hi, I've been trying to make some realistic textures for michael using some photos i've found around the web, but i'm having quite a lot of grief making them relatively realistic. Is there any advice you guys can give me on how to make them more realistic? and also, do you know anywhere where i can get hi res pictures of faces etc that i could use in the textures, so far I've had to use pictures i've taken myself (not very good) and 1 picture from a wallpaper of a band i have. Thanks a lot -unrealsk8er

If you are using someone else's photograph of a real recognizable person, you might need permission and a "model release" before distributing your images, unless you do a lot of work to the photo, etc.. That said, photographs which are evenly lit or lit from the center front will work better, and be a lot more flexible, than photos which are strongly lit from one side. Also, a longer focal length (90mm or more) will yield less distortion. Since the image will get distorted when you fit it into a texture map, you want it to start fairly clean. A pure unretouched photo will not look right on most Poser people, because the backgrounds, clothes, etc.. will not match in level of detail. A painted texture map seems to blend better. The best texture maps for Poser people that I've seen have all been handpainted, even if they look photographic. Carolly

Well, one thing I'd suggest is don't go down to the pore level, like some I've seen. Detail at that level is wasted unless you plan on extream closeups anyway. Sort of like when you are painting, a good painter doesn't paint individual hairs in the eyelashes, they do a nice blur in this area.