The advent of the new version of Poser looks tremendously exciting for the many developments offered. Not least of which, Faceroom will allow for photorealistic representations of anyone in high resolution 3D, and these will of course be animateable and lipsynchable too. I know a company has been working towards the provision of a wide range of top quality image maps (front and side) for just such use. These are not simply photographs, but rendered and airbrushed images of characters, made by talented artists, many of which are designed to look just like famous faces! (Have you tried finding good quality, high resolution front and side imagery anywhere, where the subject just holds a completely neutral expression?) The accompanying image does not show Poser 5, but a similar system to the Faceroom facility. If you would like more information on these in readiness for the new version of Poser, drop me a line and I`ll let you have more information.

i3dcreate@hotmail.com

Hey, this is great, this is not Poser 5? Sharen

Hey! Looks good! :-) Is that Richard Nixon with the scary, hypnotic eyes??!! :-) Dave :-)

I hadn't thought of that - Richard Nixon standing by the barby, spatchula in hand, stating, "I am not a cook."

Roflmao @ bikermouse!!! I just spit pepsi everywhere! lol

pokeydots: sorry about that, I couldn't resist.

No problem! Thats the best laugh I've had in a long time! Thanks!

Not to be a skunk at the garden party, but I would imagine that the actual famous people or their estates might have something to say about the appropriation of their likenesses. Just a thought.

actualy kbade they can only have something to say about it if the image is used for a promotion or to encourage something illegal or which is against the personalities beliefs, they are considered "public figures" and that makes them usable for spoofs.

I was prompted by a friend to view this page and am glad I did so. It seems almost too good to be true. I just hope that those of us who are not in the high income bracket will be able to afford it. flojo1944

The first thing that crossed my mind when looking at the Poser 5 stuff Kupa posted was that I can finally recreate friends and put them in renders! I'm quite excited about P5. :o)

Same here Chailynne! I mean, who can resist the temptation to put family and friends into 3D images and animation??!! :-) Of course, there's always the other temptation...having your boss eaten by a hungry raptor...okay, that's just me then?... ;-) Dave :-) P.S. Thanks again for posting this Polartech! :-)

Attached Link: http://www.senshutek.com

Just have more info to hand about these maps folks- The organisation producing them is at the URL link indicated by the way. I understand that they offer a service whereby one can buy a subscription to a wide range of these faces in front and profile view, which is added to regularly. (The CloneBank). I think it works much like the old REM model bank - members access high quality material much cheaper than individual buyers, according to need. They certainly look like fine celebrity replicas, and I know that the artists involved in producing them are some of the very best around. I personally think it`d be ultracool to be able to render and animate some of the most recognisable faces in history ;-) They can be reached on: matt.allen@comms-unit.com

Hurry on P5 !!!

Attached Link: http://www.caslon.com.au/ipguide20.htm

LadySilverMage: There may be some uses of famous faces that may be proper, but I can assure you that the estates of dead celebrities from Bela Lugosi to Elvis Presley to the Three Stooges to Martin Luther King, Jr., are very diligent about policing any commercial exploitation of those likenesses whenever money is involved, and I expect that many live celebrities will do the same. It's not the ultimate use per se that is the problem; it is when there is money being made from the sale of likenesses. Polartech wrote that he is aware of a company that has been developing likenesses. I was assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the company intended to sell likenesses at some point. The public figure doctrine is well established in the law of defamation, but I am concerned about possible legal action based on the "right of publicity" recognized in some states, notably CA and TN, to name two. In this respect, public figure status is not necessarily a defense; legally, while you cannot defame the dead, the estate of the Stooges may come knocking at your door if you're selling unauthorized Stooges t-shirts. All I'm suggesting is that if someone is planning to sell likenesses, they might want to consult an attorney who knows something about intellectual property...but I included a link in the event that anyone wishes to study the issue further.

PS: I missed Polartech's second post; hope those guys got good advice;-)

hmm.... looks like 3dmenow ... i use the pro version with max and poser..pretty funny app