Modeling poses/photography/photo studios

Ive got a few questions that I am struggling with, regarding photography of avatars.

First of all, if I buy a modeling set of poses, I can put it in a posing stand for studio use. But what if I am out and about in SL, and want to have access to poses for my avatar, other than fishing through an animations folder? (and rezzing the posing stand is not allowed on that parcel) Is there some quick and easy way to organize poses, and keep them accessible, for "on the fly" photos on location?

Regarding studio work, I have looked around quite a bit, and it appears that most studios have a 10 meter background, and a 10 meter base, at right angles to each other, that can have the textures on them changed. There is usually a posing stand that models can use, and then you can "hide" the stand before taking the picture. I find that when I try to do this, I can't get a good balance in terms of enough of a full body shot, with out cutting off the feet, and having the walls to the left or right of the area also appear in the shot.

My largest problem has do to with head position and movement. It doesn't matter what pose I use, my avatar tends to flip her head away, and I can't get face shots for the most part, unless I am very patient. And they are often not very good face shots, because I have to take them in such a hurry before she moves again.

I'm a rank amateur, but very interested in this. I'd appreciate any tips people can give. I'm sure there are just a few basic things that I am missing, and I feel foolish that I can't figure it out on my own!

(And we won't even get into all the different lighting effects that are available!)

Thanks!

Princess Ivory

You need to find poses with high proiorites so the head does not move. My photo studio is the N30 Deluxe Modeling Studio and the background adjust wider and taller and everything else you say you need. I'll drop you a link in-world and would be happy to help you any way I can.

Check out http://www.never30.com for more info

To use modeling poses without a stand, put them into an animation overrider instead.

Some only allow a limited number of stands, others quite a few. Some even have a special "modeling pose" function for this purpose.

What do you mean by "high priorities?"

And you adjust your studio to be more than 10m by 10m? I'm familiar with your N30 by reputation. I must confess I found it overwhelming when I tried to use it somewhere once!

Thanks for the link.

Princess Ivory

I have a regular ZHAO that I use to control my walk, sit, etc basics. Would I use something separate for the modeling poses? I've seen Huddles - would I need something more along those lines?

Princess Ivory

Thanks for the prompt replies so far! This is a great community for helping each other.

By high priorities I mean when the animation is uploaded, it can be given varying levels of priority. Some of which allow the head, arms, and torso to move while still in the animation, So if you type or edit something while in the animation your avatar takes a break from the pose to perform those tasks...and should go back to the pose afterwards, but I see that sometimes doesn't happen as planned. So you need animations with a high priority so that the animation/pose takes priority over all other movements.

Glad I could be of some assistance.
Good luck!

The N30 IS intimidating to start with, but you get used to it quickly. It is great, except that (at least the ones I've used) could DESPERATELY use a better menu system for texture choice. I want something like how the Lestat texture organizer works. If I could only open up the thing's scripts I would add it myself, grrrr ....

Prev. poster is right about priority, you want poses that run at higher "priority" than the default Linden anims. There are pose creators that sell both versions - a pose with head motion, and one with head static.

Take the shot direct to disk (as a .bmp) and use a graphics program to crop it, and to paint over any ancillary crud that creeeps into the shot. I use FastStone, and excellent freebie phot viewer, which has great cropping and supports the full range of file save formats, including .tga

THEN you upload the results to SL. Either way, you end up paying 10L (the shot to disk is free).

A friend of mine tried to stretch her N30 and things got a little funky. So do not assume you can do that - check with the creator, or install instructions.

Thanks Nika! I'll look into the menu system. As of v2.9 there is a button on the menu "My Backs" that cycles through any backgrounds you add yourself and skips the installed backgrounds. But there is always room for improvement, especially when it comes from a valued product owner.

I wish there was a way to see the priorities of animations...I mean for the consumer to see them. I suppose animators could always put the priority in the animation title or description for now.

Hugs,
Maddy

That happens when people try to manually stretch it. There are commands you can use to stretch it or menu items.

I have an N30 studio. There are preference settings on the studio to make the backdrop wider or taller. It can adjust to several sizes. I did find however that I sometimes had to raise the backdrop up, even after hiding the pose stand, to get the model's feet 'on the ground'.

Getting the optional 'camera' for the N30 is handy. It gives you a way to lock in the camera position, and to pan and zoom from that position to compose a shot.

Oh, Maddy, the N30 is yours? Congrats, nice product!

Actually my issue IS with the "my backs". You get a pile of them in there, and then there is NO menuing system. You end up pushing the freaking arrow buttons for 15 minutes to find the one you want. Even if you do as I do and just push it compulsively, then wait for the unit to catch up ...

Because I don't need backgrounds, I have an entire room of my workshop that is entirely white, full bright, all 6 walls. I could put any texture I wanted on the walls. I have my pose stand in the middle, and it has hide/show chat command. I do snapshot to disk, then use paint.net or gimp to edit the bmp.

my n30 studio, camera, and lights are among my top 5 sl possessions.

Until the highly requested alternate menu system is released with the next version, you can use /2 canvas canvasname

So if your background texture is called "CatPeople" and your studio is on Channel 2 type:

/2 canvas CatPeople

That will take you directly to the background you wanrt instead of having to flip through.

So how do I know if the poses I am buying are "high priority?" I'm assuming poses from places like Reel Expression and other well known shops would be correct with the priorities?

And if I want to take all my poses out of my studio stand and go out shooting on location, what is the best way for my avatar to access the poses? I have a ZHAO for my basic walk, sit, and stand. What would I use instead specifically for the various modeling poses? Is there something people like that is easy and quick to access the poses?

Sorry for being such a n00b about this!

Thanks,
Princess Ivory

it's not the priority it is tat whoever made the animation left the neck or head at 0,0,0
If a body part is not moved it leaves it "flexible" meaning if I don't move abdomen on a pose you will see it sway back and fourth, if that makes sense.

I sell animations both ways, my ones intended for modeling, I don't allow the head to move, however if it is for an AO or maybe furniture I will prefer the head move naturally..

Since I am sure you don't want to trash your current poses, you can always alt click yourself or something else to make your head go in the direction you are after...

I have several different tools and props for modeling and photography at my shop (Sensual Designs and Animations) But all of them either make you use the animation from your inventory, wear something, or rez something.
I am not sure there is any other way =/

There is no way of telling unless the creator specifies unfortunately. Personally as far as using the poses when out an about you can always just double click on the animation/pose from your inventory and Play it from there.

That's the most convenient way I have found.

~Maddy

not true. most poses and animations are in vendor where you can try them, it is easy to determine if they are right for you and this how I test my own to make sure they are the way I intended them to be... When you are trying the pose do a "lol" make sure you don't move or do the belly laugh, also type in open chat, make sure you don't move, then simply alt click something and make sure your head don't move.

Also as for taking pictures just anywhere, I haven't tried it, but maybe one of my dance bracelets would work, you can have it cycle through animations, chose randomly or you can tell it to use a specific animation, I don't see why this wouldn't work for you in photography..

Hope that helps

Ah, good points. I never noticed that when buying poses...type "lol". Thanks!
I think I'll grab a dance bracelet Drop me a lm?

~Maddy

hehe sure thing, although I haven't tried it yet lol, but in theory it sounds like it would work.. lol

I would be interested in finding good poses too. If people have recommendations for poses, please IM me!

Thanks!

not to honk my horn, but check out my place I can send you a landmark

I am currently working on a few new sets, I hope to finish them very soon

Sensual has some.
I have some.
Nyterave has some. (These were the first I came across that were really good months and months ago before I started with posing.)
Girl 6 has some (I think).
Canimal has some also.

It all depends on what you are looking for and what your tastes are.

~Maddy

Cool.



If you can send me landmarks I'll stop by and browse.

Any freebies? (I have to ask)