I have characters meshed out with plenty of res, (done in Wings3D), but I can't get the bends of the appendages right in Poser4 with the joint editor!! No matter what I do, The whole thing just bends all wacky and out of proportion. My meshes are very simple, and I don't understand whats going on! Am I doing something wrong? Please help! Here is an example of what happens when I bend the mesh along the Z axis. If I turn the bend function off, it loses all flexibility!

First problem that I see is that you have what are called 'T-sections' (see waistline for example). This is where a double polygon meets another polygon. The larger polygon is actually an n-gon with 5-points. If it is not, it is even worse! Poser, in no uncertain terms, despises n-gons. Quads (4-points) and Tris (3-points) ONLY should be used!!! All vertices should be used by all surrounding polygons. Secondly, your figure's arms are far too subdivided. I'm afraid to ask how many polygons just in the arms. The only reason for such density is for high precision morphing. You'll have to experiment with the joint settings to learn how to restrict the influence of the JPs. Without seeing the hierarchy, body parts, groups, and joint settings, it is difficult to provide you with direction to rectify the problems.

Thanx kuro, that gives me a start. I'm gonna rebuild the mesh according to your advise and see if that helps me out at all. Here is a pic of the groups anyway.

Wow Kuro! Your advice totally helped me out!! I built a very simple humanoid form using your specs on polys, and it bends perfectly. Guess i wasn't paying enough attention to my modelling technique. Thanx again!

Good info. Thanks.

Attached Link: http://www.quinlor.de/tutorials/

I have a tutorial on my website about making Wings3d models posable. Maybe it can be of some additional help. Stefan

Thanks Stefan. Very informative site!