Attached Link: DAZ is starting the Hiro 4 previews:

Thanks for the heads up, bB

Attached Link: New Morph Style for H4

http://artzone.daz3d.com/azfiles/gallery/a0/5w/xw6tgdzioliulg9hxy2dwzbn99zm8j-pre.jpg

I guess in another 4-5 months they'll get around to a Stephanie type, was kind of hoping for that first.  Oh well.

I'm not overly impressed with A4, so I'm not sure I'd spend the money to get M4 so I can buy H4.

A4 is nice, I just don't find myself using it that often and I think poser needs some better toon/cell shading options.  The best I can do is using Diffuse lighting which isn't exactly what I'm looking for.

Is H4 made from M4 then? Same rig and mesh?

Yes, Hiro 4 is based on M4 (similar to how Aiko 4 is a morph for V4 but also a stand alone figure because the head and eyes are so different). You can use M4 clothing on Hiro 4, but it will need the HIro 4 body morphs, or Hiro 4 tailoring magnets for the correct fit.

M4 is not my style and neither is V4, so to me adding Aiko 4 and Hiro 4 to V4 and M4 makes those figures more appealing. And there is the added bonus they can share clothes. 

It's possible that an improved M4 will get released along with Hiro 4. M4's been around long enough now that problems with him have been found. For instance, it looks like H4 has better hands. I don't know if DAZ fixed other issues like the feet bend.

Hiro 4 reminds me of a song: Young Man, You’re Too Girlie Girlie (although Sophia George meant something else with it).

He looks OK when shown more as a realistic figure (but not even great), but as comic / toon / anime figure he looks outright ugly. From what I do see, Hiro 3 will serve me well for the coming years, no need to spent money on this cheesy looking figure.

Is it just me or do all of these new male figures (M4 & H4) look a bit too feminine? Jus tlook at the first red hair image, I thought it was a girl at first, when only looking at the face. What ever happened to real man, are even poser figure supposed to get in touch with their feminine side these day? I know girl stuff sell, but does DAZ really has to even turn the male models into girls?

The bright side of all of this is that I haven't spent anything on these new figures, leaving me money to spent on the cool figures Steve (3D Universe) is releasing. At least his girls look like girls and his guys look like guys. As far as I'm concerned, DAZ unfortunally has lost the touch to create outstanding figures and I'm glad that others are filling up the space left vacant by DAZ.

I'm fine with M4's proportions actually, the forearms and hands are a bit small but that's my only real issue.  I think a lot of peoples' perceptions are colored by years of very stylized Poser characters, to a similar degree as the female characters various fans.

This is all subjective stuff. Different people have different tastes. I remember when Aiko 3 first came out, people in 3d not familiar with the Anime style hated her, but she caught on.  The same is true of Hiro. And now that M4 is out, those who grew to love HIro want a generation 4 Hiro.

I'm still using M3 (see my avatar to the left). He's perfect for my tastes (beautiful hands, beautiful feet, beautiful legs, beautiful knees, beautiful face, etc), I just wish M3 posed better.
Anyhoo, It's up to Hiro 4 to convince me to move to Gen4.

I've always sort of liked anime. The ghost in the machine was a favorite. M4's legs are in much better proportion to his body in my opinion, and you can always change the face to a more rugged character. But I also have to agree it would be nice to see some competition to Daz. Make them earn their place with some improvement to their models.

As another poster brought up previously, the biggest drawback with M4's legs is that the area from thigh to knee can't be morphed effectively by the ++ morphs. There's nothing wrong with the default shape and it bends really well, but I just can't shake the unusually fit default, even when the body morph is as emmaciated as a zombie. Most human legs aren't unusually fit, so despite the fact that M4 bends better than M3, M3 remains more 'flexible.' Hiro 4 will have the same problem as M4.

 Hi - just downloaded the brad sample.  His bending is awsome!
He looks really great so far!!!!  His forearms lack muscular detail but then I know he is a work in progress at this stage.
His wrists are too skinny for such a muscular guy I feel as well.
I can't wait until he is ready though as he's looking really good.
Where's the best link nowadays to follow his progress?
Love esther

Hi estherau:

Sorry I had a thread here but it has sank into the swamp, I will start a new one in a day or two Or perhaps I will just start posting in the critique forum again, that thread is still there. If you have some specific ideas or requests you can also Email me at phantomthreedee@hotmail (.com) I always reply there. I will be posting an updated version on Friday.

@Paloth: ya he is in better shape than M3, I guess i have never noticed problems with it cause I never use anything but the default figure.

But doesnt H4 require M4 and its morphs, just as Aiko4 requires V4?

Interesting.

Quote - But doesnt H4 require M4 and its morphs, just as Aiko4 requires V4?

I don't think they've said, but probably, yeah.

I think one of the biggest problems the original Hiro had was that the body was different from David so David and Hiro couldn't wear the same clothes.  The bodies weren't stylistically that different though, so you just ended up with two figures that should have been able to wear the same clothes but couldn't.  Felt like a gimmick to get you to buy more stuff...

I hope H4 isn't like this because it will be frustrating for no appreciable gain.  Hopefully H4 and M4 will be able to wear the same clothes with some slight morph changes...

I would also MUCH rather see an M4 muscle pack than H4.  I feel like M4's usefullness is still ridiculously limited for cartoon and fantasy renders without a muscle pack.

*I think one of the biggest problems the original Hiro had was that the body was different from David so David and Hiro couldn't wear the same clothes. *

That's not a problem at all, at least not with Hiro3, he had a Hiro3 to David version included. Hiro3 and David can wear the same clothes.

But David couldn't wear H3's clothes... that was the problem...

OK, I see, but you don't know of that will be the case if (ever) they're going to release a new David, but it's assumable he will be based on M4 also.

1.Load David
2.Export David's head, eyes and neck as objects
3.Load Hiro
4.Load David's head, eyes and neck as morph targets into Hiro
5.Smooth the neck with the morphbrush so that it matches Hiro's body
6.Adjust joint centers for the eyes to David's specs.
7.Delete Hiro's head morphs and load David's
8.Enjoy your new D3toH3 hybrid

:-)

Actually, I always prefered Hiro to David: the mesh has more possibilities, whereas David's was kinda stuck in one mode. My fear is that, by tying this to M4, we may lose some of that.

Joe Public, that sounds like a great work around.  But if I'm spending money on a product, I expect it to work well and not require work arounds... It seems like M4 and H4 will be completely compatible. So I won't have that problem...

Quote - It seems like M4 and H4 will be completely compatible.

That is a little optimistic; there will be some models that will not be set up for one or the other figure.  The more detailed a model is, the more work is required to make it interchangeable between two very different morphs even if the mesh is the same.

Hiro 4 will be to M4, what Aiko 4 is to V4.

From the Hiro 4 News and Wishlistlist thread:
http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=95790&highlight=

What we know about Hiro 4 so far:

http://www.daz3d.com/i/3d_models/overview?_m=d wrote:
Hiro is the popular male counterpart to Aiko, the most sought after 3D anime female in the world. Hiro 4 is currently being developed based on the Michael 4 base product and will inherit all of the latest improvements of the 4th generation of Millennium Figures. Stay tuned for more info on Hiro 4!

1. Hiro 4 will be a morph of M4 (similar to Aiko4/V4)
   Hiro 4 will be released as a separate figure from M4

2. Hiro 4 and M4 will be able to share clothing and hair.
   Requires the Hiro 4 morph in M4 clothes, and the M4 morph in Hiro 4 clothes

3. Hiro 4 will be as tall as M4, not shorter.
   Similar to how Aiko 4 and V4 are the same height

4. Hiro 4 will be able to share texture maps with M4, A4, V4, and V4 Male.
   However, the alignments on areas like face will be off. Use UTC2 to convert textures between figures, swap V4's UVmaps for M4's, or use M4 Enhanced for correct texture alignments between V4 and M4

5. Hiro 4 will be able to share morphs with M4/A4/V4/V4male
   But transferred morphs may not look the same because the default shape is difference between the figures. M4 Enhanced will correct V4 morphs transferred to M4 so that will look correct.

6. Hiro 4's known Full Body Morphs are:
   Hiro Body
   Hiro Stylized
   Hiro Sylvan