Using Poser's Deformation Tools to Make Custom Characters

In Poser 13, you have the power to modify your 3D models without the need to jump into third-party applications. This is a very useful feature, as you can modify your characters directly into the application, to add or modify details that will make them the way you want them.

To do this, you can use Poser’s Morphing Tool. The Morphing Tool can be found in the Editing Tools pane.

When you open the Morphing Tool, you can create a new morph, or modify an existing morph. If you are starting a brand new morph from scratch, I’d recommend creating a new morph, so it doesn’t conflict with any other morph you have applied.

Using the Morphing Tool is fairly simple. You have different actions that you can perform on your model, like pushing or pulling vertices, softening areas, expanding or contracting, etc. You can also modify the area of effect, strength and also fall off for your brush. By combining all of these, you can get really good results when sculpting your morphs.

Additionally, you can symmetrize your morph at any point. This means you can work on one side of your model, and then symmetrize the morph so it is applied to the other side. The symmetry works along any axis, so you are not limited to the basic “left to right” or “right to left” symmetry.

Using the Morphing Tool is a very easy and effective way to make morphs for your characters. However, that’s not the only way to do it. You can also use Magnets to modify parts of your model. Magnets work by pulling, pushing or scaling vertices inside a volume of effect, called Magnet Zone.

Magnets are very simple to use but can be very powerful too. By modifying the Magnet Zone you can make the magnet affect certain parts of your model. Additionally, you can add as many magnets as you want until you get the desired result.

Of course, handing a figure with so many magnets can be complicated, so you should create a full-body morph that encapsulates all the magnet deformations you have made. To bake the magnets onto a full-body morph, you can use the “Spawn Full Body Morph” command in the Figure menu. After you do this, you can just get rid of the magnets and use the newly-generated full body morph to apply the deformation to your character.

While using external tools like ZBrush to make your morphs can be a powerful addition to your workflow, you can also use Poser’s built-in tools to make your custom morphs. This is an easier and budget-friendly way to create your custom characters directly inside Poser!

Do you create your custom characters for Poser? How are you using Poser’s tools to make your custom characters? Share your thoughts in the Poser forums!

Nemirc, aka Sergio Rosa, is a freelance graphics technology reporter and video game creator/developer. He has been working and creating in 3D for over two decades. He loves movies and writing as well. Nemirc was introduced to 3D from one of the very first versions of Poser.

Using Poser's Deformation Tools to Make Custom Characters

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