Entry into ‘Poser’

Scarab in Poser

My first foray into using Poser, which is an application with 3D models and character creation tools to create and render 3D graphics and animations. The manual is 800+ pages so I am ignoring that and jumping in to play. Luckily there is a scarab beetle in the library so I will use this library model to explore how to change materials, lighting, camera angles and to key frame to create movement. Some of the language of the app is familiar to other programs I have used (Danceforms, and a brief brush with 3D Studio Max).

There is significant complexity/capacity in the editing tools that deal with colour, texture and lighting. You can import textures and/or manipulate diffuse colour, highlights, ambient light and reflection. And you have to choose from individual body parts when making these manipulations.

So, without knowing what I was doing I have changed colours, textures and highlights on the library model. Next I plan to make changes because I know what I’m doing. Also want to change the shape.

No idea yet how I create my own models.

I can see that this is going to be a challenge!

Current obsessions

beetle
A beetle - with detail of scarab

Where do you start when you haven’t been actively creating work for a numbers of years?

I feel like I need to:

  • rebuild some technical skills
  • explore new materials
  • allow concepts and imagery to grow

I have an obsession with beetles and fur at the moment. I hope to regain some drawing skills using these images, and exploring the use of coloured pens and pencils. Here’s a beetle sketch, overlaid with a scarab from the Smithsonian Institute (public domain image in case you were wondering).

I plan to animate the beetles, so now off to better my skills in graphics and animation applications as well.