I'm going to presume that, like the camera in the pose-room, the camera in the face-room is based on a 35mm 8-perf film frame (standard 35mm still format). But I don't see any mention anywhere as to what the focal length of that camera's lens is in the face-room. Since I was (and still am) a long-time cinematographer, this issue jumps out at me, right away.

I don't know if anyone has ever discussed this before--but if one is mapping a photo of a real model, it would make more sense to shoot your base photos at a focal length that matches the focal length of the camera in the face-room. That way, you won't be fighting perspective differences as much.

I'm looking a Steve Purbick's video tutorial on the face-room right now (from Infinite Skills -- an otherwise excellent tutorial course, BTW) and am pretty much laughing-out-loud as I can see him struggling to match the model photos (shot with a somewhat long lens) to the head model in the face-room camera (which is clearly presenting a much shorter focal length perspective) with the dials.

If you can match the perspectives between the two cameras better, it would obviously make the job much easier.

I may experiment with shooting a model's head at three different focal lengths--wide (25mm), normal (55mm), & long (85mm)--and see which one works out best in the face room.

Has anyone ever addressed this issue before in a previous thread?

I would be interesting in seeing your results. I wish I knew more about camera photography but have never really experimented beyond some basic family photos and an inexpensive film camera.

Have you looked in the user manual? It may tell you in there what focal length they used. It seems like it's a fairly short focal length, because when you enter the face room it has a fairly distinct perspective view.

rokket, I didn't notice a "properties" panel for the face-room's camera, but I suspect that it's adjustable "somewhere" because I see that my face-room camera appears to have a longer FL than the one in Steve's video tutorial. I wonder if adjusting the FL of the face camera in the pose room would affect the FL of the camera in the face-room? I'll have to try experimenting later today with it.

Didn't find anything in the manual regarding this, but maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

This seems to me to be such an important and obvious aspect regarding face-room use, that I'm amazed no one in any of the tutorials I've seen has ever brought the issue up.

Kazam561, it may be a while before I get to test this, but I will post the results once I do.

For now, if you have an inexpensive camera that has a zoom lens on it, I suggest you (1) turn off any "digital" zoom and just use the lens' physical zoom range (2) shoot the front and side face photos with the lens set at the center of the zoom range, and then re-take the front and side photos (3) from the lens' widest position [moving closer to the subject] and then (4) from the lens' most telephoto positions [moving further back from the subject]. The idea is to keep the height of the head about the same for all the photos. You don't have to go to the most extreme ends of the len's zoom range, but you will notice a perspective difference on the face for each set. When you're in the face-room, look at the perspective that the face-room camera shows on the CG model's head and select the set from your photos that seems to qualitatively match that perspective the closest.

That should make mapping the real face onto the model much easier.

If you press the left mouse button on the middle of the three 'mini camera controls' at the top right of the viewport and while keeping the button pressed move te mouse up and down, the camera zooms in and out.

FVerbass, does it "zoom" in or out, or does it "dolly" in or out. There's a very important difference between the two.

I'll check that myself later today.

I appreciate you know the difference. I geve my reply form my mobile and did not bother to go into that depth. I take it it will dolly. The focal distance in Poser is usually expressed in relation with the width of the viewport, and that relate to 36 mm. Of course with 'portrait' aspect ratio that makes life a littl more complicated.

Thanks, FVerbass. Yes, that basic Poser camera controller move is most certainly a dolly as opposed to a zoom.

As I said in my original post, as a grey-haired cinematographer, I'd bloody-well better know that difference.*

Several years back at Siggraph, I asked the Poser developers' what the camera format was (in the pose room) relative to focal length and they e-mailed me back saying "a standard 35mm still frame". I've applied that just as an average to everything and it seems to work out predictably in that regard. In Lightwave, for example, you can actually set your camera's imaging chip or film format size--which I find really nice. I believe I asked for that feature to be added to Poser back then, but haven't come across it.

Anyway, as I work in Poser more, I'll update this thread with my findings--relative to mapping face photos onto the models. My point simply is that matching the perspectives between the real and digital cameras being used should make the process in the face room a lot easier.

-- Dave Gregory

• https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339782</https:>

You bring a good point. I never really thought of the effect of projection of the images may have on the outcome of the process, but differences there could explain a lot of the problems I did encounter with the face room.. The face room is, after the hair room maybe, the least used function in Poser. It is limited to Poser native figures and the Miki's and that does not really help to make it popular or an area of improvement.

I will follow your posts about findings with interest.

Yes, agreed that the Face Room is not a greatly-used feature. But, hopefully, as Poser adds more advanced characters, we will find it more useful.

I'm still using weight-mapped versions of M4 and V4 for most everything I'm doing in Poser. Still use PP2014, too. I purposely stay one version behind.

Don't hold your breath while waiting for more figure support in the FaceRoom. Sadly, it seems to have been relegated to the "naaah we don't want to bother with that" :(

It's a shame. Imagine if V4/M4 worked in the Face Room. It would be so much fun to make clones of people that way. But alas ... Only Poser Native figures, and they generally lack the morphs for really fine tuning anything