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To Turn - Head Or Neck?

XenomorphineXenomorphine Posts: 2,421
edited February 2015 in The Commons

I've been going through a lot of the pose sets I have and it's got me curious... Some have a figure (human or otherwise) turn the head, itself, when looking one way or the other. Others only use the neck joint. A few combine both.

So, when you want to have a figure simply looking to the left or right, should I ideally be changing the left/right value of the head or neck?

Post edited by Xenomorphine on

Comments

  • SickleYieldSickleYield Posts: 7,644
    edited December 1969

    Usually you need to divide rotation between the two to get it both bending the most realistically and aimed in the right direction. You may notice with your own neck and head that they do not move at all separate from one another, so this is a trickier area working with two separate bones on the figure.

  • RawArtRawArt Posts: 5,961
    edited December 1969

    For a more natural look I always start any head movements with the neck, and use the actual head movements just for the more minute gestures after.

    Rawn

  • XenomorphineXenomorphine Posts: 2,421
    edited February 2015

    Gotcha'. Was wondering if it was something to do with bends. That's why seeing the diversity between pose sets was puzzling me. Many only seem to use one bone or the other.

    Guess I'll have to use just one to find the desirable angle, see what the number is, 'undo', then divide it by two and manually input both head and neck.

    EDIT: Ah, that's interesting, RA. Seems you both have different methodologies!

    Post edited by Xenomorphine on
  • RawArtRawArt Posts: 5,961
    edited December 1969

    not that different...still using both bones, just to varying degrees.
    Simply using one bone or the other just looks unnatural.

  • SpottedKittySpottedKitty Posts: 7,232
    edited December 1969

    (This is on G2F and G2M, YMMV on earlier figures.) With the Head selected, look in the Pose Controls>Neck and fiddle with the three Neck-Head dials. They all control both head and neck movements. I always do the same with the standard Head and Neck rotation dials when I don't want to use the Pose Controls directly. Also, using only one or the other, you frequently don't get enough rotation for the pose you want — and bypassing the built-in limits can leave the figure looking like someone (that's you) is trying to twist their head off... and succeeding. Looks painful. :ahhh:

  • TimbalesTimbales Posts: 2,366
    edited December 1969

    For me, it really depends on what mood you want to convey with the pose. I start with the hips and work my way up. I think it's important to break up the evenness and symmetry of the figure to get a more natural looking pose - slight cocking of the hips, a little tilt and bend to the abdomen, etc.

  • SnowSultanSnowSultan Posts: 3,645
    edited December 1969

    I always use the three Head/Neck dials that SpottedKitty mentioned, in fact I have them as Favorites (as well as the Eyes Up/Down and Eyes Left/Right dials) on every Genesis 2 figure that I use. If I use a pose that I purchased, I always zero the Head and Neck and use those dials to pose the head and neck instead. Posing them individually often leads to unrealistic bends, like the head tilting while the neck stays still.

  • cwichuracwichura Posts: 1,042
    edited December 1969

    I will second using the Pose Controls for neck movements in Genesis and Genesis 2. I use these controls exclusively when I am doing my own poses. They apply the actual movements to both the head and neck bones from one single master parameter. The gen 4 figures also have this in a Morphform control located in the neck.

    Many packaged/commercial pose sets have manually adjusted the neck and head bones, rather than using the pose controls/morphforms. No idea why people go this route, unless its a compatibility thing.

  • bohemian3bohemian3 Posts: 1,035
    edited February 2015

    SpottedKitty said:
    (This is on G2F and G2M, YMMV on earlier figures.) With the Head selected, look in the Pose Controls>Neck and fiddle with the three Neck-Head dials. ...

    Thank you so much for this ! Never noticed that option. Appreciate your taking the time to share the knowledge.

    Post edited by bohemian3 on
  • SpottedKittySpottedKitty Posts: 7,232
    edited December 1969

    There's a lot of useful dials in the Pose Controls section. You just have to be aware of what other controls you're using, because those dial settings will also interact with rotations on the individual body parts, and also applied poses. Sometimes in the most interesting and wince-inducing ways (unless you're a contortionist)... ;-)

  • XenomorphineXenomorphine Posts: 2,421
    edited December 1969

    Fascinating! This has been really enlightening. Thanks, guys!

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,597
    edited December 1969

    I have accidently gotten "rubber neck" not turning head myself!

  • jestmartjestmart Posts: 4,449
    edited December 1969

    I hate poses that use the pose controls. For me a pre-built pose is a starting point, the pose controls make it difficult to adjust the pose because I have to break the control links in the individual bones to be able to do anything with them.

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