Genesis 1/2/3/8 Figure Arm Posing Frustrations

mikethe3dguy

Is it just me, or is the arm particularly difficult to pose on Daz figures?. I realize that the Shoulder and Collar rotations are intended to simulate the movements of major shoulder and back muscles, but sometimes I want to tear my hair out trying to pose arms the way I want them. Every once in a while I try to figure out the "secret" to rotation behavior, but I don't get very far. It's often a grueling session of trial-and-error that finally results in the pose I want, but I don't learn much from it to help me the next time. Depending on the current Collar rotations and Shoulder Front-Back or Twist positions, the Shoulder Bend slider will either move the arm out laterally away (and back) from the body, but often it just causes the shoulder to rotate, similar to the Shoulder Twist slider. Has anyone unlocked the secret code here?

My presumption and recollection is that this applies at least to all the "Genesis" figure versions, but really my current concern is about G8.

Thanks

Richard Haseltine

You are encountering gimbal lock - rotating around ana xis earlier in the rotation order can move the later rotation axis so it is closer to the other axis, instead of at right angles. If you can use the on-screen gizmos rather than sliders you can set the coordinate system they use in Tool Settings, which may help.

mikethe3dguy

Ahh, thanks Richard, helpful response! I don't do a lot of rigging so that never occurred to me.

richardandtracy

I must admit whenever I do arm posing I put my own arm in the position I want & try to fix that in my mind, then using the sliders I get the arm close to the shape in my mind, while working down the arm. Then I do limited IK movements on the hand to get the hand in the perfet spot & pin it, before doing final tweaks to the arm bones to get the shape comfortable. Once the hand is set, then I work on the fingers. I often expect 10-15 minutes per arm to get just what I want, especially if interfacing with another part of the body or clothing. Not quick I know.

Regards,

Richard.