Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=gagnonrich

It's taken me a long time to commit to using Poser for artwork. The main reason is that posing is just very hard to do convincingly. It's the thing that makes or breaks any art I see with Poser. If the characters are bent or twisted in unnatural directions, it's impossible for me to appreciate anything else in the drawing. I'm finally starting to get good at posing, but it's a terribly laborious process. I spend an hour or more on every figure. That's after using existing poses to get me close to where I want to be. I imagine that I'll get a little quicker over time, but suspect that it's always going to be a painstakingly time intensive process. I'm curious what others are dealing with posing and whether there's something I'm missing.

I tend to start with a premade pose and then adjust to fit. So if you wanted someone kneeling (a very hard pose to make!) then I start with one form my collection of freebies just to make it less of an ordeal. I know some people will tut and say that Posing is what poser is all about but I say anything for an easier life!

BigT once told me that posing gets easier the more you do it. At the time, I didn't believe him at all!! LOL However, he was right, it does get easier. For me, it has taken lots of patience and practice. There have been days where all I do is practice posing over and over. It can be frustrating, but it is so rewarding when you finally get that pose you've been after for so long. =)

Spending an hour on a pose is pretty good if you ask me. Look at any great painting and I'm sure that posing the model, sketching the ideas and commiting the paint to canvas took a lot longer. I like using manga poses as a guide. They translate very well into realalistic poses.

Actually, seeing mention of manga, I recommend the series of paperbacks "How to Draw Anime & Game Characters" for posing info - there are really good box figures of all sorts of poses from different angles. Volume 4, Mastering Battle and Action Moves is particularly useful.

Dont use all dials on the joints - some are anatomically not possible, like the twist on the hand or on the feet, also switch constraints on, makes youre life easier Mungo

Twisting of the hands and feet are possible. How do you open doors? Look at the bottom of your feet? Using constraints is an excellent idea, however some poses that I have purchased get a bit out of whack when I use the constraints. One thing I have learned is to turn off the IK. That can mess you up in a hurry.

No, look at your hand and see what what is twisting ? The hand never twist against the forearm. The foot never twists agains the shin. The forearm twists the shin twists. Most of the models are anatomically not correct in this sense.

When I'm posing figures, I spend a lot of time trying to get myself into the position I'm tying to put the model in, and working out which of my joints is bending which way. That's how I discovered that Mungo is right - there's no way to twist your hand without twisting your lower arm - unless you dislocate it! (And I won't go that far, not even for Art's sake!). I find that most poses start from the hips, and that it's important to balance the figure on either side of the vertical (so they don't fall over!) - eg, if the hip is rotated to the left, the rest of the body needs to rotate over to the right, so there is equal weight on each side (although of course there are gradations in this - if the head, for example, is also bent to the left, then the body needs to go even more left, and so on). If course, if your figure is SUPPOSED to be falling over, this doesn't apply! Also, as far as the head goes - heads don't always point the same way as the eyes - if you fix the eyes on a point, you can bend the head and neck without changing where the eyes seem to be looking. Makes all the difference to portraits!

By left, I did of course mean right (not going to say where, though!).

Uh huh, I agree. But, the dials say hands and feet. LOL I never understood why they have them labeled like that. O_o BTW, I'm feeling ornery today, please forgive my semi-teasing post.

PArtial poses + Bodylocks = the win

Just an opinion but ...(and probably stating the obvious) Know your application well, don't be satisfied with learning the basics and then use them and only them forever more. Take some time out and learn all the keyboard shortcuts , all the different cameras, etc .. basically the more you learn about the app (poser) the easier using it is going to be. The troubles you have posing are the troubles everyone has. Poser has lots of options to help you (most of which I dont know). Barrie.

Darkginger is right , at first put the hip(Posers center of the universe) into the right postion,angle and tilt, then go out for the rest. Take the position with your own body and look what you have twisted where - never rely on the dials.

gagnonrich - keep your eyes peeled - there'll be something coming soon that's going to be a HUGE help in learning how to pose. ;)

Not everybody uses them, but I am a fan of the direct manipulation tool and the shift key - that's how I pose.

Stewer, the shift key? Please explain. =) is greedy for knowledge

A few hours? I sometimes spend days just to get the poses right. I would turn IK's on and off many of times. I've found that sometimes IK's help tremendously. Another tip is to make use of all your available cameras (Front, Left, Right, Top, back, Face, L and R hand). These cameras will give you better perspectives when posing. Another tip is to have a mirror in front and strike the poses yourself. Poses, just like lighting can make or break an image. JV

the shift key (a.k.a. the best shortcut ever) Holding the shift key will lock your current selection - avoiding that you accidently select a body part while modifying another.

in agreement with some other's post's...the first thing i do is go through whatever character i'm gonna use and reset the limits properly..knees and elbows do not flex side to side in real life for example so the first thing i do is turn on and set the limits so they can't move in impossible ways[double click on the dial in question]...and then try to limit the rest of the parameters to a normal range of motion in all the actual possible direction's that they really can move...with that done,you can still get bizarre and even unnatural looking poses...but at least you know something is just "off" somewhere else...you character won't have broken and dislocated bones,it just needs adjustment

Yes because you get better at using the tools, whichever they may be. Practice. No because the better you get at it, the more you push - I spend even more time now on a render than I ever did, after 6 years. :] Fish

Stewer, awesome! Thank you for that wonderful tip. I actually like using the direct manipulation tools, but I get so frustrated because parts keep getting switched. And, using the other camera view points while you do your poses is really a must. =)

I spend on average about 30 minutes on a pose and thats on the Mil dragon which can be a pain to move about if you don't know him like i do, :0) And a lot of you have seen my poses! I'm not bragging, it's just a lot easier than you think! Posing IS easy if you follow a few simple rules, Firstly, start with the hip and work outwards! this is extremely important! position the hip, rotation and positioning in the scene etc, then do the abdomen, chest etc , etc and as for IK's firstly turn them all off, but remember IK's can also help us immensly, for instance you have a right hand that is perfectly posed but the arm and shoulder are in the wrong place, simple, turn on ik for the right hand then select the right hand, go to the dials and you have the xyz Trans, GENTLY move the dials and watch the hand move slowly to where you want it and look, if you do it slowly the arm and shoulder follow and stretch into position, this takes a little practice if you haven't done it this way before but not much, Remember to turn off IK afterwards !! and MY second rule is only ever use the dials to pose, But thats my own opinion! Heck this turned into a long post! For you guy's that find posing hard or tedious would you be interested if i wrote a tutorial on posing figures ?, Free of course! Let me know, Regards BigT ;0)

YES!!!! I would love a tutorial on posing. =)

fyi :) There is a HUGE (and FREE) posing tutorial in the process of being translated to English that will be available very soon.

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12356&Form.ShowMessage=1564226

This is the one I'm referring to. :) Schlabber's a gem for doing this.

Ok, Thanks for that! Lucy_Fur ;0)

Not meaning to squash your toes, Bigt - just didn't want you to take up a yoke that was already being borne. I think all tutorials have worth for everyone - I wonder, myself, if there is/are any inherent differences in posing creatures as opposed to humans??

No, no squashing here, i appreciate your help in pointing this out, pointless me doing a tut when Schlabber is kindly doing this for us, i was unaware it was happening when i made my offer, it's really no problem! :0) So Thanks once again lucy Fur, ;0)

Well Bigt - the tutorial I've done only explains human posing - there is really a difference in posing animals - especially dragons (lol). But this tut is only a starting point for doing poses (uhm, well ... a little starting point - giggle ... you'll see) Stewer - I didn't know that about the Shift-key ... really. But how surprisingly this is - I think I don't need it (am I really that exact with my graphire pen ?? Also when I pose hands I don't need the Shift-key (it is better to pose fingers with the dials) - However, I may should add this to the tutorial ... thx for the info :o) Well - I hope to get it done asap but right at the moment I can't do anything more then wait (for the translation) - this is quiete some work (currently the 160 pages are being translatet from 4 persons ...). And then (or in between) I want to get rid of that damned flu :o(

OK, Thanks guy's, Schlabber: I'm looking forward to your Tutorial my friend, if after reading it i think i can add my 2Cents as well about posing animals i gladly will, illusions: Lets wait for Sclabbs tut, our techniques may be similar, like i said above if i can add more i gladly will! Best regards, BigT ;0)

That's right Bigt :o) Our techniques are certainly similar in some points (well - lol - they must). But the same that counts for images - counts for making images (and making poses) - the "style" is different. I use many Hardware and Software-helping things (as you'll read). So I'm doing poses different from most people. I'm pretty sure everyone will like that Tut :o). Finally this is exactly what I want to achieve with that Tutorial: 1st: Helping out in the Poses-making-process. 2nd: Hope to get people inspired doing more (free) tutorials :o) I think both will help a lot ... But I would also like to see a tutorial from you how it cames to all that fantastic images-ideas - the postwork. Why you're building up your images like that (There's always a balance in those images - that's not easy with three actors !) etc ... giggle - is that too much (pleaing smile) ?? Schlabber

OK OK!! You have twisted my arm, :0) I owe you one anyway! I will do a tutorial on Posing (Animals/Dragons) and using multiple actors together in the same image, and on hopefully getting the 'Balance Right', ;0) BigT ;0) PS, stop smiling like that! :0)

Fine BigT :o) Still smiling (grin) ... I hope to get the Tut done shortly after X-mas - maybe I can give you a Beta-version until X-mas so you know what you don't need to explain again (it's really senseless to explain all the basic steps twice :o)

That would be GREAT! :0) Thanks for the offer Schlabber!! Let me know where and when to D/L it !! Best regards, Tony ;0)