diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 44d379c3..6f44bc6f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # @vladmandic/human  
 
-Version: **1.3.5**  
+Version: **1.4.0**  
 Description: **Human: AI-powered 3D Face Detection, Face Description & Recognition, Body Pose Tracking, Hand & Finger Tracking, Iris Analysis, Age & Gender & Emotion Prediction & Gesture Recognition**  
 
 Author: **Vladimir Mandic <mandic00@live.com>**  
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ Repository: **<git+https://github.com/vladmandic/human.git>**
 
 ## Changelog
 
+### **HEAD -> main** 2021/04/08 mandic00@live.com
+
+
 ### **1.3.5** 2021/04/06 mandic00@live.com
 
 - add dynamic viewport and fix web worker
diff --git a/demo/index.js b/demo/index.js
index 5471f67b..b3e4f76f 100644
--- a/demo/index.js
+++ b/demo/index.js
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ const userConfig = {
   hand: { enabled: false },
   gesture: { enabled: false },
   body: { enabled: false },
-  // body: { enabled: true, modelPath: '../models/blazepose.json' },
-  // body: { enabled: true, modelPath: '../models/efficientpose.json' },
+  // body: { enabled: true, modelPath: 'blazepose.json' },
+  // body: { enabled: true, modelPath: 'efficientpose.json' },
   object: { enabled: true },
 };
 */
diff --git a/demo/node.js b/demo/node.js
index 41fd1f33..d8b8caf7 100644
--- a/demo/node.js
+++ b/demo/node.js
@@ -12,26 +12,25 @@ let human = null;
 
 const myConfig = {
   backend: 'tensorflow',
+  modelBasePath: 'file://models/',
   debug: true,
   videoOptimized: false,
   async: false,
   face: {
     enabled: true,
-    detector: { modelPath: 'file://models/blazeface-back.json', enabled: true, rotation: false },
-    mesh: { modelPath: 'file://models/facemesh.json', enabled: true },
-    iris: { modelPath: 'file://models/iris.json', enabled: true },
-    description: { modelPath: 'file://models/faceres.json', enabled: true },
-    emotion: { modelPath: 'file://models/emotion.json', enabled: true },
+    detector: { enabled: true, rotation: false },
+    mesh: { enabled: true },
+    iris: { enabled: true },
+    description: { enabled: true },
+    emotion: { enabled: true },
   },
   hand: {
     enabled: true,
-    detector: { modelPath: 'file://models/handdetect.json' },
-    skeleton: { modelPath: 'file://models/handskeleton.json' },
   },
-  // body: { modelPath: 'file://models/efficientpose.json', enabled: true },
-  // body: { modelPath: 'file://models/blazepose.json', enabled: true },
-  body: { modelPath: 'file://models/posenet.json', enabled: true },
-  object: { modelPath: 'file://models/nanodet.json', enabled: true },
+  // body: { modelPath: 'efficientpose.json', enabled: true },
+  // body: { modelPath: 'blazepose.json', enabled: true },
+  body: { enabled: true },
+  object: { enabled: true },
 };
 
 async function init() {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index dac63b13..e5f7650b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@vladmandic/human",
-  "version": "1.3.5",
+  "version": "1.4.0",
   "description": "Human: AI-powered 3D Face Detection, Face Description & Recognition, Body Pose Tracking, Hand & Finger Tracking, Iris Analysis, Age & Gender & Emotion Prediction & Gesture Recognition",
   "sideEffects": false,
   "main": "dist/human.node.js",
diff --git a/src/age/age.ts b/src/age/age.ts
index 4af5f39e..dde92dfb 100644
--- a/src/age/age.ts
+++ b/src/age/age.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { log } from '../helpers';
+import { log, join } from '../helpers';
 import * as tf from '../../dist/tfjs.esm.js';
 import * as profile from '../profile';
 
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@ let skipped = Number.MAX_SAFE_INTEGER;
 
 export async function load(config) {
   if (!model) {
-    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(config.face.age.modelPath);
-    if (config.debug) log(`load model: ${config.face.age.modelPath.match(/\/(.*)\./)[1]}`);
+    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(join(config.modelBasePath, config.face.age.modelPath));
+    if (!model || !model.modelUrl) log('load model failed:', config.face.age.modelPath);
+    else if (config.debug) log('load model:', model.modelUrl);
   }
   return model;
 }
diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index 46dc9ad1..9ff5f7e4 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ export interface Config {
   scoped: boolean,
   videoOptimized: boolean,
   warmup: string,
+  modelBasePath: string,
   filter: {
     enabled: boolean,
     width: number,
@@ -125,6 +126,7 @@ const config: Config = {
                              // can be 'webgl', 'wasm', 'cpu', or 'humangl' which is a custom version of webgl
                              // leave as empty string to continue using default backend
                              // when backend is set outside of Human library
+  modelBasePath: '../models/', // base path for all models
   wasmPath: '../assets/',    // path for wasm binaries
                              // only used for backend: wasm
   debug: true,               // print additional status messages to console
@@ -185,7 +187,8 @@ const config: Config = {
                              // detector, mesh, iris, age, gender, emotion
                              // (note: module is not loaded until it is required)
     detector: {
-      modelPath: '../models/blazeface-back.json',
+      modelPath: 'blazeface-back.json', // detector model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
       rotation: false,       // use best-guess rotated face image or just box with rotation as-is
                              // false means higher performance, but incorrect mesh mapping if face angle is above 20 degrees
                              // this parameter is not valid in nodejs
@@ -209,18 +212,21 @@ const config: Config = {
 
     mesh: {
       enabled: true,
-      modelPath: '../models/facemesh.json',
+      modelPath: 'facemesh.json',  // facemesh model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
     },
 
     iris: {
       enabled: true,
-      modelPath: '../models/iris.json',
+      modelPath: 'iris.json',  // face iris model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
     },
 
     description: {
       enabled: true,         // to improve accuracy of face description extraction it is
                              // recommended to enable detector.rotation and mesh.enabled
-      modelPath: '../models/faceres.json',
+      modelPath: 'faceres.json',  // face description model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
       skipFrames: 31,        // how many frames to go without re-running the detector
                              // only used for video inputs
     },
@@ -229,12 +235,14 @@ const config: Config = {
       enabled: true,
       minConfidence: 0.1,    // threshold for discarding a prediction
       skipFrames: 32,        // how many frames to go without re-running the detector
-      modelPath: '../models/emotion.json',
+      modelPath: 'emotion.json',  // face emotion model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
     },
 
     age: {
       enabled: false,        // obsolete, replaced by description module
-      modelPath: '../models/age.json',
+      modelPath: 'age.json',  // age model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
       skipFrames: 33,        // how many frames to go without re-running the detector
                              // only used for video inputs
     },
@@ -242,20 +250,24 @@ const config: Config = {
     gender: {
       enabled: false,        // obsolete, replaced by description module
       minConfidence: 0.1,    // threshold for discarding a prediction
-      modelPath: '../models/gender.json',
+      modelPath: 'gender.json',  // gender model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
       skipFrames: 34,        // how many frames to go without re-running the detector
                              // only used for video inputs
     },
 
     embedding: {
       enabled: false,        // obsolete, replaced by description module
-      modelPath: '../models/mobileface.json',
-    },
+      modelPath: 'mobileface.json',  // face descriptor model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
+                            },
   },
 
   body: {
     enabled: true,
-    modelPath: '../models/posenet.json', // can be 'posenet', 'blazepose' or 'efficientpose'
+    modelPath: 'posenet.json',  // body model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
+                             // can be 'posenet', 'blazepose' or 'efficientpose'
                              // 'blazepose' and 'efficientpose' are experimental
     maxDetections: 10,       // maximum number of people detected in the input
                              // should be set to the minimum number for performance
@@ -287,16 +299,19 @@ const config: Config = {
                              // should be set to the minimum number for performance
     landmarks: true,         // detect hand landmarks or just hand boundary box
     detector: {
-      modelPath: '../models/handdetect.json',
+      modelPath: 'handdetect.json',  // hand detector model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
     },
     skeleton: {
-      modelPath: '../models/handskeleton.json',
+      modelPath: 'handskeleton.json',  // hand skeleton model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
     },
   },
 
   object: {
     enabled: false,
-    modelPath: '../models/nanodet.json',
+    modelPath: 'nanodet.json',  // object detection model
+                             // can be either absolute path or relative to modelBasePath
                              // 'nanodet' is experimental
     minConfidence: 0.20,     // threshold for discarding a prediction
     iouThreshold: 0.40,      // threshold for deciding whether boxes overlap too much
diff --git a/src/efficientpose/efficientpose.ts b/src/efficientpose/efficientpose.ts
index eaee29a2..c0c75437 100644
--- a/src/efficientpose/efficientpose.ts
+++ b/src/efficientpose/efficientpose.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { log } from '../helpers';
+import { log, join } from '../helpers';
 import * as tf from '../../dist/tfjs.esm.js';
 import * as profile from '../profile';
 
@@ -10,8 +10,9 @@ const bodyParts = ['head', 'neck', 'rightShoulder', 'rightElbow', 'rightWrist',
 
 export async function load(config) {
   if (!model) {
-    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(config.body.modelPath);
-    if (config.debug) log(`load model: ${config.body.modelPath.match(/\/(.*)\./)[1]}`);
+    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(join(config.modelBasePath, config.body.modelPath));
+    if (!model || !model.modelUrl) log('load model failed:', config.body.modelPath);
+    else if (config.debug) log('load model:', model.modelUrl);
   }
   return model;
 }
diff --git a/src/emotion/emotion.ts b/src/emotion/emotion.ts
index 064c60eb..37b7707c 100644
--- a/src/emotion/emotion.ts
+++ b/src/emotion/emotion.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { log } from '../helpers';
+import { log, join } from '../helpers';
 import * as tf from '../../dist/tfjs.esm.js';
 import * as profile from '../profile';
 
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ const rgb = [0.2989, 0.5870, 0.1140]; // factors for red/green/blue colors when
 
 export async function load(config) {
   if (!model) {
-    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(config.face.emotion.modelPath);
-    if (config.debug) log(`load model: ${config.face.emotion.modelPath.match(/\/(.*)\./)[1]}`);
+    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(join(config.modelBasePath, config.face.emotion.modelPath));
+    if (!model || !model.modelUrl) log('load model failed:', config.face.emotion.modelPath);
+    else if (config.debug) log('load model:', model.modelUrl);
   }
   return model;
 }
diff --git a/src/faceres/faceres.ts b/src/faceres/faceres.ts
index a5700fda..f29d3cff 100644
--- a/src/faceres/faceres.ts
+++ b/src/faceres/faceres.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { log } from '../helpers';
+import { log, join } from '../helpers';
 import * as tf from '../../dist/tfjs.esm.js';
 import * as profile from '../profile';
 
@@ -11,8 +11,9 @@ type DB = Array<{ name: string, source: string, embedding: number[] }>;
 
 export async function load(config) {
   if (!model) {
-    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(config.face.description.modelPath);
-    if (config.debug) log(`load model: ${config.face.description.modelPath.match(/\/(.*)\./)[1]}`);
+    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(join(config.modelBasePath, config.face.description.modelPath));
+    if (!model || !model.modelUrl) log('load model failed:', config.face.description.modelPath);
+    else if (config.debug) log('load model:', model.modelUrl);
   }
   return model;
 }
diff --git a/src/gender/gender.ts b/src/gender/gender.ts
index a76e7a46..d622b1aa 100644
--- a/src/gender/gender.ts
+++ b/src/gender/gender.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { log } from '../helpers';
+import { log, join } from '../helpers';
 import * as tf from '../../dist/tfjs.esm.js';
 import * as profile from '../profile';
 
@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@ const rgb = [0.2989, 0.5870, 0.1140]; // factors for red/green/blue colors when
 
 export async function load(config) {
   if (!model) {
-    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(config.face.gender.modelPath);
+    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(join(config.modelBasePath, config.face.gender.modelPath));
     alternative = model.inputs[0].shape[3] === 1;
-    if (config.debug) log(`load model: ${config.face.gender.modelPath.match(/\/(.*)\./)[1]}`);
+    if (!model || !model.modelUrl) log('load model failed:', config.face.gender.modelPath);
+    else if (config.debug) log('load model:', model.modelUrl);
   }
   return model;
 }
diff --git a/src/handpose/handpose.ts b/src/handpose/handpose.ts
index a3d9b857..b2c25cc1 100644
--- a/src/handpose/handpose.ts
+++ b/src/handpose/handpose.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
-// https://storage.googleapis.com/tfjs-models/demos/handpose/index.html
-
-import { log } from '../helpers';
+import { log, join } from '../helpers';
 import * as tf from '../../dist/tfjs.esm.js';
 import * as handdetector from './handdetector';
 import * as handpipeline from './handpipeline';
@@ -57,13 +55,18 @@ export class HandPose {
 
 export async function load(config): Promise<HandPose> {
   const [handDetectorModel, handPoseModel] = await Promise.all([
-    config.hand.enabled ? tf.loadGraphModel(config.hand.detector.modelPath, { fromTFHub: config.hand.detector.modelPath.includes('tfhub.dev') }) : null,
-    config.hand.landmarks ? tf.loadGraphModel(config.hand.skeleton.modelPath, { fromTFHub: config.hand.skeleton.modelPath.includes('tfhub.dev') }) : null,
+    config.hand.enabled ? tf.loadGraphModel(join(config.modelBasePath, config.hand.detector.modelPath), { fromTFHub: config.hand.detector.modelPath.includes('tfhub.dev') }) : null,
+    config.hand.landmarks ? tf.loadGraphModel(join(config.modelBasePath, config.hand.skeleton.modelPath), { fromTFHub: config.hand.skeleton.modelPath.includes('tfhub.dev') }) : null,
   ]);
   const handDetector = new handdetector.HandDetector(handDetectorModel, handDetectorModel?.inputs[0].shape[2], anchors.anchors);
   const handPipeline = new handpipeline.HandPipeline(handDetector, handPoseModel, handPoseModel?.inputs[0].shape[2]);
   const handPose = new HandPose(handPipeline);
-  if (config.hand.enabled && config.debug) log(`load model: ${config.hand.detector.modelPath.match(/\/(.*)\./)[1]}`);
-  if (config.hand.landmarks && config.debug) log(`load model: ${config.hand.skeleton.modelPath.match(/\/(.*)\./)[1]}`);
+
+  if (config.hand.enabled) {
+    if (!handDetectorModel || !handDetectorModel.modelUrl) log('load model failed:', config.hand.detector.modelPath);
+    else if (config.debug) log('load model:', handDetectorModel.modelUrl);
+    if (!handPoseModel || !handPoseModel.modelUrl) log('load model failed:', config.hand.skeleton.modelPath);
+    else if (config.debug) log('load model:', handPoseModel.modelUrl);
+  }
   return handPose;
 }
diff --git a/src/helpers.ts b/src/helpers.ts
index f8a84902..0280843a 100644
--- a/src/helpers.ts
+++ b/src/helpers.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+// helper function: join two paths
+export function join(folder: string, file: string): string {
+  const separator = folder.endsWith('/') ? '' : '/';
+  const skipJoin = file.startsWith('.') || file.startsWith('/') || file.startsWith('http:') || file.startsWith('https:') || file.startsWith('file:');
+  const path = skipJoin ? `${file}` : `${folder}${separator}${file}`;
+  if (!path.toLocaleLowerCase().includes('.json')) throw new Error(`Human: ModelPath Error: ${path} Expecting JSON file`);
+  return path;
+}
+
 // helper function: wrapper around console output
 export function log(...msg) {
   const dt = new Date();
diff --git a/src/nanodet/nanodet.ts b/src/nanodet/nanodet.ts
index 3825015f..2355fc68 100644
--- a/src/nanodet/nanodet.ts
+++ b/src/nanodet/nanodet.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { log } from '../helpers';
+import { log, join } from '../helpers';
 import * as tf from '../../dist/tfjs.esm.js';
 import * as profile from '../profile';
 import { labels } from './labels';
@@ -11,10 +11,11 @@ const scaleBox = 2.5; // increase box size
 
 export async function load(config) {
   if (!model) {
-    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(config.object.modelPath);
+    model = await tf.loadGraphModel(join(config.modelBasePath, config.object.modelPath));
     // @ts-ignore
     model.inputSize = parseInt(Object.values(model.modelSignature['inputs'])[0].tensorShape.dim[2].size);
-    if (config.debug) log(`load model: ${config.object.modelPath.match(/\/(.*)\./)[1]}`);
+    if (!model || !model.modelUrl) log('load model failed:', config.object.modelPath);
+    else if (config.debug) log('load model:', model.modelUrl);
   }
   return model;
 }
diff --git a/test/test-node.js b/test/test-node.js
index aacec62e..958eaccc 100644
--- a/test/test-node.js
+++ b/test/test-node.js
@@ -9,26 +9,25 @@ const config = {
   videoOptimized: false,
   async: false,
   warmup: 'full',
+  modelBasePath: 'file://models/',
   filter: {
     enabled: true,
   },
   face: {
     enabled: true,
-    detector: { modelPath: 'file://models/blazeface-back.json', enabled: true, rotation: false },
-    mesh: { modelPath: 'file://models/facemesh.json', enabled: true },
-    iris: { modelPath: 'file://models/iris.json', enabled: true },
-    description: { modelPath: 'file://models/faceres.json', enabled: true },
-    emotion: { modelPath: 'file://models/emotion.json', enabled: true },
+    detector: { enabled: true, rotation: false },
+    mesh: { enabled: true },
+    iris: { enabled: true },
+    description: { enabled: true },
+    emotion: { enabled: true },
   },
   hand: {
     enabled: true,
-    detector: { modelPath: 'file://models/handdetect.json' },
-    skeleton: { modelPath: 'file://models/handskeleton.json' },
   },
-  // body: { modelPath: 'file://models/efficientpose.json', enabled: true },
-  // body: { modelPath: 'file://models/blazepose.json', enabled: true },
-  body: { modelPath: 'file://models/posenet.json', enabled: true },
-  object: { modelPath: 'file://models/nanodet.json', enabled: true },
+  // body: { modelPath: 'efficientpose.json', enabled: true },
+  // body: { modelPath: 'blazepose.json', enabled: true },
+  body: { modelPath: 'posenet.json', enabled: true },
+  object: { enabled: true },
 };
 
 async function test() {
diff --git a/wiki b/wiki
index f5850bc4..d09d36cf 160000
--- a/wiki
+++ b/wiki
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit f5850bc4ed575a9973854d3d35242d181d7f4b65
+Subproject commit d09d36cf9de309728504402bf301ac3ab018de65