I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I saw 'Reference Pics For Ferret Makers - What Ferrets Look Like' in 'Free Stuff'. Come to think of it , I'm still chuckling. And 410 downloads! Whodathunkit? 410 'Ferrert Makers' right here at Renderosity! Can't be, Surely some must be Stoat and Ermine makers as well. Then I chanced to see, diggiging a little deeper in 'Free Stuff', An honest to goodness ferret!!! Well, it said 'Ferret", but it didn't really look like one... It made me laugh all the more so.

Somebody was asking about the availability of Poser ferrets and weasels in an earlier thread this week, and those were the results.

I myself tried Poserizing a ferret mesh I found on the 'Net, but didn't have much luck. My fault, really; I shouldn't have used the cat as a joint-parameter donor.

Well, at least you all try to help out people who ask you for stuff like that- kudos, LD! If "I" tried to model a ferret about the only place you could put it is under a car tire- LOL! I thought it looked like a mongoose and I have plans for it! ;-)

Your plans for that "mongoose" wouldn't have anything to do with the plea for a cobra a few days back, would they?

Anybody know if the BeastMaster had ferrets or weasels in that knapsack he was always carrying around?

Dar had ferrets.

lhiannan, Thank you, - TJ

Kodo and Podo. They also appeared in the TV series. In the original novel by Andre Norton, they were meerkats.

L.D., Was that Andre Norton? When I was a kid I read a lot of Norton!! meerkats - now that you mention it I think that's what they were called in the series once or twice. (Mostly I just listened to the program while on the net late saturday night, so I'm not clear on alot of what went on there.) - TJ

Now why you gotta pick on ferrets or the people that attemt to make em ??? I asked a simple question "does anyone know of any posable ferrets?" several people tried to help me out and replied rather quickly. Had it been a dragon or a another nude version of Vicky you wouldn't have said a word. weasels and ferrets may look alike but they ARE NOT THE SAME SPECIES !!!!!!!! a little FYI, the closest relation to the ferret is the Pole cat (aka skunk ) they are members of the Mustilid family *which uses musk as a defense weapon. Wolverines, Badgers, skunks, minks and ferrets are in the same family. why you have to dis ferrets that way ?? or the people that attempted to help me create one ??? that is total BS !!!!!! I myself own 7 ferrets, operate a ferret shelter (because the humane societies are too ignorant to be trained on a species like that) I have 6 shelter ferrets, and have had ferrets for almost 10 years. They are loyal like a dog, neat as a cat (uses litterboxes) and are a hell of a lot smarter than either cat or dog. I'm not trying to be harsh or rude, I think it rude of those that knock others creation. I think its rude when others rag about stuff they have no clue about or ever will. If you would have followed the link that Dodger had, it would have taken you to Ferret Central. You could have read a little more and hasten your reply and maybe got yourself educated a little.

I'm confused. Who were you talking to to?

mizombie, Chill out :) I think Crobin was just amused to see that 410 people downloaded pictures of ferrets. THought it was odd too myself :) There's nothing wrong with having/liking/being a ferret. Unless you come near a chicken farm .... Crobin, As for the model, yeah it needs some help. Ferrets are very slinky things - maybe some extra body segments would make it work better?

Mizombie, Ferrets are cool... although I will dispute the claim that they are as smart as cats. (Both species can readily beat dogs.) There are many of them here in the SF Bay Area. I was amused by one which tried to pretzel itself in my hands: incredible flexibility. I've also handled hedgehogs. Equally neat, but a bit weirder. One thing you must remember, though, is that in many parts of the US, including here, these animals are illegal to own as pets, and so vast numbers of people are totally unfamiliar with them except as cartoon critters. Carolly

Surely weasels use musk too? Certainly our cat stank when she caught one a few times, and they were much too small to be ferrets.

The Beastmaster was originally a novel? Fantastic. I've always wondered, and now I know the author's name too. Thank you... off to do a bookstore search

Actually no, hauksdottir. Although I saw a cobra morph for the snake from somewhere and had a Rikkitikitavi(sp?) idea running around my pointed little head for a while....just couldn't find a mongoose! ;-) *anyboby remember him??

OK, OK , OK, i did fly off the handle, I will admit that. The thing that got me the most is the criticism of others work. The work that had been posted may not seem to be great in certain peoples eyes but you know, it gave me a starting point. I never thought about morphing a cat into a ferret. Yes they were called Meer-Cats in the novel, the movies and the series. They used ferrets, Whole ferrets as in un-neutered and un-spayed. It makes them larger than the typical ones you find in a pet store. Riki Tiki Tavi was the mongooses name in the cartoon. Mongoose and the Black Footed Ferret (English settlers) are closer in relation than they are to the ferret. The reason why Ferrets are considered to be exotic and are banned in many states is numerous and range from many ideas. Mostly because it was thought to be cruel to use ferrets to hunt rabbits and vermin (which is why they are illegal in the city of NY) I am not going to argue the intelligence factor of ferrets vs. cats. I have seen several ferrets do things that cats would never think about doing, CATS ARE SNOBS !!!!!!

mizombie,
Thanks for your comments. As you know, but others may not, I created the ferret in somewhat of a rush to try and help you out when you needed it. I am well aware that it could do with a certain amount of tweaking as I am far from unaware of what ferrets look like (and feel like) as there is hardly a week goes by without one of the little critters visiting. We have a neighbour who keeps them and they are always escaping from his garden and visiting ours. They seem to like us and have made friends with our cats and dogs.
I'm going to try Lyrra's suggestion and see if I can improve the model that way. If I can I'll let you know when it's ready.
Lyrra, Thank you very much for your advice. Yours is the first constructive criticism received. I find it sad that others choose to respond in a less than positive way.

Badmoon, I really appreciated the effort you made and others that helped me out. That is why I reacted the way I did about the comments. I felt offended by the comments, I can only imagine how you and the others feel. I greatly appreciate our help and the others in fulfilling my request and so quickly. I was not expecting the quick response that I recieved.

Flaxynn (and interested others) I found the Riki Tiki Tavi movie by the fantastic animator, Chuck Jones, at Blockbuster a few months ago and rented it. It brings back great memories..."If you mooove, I sssstrike, if you don't mooove, I sssstrike the man-child..." The only thing I had forgotten was the cheesy title song, but I got past it. ;) Happy viewing. May the Force be with you luke27

All, As far as cats go I know that they develop a language of their oun. someone did a study on it and stated that there were at least 18 words that most cats spoke. Obviously this assumes that the cats studied were exposed to other cats who knew the languaqge. I tend to think of cats and dogs as beings - each individual is different. Some are worth while some are not - a lot has to do with the personality of the owner, and how they treat the animal. I always tried to teach my animals the numbers none, one two, many and teach them manners. The same would apply to any animal I would imagine, but I think I would be uncomfortable around a bengal tiger. At one time I thought about getting a ferret, but as hauksdottir says the law is again' it. I had a German Shepard /Pit /Coyote That could swear up a storm(She didn't get it from me), otherwise she was a well mannered, well behaved, loving animal - if a bit of a premadona. I am intrigued by animals and their behavior. The fact that someone is willing to try to model an animal to show people their love for it is a good thing. I won't comment on the quality as I haven't unzipped the download yet. As far as negative comments go - you have to expect that. Just learn from them and get better at what you do. If the comments anger you ,direct that anger to improving the model rather than lashing out. As far as my comments go I was wondering what the guy in the T.V. series had in the bag - that's all. be at peace, - TJ

Hi Bikermouse, "If the comments anger you ,direct that anger to improving the model rather than lashing out." Sage words,but one minor problem. I'm the one who made the model and I haven't lashed out at anyone...

Hi badmmoon, That is gracious of you. Please forgive me for the fauxpas. All the more curious as to why mizombie was upset? -TJ

oops sorry for the mispelling, badmoon

Hi bikermouse, Didn't even spot the typo till you pointed it out ;) As to your question, I think mizombie was upset by the negative attitude exhibited by certain people on this forum... "The thing that got me the most is the criticism of others work. " As mizombie pointed out some of us responded rapidly and helpfully to their request for help with obtaining a ferret model for a project that they are undertaking. Whilst others just sat back and made negative comments without actually contributing anything positive.

Badmoon, you hit the nail on the head on that one.

badmoon, Now that I've had a chance to look at it I can understand the negative comments - however pointing out what is wrong is not a bad thing in itself. Constructive criticism is one way in which we learn how to do better. With this in mind, I have a few criticisms of my own - please don't take them the wrong way. It really needs tweeking here and there. Rescaling the abdomin larger would do wonders, and it looks like the joint perameters could stand to be redone. I don't know whay to tell you about the tail except that the placement needs to be done more carefully - I have problems with tails too. I think that the face looks really good but the ear morphs need to be rethought somehow. I don't have the experience to give you a step by step without learning or relearning it as I go, but then you more than likely have more experience with this than I do. I didn't get a chance to look at the lower body, but I imagine the joints need work there as well as the model shears realy easily down there. Lately I've been thinking of the jackalope for some reason, but It's been done to death. As a reconstructionist(someone who breaks things,in my case usually by accident,and makes things from the parts) I was thinking of jackalopes, werewolves and because of this thread ferrets. With this in mind I made a render based on the ferret which I'd call the jackerret. Please don't take this as a flame it is not - simply a wierd idea I had which in which the poser in me took over. As I understand it, this is the beginning of artistry. I thought about whether to post it - and thought if I don't post it I'll be censoring myself(can't have that). - TJ

moon - evildrganymedes site
tree virtual tree - oak

Hi Bikermouse, Love the picture, ROFLMAO. I trully appreciate your critique of the model as it is constructive. Most of the points that you mention I was already aware of and trying to sort out apart from the tail. I never thought of changing the placement, thanks, I'll give it a try. BTW the ears are a major source of grief, I may have to re-export to Truespace and construct a new morph for them as they are at the limit of where the current morphs can take them without turning them into something the cat dragged in (or threw up, or in fact both). ;)

I was NOT criticizing anyone's work. I have said NOTHING negative about anyone's work. I have not maligned ferrets, nor weasles. I simply thought it was funny that there were 410, probably more by now, aspiring ferret makers. Nothing more. The wording also struck me as humourous. Thought others might get a giggle as well. ferret Pronunciation Key (frt) n. A weasellike, usually albino mammal (Mustela putorius furo) related to the polecat and often trained to hunt rats or rabbits. Back to lurk mode. I'll think long and hard before posting on these boards again. People are wound too tightly, I'm sad to say.

Well whomever is rushing off to the bookstore - don't be surprised. Although the movie is very fantasy the book as actually fairly hardcore sci-fi. Only the shapes of the beasts are the same (tiger thing, ferrety things, hawk thing) almost everything else is extremely different. as far as the model, it does need some work - but hey: it's also the first ferret I've seen here :) So you get kudo's for originality! Just want to remind everybody that it is very easy to be mis-understood in type. Be very careful how you phrase things, as many slang phrases and such can be diffcult for everyone to understand. We do have members from all over the word, many of whom speak English (subtype = American) as their 2nd (3rd, 4th) language. CRobin, yes there are some people here who could use a couple of valium. BUT the majority are sane, helpful people. Don't give up on us entirely :) Lyrra