Is there a tutorial that demystifies the process of creating specific poses? Every time I start to try to make a specific pose, I usually end up giving up in frustration. And even when I do have moderate success it is never exactly what I looking for and I find that it takes an inordinate amount of time. I have upgraded steadily from Poser 1 and now am at Poser 5. Each time I upgrade hoping that posing will be easier. It hasn't for me. Yesterday I needed a quick bike racer pose for a project at work and finally gave up because I just did not have the time to get the pose I wanted.

Hi rnollman, Is there anything specific you are looking for from the tutorials you want? Tell me what steps you are taking to creat your pose. Anything special? Do you use guides at all? Where do things usually fall apart for you? Unfortunately there is no tutorial out there that will teach you 'stick-to-it'ness', which you need a modicom of in order to make anything. Some just take longer. (ever tried creating a walk cycle from scratch? lol) I suppose making a pose can be done two different ways. The one way, looks good enough for usage in a 2d world*. *Keep in mind, you can cheat the camera slightly so don't feel compelled to make a perfect pose from all angles if your final render is a still at a single POV. (but its really scene specific, your judgment call) The other way is exactly what it should look like based in a 3d reality. Save in stages and the next time you get frustrated, spin by here and post a picture of your work in progress. People will be able to help you out alot more. Good luck!

A good rule of thumb would be to use the "dial" settings :) Which gives you more control over the movement. ladynimue

Attached Link: http://www.schlabber.org/

Also try turning Off IK, sometimes it will fight with you when attempting certian moves yet other times you will want it on. When trying for a bike-sit pose you may want to start with one of the freebies that Schlabber or others have posted, it will get you half way there and then you tweek it the rest of the way. Schlabber does have a couple good tutorial and tips on his site to get you going - now if he could just bottle his own talent and sell it as tonic "Schlabber's Magic Posing Talent Tonic" ;p http://www.schlabber.org/

Hey igohigh, if you can get schlabber to bottle his talent - I want to be the first in line to buy him out - Cause He He is the Master of Posing!

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rnollman: another tip - when you are just starting to figure out how Posing works - Try one of the ready-made poses! Once you have posed your figure using the ready-made pose - take a look at the dials. Jot down the dial numbers and try moving the dials from one direction to the next. IF you end up tying your Poser figure in knots - Just re-enter the numbers that you started with! Just a word of caution here - Never tweak someone elses Pose-work and post it as your own! As you have already figured out - it takes Hours and tons of Computer time to create a pose! However, examining what someone else has done is an excellent way to learn! Remember when all else fails - Zero is your Friend ;] ladynimue

So I guess the bad news is that is just takes a long time and alot of patience. I am aware of everything that has been suggested so far. It just seems to me that it should be alot easier. Maybe DAZ Studio will be easier to use. Thanks for all your responses. I guess posing in this case is like learning a musical instrument -- practice, practice, practice and tons of patience.

I think practical knowledge of the human body is somewhat necissary. I mean, about how the body-structure interacts with itself. When one leg is lifted, rarely do you not see the waist bend in the opposite direction, and perhaps the arm move out stighly to give balance to the weight that is the person standing on the one leg. If you simply raised the leg, it would not look natural and that might be what your 'minds-eye' is catching. They don't seem right because something is out of place enough. The laws of gravity and physics do pertain to some degree, in terms of realism I mean.

Here's something you might try - Stand in the position your character's default pose is. Then, one move at a time, move yourself to the position you want to pose. As you move yourself one movement at a time, do the same with the dials for your character. While doing it, really pay attention to what parts of your body are actually moving. You'll be suprised - most people make assumptions about what part of their body is moving when they move in a certain fashion. You'll get more realistic poses this way. You might look pretty silly while doing it, but you'll get good poses.

And don't forget to save as you go along, so that you can use that wonderful File>Revert>Revert to Last Saved Version command when your figure goes seriously spastic on you, without losing the progress you may have made before the disaster ;)

Use the pose dots to save intermediate poses as you work.

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

As funny as it sounds ...: A tutorial of mine is in the plan for around August. First I have to finish the Fantasy-sets - then I'll make something special I won't tell anything about (I can be cruel - can't I ??) And in-between this special thing I will do that tutorial - it'll be a big one (It is planed in magazine-form, 'cause it'll capture really a lot - Ladynimue, I'll answer your IM soon with a special offer - the process of making poses itself, the inspiration, this and that special tool - as well as my own posing-tool, the tips etc ...). The biggest problem for you all here: It'll be written in German first - 'cause I just don't have the faith in myself to write an approx. 50-75 sites magazine in English - but I've got allready some offers for the translation. One good thing is: It'll be for free (as pdf) and it'll include all the poses I'll explain there ... All you need is a little bit patience - sorry, but there have to be done some things before. Hope this helps Schlabber

Ohh thanks tons Schlabber - I eagerly await your reply ;] ladynimue

One useful trick, if you have P4PP or P5, is to do your poses with four camera views. I find that the 2d screen doesn't give me a very clear picture of a 3D movement, but with Top, Right, Left, and Front visible, I can see that I'm moving the finger left rather than up....