Seven Tips for Creating Characters in Poser

So you've purchased the morph packages for one or all of your characters, or maybe you purchased the complete versions rather than the base figures and then the morph packages later. However you came to have the ability to morph your 3D human models you are now ready to begin creating your own characters. One thing to keep in mind is that some characters such as Michael 3 and Victoria 3 Reduced Resolution, Aiko 3 and Hiro 3 for example, already have their morph packages injected into the character so that when you select the head for example in Poser, you will automatically see all the ways you can change the head of your chosen character without having to inject the packages you purchased separately. This is the case with the high resolution versions of both of these characters.

Okay, that being said here are some tips you can use to help you create your own Poser characters. The nice thing about having this ability is that you can then save and package your characters to be given away as Poser freebies. For those interested in doing this, check out my article How to Package Your Poser Freebie Using Winzip.

Note: This article assumes you are familiar with the basics of Poser.

Tip 1: After you have loaded your chosen character into the main window, go to the camera selection drop down menu and select the Face camera. This will focus that camera on your character's face and allow you to see the small details of the face better which is critical when you are trying to create a new character.

Tip 2: If your character is a high resolution character such as Victoria 3 or Michael 3 for whom the head morphs packages must be injected before you can change anything about your character's head, then be sure and do this as soon as you have loaded your character into the main window and trained the Face camera on the head. Be sure that the head is selected from the second drop down menu at the bottom of the main window. I've had problems when trying to inject the head morphs packages if the head is not selected first.

Tip 3: Keep in mind that you don't have to move any of the morphing dials on the parameters window that much to see a change in your 3D human model's head. If you move them too much in either direction you can actually deform your model, so be careful and just move them a bit at a time until you get the change you are looking for.

Tip 4: Play with more than one of the morphing dials to create unique characters. While many of the head morphs packages have single dials that you can use to create different ethnic characters such African American, Native American, Chinese or Japanese characters to name a few, I've found that playing with individual morph dials along with these dials helps me to make characters that are quite different. So if you want to create a Native American character you might move that single dial just a tad to give your 3D human model the general look of a Native American but then you can go and play with the dials that allow you to shape the nose, cheekbones, and forehead to refine the look of your character.

Tip 5: When you are trying to create a character of a particular ethnic extraction, it's a good idea to go on Google images and look for pictures of people from that ethnicity. This is not to say that your character must look exactly like any of the pictures you might find, but the pictures will help you to have an idea of particular physical characteristics someone from a certain ethnicity might have. I use the picture(s) as just a frame of reference and they give me ideas for how I can morph particular parts of a character's face to give them a particular ethnic flavor.

Tip 6: Now when creating characters you will not always be dealing just with the head. You will want to select the entire body rather than just the head from the second drop down at the bottom of the main window if you also want to change the body of your character. You will then see a whole host of body morphs that you can apply to your character. As with the head morphs, you will want to go easy on how far you push the morphing dials one way or the other because you can also seriously deform your character's body if you push them too far one way or the other.

Tip 7: What if you can't afford the morph packages, or don't own characters that have them already injected? You can morph your base characters using magnets, although this is a tad more difficult than using the morphing packages, plus you will be limited in just how much you can change your 3D human model. For more information on how to use magnets to change the look of your 3D human models see my article How to Give Your Poser Characters Pointed Elf Ears. While this article focuses just on the ears, you can use the technique to change any body part.

Using these tips the next time you try your hand at creating a Poser character will help you to create unique and fun characters that you can either just use yourself, or also share with others in the Poser community. Have fun!