Ethnicity of Poser 2012 Figures?

toastie ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 7:50 AM · edited Fri, 22 November 2024 at 2:01 PM

Can someone explain to me the nationality/ethnicity that the figures supplied with Poser 2012 are supposed to be? I can't figure them all out and the names mean nothing to me. Thanks.

Gareee ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 7:57 AM

They are digital.. they have no specific ethnic background or nationality.. they are what you choose them to be.

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.

toastie ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 8:16 AM

Quote - They are digital.. they have no specific ethnic background or nationality.. they are what you choose them to be.

Huh? The variations on Alyson (for example) are completely different. Base Alyson is Caucasian. Alisha appears (to me) to be African, I have no idea what the Maria version is supposed to be - but she's definitely different from Alisha with a lighter skin colour and different type of features.

LaurieA ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 8:18 AM

I'm guessing Maria is Latino?

Laurie

toastie ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 8:22 AM

Quote - I'm guessing Maria is Latino?

Laurie

Ah! Thanks, Laurie.

hborre ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 9:35 AM

Online Now!

Dead give away is the name - Maria.

Saxon3d ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 9:45 AM · edited Sat, 13 July 2013 at 9:46 AM

"Dead give away is the name - Maria".

Unless you live in the phillipines where it is incredibly popular amongst locals as a first name...........

lmckenzie ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:05 AM · edited Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:07 AM

Maria Shriver - or am I getting her and the maid confused? Sorry :-)

IIRC, there was a Maria or Consuelo or something P3/4 female included with Poser, slightly more orange tinted than Posette so probably safe to assume she was supposed to be a Latina. I think there were a couple of other variations as well. The Zygote Asian female from that era is the only explicitly specified ethnic figure I recall, back then at least.

"Unless you live in the Phillipines where it is incredibly popular amongst locals as a first name"

Probably pretty popular in Italy as well.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken

toastie ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:15 AM · edited Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:16 AM

Quote - "Dead give away is the name - Maria".

Unless you live in the phillipines where it is incredibly popular amongst locals as a first name...........

Exactly. Isn't it quite popular everywhere? There are quite a few Marias around here and we're all Northern Europeans.

That's why I couldn't tell from the names.

LaurieA ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:21 AM · edited Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:23 AM

Maria is even used in Germany, so I wouldn't automatically call it a dead giveway ;). Most likely a very old Latin name variant spread with the Romans ;). I'm guessing tho. LOL

Laurie

LaurieA ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:27 AM · edited Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:30 AM

Aha....Google is a wonderful thing. Maria is a latin form of the original Hebrew name, Mary. As it is, Maria (and every variant thereof) is use in just about every european country and beyond.

Laurie

Teyon ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:55 AM · edited Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:58 AM

Quote - I'm guessing Maria is Latino?

Laurie

That would be, Latina. Latino would be male and while it can be argued that maybe she could pass for one, she's not. :)

Darrell intended those morphs he made to be of African descent (Alisha), of Latin descent (Maria) and of Asian descent (Izumi - the name would suggest Japanese specifically).

Edit: Oh and Garee, I laughed. That was funny and for some reason made me think of the Iron Giant.

LaurieA ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:56 AM · edited Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:57 AM

Most places in the US use Latino to describe people of Spanish descent, whether it's correct or not. LOL. I know you're in New York or thereabouts, but here it's Latino. Since most ppl here don't speak Spanish, Latina or Latino makes no difference to me whatsoever. ;)

Laurie

Teyon ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 10:59 AM

Ah, yeah here in the city, where there's a large Latin (we drop the o) population, the ladies would be up in arms if we did that so that's years of training coming into play for me. lol.

toastie ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 11:24 AM

Laurie - yes, I would think there are plenty of Marias anywhere!

Teyon - thanks! I guessed Izumi was Japanese/Asia generally from the name, but Maria was a bit of a mystery! :)

Gareee ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 11:37 AM

I live to serve, Teyon! ;)

IMHO all ethnic morphs are just starting points for any character, ethnic or not. Thats why we have so many additonal shaping morphs, and the morph brush.

I know some people use character morphs defacto, but if I'm doing an ethnic character of any kind, I change things up to my own personal vision of them.. not just what someone else labels.

I can't recall ever doing one single character render without spinning a bunch of dials or adding morphs in some fashion to suit my tastes.

Way too many people take way too many things way too seriously.

Teyon ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 11:52 AM · edited Sat, 13 July 2013 at 11:52 AM

You mix Maria in you mix Izumi out you Mix Alisha in and you render her out, you do the Poser Pokey and you turn the dials around, that's what it's all about!

...yeah, I haven't slept in two and a half days.

toastie ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 11:53 AM

Quote - I can't recall ever doing one single character render without spinning a bunch of dials or adding morphs in some fashion to suit my tastes.

Indeed. I was interested because of another thread talking about how the figures looked "out of the box". I'd never really looked at them before and once I started looking I was interested to know what ethnic group they were. It wasn't obvious to me from some of the names.

toastie ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 11:57 AM

Quote - You mix Maria in you mix Izumi out you Mix Alisha in and you render her out, you do the Poser Pokey and you turn the dials around, that's what it's all about!

...yeah, I haven't slept in two and a half days.

I'm mixing in Anastasia. It's fun and the results are really nice!

Now I know Maria is Latin I feel like making her a little red dress to dance in. (Except it keeps slipping off her shoulder and making her a bit nippley. Ooops!)

Teyon ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 12:13 PM

:) Wardrobe malfunctions for the win!

lmckenzie ( ) posted Sat, 13 July 2013 at 12:20 PM

In the 50s there was Latin, as in the Latin Lover meme. In the 60s came Chicano(a), then Hispanic, now Latino (group or male / Latina - female) (the ending a vs. o is pretty universal in Spanish to denote feminine) Similarly convoluted journey to African-American, and Oriental morphed to Asian we'll skip the other variations. AFAIK, no one in any group was ever polled or asked to vote on a name so who knows who decides these things or why the fashion changes.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken