Regarding morphs...

Check out Morph-O-Matic, much better than Max's built in Morpher.

will do jeff. thanks for all your valuable suggestions.

I still have a mind to engage Joe Alter's sculpting/morph-making/lip-sync program as well, if other tools are inadequate.

http://lbrush.com

::::: Opera :::::

Operaguy, I don't know if you've been folowing this but DAZ | Studio will soon have a new plug-in called aniMate. You can very easily make animations using aniBlocks, and you can export them as BVH files. You could edit the BVH files in Poser, export them as a new BVH file and make a new aniBlock. One of the beta testers has successfully exported a BVH file from DAZ | Studio and imported it with success into Poser. You could also just directly use the BVH file in your program of choice. aniMate will be out soon...it was originally supposed to be September 9th but the makers of aniMate are getting some more aniBlocks ready for the debut. Their demos have mostly dancing right now, but the aniBlocks are capable of much more and can be easily trimmed, lengthened, combined, etc. You can make your own importing BVH files, using aniPad or Puppeteer or even hand keyframing. The beta testers are saying it works great. Looks great in the demo videos.

The thing I noticed was they used the 17K LOD V4 for the animation demos in DAZ | Studio!

More here: http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=92446

And here: http://www.aniblockparty.com/vids/index.html

Might be an easier/quicker method of getting your films done. You wouldn't have to fuss with rebuilding your characters - just use the low res to animate and then export/import the BVH file to animate and render your full-mesh in the program of your choice. My idea has recently been to animate in Poser and then import the file into Vue which has a renderer more to my liking (and you can use the very affordable http://www.ranchcomputing.com renderfarm for Vue). But you could do a lot with the free TrueSpace proggy, too, and use the more affordable limited but still nice V-Ray renderer they're selling.
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=6375

I originally wanted to do this kind of stuff in Animation:Master, which is very easy to animate in, but the lack of good polygon model import and problems with BVH export  threw a wrench in that plan and has delayed my film for years until maybe now!

Kevin

Yes, several people have directed me to the aniMate development, and I've been running their demos. I salute the 3rd party company making that software; it is interesting and invovative. It is also brilliantly aimed at the vast DazPoser nation, and the could be gigantic. The program may do for "desktop" animation what, well, Daz and Poser did for 'desktop' still image render of 3D.

The solution is short for me, so far. No dynamic hair or cloth, and I believe no keyframe of morphs with graph mode/splines, etc. Not that it might not get there, someday. Believe me, I'll be watching this development.

Meanwhile, I am realizing that I can get my results -- and pretty much any results subsumed under the paths you have mentioned --  100% in PoserPro. The production of my first important short film is going very well. So, while the variety of approaches you are suggesting are thoughtful and intriguing, I've looked into them all and the are "the road not taken" so far. (I have licenses for Vue, A:M and trueSpace to show for it!) I will focus on my Poser skills and take them as far as I can, until my 'next level" pipeline is good to go

I am pursuing my 3DSMax pipeling in the background here, with promising developments having happened in the past few days. We might not having anything to show on the "V4 in Max" solution for a while, maybe not for a few weeks or until October.

Thanks for your thoughtful response.

:::::: Opera :::::

This ANIMate looks exciting. Keeping my eyes peeled.