Understanding Poser Jargon 101: Materials and Textures

Every specialized field has it's own jargon, and 3D is no exception. If you have ever been confused when listening to someone talk about a Poser project, this guide should help you gain a better grasp of what they are talking about. While this guide is primarily about Poser and making textures, most of it will apply to any 3D topic. I created this lexicon out of a necessity to give my wife a better understanding of what I am talking about when I try to tell her about my work.

Texture: When a Poser artist talks about a texture they are generally talking about one of two things. Either they are talking about an image map, or they are talking about everything that makes up the appearance of an object. I prefer to use the word texture only to refer to when an object gives the illusion that if you were to touch it, you could feel what you see. For example, wood grain on a table. Texture is created by combining different elements in order to remove the smoothness or "plastic" look that many Poser images have. I make "texture sets" that are a combination of multiple images designed to be used in combination with other effects in Poser's material room.

Skin: When Poser artists talk about skin they mean exactly that. They are talking about skin on a figure, but for some reason people seem to refer to the entire process of texturing as "skinning". A skin is something you put on a laptop or mp3 player, or even possibly an image set to make your browser look pretty. Poser artists don't skin anything, they are using a 3D animation tool to create images of figures. We may use various methods to create the appearance of realistic skin, but we don't call it "skinning" and we don't apply "a skin" to do it.

Material: A material is pretty much what it sounds like. It's what a 3D object appears to be made of. A figure would look like it's made of skin and flesh, and a shirt might look like it's made of cotton or satin. A material in Poser is made up of multiple images and other components. A material or "MAT" file is a file format designed to apply a specific combination of elements to an object in a scene which can then be further adjusted as necessary. Materials can also be applied by using "pose files" which inject predetermined components in the same way as MAT files.

Image Map: An "image map" is a flat image used to put color and details onto a figure or object. They can be used for many different functions and the term image map is used when referring to any flat image that is used to "map" something onto a 3D object. A Poser figure is rarely ever composed of only one map.

Bump Map: A "bump map" is a greyscale image used to tell a 3D program where there should be bumpiness. It only creates the illusion of depth however. Bump maps are often used in Poser to add veins, wrinkles, pores, etc to a figure.

Displacement Map: Displacement maps are also a greyscale image, and they can be used for the same things as a bump map. Where they differ however, is what they actually do. A bump map creates the illusion of depth, whereas a displacement map actually creates the depth by telling the program to make changes to the object. Think of it like cosmetic surgery. For example, displacement maps can be used to make a figure appear to have piercings or scars that actually stand out from the skin no matter what angle you look at them from.

Specularity: Specularity refers to how shiny an object is and also often uses a greyscale image to determine where and how much in a 3D program like Poser. Often referred to when using a "specular map" or "specular node". Specular effects are what makes glass shiny, and how a Poser artist makes a figure look like they are covered in suntan oil, sweat, etc.

Hopefully this lexicon of Poser terminology will start to give you a better grasp of some of the jargon used by Poser artists, specifically about materials and textures.