I like Victoria to be less than anorexic but using "heavy" and other params over much tends to unbalance the top half with the bottom, despite compensating with other params. The solution for me is to scale the body in the X vector to quite a bit larger than 100%. To compensate for this I scale the head with reduced X, so it is narrower, and thus becomes the same as before I adjusted the X scaling in the body. (The V3 scaling of the body also affects the head).

What appears to be happening is that scaling is not absolute in poser. If I pan the camera to the side then translate the head so it is looking at the camera, it suddenly looks too thin. In other words the scaling of width (X) when moved to another plane becomes a distortion in the Z axis. This is most odd. The same thing doesn't seem to affect other objects like the box in primitive props. Here a scaling in one axis seems to be retained as you pan around.

My question is this: Is it possible to set up poser  and V3 so that scaling is absolute and doesn't translate from X to Y or Z as you pan the camera around the figure or translate or twist body parts? I hope I'm explaining what I mean adequately!

Cheers,

Leonardis

Have you adjusted the focal length of the poser main camera?  The default in Poser is 35mm which is actually wrong.  Bring up the focal length to about 55 - 60 mm and then check for distortions.

Only overall scaling will work properly - the X, Y and Z scales are calculated relative to the universe coordinates. In other words, the figure will be scaled in the Poser scene's X axis no matter which way it's facing.

Although I assume you aren't making a toon render, SnowSultan's Z-toon tutorial will show you one possible way around this problem.

Another method might be to recreate your scaling using morphs instead, so that they won't be subject to this. Magnets would do the job quite easily, I think.

hborre: It is most definitely not a focal length issue in this particular case, and I do realise that the default focal length tends to distort anyway. But thanks for that point.

English Bob: Thanks for that advice! OK so OVERALL scaling retains proportions whatever direction, that's useful to know. But individual X part adjustments do distort. I confirm that must be the case because it is what I am seeing. I am not sure how I can use magnets to slim down the enitre face. I assume I need two magnets, one on each side of the face that "push" the whole side of the face in from both directions. Am I on the right track?

Cheers,

Leonardis

Attached Link: http://www.morphography.uk.vu/magnets1.html

For the head, it's easier than that. Create a magnet on the head, then make sure that the magnet zone covers the whole head. X scale the magnet part and you'll see the head squash - from there, you may want to adjust the mag zone again to get a nice blend with the neck. Alternatively, you can add the neck to the magnet's influence.

I've added a link to my magnet tutorial - it isn't the most comprehensive, but it may help to light up the old bulb over the head if you're not familiar with the subject. In brief: forget about them being magnets. The key is in the mag zone...

HI again Bob: yes all understood. The key is in the mag zone. I think this will work. I have looked at the Z-toon tutorial too (many times) and it's a superb tutorial. But I don't think it will work with just the face and the magnet road is I think the easiest option. Thanks again for your excellent advice, and for the magnet tutorial which is excellent too!

Leonardis

HELP!! I tried the magnet on the head and it does indeed narrow it very successfully, and doesn't distort the view in another plane. BUT>>>BUT>>>> I feel stupid but cannot get it to work as a morph target. From what I've been reading, you highlight the body part (in this case the head) then "spawn morph target", name it and it should appear in the head params list. But then you should be able to delete the magnet. When I do this the morph disappears from the list!

Furthermore if I spin the dials on the spawned morph (from the original magnet), it not only alters the width (good) but also changes the whole face back to the default Vicky (bad)!

How do I spawn a morph target from the magnet so that:

1. It appears in the ordered list of Head morphs, not as an " extra" in the "other" list.
2. I can then delete the magnet and let the morph carry on working.
3. Once the moprh is spawned how do I make it JUST alter the head width as planned and NOT alter all the accumulated morphs I've adjusted on the rest of the face.

Sorry if I'm being a bit thick here. All the tutorials I've read say "spawn the morph" NOT by highlighting the magnet but by highlighting the body part the magnet acts upon (in this case the head). But when I do that the morph alters the whole head as though ALL the morphs I applied are being changed, rather than just the width of the face.

I'd be grateful for some guidance and sorry to trouble you. Thank you.

Leonardis

Spawning a morph will include all the morphs which are contributing to the head's shape, so if you have character or expression morphs applied you should zero them all before spawning. Sorry, should have mentioned that before.

Hi Bob,

Yeh I finally worked that out but thanks for confirming it.  Now to find a quick and easy way to zero the hundreds of morphs without laboriously going through each one. I find it utterly ridiculous that Poser itself  doesn't  appear to even have a utility which simply says "zero all morphs" and then "restore previously zeroed morphs to previous state". I know there are third party apps which will do this, but the more I get into Poser 7 the more I see it is just as clunky as Poser 4.

I know it has a "restore element"  and "restore figure" but it's not restoring a zero morph situation, it seems to be just restoring the last saved to memory morphs.

Thanks again for your patience and help!

Leonardis

There's almost certainly a "zero all morphs" Python script somewhere - a search of the freestuff area and/or Python forums should turn something up. Almost certainly, but not definitely, with Ockham's name on it. :)