The response to Little Dragon's "Furrette" has been overwhelmingly favorable. Lemurtek has built a solid reputation with his various "Second Nature" figures. Still, I must wonder, how many of you would want DAZ to commercially release such a figure? Would enough of you be willing to buy it, making it a financially viable project for Dan Farr and the rest of his crew to risk undertaking? If so, what features would you desire to see within such a figure? Had I chosen differently, you may have witnessed DAZ do just that. How could lil' ol' me wield such influence? Several months ago, I addressed the commission division of DAZ3D. I requested a price estimate for an anthropomorphic feline figure. I suggested morphs which would change the character's gender (as with DAZ's own anime inspied Aiko), it's genus (as with LD's Furrette and Lemurtek's Thomas, Tobi, Guenevere and Arthur) and its pedal extremeties (morphing from digitigrade to a more human-like plantigrade stance). Basically I described a near universal "furry" figure. Why such variation within a single mesh? Was I that indecisive about what I wanted? Not at all. But I did realize my investment would be less if I allowed DAZ to sell such a figure to the public. If one could alter the physique to one's tastes, more people would be willing to buy it. Want a canine? Spin a dial. Want a female? Spin another dial. Alas, I felt I could not afford the fee. Don't get the wrong idea about DAZ. Reba Vest presented a very professional charm and took my request quite seriously. She did, however, express some concern about the commercial viability of such a "niche" character. DAZ would need to recoup its investment should the figure not sell well. DAZ is, after all, a profit oriented business. Reading the recent praise for "Furrette" and "Second Nature," I wonder if there exist enough potential buyers to warrant the release of a "commercial grade" anthropomorphic figure? Would you be willing to write DAZ and express your desires? Why don't we do that? I would think that physical manuscripts delivered via the postal services would gain more attention than overly covenient e-mails. Above all, state your request intelligently. If you use a word processor, please, use a spell checker. Understand the difference between the words "then" and "than" (an anal pet peeve). Concisely list the features and morphs you want. And above all, please be polite. Don't "demand" anything, kindly "request" instead. If enough people state their wishes, DAZ may realize they can reap an adequate profit. Are you interested? Sincerely, Bill

What would be nice (for any vendor) would be a set of animal heads (in the line of DAZ/RDNA's monster parts) that would mesh well with the millenium figure line. Bill (too)

I have been asking for a nice werewolf type character for years :)

Well I for one like the idea, but why not ask for furry type morphs for vicky & mike. If we end up with another figure then there will be a need for more clothes to fit it. We already have clothes galore for the millinium family.

I love the Second Nature series. It would be nice to create a composite creature based on the abs up on Michael/Vicki/Steph and the bottom down of another creature. The top up could be set up easily to use existing Mil. textures, while the bottom could take it's own texture. This would allow the use of upper body Mil. clothing/accessories, etc. with the faces being altered by morphs. I'd love to see some more realistic catmen, werewolves, etc.

a versatile morphing 'were' creature would be great. Especially if it was based on mike/stephie geometry so that it could go from human to furry. Also, cute vs scary options would be nice. I would pay Steph prices for that.

I'd be interested too, if they could make something with the quality of their recent major releases (millenium Dragon, Gorilla) I'd have my credit card ready as soon as it is announced.

Trying to model the geometry of another species out of a human baseline geometry has severe limitations. There already are beast/non-human morphs for the millenium figures, but the more they diverge from the human norm, the less effective they become. This is why I would still go for the 'conforming replacement body parts' approach that was used so effectively in the Monster Parts sets, along with matching texture sets. This also lets existing clothing and morphs to be used on the orginal parts. Bill

DAZ' new Beastmasters Fantasy Feline texture works very, very well with the Millennium figures' "cat" morphs. There's no fur mesh, of course, but you can create fantastic anthropomorphic characters with the combo. In spite of the fun I've had, I'm generally not interested in "furries," so since you ask, no, I don't care if DAZ pursues this. Sorry! ;-)

Don't know if there are enough Furverts (Yes that is a real term :)) around to make it profitible for Daz. I never really got the whole Furry thing myself. I did have a friend who used to draw Furry comics. (Adult and otherwise) for various anthology comics (like Furrlough) and fanzines like Furplay. Otherwise i might not even know about the whole Furry thing. Not that I have anything against it... it's just not my thing. :) I still might use furrette if I ever have to populate an alien bar or something. :) I think the animal morphs for Vickie aren't Cartoony enough for the Furry crowd.

"express some concern about the commercial viability of such a "niche" character" Same thing was said for PC (personal computers) and for small inexpensive 'desktop copiers', and for FAX, and for the computer 'mouse', and for............

Please. In the 60s/early 70s, some business giants lacked the foresight to know that home computers would be in high demand. Their lack of foresight, especially in retrospect, is hard to understand. Nevertheless, in the 2000s (the "aughts?") I think it's fair to say that the eroticization of stuffed animals will never, ever be a widespread phenomenon on the level of PCs or the other computing devices mentioned. Why would it be? PCs are extremely useful, "furry" is a niche fetish which a lot of us find to be blandly bizarrely boring, not to mention other things I won't say lest I appear more judgemental than I am. In the extremely unlikely case that I'm wrong, DAZ or someone else will have your Millennium Furry for you. I'd rather see more people, real people of diverse types, and more animals. Animals articulated on the level of the Mil Dragon or thereabouts. I suspect the majority of DAZ customers prefer to keep their human and animal virtual DNA separate. :-) When I first saw this thread I was thinking of cute humanoid-animals, as in, only that. Then I realized, "oh yeah, there are people who think stuffed animals are sex objects, get all dressed up in ridiculous fake fur outfits, go to conventions to meet other furverts, have naughty chat rooms," etc. Yikes! :-) :-) :-)

I blame Disney! If more people would show their kids cartoons with real people in them rather than fuzzy creatures flouncing about, perhaps this fetish would be squelched! :) Or perhaps the crossdressing of Bugs bunny is to blame! I'm not taking any chances...My kid is only allowed to watch good healthy Japanese shows with giant battling robots! No "Gadget from C&D's Rescue Rangers" fantsies for him... no way! (BTW I am JOKING... in case nobody could tell. :)) (Well not about the Robots...) ^_- ---Peace.

Well those mechafetishes can be pretty scary... Have you heard about the Hello Kitty and the Minny Mouse vibrating "toys", target marketed for pre-teen girls in Japan? Almost as good as the "Harry Potter" vibrating broomstick... (I believe Disney pulled the minnie mouse toy VERY fast, and, after a limited run, the Hello Kitty toy is now a collector's item!)

Actually, like Ghostofmacbeth, I was very much thinking of the many anthropormorphic figures that appear in popular (and classic) fiction and mythology, eg. minotaurs and werewolves. There already are products (cited Monster parts already) that give you anthropomorphic parts for the lower body, as well as wings, but nothing, except fairly limited attempts using morph targets, for the head. Bill

Hi, There are two type of characters that people are talking about. One is realistic type such as Werewolfs, etc... The other is an Anime style of furry type which I would prefer the Anime type but could use others.

Thank you "Williamsheil" and "a Super Hero" for steering this thread back on course, at least for the moment.

Are Scaleverts a sub section of Furverts? Would Dwayne and Ethel fall into this genre? Questing minds need to know :)

Yes, scalies are generally recognized as a part of the furry community. Any animal with anthropomorphic qualities ... uh ... qualifies, whether it has fur or not.

As much as I'd like a real Millennium Furry (and would cheerfully pay), I'd rather that DAZ focused on updating/replacing the basic animals first, which haven't changed since Poser 3. Even the DAZ centaur is based on the P3 figures.

I imagine that if the figure were sufficiently versatile, it would sell. Poser artists encompass all genres, from fantasy to sci-fi to horror to comic-style artwork. A generic digitigrade figure with a tail and variety of animal morphs could be used as a therianthropic monster, an alien species, or a fantasy race (plenty of EverQuest and role-playing gamers in this community), in addition to a furry character. Simply supplying texture sets for such a figure could keep brokers occupied for months. And of course, it would need new footwear.

As far as yiffy or furrotic themes are concerned, there are extremists in every genre, and we should not take them to be representative of the community as a whole. Considering how often Poser is used in the creation of nude, erotic, and/or sexually explicit art, we probably shouldn't be pointing fingers.

I hope it didn't look like I was pointing fingers in finger-wagging sort of way. :-) Besides, I'd love a highly detailed minotaur!

Me either, I was just having a bit of fun. as far as I'm concerned whatever floats your boat. ^_- actually a really versitile figure that could do both Cartoony furries, and more realistic anthropomorphic were beasties would be pretty cool. Of course there is yet another sub species in this pantheon of manimals (or womanimals...er whatever. :) and that is the mostly human character with slightly animalistic qualities. Like a Girl with cat ears and a tail. This type is often used by Joji Manabe for characters like Battia from outlanders. I Like that type, but you can easily accomplish that with props so no need for a whole new model. :) He also does more or less straight furries like Geobaldi, but this is within a Science fiction context (they are aliens not just replacements for human characters.) Oh well sorry for rambbling. :p

... or hows about a bunny girl zechs ;-) ... just getting my own back. Now I think of it, probably the best antropomorphic figure "out there" is the Millenium Dragon Folk at DAZ, a "rejointed" and rescaled variation on the Mil Dragon and another good approach to creating this sub-genre. Bill

The Dragon Folk package isn't a rejointed Mil Dragon; it's just a morph job, new texture, some clothes and an odd looking breath weapon.

If they could make the figure profitable would he have to change his name to "Dan Furr"?

I have a more realistic looking catwoman figure. Problem is, I am having trouble with the texture template/ spreading the facets. If anyone is interested in redoing the template from the ground up to make it texturable (good) I.M. me ~EA

={^..^}= <<-- furry bookmark :-)

xoconostle, I haven't laughed so hard in weeks. Thank you for brightening my day with your hilarious posts. --"furverts" LOL

Never been to a furry con, eh, darchangel? The term is not only well beloved, but accurate. And Lawndart? If the furry community ever got it's sweaty mitts on Poser and it -did- have the meshes to do anthro, they would make it profitable. Of course if you think this crowd gets rowdy with requests for accurate genitalia, you don't even wanna know what a furvert would be (literally) howling for.....(shudder) Hey LD! How's the work been going on that bodysuit you talked about over on DNA?

If someone would like to send me well defined concept art......... maybe ...... well we'll see. But this is a serious request, lets see who picks it up.

pcooke@philc.net

Hi, Here is a sample of a furry that I just surfed and found at http://lighthorsegraphics.com/h-dex.htm as an example. The idea is what if there were animal like human cartoons. This was all started by Little Dragon's Furries at http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=932865 They are great but have some limitations, (ex standard clothes, eyes, low detail maps)

If you want concept art, PhilC, visit the VCL archives. That site hosts the artwork of several thousand furry artists, and is updated daily.

A word of warning, though. Some of the art depicts violence or adult situations. Unlike Renderosity, the VCL has no censorship or rating system yet.

Attached Link: http://yerf.com

A more "family oriented" site is Yerf, formerly known as "The Squeaky Clean Furry Archives." Not only does it NOT store material that can give anthropomorphic fandom bad press, the quality of the artwork (on the average) is considerably better than VCL. Because it is a privately owned site, would be contributors go through a screening process. I hope this link will aid your designs.

I'm not really a furry "fan," but they always look so darned sexy in drawings. When I try to imagine what they would be like in real life, I get a little freaked out. But, damn, nice butt!

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

Well I for one would buy a DAZ furry critter. In fact I've snapped up every furry (anthro) critter I've been able to find - with the exception of one that I can't find the site for any longer (sigh) There is a small but growing number of furry poser artists - I've been doing my best to spread the word :) PS if you want to see furry art, go look on my website :) Lyrra

={^..^}=

Which critter are you missing, Lyrra?

A female unicorn - was available at B-Bay a loooooong time ago. Can't find it anywhere, and have no idea of the maker.

Debra Ross has a unicorn mare named Rhianna, available at Vista Internet Products. I don't know if she's the same one, but she's the only anthro unicorn for Poser with whom I'm familiar.

Holy crap, Little_Dragon DOES know where everything is! 8O Can you tell me where socks that get lost in the laundry go to as well? That is one NICE unicorn furry. :)

Debra Ross? thought she only did real critters. God I HATE the layout of that website :P rummage rummage THATS IT! :) Thanks LD - you are amazing feh. this place has a CD only policy, right. How annoying. The funny part is, I bought something from these guys about a month ago. Just didn't have the patience to go digging around on all the pages with my dinky connection.

Debra has a centaur filly and some nice gargoyles, also. They remind me of the Disney gargoyles, Brooklyn and Bronx. And her baby dragon is still available at BBay.

Can you tell me where socks that get lost in the laundry go to as well?

You actually have two species of socks: Alpha and Beta. They peacefully spend most of their life cycle in hibernation. But when you put them in the dryer, the warmth awakens them. And then, in a primal act of savagery, the Alpha sock eats the Beta sock.

Trust me, you don't want to know the origin of dryer lint.

"And then, in a primal act of savagery, the Alpha sock eats the Beta sock. Trust me, you don't want to know the origin of dryer lint. " that's actually scarey... bwahahahahahaha :D thanks!

Attached Link: http://www.stanwinstoncreatures.com/indexFlash.html

Members have discussed the profitability of an anthropomorphic figure. Yes, I'll admit it's a niche market. However, I believe I can site an example that favors its release. Does the name Stan Winston ring a bell? ;-) Some of you are probably thinking, "Yeah, and so...?" Less than two years ago, Toys 'R' Us started selling near museum grade figurines officially endorsed by Stan Winston. His second collection was titled, "Realm of the Claw," a series of six felinoid anthropomorphics. In case you're thinking this was simply an "on the spot" decision, one of the mini-documentaries at the official site (showcasing all the collections), presented his inspiration for the characters. The Quicktime video shows some of his original conceptual sketches from over a decade past. The finished design of his final figure, a black leopard 'morph, is stunningly close to his first drawings (which are damned good). They have the all the, ahem, earmarks associated with a classic (or stereotypical) anthro', humanoid torso, digitigrade legs, paw-like hands, tail and an animal-like head. I recently received a newsletter stating discussions are underway for a movie production. It seems Winston believes there exists enough consumers to turn a profit. Dan Farr, Reba Vest and the rest of DAZ, if anyone of you happen to read this thread entry, you might want to mull over this. Sincerely, Bill

Am I on the right track?

Hmm, could you render a few close-ups of the head? It's kinda' hard to her muzzle features, at least on my monitor.

Here ya go. Its the muzzle I'm about to work more on next. Aiming at a generic furry. Once that is done I can do the variations. Polygon count is about 20,000 . More than P4 but less than Vicki. Detailing will add some. Manual optimization will loose some, so I think I'm within my target. I can see that I'm not where I need to be yet but would appreciate your comments.

For me the existence of the "cartoony" furry genre was a bit of a revelation. Nevertheless I'm still holding out for some good quality anthropomorphic replacement heads for mike/vicky with a reasonable selection of morphs (eyes, mouth) and basic textures. For me this would be the best solution for quality, flexibility and reusability. Anyway, why re-invent the wheel if the body is going to be human based and the DAZ figures have all the morphs you could ever want? My wish list (and what I think would be marketable) would be: Bovine (minotaurs) Lupine/canine (werewolves) Porcine (pig/boar - as in Return of the Jedi and others) Caprine (goat like - as in demon/devil imagery) Saurine (lizardmen - numerous fantasy literature appearences) Equine (why not, while we're at it ...) Feline (ditto) Cavine (deer and stags, etc ... ad nauseum ...) Good for a product line, or bumper pack for any modellers adventurous enough. A set of anime or furry variation morphs would further broaden the appeal, so it seems. Bill

Thanks folks, your input sure helps. Here is a better muzzle.

Now next question, should I do the eyelashes as separate poseable parts (like in Dwayne & Ethel above), or should I morph?

Ah, yes, now you're capturing the essence! Er, when you typed "eyelashes", did you perhaps mean "eyelids?" I can't see any lashes in the picture above, but I have Dwayne and he has eyelids designed as parts separate from the head. If you are indeed talking about eyelids and whether they should be designed as morphs or as separate parts, well, I don't know. Which would be easier for you to construct? Since you are going with the whimsical, toon appearance, I'd think "clam shell" separate parts (maybe ERC'd to the head) would fit the motif. I think the "Play with Poser" anime girls work that way. Then again, Koto's head prop uses a morph that also works well. Uh, I'm not much help, am I?

Are these things copyrighted? Did anyone invent them or the name "Furry"?

No, I believe it's just a colloquial term bandied about by anthropomorphic aficionados since the days of BBS services and photocopied fanzines. Alas, due to sensationalistic journalism, the term has gained notoriety in the general population. Er, "kaiju" isn't a registered name, is it? It's just a word describing the legion of titanic reptiles and other beasties practicing urban renewal in Japan, right? If so, the terms are relative.