Hmm, Troughton as a dragon, it works, especially the irony of his comment! Weird that he passed away while attending a convention right here in my home state of Georgia. With all the various wyrms being dusted off due to the success of DAZ's newest creation, I kinda' surprised you haven't modified any of these to serve as your online avatar. An encounter between you and florence Ambrose or White Pony would be a hoot! For those of you who are clueless as to what I am referencing, check out Mark Stanley's witty strip, FreeFall at: http://www.purrsia.com/freefall/ ...and read its related forum at: http://nice.purrsia.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=21 Little Dragon has built quite the popular reputation with his portraits and animations!

True, to make him more life-like I do need to add body movements. I'm still learning those elements. I saved that scene as a PZ3 file, so I can recall it, advance to a specific frame, change the position of certain body parts and click the add key-frame button. Add several of these throughout the length of the 188 frame monologue and he should appear somewhat more believable. I wish I could take an extended leave from work so I could seriously study and practice these techniques.

I don't know if Mimic assisted animations comply, but here's my entry using Lemurtek's Guenevere (for whom I supplied the phoneme morph targets) and Tonyo1701's bridge station. Note: You'll need the DivX 5 codec to play the clip. If we can arbitrarily choose our numbers, I's like 42 (yes, I'm a Hitchhikers' fan), but I'll take whatever you grant. I hope I qualify.

You know, I think it might be the new dragon as well...with a caveat. Remember that while the gorilla was free, one had to purchase the more extreme morphs (baring fangs, cooing, etc.) and the texture maps. I suspect DAZ may perform a similar marketing ploy with the dragon. No, I'm not implying that's a bad thing. It's actually quite clever and helps both the consumer and DAZ. The "end user" gets a very useful free item, but if they want the extra bells and whistles, then they buy the supplimental material, kinda' like getting a free demo' program with some of the functions locked until one registers it. I think the "free" dragon will contain the standard joint parameters, maybe even Mimic morphs as did the gorilla, but you would have to actually purchase such morph targets like spine length (DAZ stated it had this feature), possibly billowing effects for the wing membranes, extreme jaw postures for those flaming breath scenes, that sort of thing. Then again, I could be completely off my nut. Rebuttals, anyone? Sincerely, Bill

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

September 15th? I was kinda' hoping you might have some "advance" copies available at Dragon*Con. Never the less, I just placed my order a few minutes ago and your forms accepted my serial number with no problem. I'm just grateful we have been allowed to pre-order. Thanks, Steve Cooper and the rest at Curious Labs! Sincerely, Bill

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

I can use Poser 5 to construct a digitigrade version of Mzzkiti?! Not that I doubt you, but how and where did you come across this feature? Is it something like an upscaled version of CL's Avatar Lab or are you referring to the advanced morphing tools? I had hoped it would have such a capability, but I never read any sort of description for such a function. You wouldn't happen to be one of the lucky few to have beta tested Poser 5? Hey, wait a minute... You know about my strip? I haven't bothered to supply a link to my site within my last few messages. It's nice to know my meager illustrative efforts are known. Thanks for the scoop! I was going to purchase Poser 5 anyway, but now I'm beginning to salivate like many others. Sincerely, Bill

Ah, there's a figure that truly looks "anime/manga" (not to slight DAZ's "Aiko"). ASCIIcodeplus, if you decide to distribute this figure, in what way can I help as a tester? I have the standard Poser 4.03 software suite but not the Poser Pro package. Will this present a problem? What "posing" abilities will she have? Do you plan to morph her mouth? Even if you limit it to the parameter "OpenLips," one can achieve decent results with Mimic. If her beret, braids, bracers and boots are not "single Meshed" with the rest of her body, she could serve as the core for numerous Anime characters. Top on my list would be Kei and Yuri, the infamous Dirty Pair, er, I mean the Lovely Angels. I really hope you pursue this project. Sincerely, Bill

Please, I was just having a little fun. Actually, I became a rabid Trek fan waaaaay back during 1972. Alas, for several years I took it far too seriouly. Fortunately, I've eased up. Oh, don't get me wrong. I still enjoy seeing it, but Crow, Servo and Joel/Mike (from MST3K) could have a field day riffing even the most serious episodes. I knew Nimoy is a photographer, but are you saying that he has also surfed and in-line skated?! Fascinating! Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Spock "shootin' a curl?" That makes for a bizarre image! Sincerely, Bill

I wonder if Steve Cooper meant to say that the infantile girl is supposed to be named Debbie as opposed to Betty? Debbie the "Bloop" was the simian anthropoid pet adopted by Penny. In reality, of course, it was simply a chimp forced to wear a fur covered hat (suggesting an enlarged cranium) with pointed ears (hmm, primitive ancestors of the Vulcans?). Cartright has stated during interviews that Debbie bit her several times during the series. Ironically, the ape seemed to get along with other cast members. This has been another bit of useless trivia extracted from the archives of Bill Redfern.

As has been stated at RDNA, the "official" names for the Poser 5 neutral adult figures are Judy and Don (not to undermine your friendly jibe, UncleBob). I wonder... If the kids are named Penny and Will I'm gonna' fall outa' my chair! Sincerely, Bill

Is it Shiro's "Ghost in the Shell"? I'm guessing it's either the scene with the partially dismantled android body in the lab or possibly the final "conrontation" between Major Kusanogi (spelling?) and the "intelligence" that evolved within the 'net. I guess after 5 or 6 years GitS would be considered a classic. Either that or "Akira." Sincerely, Bill

If you're wondering whether or not you can use Mimic with Guenevere, just click on the link I've provided.

Notice: You will need the DivX 5 decoder to play it. Yes, the official site (www.divx.com) does offer a non-ad-ware version. Just don't select either of the "Pro" versions.

So, does it pass muster?

I used Tonyo1701's bridge station, 3D Gladiator's StarFleet mini-skirt and crowned her with Kozaburo's trans-mapped hair for the Poser 4 male. I lifted a snippet of dialogue from the episode "Mudd's Passion." In the scene, M'Ress has just surcome to the affects of Mudd's love potion crystals. Then she turns to face Scotty. Oh dear! Looks like she'd got a case of "primate fever!"

Guenevere lends herself almost perfectly to the role of M'Ress from the animated Star Trek. Many people who appreciate things anthropomorphic have admitted that the Caitian officer sparked their interest in the anthro' genre.

Sincerely,

Bill

Take two concepts, the hair feature in the upcoming Poser 5 and Lemurtek's Second Nature anthropomorphic characters and combine them! Now we're talking! Well, that is, if one can apply that feature to Poser 4 objects. Something tells me we'll be able to do that.

We'll just have to be careful with the parameters or we'll end up with animated "Chia Pets!" Anybody see the outtake clip depicting a frizzed out Donkey from "Shrek?"

Sincerely,

Bill

Yeah, I asked the same question in three different forums nearly a month ago. Only yesterday did I receive my first response. Of course, the topic, "Robot roll call!" might have confused readers.

WyldeSnake offered to model them, but requested I send him some images as reference. He didn't state whether he charged for his services or not.

No one has stated if any already exist. Say, are you going to use Joel Robinson or Michael J. Nelson? No, wait! Let me guess. You're going to portray the new DAZ gorilla as Professor BoBo! Everyone's going (Dare I say it?) ape over that primate!

Sincerely,

Bill

Aiko can already switch genders with the altering of just two dials. So the software does exist. Since Aiko uses the Stephanie geometry which, in turn, uses the Michael 2 geometry, I can't fathom why a similar function can't be applied to a more "normal" physique. Hmm, actually, I can. Such a "universal" character could cut into Daz's profits. If one figure can supply all one's needs, why bother to buy Vicky, Steph', Mike, etc? Sincerely, Bill