I second Jim Burtons vote for Strata with the exception that I would use the SSP renderer over the 3DS Max renderer(s) any day of the week (IMO). And he is correct. Most (not all) of SSP is available for free from the Strata.com web site. I would caution you about using the modeling tools included. They often seem to have minds of their own. For modeling alone I would have you look at the free download of Amapi available from the TGS site. It's a wierd wierd interface but after working in it for a bit I find it is fast and very powerful. And Maya is coming for OS X (just as soon as we all win the lotery to pay for it :-> ) jje

Bwa-ha-ha! Another one enters the serial fray! Seriously it looks like it's going to be really good. More More More! jje

Great idea Ookami! Thanks for the service and a cool icon. jje

I can confirm what cooler experienced. I put out a call Friday nite/ early Saturday morn entitled "Waiting for the Download" and got in the area of twenty people hopping into chat (more than I've ever seen let me tell you) then suddenly - pop - no one was there.there was no way to communicate with anyone and if you exited and came back in the messeging field was gone. On the bright side since there were so many members around awaiting the feebies, the response was fantastic and Chat actually had a "real-world" reason for existing. Till, of course it went Tango-Umbrella. Maybe next time you do something like this you should put a live moderator up there. T'was cool for those few minutes. My own thanks to the entire Renderosity/Zygote gang for making this thing happen. I'm a bit surprised there was no map.jpg since that seems to be S.O.P with Zygote freebies. But don't get me wrong, I'm not one to look a gift horse...er...camel in the mouth. (Ewwwww! nasty image.) Hmmmm Kelly on a Camel. Naw she'd never let me get a way with it. Now Nicky on the other hand... jje

Again, the fashion isn't gonna be a probem. I'm fudging the 30's style anyway. As I did in a previous installment, I would like to use other peoples characters without modification (xcept for clothes). Kate the Screw has appeared in my story as well as Island Girl (forgot who did that one). It's just my way of showing some of the creative stuff that is going on here in situ. You find me somebody's Adam West sans mask tights and cape and I would seriously look at it. I'm just looking for peoples suggestions on recent characters that have appeared in these (and other) places that could serve my purposes. Truth in advertising section: If I use other peoples cahracters as supporting cast members it frees me up to concentrate on the main characters. :-) jje

Hrmmm needs tweeking. Sorry to the IE5/PC people.....er...umm... Macs rule, ok?...but your milage may vary...serving suggestion...and that sound you hear is my Saturday night going to hell.

Chas:I don't know if you could go so far as call it "art science" but I appretiate the complement. I read Eisner's book almost from when it was published. I was seriously into collecting back then. And of course he was one of my early influences, much to the annoyance of my fine art teachers. I wouldn't say I'm always trying in HCK to be fluent on every page, though. Rather, I hope there is a reasonable "solution"; a pattern deduced by the viewer's eye after it is danced all over the page by the individual images juxtaposing. Ex.: Page 11 dialog is intentionally hard to direct to a specific actor (unless you really really look) because it enabled me to make a pun about the entire scene (not that anyone "got" the joke :( such is life). I like Veitch's work and am familiar with it. HCK's breakout came with me wanting to give up panels altogether and then erasing portions of my, hard rendered, images. Believe it or not, the destruction phase is one of my favorite times. And I'm pretty sure I got carried away more than once. I wonder, has anyone done a graphic story, using "standard" panel layout, where story "A" was being run within the panels while story "B" (unrelated?)is running in the negative space around the panels?

I've been using Strata for years and I love it (Mac) Few things tho: My information tells me that you do not get all the best renderers with the free d'load. The "official" Pro version is supposed to be out later in the summer and will contain all the renderers and all the CD add ons that have been published in the past two years. (not too expen$ive according to my sources) Strata is VERY interested in supporting .OBJ but is still in the process of getting its feet underneath itself (again) so no .OBJ support is forthcoming. The above statement also hold true for Poser figs. Truth be told with the exception of Poser I have never had any trouble importing from any of a variety of sources. I've been suggesting to them strongly that they should get in contact with Curious Labs. In many respedcts they both are at the same point in their respective businesses. For that matter maybe Curious Labs should contact them. But now I'm rambling I have rarely met a group of people more open to helping the aspiring add-on writer. Going to 3D.com (the user site for Strata et al) you will find there are many resources that can be called upon. I'd love to see .OBJ and so would they. Anybody up for it?

Concise explanation of something that constantly is nagging at the back of my mind. Thanks Sometimes it is difficult after spending weeks assembling all the little bits of a scene, and then assembling all these images into a page, to keep in mind that everything has to work together. In my own pages (www.ultranet.com/~jje1) you will noitice that the BGs started out black and have evolved into this deco funk thing. Given a couple of beers I can go on for hours about the semiotic of images. Their interrelatedness is an essential part in, if not the process of story telling, but in creating a "space" where the reader contributes to the flow of the narrative. Thanks very much for sharing

Ever notice how the coolest people were born in June/July? not likev that would have anything to do with me (grin) Congrats Rena jje

All Hail the Cancerians! H-B-D Diane and rb! jje

This is the long awaited Update y'all. You can find it if you go to the Zygote secure server area and drill down as if you were going to re-purchace the clothing pack. The links to the .sit/.exe files are on the right. Can't wait to read what the Vickie users out there think of the new changes. jje

Agreed! If those wings could fold it would be perfect for the Maltese Falcon. Then I would HAVE to have it for my collection of...er...stuff. "It's the stuff that dreams are made of" jje

Sheech! he's on a one-a-day schedule.

What texhnique did you use to get the cool D.O.F.? I really like the font idea. I'm a big fan of adding semiotic clues to images that pass additional information to the viewer. Tlaubach: Nah not a race. I feel like I'm part of a "twenty mule team" and not pulling hard enough on my harness. I think that the more series-writers put out there the faster additional content will be generated. Where it is all going I couldn't tell you. With my luck though we'll prolly end up in Utah. (and to all my friends in Utah that I just dised...live wit it, you're in Utah :-) jje