Hello everyone

I've just started using this wonderful program and although I think I've made some good progress with it there are two things I've not figured out yet:

Let's say I've placed some props like a chair or a bed in a scene and now I want to sit or lay down a character upon them.

• How can I move a figure/character as a whole? I've tried by selecting the hip and moving the character around but things like rotating to get the right orientation are quite difficult and will distort and twist the figure in unwanted ways.

• How do I make sure that the character doesn't "sink" into the chair/bed figure? I tried turning on collision dectection but that seems to mean something else.

Thanks for any advice
D. O.

To move the entire figure, select the "body" of the figure from the drop down menu above the dials. Then you can use the translate and rotate dials. If you select the hip and have Inverse Kinematics on, the feet will be glued to the floor and the figure will get distorted as you describe. Regarding the second question: There is no simple way really... You will have to try and position the figure using the above method and look from different angles until it looks OK.

To move a figure use the parameter dials, select item/figure to move, then CTRL and I to bring up the dials move them along the xyz path to the positon you want them in, likewise use the y path to determine how high/low you want a figure to be positioned. Hope this helps. Linda

You can just estimate where the figure goes so that it doesn`t sink into the chair or bed, that is the way I do it. The collision detection is more for special effects and not really to be used all the time.

Also if IK is off, click on hip and drag the figure down to where contact with the bed is best. From there you can fine tune the rest of the body. Remember that there is no side to side (in reality) on forearms and leg chins (lower) even though there are dials for it. Twist from shoulder and thigh instead. You should buy a big pose set (like schlabber in MP) to help you at first with posing, as some poses can take a day to get right. Sounds like you have been bitten...good luck

Attached Link: http://schlabber.org/

Wow! Thanks everyone for those very helpful answers. This is a great community!

TIP: Make use of other camera views (ie the front, left, right, back, left hand, right hand, face) for more precise posing. JV.