A Poser question

[bbjohn]

I have a question that's been bothering me and I thought perhaps someone on this forum could answer it for me. I look at much of the computer-generated artwork (not just here, but in other places, too) and I find myself asking why all those Poser girls are so skinny. Doesn't anyone feed them? Some of them look like they're little more than skin and bones. I keep wanting to set them down in front of a plate of biscuits and gravy.

Maybe that's why they're damsels in distress. They're so weak from starvation! Please! Someone get them some corn dogs and Twinkies!

Like I said, that's a question that's been bothering me. If any of you can answer that, I'd appreciate it. In the meantime, I'll try to get my tongue out of my cheek before I push all my teeth out.

Big Bad John

[Boppinabe]

I don't use Poser, I use Daz3d for my(admittedly rare) 3-d DiD pics. There is, at least on the Daz3d, a dial to control how well-fed you girl(or GUY!) is. I generally dial mine up a bit, for a more curvy girl. I'll see if I can dig out some of my old pics using the Aiko 3 figure.

I myself have always been struck by the astonishingly outsized breasts of many Poser-type ladies.

[Qsvgitguy]

I use poser a lot and yes, many of the models of girls out there are setup as thin, slender, model types. I do sometimes make the models bigger, and more voluptuous, but I'll be honest, I like my girls slender, with a certain shape, and that's what I put into my poser characters. It's not fair I admit, for I have never have had big guns, broad shoulders and a six pack, and I probably never will.

One thing I don't do is make the breasts gigantic. It does not look realistic, if that's a word I can use on this subject.

The basic look of models these days can be way too thin for me as well, but for the most part, a body like Brittany Spears many people still find very appealing. If you think most celebrity women are too thin...
1> You're probably right.
2> But, they look that way because the powers that be think that's what the public wants.

[Nessie]

(Nessie does a little surfing to look at Poser models)

The problem doesn't seem to be as severe as it used to be. Awhile back, it seemed like nearly every gal I saw from Poser was a famine survivor. Surfing pages of Poser models today, I see some curviness out there plus the arms are getting better. I still think that too many upper arms remain too thin, and shoulders and elbow joints tend to look funny (I'm not sure why or how to fix it but I wouldn't ask these gals to lift much). Thighs also tend to be mighty thin. The diameter of the leg just below the crotch area ought not to be nearly the same (small) diameter as the leg just above the knee.

I'm not a fan of unrealistic body types. Given a choice between a cartoon with exaggerated body parts and a realistically proportioned drawing, I will tend to prefer the realism every time. I also realize that these characters are expected to move, which probably makes an aesthetic design much more difficult than it does for those of us who draw only one still, and we're done!

As for the mass media, yes, it's gone nuts. Just totally nuts. I try to keep myself in shape and that means keeping weight off but geesh. Very few real women can achieve today's media "perfection"...if one can even call it that when there's nothing realistic or healthy about it.

I've been lately taking an interest in model sites. No, I'm nowhere near actually hiring a female model right now. But looking at some of them made me realize that I'd much rather photograph somebody who is a shade heavy than somebody whose bones are poking out of her skin. I can't remember which model site it was, but I was looking at one girl in my area and she had a pretty face. The pictures were black and white "artistic" stills and she had on just a bikini.

She was all ribs and bones. Is that really "beauty"? I wondered if she could be a real anorexic.

Nessie

[nachtjaeger]

Not surprisingly, from what I've seen the Poser models are modeled after an idealized female form. Those really delicate bones are actually a turn-off for me. Would be nice if whoever comes up with the Poser models could create a female skeleton/frame in L, XL and XXL bone sizes. 40-27-39 is still a nice waist/hip ratio. 40DD/22/32 is downright silly.

[AyaneMatrix]

I'll have to agree with you bbjohn as many default models used for Poser renders are very idealistic, but also free. The ones that come with Poser 6 and 7 (don't have 8, so I can't say) are closer to how some women look with some decent definition, but the Daz 3D models are just about always super model quality until you cough up the additional funds necessary to change their bodies and faces to something that's generally more appealing or even normal. My only major grief with the ones that Daz put out are that the feet, more specifically the toes, which you cannot pose and they tend to look less realistic as a result. Same for their joints, but those are honestly getting better with each iteration though you'll need the morph packs to see those results.

So, in light of that, I'm trying my hand at modeling human figures. After that, what will make or break the model is how it's rigged, which a dedicated modeling app like Blender or Maya tend to do much better than Poser. At least you can make adjustments if things look funny.

[nachtjaeger]

What really bugs me is when I see these "before and after" diet ads on TV and online, and the "before" picture is of a gorgeous babe, and the "after" picture is a skeleton.

(Nessie does a little surfing to look at Poser models)

The problem doesn't seem to be as severe as it used to be. Awhile back, it seemed like nearly every gal I saw from Poser was a famine survivor. Surfing pages of Poser models today, I see some curviness out there plus the arms are getting better. I still think that too many upper arms remain too thin, and shoulders and elbow joints tend to look funny (I'm not sure why or how to fix it but I wouldn't ask these gals to lift much). Thighs also tend to be mighty thin. The diameter of the leg just below the crotch area ought not to be nearly the same (small) diameter as the leg just above the knee.

I'm not a fan of unrealistic body types. Given a choice between a cartoon with exaggerated body parts and a realistically proportioned drawing, I will tend to prefer the realism every time. I also realize that these characters are expected to move, which probably makes an aesthetic design much more difficult than it does for those of us who draw only one still, and we're done!

As for the mass media, yes, it's gone nuts. Just totally nuts. I try to keep myself in shape and that means keeping weight off but geesh. Very few real women can achieve today's media "perfection"...if one can even call it that when there's nothing realistic or healthy about it.

I've been lately taking an interest in model sites. No, I'm nowhere near actually hiring a female model right now. But looking at some of them made me realize that I'd much rather photograph somebody who is a shade heavy than somebody whose bones are poking out of her skin. I can't remember which model site it was, but I was looking at one girl in my area and she had a pretty face. The pictures were black and white "artistic" stills and she had on just a bikini.

She was all ribs and bones. Is that really "beauty"? I wondered if she could be a real anorexic.

Nessie