CompuServe Messages

>>Sell'em just like you sell Humanoids (4 figures) for $195 and I think you got an instant winner. Everyone I know will go for that, since now the price-versus-modeling ratio is acceptable.<< Ahaaaa!.. so you admit it. Humanoid *is* a good value, after all. As for your comment NO DIFFERENT STANDARDS APPLY. I said `DIFFERENT' standards, not GREATER standards, as you seem to be implying. This was not a knock on IPAS-developers, I think some IPAS programs could well be worth more than my models. My point was to discourage people from looking at `content' or `subject-matter' in the same way as `procedures' and `routines', because for me, they are very different things,… both tools for producing animation,… but different kinds. *You* may chose to view a melt FX as the `principal actor' in your animation. But I do not. That doesn't mean I have anything against melt FX, or that I think they are somehow `inferior' to models. It simply means I view their uses differently than I do an articulated, highly-realistic, set of models with sophisticated motion support built-in. So please don't try to reshape my comments into `anti-IPAS' lingo. KineModelz ARE being designed to work as the `major actors' for animated projects. If you are able to create models with the level of sophistication you need already, that's great for you. But I resent attempts to deter me from offering them to others, and frankly I'm a little confused by them. >>With Bones Pro from Digimation, that's actually all I need. It even lets me simulate muscle movement etc. So, a static model will be just fine, no need for jointed stuff that doesn't "blend" correctly during motions…<< Perhaps you've missed some of my other comments here, KineModelz *will be* seamless! And designed to work with skeletal deformation routines like Bones. There will be no *blending* problems at the joints, like there are with hierarchical models. I simply feel there are a few improvements needed in the current bones routines to get them to work properly with the designs I have in mind. However, it is possible that I might also offer `static' versions of the models at lesser cost, so users like you can insert your own bones. But I figured since I've spent much of my life *intensely* studying the anatomy and locomotion of dinosaurs, humans and other creatures, that I might have just a little bit of insight on how to set up these articulations for others in advance. And, I figure some animation producers might want to take advantage of this expertise, rather than spending several years studying biomechanics, and paleontology to do the work themselves. This is not snobbery either, I have my area of specialization, just the way other people do. >>Besides, what good are they if everybody uses the same "actor" in their animations (when it comes to people),<< I can understand your feeling about this. And my remarks about selling the models `singley' may have led to this assumption. However, as I've stated in other messages here, I hope to make my KineModelz humans as customizable as possible. I encourage people to alter the geometry of my current models to suit there needs. And I did my level best to implement as much of this in Humanoid as I could when they were initially developed. >>Any model I buy better be at my disposal for anything I plan to do with it, without extra costs of thousand of dollars hiding behind some corner, once I decide to actually use it in something commercial…<< They're ain't nothing `hidden' about it, I've told you up front precisely what the plan is. When the first set is ready for release the final fixed prices will be announced. I am speaking in general terms *now*, because I'm still somewhat open to feedback on this. If you feel the PRO version will be too much for your needs, then consider the PROSUMER version. Surely you could recoup your costs from this? And as far as your `suggestion' regarding price, since you intend to do all of your own modeling anyway, I don't think it would be wise for me to take your remarks too seriously. You obviously have very little appreciation for the kind of work I do, and the work of custom modelers if you think $195 is the most that should *ever* be paid for a model. But thanks anyway. My pricing plan is not designed to shaft anyone. I'm sorry if it has given you that impression. It is designed to insure that me and my collaborators on the KineModelz project are compensated well enough so we don't have to go broke, and can continue to maintain a viable existence. So far, Crestline has resisted the temptations to go in with a major model broker, and that is partly what has helped keep our prices so reasonable. But the pressures in the model market are *great*, and quick-to-judge comments like yours frankly just make the situation worse for struggling companies like mine. – Tim