Figured out how to import a character and make it move. But now I am stuck. It looks like it is not possible to let an imported character talk. No idea how to let Poser know were the mouth is and the other face items like eyebrows, etc.

Am I missing something or do I need other software to define the face items.

Leo

What steps have you taken exactly?  Poser doesn't automatically define any "face items".  Face expression and mouth phonemes is mostly done via morph targets, with some exceptions (DAZ V4/M4 have some bones for the inner mouth and tongue).

My Freebies

Done some more studying on this, and think this is the way:

My face has no morph targets at all (it is imported).
So I have to create morph targets for speaking.
Because I have no viseme file for this, I have to create one.
So for an "A" I make a mouth morph in shape "A". Same for the other letters.
Which letters I need, can I copy from one of the existing viseme files.

Is this the way to go?

Leo

Yes, pretty much, if you're doing this from scratch (and you are).  Phonemes are mainly for animating with speech though.

My Freebies

Take a look at the figures that came with Poser - we usually include Phonemes for them. If you set up your character to have those phonemes and expressions (everyone forgets those) , it should be a simple matter to duplicate and edit a viseme map for your character that will let it work with talk designer. if for some reason you can't make the map or don't want to use the Talk Designer, you can just use the morphs you created.

I have been strugling on this, but I think I got it. Wanted to start with making a simple smile, but couldn't make the shape, because I couldn't push it in the right direction. I overlooked the "Relative to screen" option. With "Relative to surfuce" it is not possible. The morphing tool has limited settings, but oh boy how much can I do with it. I now have the smile on my character and the smile parameter as a start. And my smile is back again also.