I wanna create a good quality faceshot in Poser. Which resolution is the best and which method of post-production is necessary? Thanks

First off, make sure you've got your camera's "focal-length" sert to something other than the default. I tend to use 80-100 as the focal length rather than the default (IIRC 28). This eliminates the fish-eye distortion that the camera introduces into the face. Lighting, turn the map size as high as your system can support (1024, or better, is best) as this softens the shadows. The resolution is 72dpi as a default and rendering the image with a different dpi won't make any difference to your screen image. DPI really only refers to printer output - not the screen. If you want a 600x600 image, render in a new window at 1200x1200 and half the image-size later - this will create a 144dpi image. Traditional printer output is 300dpi or better so, for a 600x600 image you'd need to render a 2500x2500 image and reduce it by a factor of 4.16 to get a 300dpi image. (Incidentally, working the other way - a 300x300 image increased to 600x600 - doesn't reduce the dpi. Most s/ware "interprets" the colours and interpolates what should go in the expanded areas). Post production is really a matter of taste and necessity - you might need to retouch parts of the image to remove blemishes and you might want to retouch parts of the image to improve it. Hope this all helps some Paul

Paul, Have just read your comments and I'd like more info on map sizes. This is a new one to me. I didn't know they could be changed. Anything that gives me softer lighting is a must! And, Ethan absolutely!! reset your focal length. I'm a photographer and if I use 38mm (Poser default) for a portrait, it's because I want to distort the face. All my Poser cameras are set to 100mm, but anywhere from 90-120 is good. Longer focal length gives flatter features. maclean

Changing the shadow Map Size on each light increases the range of greyscale values Poser uses to calculate the shadows for that light. The system default Maximum is 1024, but you can change this maximum setting in the dialog box (Ctl/I). 1024 looks pretty good and increasing these values really gobbles up memory and bogs renders down significantly, but some people have stated they felt they get even better looking results at 2048.

If you'd like to take a look at an "experimental" render. The pic at... http://www.renderotica.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=74731 was rendered at 800X600 (there's also a 2048X1536 ver :-) with a focal length setting of 220mm and 4 lights shadow mapped at 2048-3064 (I didn't know Poser had a default max of 1024 & just kept cranking the dial until I liked what it looked like :-). Other than a little clone brushing & a glow added to the apple in PaintShopPro everything is pure Poser. Warning however, although not "X" rated there is some frontal nudity & it certainly involves adult themes :-)