Attached Link: Link to FX Realm's Creature Creator

Has anyone checked out Creature Creator by FX Realm? There is a stand alone version and plugins available for some 3D programs (not Poser or RDS though) There is also a demo download. I'm going to check it out tonight. I don't think MetaCreations has to worry. It doesn't look like it is trying to replace Poser, just give it some friends to play with :-) The price is pretty reasonable too - $200 for the standalone version. Leee

No, it's the same program. They just added the standalone version.

I tried out the trueSpace plugin demo version. The figures are choppy around the seams (but i suppose some of that could be expected). The preview windows are somewhat difficult to work with and would be extremely hard to manage on any monitor under 17". The figure's have good limbs (and tails when you add them) and the body part choice menus are failry easy to work with. The head and torsos are lacking, or at least the selection included in the demo is. Since i couldn't port the models out of the plugin, i didn't get a chance to test body groups (but it looks like there will be one for each body part your customize). I'm not sure about materials on figures, it's all plain white in the preview. Something tells me mapping could be a problem, so be sure you have some mapping tool handy for these figures. I bet it could be handy for making Poser figures, but i'd worry about them looking factory assembled. Note: Creature creator is indeed best for making creatures, the human body parts are definitely lacking. I'd say get it if you have trouble modeling body parts and need to make a non-descript creature, but pass this one over if you have good modeling capabilities already.

Thanks for the review DD, from what I have seen, I must agree. This might be another case of "wait for version 2"

I have Creature Creator. It's not actually that new. I've had it for about six months. It is a bit buggy but all in all it is a good program for creating 'er' creatures. I have the Max version. It intergrates very well is really fast although you can get a couple of holes in the mesh. But you can use the cap holes function to fix this. You have to UV map it in something like UV mapper if you want to texure the models. I have two models posted for download on my site if you really want to see what it can do. They are Poser compatible and poseable. I was only learning to do this at the time and I never made the hands poseable. If you are a max user I would recomend using P-Nurbs on the models after you cut them up for Poser as this gives them a very organic feel when animating them. Oh one other thing. The models I made won't use any of the standard Poser poses. You will have to do this manually. But that was my fault. I named the parts wrong. Bah... You can get them here... www.3dvision03.freeserve.co.uk/ They are called 'Astral Joe' and 'Horn Head Demon'... Colm...

I work at FXRealm Studios, the developers of Creature Creator, with support and information related items. Please feel to contact me with any questions you might have around our product. You can email me at info@fxrealm.com.

I played with the demo and I was pretty impressed by how easy it was to use. With save disable, it will be more difficult to review since the final output is the most important part, but I can tell that creating a unique character is an option wven using the presets they have included. It amazed me how much I could change options on all the body parts. I personally like programs with a faster learning curve since I dont have a lot of time to devote to study. Creature Creator will be one of the prizes in this year's Pose This! Contest.

Before anyone buys Creature Creator or Creature Lab from FXRealm Studios, I'd recommend that they consider the following: I don't have the plug-in verion of Creature Creator, so my info here may not apply, but I think that it might, so, if you have not purchased the program yet you may want to consider this: I have the standalone version of Creature Creator and I like the program, but I have a BIG warning for anyone who is interested in the product: The REGISTRATION number for the product (without which it will NOT work!!!!!!) is tied to the computer that you installed it on!!! That same registration number will not work on any other computer!!! And, if you make some modifications to the original computer and then have to reinstall Creature Creator, the original registration number MAY no longer work even on that computer!!! So, no problem, so long as you never make any significant changes to your current computer and you never buy a new computer. Of course, they'll always give you a new registration number for your new computer, won't they? Probably, but go to their web site and look at what kind of detailed documentation they want from you if you buy a used copy of the program (from a previous user). They really don't trust you. But what happens if you buy a new computer and the company has gone out of business??? You're SOL!! So I ask you, when I need to re-register my old version (I just bought a new computer), will they send me the new registration code?? They finally did respond to my requests after 9 business days and about 30 messages from me (actually, about 25 of those messages were sent on the 8th day; it seems that is what it took to get a response). If I took that long to respond to a client my boss would have my butt for breakfast. Let the buyer beware!! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Now, on a different but related subject: Thought you might be interested in the following communication between myself and FXRealm concerning my attempt to order the new version of Creature Creator (called Creature Lab) (the stuff between >> and << is from their message to me, which is at the bottom): =================== Hello, 1) >>If you do not want to have your order anymore we will cancel it and recharge your creditcard with 79 $. << Yes. I do NOT want the order anymore. You (almost) NEVER seem to understand what I'm saying (either you do not speak English well, or you are purposely misunderstanding what I say. In any case, I do not feel that I can trust you to do things correctly. Therefore, please credit my credit card. (Give me back my money.) 2) >>By the way concerning your Q about languagspeaking. In Sweden we speak russian, english, chinese and spanish with a dilect of Geborska.<< Yes. I know. I have had several friends in Sweden for over 30 years. (Some of them live quite near you.) They all speak excellent English. I admire the multi-language capabilities of so many of the Swedish people. HOWEVER, no matter what I say, you (at FXRealm) seem to understand only what is convenient for you, and ignore what I say if it is not an issue that you want to deal with. For example, I said that I have ordered from you on January 25 and that you charged my credit card on January 25, and it is now March 9, and you have still NOT sent me Creature Lab. That is 43 days!!!!!!! There is NO EXCUSE for taking that long to deliver an electronic product over the Internet. If there is a problem, you should have sent me an email message WEEKS AGO to explain the delay!!!! Instead I have sent you MANY messages asking you why you had not sent the software to me. I sent those messages several weeks ago, BEFORE www.fxrealm.com was taken offline. I never got a bounceback on those messages, which means they must have ended up in your mailbox. But you NEVER responded to them!! You never told me why there was a delay. The best explanation for this is that you are not a competent business. The worst explanation is that you are thieves. I assume it is because you are not a competent business. In either case I don't see any reason why anyone would want to do business with you. By the way, your web site, even though you have moved it to a new location, still shows your OLD email addresses at fxrealm.com which is now bouncing back all messages sent there. Fix your web site!!! And, while you're at it, fix the download link for the demo of Creature Lab. It has NEVER worked! (Do you guys do ANYTHING right???) 3) >>we have many orders to deliver.<< How long does it take to attach a software file to an email message and press the "send" button?? 60 seconds maximum? Let's be real generous and say it takes 5 minutes to send each software delivery. If you work only 6 hours a day and there is only one person doing email software deliveries, that is 3096 deliveries you could have made in the last 43 days. Mine was not one of them. Why not??? I work for a software development company and we sure do a LOT BETTER than that!! Our target customer is every teacher in the United States. I'd guess there are a lot more teachers in the United States than there are computer 3D modelers in the entire world. But we don't take 43 days to respond to a customer!!!! If it takes us more than 3 days we feel that we are doing a terrible job. But it doesn't seem to bother you that you take MORE than SIX WEEKS! 4) >>You seem to have some problem with your mail sending function.<< There is no problem with my email sending function. The reason you have gotten about 10 or 15 copies of my last couple of messages is that when I send just one copy you have never responded to me, so I have purposely sent many copies to try to get your attention. It seems to have worked. 5) I am sorry that I have been so unpleasant to you in this message. I realize that the person who I am writing to is probably not the person who is responsible for the problems that I have been having with your company. It is probably the owners or managers who have done such a bad job of managing the company that have caused this situation. I am not this unpleasant to other companies. In fact, I have written glowing testimonials for two other software companies whose products and services are far superior to yours. One testimonial spoke so highly of the company that they said it was the best thing anyone had ever said about them and their product. But that is not how I feel about your company? Why is that, do you think? Is it me? Or is it you? I've spoken to other users of your products, and from what they tell me (not very happy things), I think it must be YOU. If you were a business in the United States I'd file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. 6) >>Next time you order we charge reg.price 299$<< Trust me, there will NEVER be a NEXT time!! Cancel my order and give me back my money!!! Goodbye. P.S. As I said, I've spoken to other users of your products. I plan to continue speaking to them to let them know of my experiences with your company. The Internet makes it very easy to do that. ------------------------------------------------ At 11:12 PM 3/8/01 +0100, you wrote: Hi, We do not sell software on credit, that is why we charge before we send it. Concerning the specilaprice with Creature Lab, we have many orders to deliver. If you do not want to have your order anymore we will cancel it and recharge your creditcard with 79 $. The money will be on you account within the next few weeks. Next time you order we charge reg.price 299$ By the way concerning your Q about languagspeaking. In Sweden we speak russian, english, chinese and spanish with a dilect of Geborska. Best regards FXRealm sales PS. You seem to have some problem with your mail sending function