Hey there gang.  In my spare time I have been working on some toon style characters (see attached image for an idea of style), mostly as sculpting and character design excercises. However, it got me thinking...what if these guys got turned to Poser characters? Thing is, I don't know what the interset in such characters are these days. I remember James Johnson not really making as big a splash as I'd have liked...granted, he could have used more support and his shoulders needed to be shaped better but that's beside the point.  My question is, would you guys use Dreamworks/Pixar style characters if they were developed for Poser? It doesn't seem to be the kind of thing showing up a lot in the galleries here but I know almost all of you love the films those companies make so I wonder what interset is there in similar content for Poser? Thanks in advance.

 

-T.

Not for personal stuff, but I could envision a scenario where it could be useful for illustration at some point, as I do book covers etc. But for my own pleasure, I'm more into realism.

______________

Hardware: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X/MSI MAG570 Tomahawk X570/Zotac Geforce GTX 1650 Super 4GB/32GB OLOy RAM

Software: Windows 10 Professional/Poser Pro 11/Photoshop/Postworkshop 3

they look good IMVHO.  would request that you provide them with a tutorial on line-art in poser.  I have tried to explain the edge-blend technique, but they don't understand it.  what I dislike is seeing wolf et al. trying to tout c4d (in poser forum) for line-work, when poser can do it better, in the right hands.

There wouldn't be any harm in releasing those figures, even if they don't sell widely. It might do well to create a cartoon girl with sword so the regular Poser user doesn't feel too lost.

Download my free stuff here: http://www.renderosity.com/homepage.php?page=2&userid=323368

Cool feedback. These are just samples. The ones I'm thinking of releasing are a little less stylised and a bit more appealing over all. I appreciate the fact that most folks are more into the semi-realistic and realistic figures than toons here but I really appreciate the input. :D 

The more the merrier, I say. Toon type characters, whatever look, tend to have their own charm and even more so when morphed beyond just the original look, such that users can put their own stamp on them.

AND, they tend to look better than most with postwork.  IMVHO.

I haven't been drawn to toons too much myself, but now that I have young kids I could see myself getting into them.  Some good information on how to use them to good effect would be handy.  Especially for people who have been drawn more towards semi-realism.  I'm not sure what changes from 'the usual' you'd have to embrace in terms of lighting and shaders to get hte most out of them

I like to mix real and toon as well, roger rabbit style, or in a real/toon => fantasy merger (Nursoda style). 3D Universe (www.3duniverse.co.za) = Steve Corder, South Africa, is one of my fav's for toons, and doing quite well on delivering toon chars for Poser (via DAZ as well).

Perhaps you can team up with him, or anything. Toon chars do well in commercials, child book illustrations and game environments. Your stuff looks good.

- - - - - 

Usually I'm wrong. But to be effective and efficient, I don't need to be correct or accurate.

visit www.aRtBeeWeb.nl (works) or Missing Manuals (tutorials & reviews) - both need an update though

Yeah, 3D Universe has some cool stuff.  So his is a much more positive response than I would have expected. It's also interesting about additional content that explains good usage or ways of expanding on the toon aspect.  Very cool indeed.

Hello Teyon, goodmorning.

It is my humble opinion that you are talking here as "you the person" and not as SM.

So here is my 1 cent answer.

Yes, any new figure set, (it would be a set, no?) is allways welcome.
There is a market for them, not that huge, but they will sell well.

But there is a deeper issue here.
Poser content has a very long life span.

Even the PP2012 content starts with the Poser 1 figures, and includes all figures from Poser 1 till. . . . now.

Over all those 10+ years, lots of corrections and improvements have been asked for to "repair" the flaws in those figures.

Improving and repairing the current content figures would be a "game Changer" to use somebody elses words. 

But, yes, any new fgure set will be welcome.
And I know that you are a great artist.

And, as you know; Personally, I try to do "more" with less :-) "More realism that is.

Have a nice day, Tony

Poser 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, P8 and PPro2010, P9 and PP2012, P10 and PP2014 Game Dev
"Do not drive faster then your angel can fly"!

I have no problem using toon characters in my renders.

I mainly use AikoToon & HiroToon, but have used other 'Toons.

I think that there are two main reasons why some 'Toon Characters don't sell well.

1/ Lack of support - my runtime is filled with figures I have bought but hardly used because other than clothes released within the 1st month, there has been nothing else released for that figure, limiting that figures use.

 

2/ Nothing else available in a similar style. You could release the greatest 'toon figure ever, but if it stands out like a sore thumb in a scene with other figures then it's use is going to be limited.

 

Reason 2 is why most of my 'toon renders use AikoToon & HiroToon - I can use them side by side with other DAZ characters & they don't look out of place.

Saying that - if you were to convert that sourcerer & demon to Poser, I would buy them.

I'm totally talking as me and not a SM employee. This is more something I've been kicking around.   I agree that it's essential there be more characters of a similar style or it all false apart. I'll have to look into all this more. It's not something I'm going to be able to get to right away. Just putting out feelers.

Well, that is the main problem of any new figure or figure set. Support.

Lots of new figures lately, but no or little support.
As AILDemps says, the first month or so, and then they slowly die out and everybody returns to V4/M4.
After all, you are going to fight against a figure with 4.000 support items.

YES, it is a new market, Toons.
But oh dear Lord, you will have to be persistent to get a long life span here.

Or? You would have to create a complete Toon family, and support them all untill the vendors see the market grow, and start to pick up on it.

Creating a Toon family, OK, but then Toon props also.
Toon houses, landscapes, trees, forests. . the lot.
All would have to be Tooned in the same style.
A BIG project.

Poser 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, P8 and PPro2010, P9 and PP2012, P10 and PP2014 Game Dev
"Do not drive faster then your angel can fly"!

I don't use them, but a lot of folks do.

For me it's mainly a question of being able to use a toon character in numerous different genres/settings. Most toon characters have limited usage.

 

I reckon if they were good enough... I'd be more tempted to get them and do some toon renders...

...and I reckon yours look great Teyon.

But as Vilters notes, stylistic consistency becomes more of a problem potentially...

(unrelated image really... americanised anime source, as opposed to toon... but this example of stylistic rupture, witnessed when I was a kid, always stands out in my mind)

...the whole toon universe needs to match up somehow... there needs to be a range of figures... but also environments potentially... unless you can design them to work with (e.g.) Stonemason or Dreamland Models sets. Of course there's no reason you couldn't do that, somehow.

That said, I've heard folk say they'd never combine the Daz Gen4 figures with Miki or Antonia, because there is stylistic difference and they won't gel.

Personally, I don't see that... and I've done a few renders with a real mix of all the above in them... and I thought those worked out fine.

There's the issue of trying to personalise much more stylized toon figures too I guess, if that's a concern... you'd have to think through how that would work?

I'm a big fan of AlDemps toon work myself... I reckon he get's the meshing of toon and potentially more "realist" elements down very well.

Plus he does a lot of Doctor Who stuff...

I had considered the issue of additional props. It's something else that I'm trying to figure out how best to approach. The Incredibles had an entire toon world populated with realistic every day items that were not any more or less stylized than what we're commonly used to seeing in Poser. So with something like that as a goal, I think it's more about the figures and less about the props. That said, to expand on the characters down the road I could see more specific toon settings pop up but initially, I think if I were to create a set of figures with a cohesive look, you could probably get away with placing them in some of the sets already available for Poser.

So I would definitely want to be creating a series of characters that could fit within the same world style wise. I'd also like to think that some if not all of them would be fairly versatile - they'd be provided like a classic figure (nude with clothing options).  That would both provide them the possiblity of being expanded on and allow them to be used for more than one thing.

 

Also, thanks everyone for the confidence boost for both the idea and my skill. :D 

Yup... I was thinking of "Despicable Me" as another example of fairly realist style environments / props, being used with toons.

The characters in that are heavily caricaturesque, but the sets, whilst often being fantastical, are relatively realist, or hyper-realist... as far as I recall.

 

I'd say if I was going to attempt any kind of more in depth animation in Poser, I'd probably be considering animating toon style stuff, initially...

...so for me at least, if I was going to procure some toon figures, it'd be for that, I guess.

I agree, Dispicable Me is another reference point for me, as is Monster House and even UP to some extent.

 

Me and my shadow from Dreamworks looks like another that may fall into that same thing, where the environment, if it had realistic characters, would not be out of place but the toon characters make it all feel more toonish.

I think the likes of "Despicable Me" nod back to an older tradition by the way.

Thinking back to classic cell animations, like Tom and Jerry, for example... the backdrops tended to be painted, often, sometimes, in a fairly realist style... I'd say... certainly quite a different style to the character animations. But stylistically, I think, it does somehow still gel.

Obviously an entirely different set of artists tended to work on the background / environment paintings... to those who did the character animation and cell overlays.

Quote - I think the likes of "Despicable Me" nod back to an older tradition by the way.

Thinking back to classic cell animations, like Tom and Jerry, for example... the backdrops tend to be painted, often, sometimes, almost a fairly realist style... I'd say... certainly quite a different style to the character animations. But stylistically, I think, it does somehow still gel.

Obviously an entirely different set of artists tended to work on the background / environment paintings... to those who did the character animation and cell overlays.

 

You're right on all counts there. The Warner cartoons also had fairly realistic backdrops for a time and simply let the characters play in that realistic world. I think it all falls on the characters and the people lighting the scene to make it work in 3D.  If the characters look like they can almost be in the same universe, you're ahead of the game. The reason I reference the Incredibles the most is, if you look at the bulk of the main characters: Bob, Helen, Dash, Bob's boss, Frozone, etc. , taken individually, you'd be hard pressed to see them in the same film. Edna is so far removed from Helen and Bob that she pretty much doesn't belong in the same world but they make it work and make you believe.  With Dispicable me, the outsiders stylistically were the minions and yet they too, seemed to happily co-exist along side the human characters. It's an interesting thing and something I'm being super aware of as I sculpt out my designs. Keeping a unified look as much as I can but if there's a character that stands apart, finding something about it to tie it back to the others.

 

It occurs to me that noticing difference is one of the things our brains seem to do best.

Well, speaking for my own brain anyway... other people's brains may vary

Seeing certain discrepancies seems to interfere irreparably with the all important ability to suspend disbelief (when looking at any image, whether it's tooned, realist or even a photograph).

But not seeing any discrepancies, indeed not seeing some quite large differences, in places, can have the exact same effect!

Heloo Tyon, finally found what I was looking for. :-)

Check here: The Thunderbirds; long time ago.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho6VoLgXsN4

Something](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho6VoLgXsN4) very special at the time. 

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When you make Toon figures, what is the ultimate goal?

Science fiction?
Mexian?
Cowboy style?
Pirates of the..... ?

As in the series at the link, the environment has to be created too.

I admire your skills but would first set a time frame or a goal where to operate in.

Define your market.
Or define where and how these figures can be used.

I think you have a great thing going on here, if you can get the momentum going.

Your first examples have "character".

 

Poser 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, P8 and PPro2010, P9 and PP2012, P10 and PP2014 Game Dev
"Do not drive faster then your angel can fly"!

The making off, in the old days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dPD_CO8rvQ&feature=related

Oh! Dear !
:-)

 

Poser 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, P8 and PPro2010, P9 and PP2012, P10 and PP2014 Game Dev
"Do not drive faster then your angel can fly"!

**"what I dislike is seeing wolf et al. trying to tout c4d (in poser forum) for line-work, when poser can do it better, in the right hands."**

Hi I will certainly concede that it is pointless to mention a $3000 dollar program in the poser Forum just for its tooning ability

but the underlined portion of your statement might confuse people new to poser without proper clarification IMHO

poser alone cannot create better toon effects than C4D with the native poser render engine
but it is not fair to expect such as poser does not cost $3000 USD.

but I have seen Extremely talented poser artists using major post work techniques in external 2d programs,  to create toon/comic effects that one can Not achieve with C4D only

Back on topic: @ teyon the talented  people over at 3D Universe have proven that there is some commercial viability in toon characters but they have to be of the highest quality!!.

And yes I agree the "Despicable me" is one of the best 3dtoon movies in recent years IMHO better than Pixar even.

Cheers

My website

YouTube Channel

...........I would also Add that Olivers toon shaders for poser over at RDNA **have no equal**, that I can find, for creating a pencil sketched look WITHIN POSER FIREFLY itself.

so it is a matter of exploring the many options available for us today.

 

Cheers

My website

YouTube Channel

.........

My website

YouTube Channel

I personally will not buy toon characters because I neither like them nor have a use for them.

But I ain't everybody.

I'd say, if you want to create the set, do so! There is never enough Poser content!

"I think the realism thing has just gone too far"_Homer

ROFLMAO!

Yup. I use toon style characters all the time. Mainly A3 and H3 toons, Littlefox and Nursoda characters. More are always welcome. And if there is XD support then even better!

Not too much like Dreamworks/Pixar style though or there can be potential problems with commercial work unfortunately.

 

I like toon figures and I've bought several.  I just never seem to use 'em though.  Maybe one day I'll find a use for them.

Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.

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My Gallery

Quote - Yup. I use toon style characters all the time. Mainly A3 and H3 toons, Littlefox and Nursoda characters. More are always welcome. And if there is XD support then even better!

Not too much like Dreamworks/Pixar style though or there can be potential problems with commercial work unfortunately.

 

 

When I say, "style", I mean that the characters would look like they fit right at home in a film by either of those companies. I would never knowingly ape or copy another artist's work and I sure as heck would avoid likenesses of existing characters. That's not what a character artist does. We're all about designing our own stuff but keeping within a style or look and doing our own thing is still possible.

Quote - I like toon figures and I've bought several.  I just never seem to use 'em though.  Maybe one day I'll find a use for them.

That's been my concern with the idea from jump and I hope that having more than one or two characters will make the desire/ability to come up with scenes for them more likely.

Then I have to start wondering about how technical to make them. I'm no TD. Never would be able to claim that and keep a straight face. I'm a character designer/modeler who has some basic knowledge of how rigging works. So for me, blendshapes would be the preferred method for doing expressions and the like but then I have to wonder if rigging the face directly wouldn't be better? The major problem I see with doing it that way (besides the logistics of setup) is educating an end user on usage. Hmm...yeah, blendshapes will probably be the way I go just for the sake of ease of use/creation.

Well if it's any help, I've liked the look of your avatar since it first appeared.  Very striking; it reminds me of Roger Delgado's version of The Master and also somewhat of  Gary Oldman's Zachary Smith.  With a skin colour change it could also be Sinestro.

Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.

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Attached Link: Test

Basically, stylistically speaking, it'd be like this animation I did using nothing but blendshapes in Poser.

 

http://youtu.be/3W01o4hSBnc

Quote - Well if it's any help, I've liked the look of your avatar since it first appeared.  Very striking; it reminds me of Roger Delgado's version of The Master and also somewhat of  Gary Oldman's Zachary Smith.  With a skin colour change it could also be Sinestro.

 

It's funny that you say that because I totally channeled the Master (and a little Dr.Strange) when I did the scene my avatar is from.

Writing of mixing seemingly conflicting designs, Xaa has, I believe, successfully gathered a cast of figures you'd normally think would not "blend" well in the same shots.  Some of these include the venerable Posette (whom he has remapped and re-rigged over the course of several years),  FemaSu, and Nursoda characters like the Slon and the lizard-like Fon.  Well, it helps that it is a science fiction narrative, but they can still clash.  I think part of the trick is his tweaking the "skins" so the lighting makes them look like they should be in the same frame.

Sincerely.

Bill

Tempt the Hand of Fate and it'll give you the "finger"!

Quote - > Quote - Yup. I use toon style characters all the time. Mainly A3 and H3 toons, Littlefox and Nursoda characters. More are always welcome. And if there is XD support then even better!

Not too much like Dreamworks/Pixar style though or there can be potential problems with commercial work unfortunately.

 

 

When I say, "style", I mean that the characters would look like they fit right at home in a film by either of those companies. I would never knowingly ape or copy another artist's work and I sure as heck would avoid likenesses of existing characters. That's not what a character artist does. We're all about designing our own stuff but keeping within a style or look and doing our own thing is still possible.

 

Oh yes, I didn't think you meant copying existing characters or something like that - and definitely wasn't implying that you were.

The problem is that for some commercial work even "in the style of " or "inspired by" or sometimes even "a bit like..." can cause unecessary twitchiness in clients' legal departments. :)

 

I love toons and making my own cartooning style along with many other things.

I have been looking at your avatar wondering if you were ever going to release it because it is a perfect Don Quixote to me! I like your stylized creations!

Toons can make a picture in your head just as much as any other figure.  IMHO you should dip your toes, perhaps even a whole foot, into the toony  water of sales and see how it goes. That is the only way you will ever really find out how your toons will do. There are many people that do not use forums or post in galleries or only do reality renders.

Personally I gravitate towards those modelers that have their own style. Little Fox, 3D Universe, Nursoda, elleque, Smay etc all have their own style. You might want to reconsider what kind of toons you want to really do. Your way, or the way you think people might want them.

 

Just my 5 cents

 

 

 

LittleFox...

Oh, thanks for reminding me, LilWolff.  My favoite mesh is listed as a "toon" by LittleFox herself, "Melody".

Sincerely,

Bill

Tempt the Hand of Fate and it'll give you the "finger"!

 

Quote - ...would you guys use Dreamworks/Pixar style characters if they were developed for Poser?...

The only anime style character I've used regularly is Anime Doll and Near Me.  Since the characters are already modeled in an Anime style they lend themselves to getting a more traditional cel shade look than say starting with V4.

Unfortunately, if not modeled by the same person, the different anime styles can kinda' clash.

Quote - ...So for me, blendshapes would be the preferred method for doing expressions and the like but then I have to wonder if rigging the face directly wouldn't be better? The major problem I see with doing it that way (besides the logistics of setup) is educating an end user on usage. Hmm...yeah, blendshapes will probably be the way I go just for the sake of ease of use/creation.

Rigging the face allows for far more expressions without the overhead of a bazillion morphs. I have set up many of them that way in various programs and prefer them that way.

As far as the end user thing, you could still put all of the standard dials on the head to mimic what people are used to as well. Dependencies will appear normal to the user if they are looking for a smile dial and there is one or more there.

If the end user has the tools to use the face, it really doesn't matter if it is rigged or morphed in the background.

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Some things are easy to explain, other things are not........ <- Store ->   <-Freebies->

I always like your stuff and liked James but he needed more support.

I know. That was a really tough period for the content team actually and I was really bummed that he had to be kind of put aside. I would have kept the rights to him and released him on my own had I known it would have turned out that way.  The plan with these new toons should hopefully keep interest up for a bit, give other content creators time to develop clothing for them too. 

Quote - I like toon figures and I've bought several.  I just never seem to use 'em though.  Maybe one day I'll find a use for them.

This is me. I have bought quite a few and I always intend to use them, but somehow don't generally get around to it.

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PoserPro 2014, PS CS5.5 Ext, Nikon D300. Win 8, i7-4770 @ 3.4 GHz, AMD Radeon 8570, 12 GB RAM.

those are beautiful teyon

i loved monster house too but i'm a big fan of zemeckis anyway.

go that way really fast.
if something gets in your way
turn

Hey Teyon,
yes sir.
Certainly in a small market as this one it is up to the creator to keep the momentum going untill the vendors pick up.

Vendors usually only pick up on a "trend" when they can see the profit.

Create the figures, but also create enough "content" or free support files before releasing them.
Create a buffer zone for yourself so that at release date?
You are ready with lots of things at hand to feed the freestuff, bit by bit, for the first couple of months.

As others said, lots of new figures out there right now, but support stops after a month.

The only figure that was released with "preparation" was Little One.
A very nice looking, but it had its limitations.
But the momentum kept going for a pretty long time, and she had a lovely face.

Actually,
any figure/character creator can keep any figure/character popular.

Release freebies, get the mass end user to use YOUR figure.
And when he/she is popular?
Then you can start making items for the market to earn money.
Not before.

But first: Get your figures/characters so popular, that people "can not live without them". (in a matter of speaking)

Oh, and never-ever talk about a future project.
When people understand that YOU as the creator of the figure are stopping the suppor for YOUR own figure?
All comes to a grinding halt.

Poser 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, P8 and PPro2010, P9 and PP2012, P10 and PP2014 Game Dev
"Do not drive faster then your angel can fly"!

The only one surviving "her future project" is V4/M4

Most clients are financially "way over the point of no return" for V4/M4.
He/she will survive.

Poser 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, P8 and PPro2010, P9 and PP2012, P10 and PP2014 Game Dev
"Do not drive faster then your angel can fly"!

The one thing you could do, that a lot of figure makers forget, is to add a dev rig kit with the figure.

If you want people to create content, then it would make sense to provide an "official" dev rig.

I can make dev rigs, no probs, but it does save making a new one everytime.

All the best.

LROG

Who honors those we love for the very life we live?, Who sends monsters to kill us?, and at the same time sings that we will never die., Who teaches us whats real?, and how to laugh at lies?, Who decides why we live and what we'll die to defend?, Who chains us?, and Who holds the key that can set us free... It's You!, You have all the weapons you need., Now Fight!

Paganeagle2001, that's something we do at the office by default. Kind of hard wired in the ol' noodle at this point, so I don't see me forgetting one but good point.  

Vilters, these figures won't be around until next year some time. The reason for the thread was to gauge interest, as I'll likely be working on them while doing all the other things I have to do at work.  So lots of time for look development, rigging type and performance abilities, props if any, etc.   between now and then. 

Good preparation is the key to succes.
Certainly if you are going to work in a rather small corner of the market.

Your figures have a special style and strong "character".

I like them.

Poser 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, P8 and PPro2010, P9 and PP2012, P10 and PP2014 Game Dev
"Do not drive faster then your angel can fly"!

For a vendor the success of a toon figure depends on the store you sell it at. From what I've seen, most toon figures sold here do get very little support. RDNA toon figures get good support by other vendors. Toon figures at Daz sell well, but again they get only little support. There are quite some toon figures for sale, but most of them lack add ons, except for RDNA figures. As a customer it is frustrating to buy the next toon figure and not being able to buy clothes for them.  Even the clothes converters often do not support toon figures.

 

From a vendor point of view it's a bit different. Since a lot of toon figures are supported little, it's in open market. Not like genesis or the v's where lot's of vendors operate on a too small market. But there is a another side as well. Since there is little support, people tend not to buy toon figures. Toon figures aren't a huge market for vendors, but if you create a good selection of items, it's worth it. Less customers and less vendors, I guess that evens it a bit.

 

So speaking as a vendor I'd say go for it and if it's catching on, I may support it. Speaking as a customers I'd say if you can offer me something more the just a figure at the release, I may fall for it. If it's a figure with initial clothes and nothing else, I'll pass. But if it's a figure that could morph into various figures, like the Toon Generation for example, with a nice selection of clothes, I'm sold.

Artwork and 3DToons items, create the perfect place for you toon and other figures!

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?vendor=23722

Due to the childish TOS changes, I'm not allowed to link to my other products outside of Rendo anymore :(

Food for thought.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYZw0dfLmLk

I will be getting NearMe eventually, but she is the only "toon" toon that I have my eye on.

http://contentparadise.com/productDetails.aspx?id=9885

I would use her in a kawai anime version of anything not originally intended to be like that, with all of the other human/oid characters adjusted accordingly.  Not sure if I would make anything specifically for her though.

Attached Link: Free Chunk Base with Merchant Resources

Toons definitely take their own kind of marketing, but we've been pretty successful with ours. We upgrade them every year, so their universe is steadily expanding.

We opened up our core figure Chunk for free, and steadily update him (big one coming soon). He is the core character under our Toon Santa character, and we've developed add-on packs for him which sell reasonably well. We've sold thousands of copies of Toon Santa, but he's been upgraded many, many times too, and each upgrade includes a new outfit with props. Making characters tough to resist is where its at.

Your characters have a great look to them! :-)

Best regards,

chikako
Meshbox Design | 3D Models You Want

I definiately prefer toons to realisitc generally, although I don't tend to do cel shaded type renders. Two of my favourites have been the variations on Kim Goosen's "Girl" and 3D Universe's "Toon Generations" which I actually bought specifically because they were almost exactly what I'd have had to make myself for a client, so I was quite happy that what I specifically wanted was (more or less) pre-made for me!

Toons can change their flavour quite a lot using skins and lighting - here's a December 2009 render of a version of "The Girl". So yeah, I'm always interested in toons - especially if I can see a particular use for them.

Good strong characters (like the guy in your avatar, who DOES have a hint of Delgado about him) are good - but I'm a little cautious about being TOO strong. If the character is too specific it seems to me easy for it to fail to appeal. Take: http://www.daz3d.com/shop/toon/toonimal-penguin/ as an example - for a while a bunch of toons coming out through DAZ had this "one big eye one little eye" built in to the base mesh, making it hard to do a scene using a bunch of the same figure (a flock of those penguins would look most off, for example). I'd rather the base mesh was symmetrical and odd characteristics like that were possibly thanks to rigging and/or morphs.

 

Cheers,

Cliff

First, thanks everyone for the feedback. It's made deciding to go ahead and do it that much easier.  So big thanks to one and all.

Also thanks for the kind words about my work thus far. Always nice to hear.

 

You make a very good point, who3d.  The ones I'm working on are a less stylised than my avatar (which was designed to be very stark and contrasty) and a bit more appealing over all. I am making the characters to seemingly fit in a scene together without looking like they don't belong next to each other (hopefully). 

I completely agree that, unless it helps the design/character (ie. a wooden leg or a hook for a hand), assymetry should be done via morphs/rigging. It's just easier for me as a creator to deal with and it offers a wider range of options for the user. 

To be honest I wouldn't release them all as seperate figures, rather as a morph for an already established market figure. That way you are guarenteed more sales. The only figure that comes to mind for this is the Genesis platform.  Basically all you do is sculpt your figure using the base mesh in zbrush or other 3d app, import morph, freeze erc, click auto align bones etc and you're done. Your character morph is now working. No need to start from scratch. Also most existing clothing will autofit for your figure so it instantly has a huge library. Poser users can use Genesis as well (those with poser9/pro) and I'm sure in a year, support and functionality will increase. Then again I am strictly speaking of humonoid type shapes. If your characters are something else then stand alone is the way to go. I'd release what you can on a mainstream platform, and once those sell well I'm sure the stand-alone models will follow based on reputation:) I like stand-alone figures, but unless they are supported well, they end up un-used. See this vid link below. Mec4D Shows you exactly how easy it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI-a9XiXBNM

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That's an interesting viewpoint and I appreciate you posting the link, it'll come in handy for those not familiar with the process. 

Sure no problem:) It's just that easy making your own morph and getting it to work.

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