Creature Creator Pro

3D artists will be aware that modelling characters can be one of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks, so any software that can help speed up the process should certainly be of interest to such users. Creature Creator Pro provides a selection of ready-made body parts that quickly fit together and allow you to build many figure variations.
 

Interface Design : The program runs from a non-resizable window with tabbed interface to switch between the 4 control panels, which makes it very fast and easy to use.

The first tab offers the standard menu options such as New, Open, Save and export to .OBJ, .3DS and .DXF formats.

The second tab lets you set the program preferences.

The third tab (shown right) includes the main body parts which you can select individually to build your figure.

The forth tab lets you tweak certain aspects of the parts.

The bottom panel includes a handy random generator plus settings for symmetry and smooth, flat or wireframe display.
 

Sample Figures : Here are a few random-generated characters which were exported in .obj format and rendered in Poser ...

Rendering & Animation : Creature Creator is only meant to help you build the 3D figure meshes. It does not offer any texturing or rendering options within the program itself.

You will need to export your character in a suitable format (.obj, .3ds or .dxf) and load this into your preferred 3D application ... for example LightWave, Maya, 3DS Max, Cinema4D, Truespace, Carrara, or even Poser.

From there you can begin to texture your figure, rig it for posing and then produce animated sequences if you wish.

On the right you can see a quick animated Flash example that I produced using motion-capture data applied in Poser.
 

 
Final Comments : This software is ideal for anyone who needs a decent supply of fantasy creatures that can be quickly customized to suit their requirements.

Users should be aware that some background 3D knowledge is required to make best use of this product alongside other programs, especially if you wish to pose and animate.

The application is very compact, fast, stable and easy to use. Model output results in good quality yet low-poly meshes which are compatible with most popular 3D packages

Be sure to download and test the fully-functional basic Trial version that is available from the developer's website.

If the price seems a bit high for your needs then also watch out for a series of single figure meshes to be released soon.

Creature Creator Pro from FXR Software