Feeling a little guilty using prebuilt poses

vaaern

So, I'm not really "new" to Daz. But I still feel like an absolute beginner. I've only used it for a year. I always try to make somewhat realistic scenes, and while I like to feel my work is improving somewhat, I mostly use prebuilt poses, which I then adjust. But I feel a little guilty for doing so. Maybe this sounds stupid? I do try to make my own poses (and that does sometimes work out), but it's very hard. Any tips for feeling less guilty, and maybe a good way of learning to pose? I try using reference material, but it proves too hard sometimes.

Cheers,

A pretty insecure 3D artist

Kitsumo

As long as you're not selling the poses or giving them away, you don't need to feel guilty. Aside from that it's up to you how much of your own work you want to put into your art. Some painters crush minerals & charcoal, etc to mix their own paints. Others just buy paint at the store. I don't think it makes them any more/less of an artist. My 2¢.

Random

Actually, it's a real timesaver to find an aproximate pose in your pose library and then adjust it. Why not?? Best to get a pose library with various individual sections for arms, legs, uppers and lowers, etc.

FSMCDesigns

Why would you feel guilty?  When you click everything and do nothing yourself in the scene, then you can feel guilty, LOL

Nothing wrong with using premade poses, that is why they are there. The fact you then tweak them further is a good sign and eventually you'll be making your own poses because of it.

McGyver

There is nothing to feel guilty about... a photographer tells his/her subjects to pose based on poses her/he has learned to be good or expressive... the subject then does all the bending and posing until the photographer says “Yo, that’s good, stop”...(maybe not that way)... or they hire a model or subject that knows what to do... they just tell them a pose or style they are looking for and the model tries their best to imitate that.

You can’t really instruct your figures to pose themselves, so you “hire” a pre made pose and load it into the figure so it knows what you want... you tweak it from there... basically what the photographer is doing when they say “a little bit more pouty” or “think Abraham Lincoln on crack”... (maybe not that one)... 

Nothing to feel guilty about.

LenioTG

It's okay! :D

I always try to add new poses to my library, and when I need one I imagine it in my head, and I look for the closest one, then I adjust it!

If you realized every pose by yourself they would probably not look as good, and that would require you a lot of time!

dougj

You could try puppeteer. It's a good way to create "in-between poses". Here's a link to a short video that explains how to use puppeteer just in case you're not familiar with it:

PowerPose is also a good way to create poses.

vaaern

I feel a little less guilty now :) Some really logical things in here. But starting out I always thought you eventually had to do everything yourself. But then again, why are there so many resources. I've been trying making more poses starting from scratch, tough work, but I'll get there!

DestinysGarden

Gawd yes! You should never feel guilty about using prebuilt poses, or any other resource for that matter. If you consider the amount of time it would take you to make the pose (or the rest of it) yourself vs. how much you paid for the resource, I'm sure you'll find out you are ahead. Consider a pose pack that sells for maybe 10 bucks and has 20 poses in it. If it took you an hour to make each pose, at a rate of $10 an hour that is $200 for that pose pack. An illustrator on a deadline and a budget is going to buy the pose pack. Some of the PAs that make poses only do poses, and they are very good at paying attention to weight and balance, and all the other little details that give a figure life. Take advantage of their professional experience and make your life easier at the same time. The fact that you tweak the pose to suit and are learning to create your own stuff speaks volumes. Keep at it, and while you learn never feel bad about using the things provided by others to help you obtain your vision.

ArkadySkies

Daz3D's video Pinning, Posing and the Active Pose Tool helped me a lot, and they have another video as part of their 101 series. Both are free on youtube.

I frequently use the Translate tool and Rotate tool and their pin functions on figure bones for fine tuning them afterwards. Also, for me, the rotate tool is usually the easiest way to control bones individually.

sriesch

Don't feel guilty, use the tools available to you. 

If you are worried somebody else is going to think you are trying to claim credit for it or something, you could leave a comment thanking the vendor for the great pose you were able to use or mention to your viewers how it's a timesaver or whatever, although I doubt this is likely to be an issue. 

The only real downside of using a prebuilt pose is it is possible that everybody else is using the exact same pose and it could look somewhat canned if it's commonly used and a very unique pose that people aren't usually found in.  I've rarely encountered that when browsing galleries, although it might be more likely if you and everybody else start using the same newly-released pose for the same figure at the exact same time in the same gallery where that figure is the center of attention for your render.  Minor tweaks to the pose might eliminate that issue if you feel it has happened.

L'Adair

sriesch said:

Don't feel guilty, use the tools available to you. 

If you are worried somebody else is going to think you are trying to claim credit for it or something, you could leave a comment thanking the vendor for the great pose you were able to use or mention to your viewers how it's a timesaver or whatever, although I doubt this is likely to be an issue. 

The only real downside of using a prebuilt pose is it is possible that everybody else is using the exact same pose and it could look somewhat canned if it's commonly used and a very unique pose that people aren't usually found in.  I've rarely encountered that when browsing galleries, although it might be more likely if you and everybody else start using the same newly-released pose for the same figure at the exact same time in the same gallery where that figure is the center of attention for your render.  Minor tweaks to the pose might eliminate that issue if you feel it has happened.

I know you specified the Galleries, but I couldn't resist mentioning this: I got a good chuckle one day, maybe a year ago or so, when two products were release by two different PAs, and the main promo image for both used the same pose! But product promo images are about showcasing the product, so it's not surprising, just funny.

@vaaern, I have been known to create a pose from the default pose. However, more often than not, I start with one of the many poses I have in my runtime, and go from there. It can save a lot of time to get the figure close to what you need, and then tweak the details.

I'm reminded of something in the movie, Mona Lisa Smile. The art teacher sent the class home with a Van Gogh paint by numbers kit, and encouraged the students to ignore the numbers and use whatever colors they wanted. When the students brought in their finished pictures, no two were alike, even though they started with the same tools. (Sorry, I couldn't find a clip on youtube showing the big reveal.)

In the end, what matters most, is the finished art, not what tools you did or didn't use to get there. Have fun. Make art that you love.

vaaern

Sorry for the lack of response on my own post. I feel a lot better about it now. It sounds reasonable to use the tools available. I never looked at it that way. I do try to make my own poses more now. I learn every day :)