Im pretty new to all this and I don't know if this is even possible but can anyone give me an idea on how I can create faces/heads for my Poser characters from 2D Pictures. For example: Get a picture of me, cut out the head and then somehow change the head of the poser character to mine. I can imagine doing it using RayDream, importing in the OBJ file for the CasualMale etc, cutting the head and mayby creating a morph with my face ?? Would I have to use Canoma to change the 2D Head into a 3D Object ?? I know this would probably be a huge task but any help or points in the right direction would be appreciated.

First step I'd try is the EASY way...paste your picture over the texture map in an image editor like Paint Shop or Corel. I've had GREAT results doing that.

then download about a million morph targets and play with them until you get the shape about right good luck doing facial hair 'tho SewerRat

Yeah, if I paste the image overtop of the image-map do the facial expressions in Poser still work ?? Say I paste a picture of a person with their eyes open, then close the eyes on the Poser character, what will happen ?

grab a texture map and open in a photo editor actually there shouldn't be any eyes on the texture map, just skin colour, then the eyes are drawn on a different part of the texture map so you'll need to do a bit of artistic cutting/pasting/drawing to make it work, but nothing too severe the texture map just shows what any material in poser will look like, so you can still open eyes, move hands etc. - that'll all work fine just one thing, the texture map will be stretched/moved etc. when you move the figure (which isn't really a big problem because you want that to happe) but say for example you had a really small nose, when drawing that onto the texture map it wouldn't match up to the nose of the poser figure, so you'd need to draw it a bit larger on the texture map to make it fit, then use a morph to make it smaller hope I haven't confused you =) in most cases you can just make the texture map from the photo, apply it, then use morphs as normal no sweat eagerly awaiting what you end up with SewerRat

Great, i'll give this a go and see what happens Thanks for your help

Although texture mapping surely helps, it seems the geometry of the model is vastly more important in achieving a recognizable likeness. Get the shape of the model right and it will still look like the person even without a Tmap. I downloaded this freeware program last month but have not tried it yet. Sounds like a baby Canoma but it may do what you are looking for. If you (or anyone else) try it, please let us all know if it works well. PROGRAM: "pmlt31a.exe" (4.5Mb download) FOUND HERE: http://www.eossystems.com/Lite/ DESCRIPTION: Eos Systems introduces "PhotoModeler Lite"! PhotoModeler Lite is a fully functional, high-quality Windows freeware program for creating 3D models of real-world objects and scenes through the use of photographs. -Nance

Gotta disagree with ya there, Nance. I've seen folks whittle away with Morph targets for weeks without capturing the look they want. Hell, I've done it myself. No matter how much you whittle away on that damn Poser male dork, it's harder than Chinese algebra to make it look like an actual person. It's probably easier with the female model, if only because she doesn't look as much a dork. I personally spent weeks and weeks trying to make one look like a specific character, and it was a pure-dee case of extreme futility...until the lightbulb lit over my head, and I abandoned the morph targets and opened up my paint prog and started working that texture. I'm not saying not to chuck using facial morphs, I'm just saying that texturing is of EQUAL importance if you want to make a Poser figure look like an actual person.

Well I have to agree that it needs to be a combination of morph targets and textures but making the guy look like someone specific is okay. I have one Crosses my fingers and hope it works http://soiuser.hyperchat.com/ghostofmacbeth/Me.jpeg Might just have to copy and paste and all but it is me ... Good luck though

I'm making some progress in this area by getting rid of the Poser head (it always looks Posery) and replacing it with a head-like prop created in a modelling program using a photo as a template. I then use the SAME PHOTO as a texture for the head in Poser (you need UVmapper to add a UV map to your prop). It seems to work best if the head prop lacks detail which might clash with the photo. Let the photo texture do the work. This method means you lose the normal Poser face posing capability but you can still change the expression using morph targets for the head prop - the texture moves with it.

Thanks for the advice everyone I must be doing something wrong with my texture maps, to be blunt they all look shit All they do is change the texture colour of the person, I can't get any real changes in their head shape - as Nance said - I'm finding this more important at the moment than the texture mapping

Ricardo - that sounds like exactly what I want to do. How are you creating the head-like prop using a photo as a template ??? What program as you using ?? Any tutorials on it around ??

Poser 4 also makes it a little easier to adjust the character's face to accomodate your new texture. I have found that if you create a mask and export it to another 3d editor (like Max)You can get great results. if any one has a Less expensive way ($MAX$) let me know.