Well, I've been surfing and reading and looking for a couple days, trying to figure out which 3D modeler would be best for some things I want/need to do. A big priority is creating morphs for poser, more specifically morphs for Poser clothing. Second would be objects and props for Poser and Bryce. Third, would be an eye towards having a product that would allow for manufacturing new poser clothing once I get confortable with the first two. :-) I liked the tutorials by Traveler at Morphworld 2.0, now hosted on BBAY.com, showing how to use Rhino for morphs, so even though it won't offer an upgrade over Bryce for rendering, it should handle my modeling needs pretty well. Someone posted that the new version of Truespace is not only a good modeler, but a full featured renderer as well, with a new, lower price. I checked it out and it looks good, it also seems that PhilC uses it for his clothing work. Hmmm... However, some have commented on trouble importing Poser Obj. exports into the newest version of Truespace. There is a third part plug-in that fixes the problem, but that's extra bucks.... So, what to do? Well, it seems that there are free, downloadable demos available for Rhino and Truespace. I haven't checked the file size on Rhino, but Truespace was under 16Mb, which even my 56k modem could handle if left alone for a while. The Rhino demo is fully functional, limited to 25 saves, which should be enough to try a number of morphs and see how it handles. It seems that the Truespace demo is also fully function, but with a 30 day time limit. There is even a free demo of the third party plug in, TruePose, but I don't know if it will work with a trial version of Truespace. Anyway, I know that many people here find occasion to want/need to dabble with a modeler to get some result they need, but also have been faced with the same problem of choosing a package for purchase. In my case, I'm going to download the above demos and give them a spin and thought others might be interested in what I found. here are the links: Truespace: http://www.caligari.com/ Rhino: http://www.rhino3d.com/ And the truesapce-Poser plugin, TruePose: http://www.ev.ca/konan/products.htm Does anyone with experience in any of these products have any comments on your experiences with them? In general and for the tasks of creating morph targets, props or even clothing? Do you do the above with software other than those above that you think might also provide a good solution for those tasks? Thanks in advance for comment and input! :-)

Re: Truespace, Yes it can be used to make Poser morphs and you can make the COB to OBJ conversion using the free Compose Utility or the low priced 3DExplorer. The unregistered version will work also but I reckoned it was well worth the $40 (I think) so I paid to remove the nag screen.

Thanks PhilC, I've run across the Compose Utility, but think it was for working with Amorphium and Rhino. Is it the same concept with Truespace? I'll do a search for tutorials later on. :-) I'll check out 3DExplorer as well. Truepose seems to allow for a smooth transition from Poser into Truespace, but I'll have to read more to see how useful it will be for the entire "return trip" once the morphing is completed in Truespace. If Compose and/or 3DExlporer do the same thing or more, it's cheaper than the $100 for TruePose. Thanks for the recommendation. :-) I'll limit myself to one last question. Traveler has some tutorials up about using the Flow Along Curve Transform in Rhino, which I can already tell is going to help with a lot of what I need to do. Do you know is the new NURBS system in Truespace 5.1 supports anything similar? Or an alternate way of doing similar transforms with the same ease? TIA

I only use Truepose when I need to move an animated figure from Poser to Truespace and I have to say that it works very well.
NURBS ...... not being familiar with Rhino I can only answer with a "probably". I tend to use the sub-divide surface tool in preference to nurbs. I found that using nurbs resulted in meshes so dense that when I saved to a CD I could not lift it out of the CD tray!

Thanks. :-) I'll be trying both demo versions, so I guess I will see for myself. I am hoping that Truespace will be able to provide the same ease for morphing and general modeling as Rhino, because the total package that is Truespace 5.1 has more "bang for the buck" than Rhino, with the recent Truespace price drop to $299. I actually get good renders out of Bryce 4. I know that it has no where near the features as Truespace and other "real" 3D packages, but I can live with Bryce Renders if Rhino proves to be the best modeler for my needs. That being said, I really hope the new Truespace will turn out to be what I'm looking for. BTW, the Flow Along Curve Transform in Rhino allows you to look at a feature in one view, say from the side, and create a curve that follows the profile of the feature you want to morph. Then, you duplicate the curve, move the points on the second curve to create the profile you want. You then select points in the main mesh in the area of the feature you are morphing, say the nose. Then, you perform Flow Along Curve Transform, using the "before and after" curves you produced, and the 3 dimensional feature you've selected transforms to match the new profile. The way it does it doesn't create a sharp wedge when viewed from angles other than the profile, it maintains a natural curving flow through out the feature, in the section of the mesh you selected to transform. Basically, you can match a profile, like the slope of the nose or the curve of a breast when viewed from the side, in one step, sometimes with a little smoothing required, but with out having to manually re-adjust points in the mesh in all three dimensions. Does that make sense? Anyway, I guess I will find out. I'll post what I find, which will be a valid expression of the experiences of someone new to each program, but I know as I go that there probably will be things that each package CAN do that I won't realize because I just won't have the knowledge or the experience. Hopefully, if I post that something CAN'T be done in either program, someone more experiened will be able to share how it CAN. :-)