Hello...I am new to Poser... Actually, I don't even have it yet. I don't know how to use it or what i need. I would like to replicate people I know as well as celebrities. What programs/plug-ins are needed. Can everything be accomplished with just Poser 3 or 4...??? The complexity of everything is confusing me. Any help would be appreciated.

With Poser 4 and a model with enough morphs, you can replicate the physical features of a real person. Michael 2 and Victoria 2 are exmples of models with many morphs to shape the face in any way that you need. The stock Poser figures that comes with the program are more limited in this department. I have done models of two female friends using Victoria 2. It requires patience, but it's fun! To make it even more like the real person, you can apply a texture made from pictures of the persons face. For this, you will need PaintShop Pro, Photoshop or some similar picture editing software. This requires quite some skill and training. There is a tutorial out there on how to do this, maybe someone here can direct you to it.

Kelderek, I am experienced with Photoshop. So I would be able to paste the face onto a head in Poser? I don't understand the texture/morphs/posable thing. Aren't all 3-d Models posable? Can I export a Poser model into my 3d Max? Thanks again... Steevler

Well if you already have Photoshop and 3d Max, you're well on your way. When you get poser, play with the deffault characters, known as P4 Nude woman/Possette and P4Nude man/Dork. Check out Ron Knights tutorials, great stuff for the begginer. Look at all the tuts and links in the Poser forum Resources at the top of the page. When you have a problem, just ask here. The people here are very helpfull. Welcome to you're new addiction. May it be as rewarding to you as it is for the rest of us. Tashar 59

Hi steevler, I'm a neebie too but I think I can explain the texture/morph/ thing. morphs - each model in Poser has a geometry that you can deform to change its apperance for example the human models have deformers to change the shape of the face/length of the limbs and widen the hips etc. Just like in max when you start with a sphere and use the tools to deform it so it has a dimple to change it into a cherry for example. In poser this deforming process is called morphing & each part of the model has specific things you can deform or morph. textures - each model in poser comes with a standard look usually a skin tone, created using a texture map which is applied to the model so you don't get to see the geometry underneath, again in max you'd create a cylinder & if you wanted it to look like a pillar you'd apply a marble texture to it so it appeared to be a section of a marble pillar. If anyone more experienced wants to point out my mistakes please feel free, if I'm getting it wrong I need to know.

Attached Link: http://205.122.23.229/ronknights/

You can twist a dial to make any change you want on a character. Make the nose bigger or smaller. Make the breast larger or smaller, etc. Yes, the textures make a character or clothes look better, more realistic, etc. I'm still learning Poser myself. I've just created my first two Poser characters for Free Stuff. I have yet to try duplicating real people. It scares me. You will find many tutorials geared to newbies at my web site. Believe me, I know what it's like to be lost, and not know all the terms. I just love to "hold you by the hand," and I illustrate things every step of the way. (Thanks for the compliments beryld.)

Your tutorials are great Ron, I'm following them as they explain things really well for those of us who need our hands held. That said though, it's a slow process of discovery/cursing/giving up for a few days.

Steevler, what you need to put the face picture on a Poser model is a texture template, a flat representation of the UV coordinates of the model (Im sure 3D Max works with UV mapping as well). Ready made texture templates are available for the Poser figures, they are the starting point for the work on Photoshop. The resulting texture can then be applied to the Poser figure, and the body parts align to where they are supposed to be.

Hey, guess what, after several months of banging my head against the wall, I released my first Poser Free Stuff characters "the Hard Way." Then I finally got some courage and tried MAT Pose Edit to do some MOR poses. I made a few mistakes, and found the right key. Now I can share my Poser characters in the form of a MOR pose. You load the base figure, such as Vicky, click the MOR pose button, and voila, you have my new character. Whooopie.

There are a few plugins for 3d studio max that will let you import poser figures, they can be animated in max but applying ik and physique to them is a tremendous pain. It is better to pose and animate them in poser first and then import them into max, as poser is much easier to use than maxs default character animation setup. You can just paint a face onto a character in photoshop, though you might need to tweak the uv mapping some, if you use 3ds you might already have a good idea of how to acomplish this. No plugins are needed to ceate celebrities in Poser. you can either buy a premade model that looks like one or buy a morphable character that you can change into one. And not all 3d models are poseable. You have to edit the meshes to make them that way. Its like 3ds, if you have a mesh that you have created yourself, you will be able to move it, but you will not be able to manipulate it without modifiers. In posers case, these are morphs and joint parameters. Morphs are actually alternate meshes applied to your meshes in poser that look different to some extreme. the dial indicators on the morphs move the character slowly from version of the mesh to the other. This means that not all charaters have the same morphs, it also means that you can add morphs to a character other than what it comes with. And ron, you really should try duplicating people so you can lead the rest of the new flock along. Its not as hard as you think. Michael and Vicky are one heck of a chameleon. A little patience and some good pictures are all you need.

Attached Link: http://www.morphworld30.com/

What you're going to need to duplicate people is either a morphworld archive CD for the default P4 female, "Posette" or one of Daz's Vicky or Stephanie. You can get a Free Lores Vicky, or even a lores Supermodel Vicky, but they lack facial expression/morphs. Which is what you're going to need lots of if you want to duplicate anyone. You're also going to need any eye for detail, and a shit load of photo's from as many angles as possible. If you want to do men, Daz does "Mike" too. You'll probably need to create your own textures from photo's, (of at least the eyes and lips) but you'll find lots for posette at happyworldland, (link bottom right) or go through "freestuff" for Vicky. You can also buy stuff from the store. But if you're building your own, it may not be worth the cost. later jb

Boy...this group is a great bunch. I want to extend thanks to all for your help, enlightenment, and encouragement. This site will be a daily stop from now on. As far as myself, I am a traditional artist and am now getting my feet wet in computer artistry. I find many of the programs very frustrating. I do have 3-D Max, but I am only 20 or so percent adept with this at this point. I have been working in Photoshop for about three years now, I can get by with everything except masks, which I guess I need to learn in order to composite. After effects is next. I love the computer medium, and will continue to plug away at it. Again, thanks to all. See you on the screen. Sincerely, Steevler