I hope someone can help me out here, I'm at a loss to rectify this problem.. (apologies if my terminologies are wrong)

With Poser 2012, I created a new character using Victoria 4.2 with the morphs ++ added to it, added a body morph to change the shape and then a skin etc etc.. and it renders nicely for the scenes I'm working on but I discovered her forearms won't go side to side though they'll bend and twist.. everything else seems to be bendable on her but those forearms simply won't go side to side..

I saved the character as a PZ file, shut down and relaunched Poser with the same  character model and the problem persists..

So I start from scratch and though the body morph and skin are the same, the render settings and lighting are the same AND the forearms work properly, I now have muddy shadowing on the new character after render. argh..  the only difference is that I had to try a couple of skins (double click in library) before I found the one I had previously used.. Not sure if trying several skins adds layers one on top of the other which caused the shadow problems or what? (does it add layers or completely replace the previously attempted skin?)

If I can get those forearms to move side to side on the original model, I can continue work.. or get the shadows on her skin to show up properly on the replacement then I can continue..

Seems that the more I learn, the more I find myself getting into these little show stoppers..  I'll give it another shot tomorrow and see what happens, but would love to find out why those arms won't move side to side or why the shadows are muddy on the second model..

Thanks in advance..

Did you happen to turn IK on for the hands?  If so, turn it off...

As WandW said, IK has to be a prime suspect. Another suspect is 'limits'. Double click on the dial for the rotation that does not work, and check that the min and max limits allow sufficient rotation.

Yes, I did check those (IK and limits) as I thought the same thing..  Odd thing is that when I try to move the parameter dials, nothing happens.. the numbers stay locked at 0, and if I try to input the numbers, it won't take them, almost as if that one dial is locked out.. so odd. Hadn't seen that one before and it only happened on that one character build. 

No worries, I'll have to start over again.

Thanks for the suggestion..

select the hand and check for translate dials. If they show then ik is on.  Forearms dont actually move side to side so I would suspect limits.  I would look at the cr2 that doesnt work when loaded and see whats shown for that rotate parameter.

        rotateZ zrot
            {
            name Side-Side
            initValue 0
            hidden 0
            forceLimits 0
            min 0
            max 0
            trackingScale 1
            keys
                {
                static  0
                k  0  0
                }
            interpStyleLocked 0
            }

This is from V4.2 forcelimits 0 means no limits are in effect.

You can alter the limits for the parameter in poser.

try turning off 'USE LIMITS' in the figure tab...see if that solves it...side to side forearm movement is not a normal human characteristic ... unless you are double jointed... which some are...

:O)

JAFO

and THAT is just what it was..

MANY thanks! I don't know how or why that got selected during the model build.. Sweet!

Cheers, problem solved!