Hi everyone! new here, but have a simple question... do most people free pose their characters or use ready made poses for sale through daz or here? im asking this because ive purchased a few poses and when i use them, it really contorts victoria3 into a pretzel. but the poses are specifically designed for her. wierd stuff. anyways, tech specs: poser 4/pro pack thanks for the insight or newbie bashing, whichever comes first :) matt

Personally I use ready made poses and tweak as needed. Try turning off inverse kintics and see what happens.

Both, but usually it's easier and quicker to use pre-made but don't forget; if you do your own you can save them in your pose folder for use later on. If I am doing my own I usually try it on myself first and see how my limbs position themselves for a specific pose, it makes it easier to use the dials if you have some idea how the limbs will go if you do that! thefixer, poser coord.

Pre-made poses are great time savers. It's much faster to use a pose that gets your character in the general position you want, and then tweak it from there. Like the fixer, I also use them to get an idea of what limbs do to get into the pose. I'm loathe to purchase pose packages, though. To buy a collection, the poses would have to be very versatile and universal, or so intricate they'd take me forever to do on my own. I download free poses whenever I see them.

Since no-one else has mentioned it....turn off IK before you try applying a pose!

yeah, thats half my problem. i just now read up on IK. other than that, i cant seem to make it look like the feet are actually touching the surface of the pool scene that i bought. but i guess that just takes tweaking. thanks guys!

Start with a pre-made pose closest to the finished pose you would like your character to have, and then tinker. Often, if too many poses are applied one after the other, or you pose with something different after tinkering around, often Vickie will look like a contortionist. If that happens go to joint editor and zero pose, that will undo all you've done for a fresh pose. Hope that helps

There is a "send figure to ground" option. It doesn't do so perfectly. Last step is to get in close, using an ortho view (side, front, etc.) and tweak the Y translate on the figure's hip until the feet are slightly inside the ground. A lot of people work from stock poses then tweak. Sometimes the tweaks are so much you can hardly tell what the original pose was. The biggest problem I have with stock poses is that many of them get to a position by using combinations of limb rotation and bending that are nothing like what a real human body would do to get there. I often find myself zeroing out lots of the channels and using a more appropriate bend to get there. After that, the art of posing is the same one any artist is familiar with; think about action line, balance, contraposto. Think through the gesture. Use a mirror and some props and see how your body solves the movement. That help?