A few questions about morphing! All of my characters look the same!! :( - am I right in assuming that using the dials a p4 character will always look like a p4 character? or is just me not doing it right? - what are the pros and cons of using poser magnets compared to external programs? - what are the best, and least p4 looking, uses of p4 people you have seen? - How similar are techniques used in morphing P4 to those used for morphing Vicky and Michael? Is it worth practicing on P4 or should I just jump straight to V + M? Cheers Steve :o)

I'd suggest starting with the P4s, just because they have fewer vertices. Duane Moody has made some great P4 morphs that I'd suggest getting and studying. Load in a few of them and then work them through the dials to see how they affect the head singularly or in groups. I think you'd be surprised what can come out of those two. There was a texture file called the "Vickybuster" that, when it's used with the P4woman and a few select morphs, makes her downright gorgeous. And I've always had a soft spot for the guy -- he's far more flexible to work with, IMHO, than Michael (although I haven't done anything with M2 yet). Look at any of the later Backstage images on my gallery, and you'll see what can be done with him with enough care and attention.

I agree with VirtualSite. Start with the standard P4 characters for practice, before moving on to Victoria and Michael.

Here's an example of what I've done with morphs using an external program. That's the Poser 4 Nude Man (a.k.a., Dork) with my custom head morph, Male Hair 3 with custom morph, and a little postwork on the hair so it won't look like Playdough/plastic. I created the morphs with a $20 shareware modeller called MilkShape 3D.

Skill with magnets is transferrable from P4 figures to V&M. The pros of magnets are: You have already paid for them; and there's not a lot of import-export issues. The cons of magnets are: Other apps may give you more control; and IMO, you can do more to make a figure look less like its basic character. (Try Zrincx's gallery to see what I mean)

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=142025

This was done this evening, in about two hours, as an entry in Cin-'s "pinup contest". I happen to think the model holds his own very well against the Millenium people, as this demonstrates. We had a discussion about this about a month ago, and someone commented that working with the Millenium people was like working with silly putty, while the P4 people were leaner and more adept at subtleties. I suppose it all depends on what you're out to do with it all.