I got a little problem with poser 3, probably a very stupid one. With the last figure I posed I had no problems bending the arms, but now with a new pose I'm making I can't get the arms to bend. My figure has her arms completely stretched out. I have 'bend body parts' selected. Thank you for anyone who wants to help.

A minor update. I managed to bend the arms, but now the hands are so twisted and turned and whatever that I can't get them in the right position anymore. sigh Maybe poser is not for me. Although I won't give up on it yet. But still, if anyone knows how I can get it right I would appreciate it.

You might try turning on Use Limits in the Figures menu. This will limit the range of movement but should stop you getting limbs hopelessly distored and twisted. If you do get in a strange state use Edit - Restore - Element or Edit - Restore - Figure. Use Fast tracking not Full tracking (second little bubble beside the posing window) I think you'll also find it easier to use the posing dials rather than trying direct manipulation of the figure wth the tools. It's also helpful to try the pose on yourself to figure out how the limbs should move. It can be hard at first. And manipulating 3D objects in a 2D space takes a bit of effort. Stick with it. Poser is probably the most fun piece of software I've ever come across and has a wealth of "stuff" for it it on boards and communities like this one.

turn IK off to move arms...or reposition the hands

heyas; yes, rynn, sounds like you somehow got ik turned on for the arms sometime in there. when ik is on, the hands (or feet) home in on a target location and stick to it at all costs. this might be why you can't bend the upper arm -- the hand is trying to stick to its spot, and the arm can't move anywhichways except where it will keep the hand still. if you bend the arm first, then turn ik on, the hand still sticks to it's spot. the rest of the body can move around it, even if it has to twist the sucker into a pretzel to do it. use limits should help stop it from doing that. lastly... i have seen where you can turn ik on, decide you don't like it on, and then turn it off, and the hand will 'jump' to a godawful stretched and twisted position. even re-zeroing it doesn't seem to help. watch out for that, and save every so often. :)

Thank you all for your help. This solves my problem. :)