the 'dating' fields blank. I did and it registered OK.

Quote - You have to pay for A4, either through purchasing her through the Daz store, or by paying for the Premium club membership.

V4.2 is a for purchase item:
http://www.daz3d.com/i.x/shop/itemdetails/-/?item=4783
$29.95, $1.99 for PClub. You can get her for free at Artzone, but you have to hand over to Daz a bunch of private information (that they'll no doubt sell to a data mining firm)
Why does Daz need to know my dating status anyways?

So lie. You are under no obligation to fill out all or even correct information.

By the way, V4.0 was free a long time ago. You get her updates for free.

I think you want free with no strings attached. Never is going to happen.

Ahhh, they said that the profile had to be filled in in order to get V4.2. I didn't know you could still get her without all the personal info

Yeah and I can get a Wii or a xbox360 FREE too! just have to sign up to some sites etc.

It's not free.  everybody knows it's not free.

If you don't own V4.2 and get the "Free" A4 base then ya have to go get V4.2 somehow.

My point was that A3 is a standalone figure with no additional requirements.  A4 is not the same.

Daz3D has been doing these marketing gimicks for so long now that people seem to be fooled.

You can currently get V4.2 BASE by joining another site owned by Daz called the Artzone.

Gimick!

I bought V4.0 pro pack when it 1st arrived, no freebies no nothing, lots of cash.  I used the return policy and returned the use of the v4.0 model cause it was garbage to me.

I use A3 the standalone figure. now with A4 that is not possible any longer WITHOUT getting another product in my runtime as A4 is a morph package FOR V4.2.

Look daz hated that A3 took over their figure sales simple, and they wanted V4 to be the bread winner for them, so they made A4 a morph and required V4.2.  Daz3d wants to be taken "Seriously" in the industry and a toon caracter doesn't do that for them.

oh well, it's no skin off my back, saves me money and from what a lot of other posts I've read have said others aren't buyin into A4 either.

Quote - Yeah and I can get a Wii or a xbox360 FREE too! just have to sign up to some sites etc.

No, you cannot. You're referring to a modified MLM program which is a scam.

Quote - If you don't own V4.2 and get the "Free" A4 base then ya have to go get V4.2 somehow.

Sure - you fill out some fields (and no one said you had to do it honestly), and you're all set. And the problem is ...?

Quote - I bought V4.0 pro pack when it 1st arrived, no freebies no nothing, lots of cash.  I used the return policy and returned the use of the v4.0 model cause it was garbage to me.

I do find it interesting that you go out of your way to badmouth a company that even allows returns on digital items in the first place. iTunes doesn't even do that.

Quote - I use A3 the standalone figure. now with A4 that is not possible any longer WITHOUT getting another product in my runtime as A4 is a morph package FOR V4.2.

Meh - disk space is cheap and plentiful. No biggie on that count. I still have and use A3 just fine. I make stuff for it as well (which gets sold at R'otica), and I don't foresee not making stuff for A3 for a very long time.

'course, folks still make stuff for V3, and how long has that one been superseded?

Quote - Look daz hated that A3 took over their figure sales simple, and they wanted V4 to be the bread winner for them, so they made A4 a morph and required V4.2.

Err, how d'ya figure? V4 sells quite nicely on its own (I've done some hella powerful sales w/ V4-only stuff, so I have some solid first-hand knowledge of this). It runs neck-and-neck with the A3 stuff, sales-wise.

Quote - Daz3d wants to be taken "Seriously" in the industry and a toon caracter doesn't do that for them.

Dunno about that - they are taken seriously in the CG industry. Usually folks that will put down Poser full-bore, always set aside some praise for the DAZ meshes. Judging by the folks I got to interact with in my short tenure there, I can say with absolute (albeit anecdotal) authority that DAZ is taken very seriously by the CG industry at large.

/P

I guess A4 will be free in the next year or so.  When no one else is buying her, she'll be free, so her items will be bought.   That's what usually happens anyway.   To me Daz is a joke compared to what really is happening in the 3D world. 

Terminology within Poserdom is a bit tricky and not always consistent.

The difference between a figure and a character is that a figure is a cr2 that loads a unique obj file oppose to a character, which is generally defined by dialed morphs for a figure; and where Aiko3 was a standalone figure with it's own obj and morphs unique to that obj shape, Aiko4 is a morph pack, or morph character set, that simply expands the range of V4.

Although the unimesh line, was, of course, based on the same mesh, new obj's and shapes were issued so that users and content makers could achieve consistant results within the same genre as the original shape without extensive work or frustration, whereas with radical morph shaping, a majority of default morphs don't work reliable and smoothy, because they compound any similar changes, and is why each successive unimesh figure was packaged with fewer morphs, especially the eyes which were least compatible. This is also why Aiko4 needs her own phonemes and expressions.

It would be more correct to say that the former stand alone Aiko figure line has been redesigned as a morph pack, like the muscle morphs, creature morphs, etc; and why some people are disappointed and confused and ,while the product description text does clearly say it is "a set of morph targets", unfortunately it does say it works with V4 clothing, which is not entirely accurate based on what consumers expect that to mean.

Although the reason for such a change is irrelevant, being there is no changing it, anyone who bought, made, or sold clothing was keenly aware that Aiko3 did, in fact, surpass the V3 market in the few years prior to V4. Many, who actually dealth with a broad range of figure content, speculated whether the Aiko line would eventually be modified, redesigned as it has as a morph, or discontinued, thus preventing Aiko from ever again surpassing the Vicki line in demand and popularity and, thus, diminishing V4 clothing sales.

A Morph pack of this nature can be completed within just a few weeks, so it may be that some people just hoped for more, which doesn't mean they should be labeled as bitchy, ungrateful, or any other such nonsenese; that is unless someone feels these people aren't entitled to the same right to speak,  which some, who I doubt have rendered in years, obviously reserve for themselves. :)

PS: Excuse any typos. Hey Rob!

Well I bought A4, I'm allways to curious about new figures :)

But well I didnt like her at all, but there was one good thing with her - her teeths looks good, so after fiddling in setup room I now I have nice teeth figure to go with A3 :P

Quote - A Morph pack of this nature can be completed within just a few weeks, so it may be that some people just hoped for more, which doesn't mean they should be labeled as bitchy, ungrateful, or any other such nonsenese; that is unless someone feels these people aren't entitled to the same right to speak,  which some, who I doubt have rendered in years, obviously reserve for themselves. :)

I don't think it's a case where someone doesn't have the right to complain, but rather a case where some of the complaints are based on incomplete information, or in some instances, outright bad assumptions. I'm only correcting what I see to be false info. You are correct on terminology, by the by. Aiko has had ...an interesting history, and as one of it's biggest fans, I find it entertaining, to say the least. :) /P

The more I use her, the more I like her. I'm not sure how to explain it, but to me she seems more responsive (?) to what I ask  a figure to do. That's probably a matter of personal taste, but I get the results I want from her much easier than when I use the other female figures. 

Fitting clothes to her is easy. I had WW2 analyze her FBM for non V4 stuff and I just fiddle a bit with the V4 clothing.  I admit that I am way too lazy to play with magnets so I rarely do.

AnAardvark, Aiko 3 clothes convert wonderfully to Aiko 4.