BACK

 Anyone using Poser will quickly realize that various of the dials are designed to go both positive and negative. But it should be pointed out that it can be useful to dial something negative even if it doesn't appear to be designed that way.

For example, the 'blink' dials cause the eyes to open wider when they are dialed negative-- an anti-blink.

The 'worry' dials do an interesting thing when dialed negative-- they tilt the brow in a hostile way, useful for portraying anger or ironic humor-- 'anti-worry.'

The 'brow up' and 'brow down' dials take the brow in the opposite direction when dialed negative, but they do so in different ways, so by combining them, you have a lot more variety of brow expression.

And the 'frown' dials do interesting things when dialed negative-- they curl the mouth in a kind of smile, but one that looks forced and nervous (also, since Vicky doesn't have 'smile right' and 'smile left,' the frown right/left are useful in creating asymetrical smiles.)

I've had success dialing the chin dial negative, but most other feature morphs turn kind of freaky when you do that. Oh yeah, and by dialing negative on 'round eyes,' along with Duane's eyefix morph, you can actually make Vicky look like a real person instead of a creepy supermodel!

SYMMETRY

An extraordinary tool! If two limbs are to be positioned in a similar way, position one of the limbs, use symetry to position the other limb the same way, and then make the necessary adjustments. Alas, symmetry for legs isn't very useful on Vicky and Michael, because it doesn't encompass the buttocks (the engineer who missed that must feel like a couple of buttocks!:))

Symmetry is useful for exploring different poses too, especially the option that allows you to swap right and left on the entire figure

RETURN TO ZERO

Oftentimes it is easier to create a new pose by first straightening out the figure from whatever previous pose they were in. This can be done quickly and effectively by selecting a body part from the figure, going into the Joint Parameter pallette (under 'windows'), and clicking the 'Zero Figure' button. Unlike a 'pose' setting, this change does not affect the character's facial expression.

CONTRAPOSTO

This is an element of classic figure drawing that some Poser users may not be aware of-- a naturally-standing figure tends to have their weight shifted in a counterbalanced manner, so that the weight is resting on one leg while the other extends a little to the side, maintaining balance. This posture causes the hip to tilt upward on the side of the supporting leg, the chest to tilt in the opposite direction, and the head to tilt counteracting the chest's tilt.

When setting up a standing figure, I generally tilt the hips 4 degrees right or left. Then I 'side by side' bend the abdomin 4 degrees in the opposite direction, tilt the chest 4 degrees opposite the hips, and tilt the neck 4 degrees opposite the chest. This puts the figure in a subtle 'S' shape. Adjust the arms and legs accordingly, and you have a natural-looking standing stance.

INVERSE KINEMATICS

I don't use IK very much, but it is definitely useful if you have a pose where one or both of the hands need to be in a certain place, as in a handshake.

Position the hand as needed, and turn IK on for it. Then move the figure about so the rest of the pose is how you want it-- the hand will stay put. When you've got the pose pretty well worked out, turn the IK off again (IK tends to distort the wrist joint of the hand) and move the arm slightly-- this will take the 'kinks' out, and you can easily reposition the hand where you want it.

PASTING A CROWD ONTO BACKGROUND

 This is not exactly a posing technique, but it makes posing a crowd much easier! I guess it only works if you are using a flat background, such as a photograph (that's all I ever do, so I don't know from 3d backgrounds.)

The nice thing about pasting is that you can build up a large crowd of people using only one figure in the document window at a time. Just pose the figure, paste it on the background, then move it (using the camera controls!) to its new position. Then change whatever you have to change-- clothes, hair, coloration, etc., pose the figure in its new position, render it, and paste it on the background.

One trick, when doing this, is to use Symmetry to swap the figure's pose from right to left. You'll find that if you have the character standing contraposto, and you do a swap, the pose looks completely different. You can practically build a whole crowd, simply alternating right and left contraposto stances!

Since crowds tend to be male and female, I generally do most of the female poses first, then a bunch of males, then a few of each to overlap what's already down there.

Of course, when pasting, you need to know what you're doing, and save the document often in case of mistakes!

Unless you're doing animation, the figure's lips aren't moving; so if you want to suggest speech, it's a good idea to not only have their mouth open, but to use their hands for gestures. Gestures also focus the viewer's attention-- if you have a small crowd, and one of the characters is gesturing, they tend to become the center of attention.

HIPS BACK WHEN SEATED

The first impulse when posing a character in a seated position is to simply bend their legs. This is fine if you have someone sitting at a keyboard typing, with really good posture. But more often than not, a figure relaxes into a sitting position, slouching somewhat.

To get that effect, tilt the hips backwards somewhat, and then bend at the abdomin and chest to straighten the figure. The woman sitting on the desk in the picture has this posture.

Another tip when using Vicky and Mike-- You can bend the legs at the buttocks, and bend them in the same direction at the thigh. This really makes no sense, since there is only one joint there. However, for a seated position, by bending both parts to bend the legs at the hip, you get a more natural pose. (However, it sometimes still has problems-- I had to shave some off the top of the foreground male's thigh in post production.)