View source for MTS2:Creator Guidelines/Sims 3 Poses

=Sims 3 Poses=

==Introduction==

Made stunning poses that you just HAVE to share? Please read the following guidelines carefully so you know what we expect for uploading your poses to MTS.

==Quality/General==

This is by far the most important factor in pose uploads, but also the hardest to quantify.

{{Guidelines-Quality-TimeandEffort}}

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! style="text-align:left" | Pose the whole body (*)
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|[[Image:Guidelines_poses_posewholebody.jpg|right|thumbnail|300x300px]]
Always try to alter every or at least almost every joint a little bit. Altering just a few joints doesn't make a natural pose. Also avoid perfect symmetry. Even if you make a standing pose, you should alter the legs and feet and rotate the torso a bit to create a natural pose. Begin with the big changes and work your way down to the details. Don't forget to pose the hands and fingers as they count a great deal to the final quality of your pose. It's difficult, but try to alter the face as well to create some facial expression.
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! style="text-align:left" | Stick with what's anatomically possible (*)
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|[[Image:Guidelines_poses_impossibleangles.jpg|right|thumbnail|300x300px]]
So, yeah, you can move all these joints in each direction without restrictions. But that doesn't mean you should. What you should do, is always keep in mind what the human body would be capable of when you move a joint. Don't go beyond the anatomically possible. Never bend joints in impossible directions or to impossible angles.

Of course it makes sense in some cases to go a bit beyond what a regular human would be able to do, but such poses need to fit a certain theme or context. E.g. you're free to make acrobatic poses that only a double-jointed circus artist can do. Contorted talking on the phone or walking the dog poses just don't make sense.

<blockquote>
'''Tip: When you alter a joint for the first time or whenever you're unsure, check what's possible on your own body. Maybe work from pictures of real people. Make the poses yourself or let someone pose for you.'''
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
'''Tip: [http://www.bsu.edu/web/ykwon/pep294/lab2/rom_lab.html Range of motion of the major human joints]'''
</blockquote>

Keep in mind that a pose that is anatomically possible for the human body, isn't necessarily doable for sims without looking really bad. It doesn't make a useful pose if you alter a joint in a way that the sim mesh gets badly distorted even if it would be possible for a human. If the mesh gets badly distorted, try to work around it or go for something else.
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! style="text-align:left" | Don't defy gravity (*)
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|[[Image:Guidelines_poses_defygravity.jpg|right|thumbnail|300x300px]]
This is best explained by an example: Stand straight on both feet and then lift one foot from the ground. Notice how you automatically shift your torso to the leg you're standing on? That is what what this is basically about. The center of weight of the sim should always be within the footprint. It's easy of course if the sim is lying on the torso or anything like that. However, if you make a seemingly simple pose like a sim who shifted the weight to one leg, you know, the standing leg vs. play leg thing, then you need to shift the torso to be right above the standing leg to make a natural pose.


Of course this doesn't apply to poses that are supposed to show sims in full movement.
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! style="text-align:left" | No sinking or floating (*)
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|[[Image:Guidelines_poses_sinkingfloating.jpg|right|thumbnail|300x300px]]
Whether the sim is standing on their feet or sitting on their butt or whatever you can think of, always make sure that whatever the sim is resting on actually touches the ground. Touch as in not visibly float above it or sink into it. If you use an OMSP to make a sim sit on a stool or lie on a bed, make sure that the height of the OMSP perfectly matches the height of the surface.


Of course this doesn't apply to poses that are supposed to show sims in full movement. In most cases, e.g. jumping or running, you should pose the sim with one foot on the ground, like in the process of jumping off or landing. Showing a sim floating in the air will almost always look weird.
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! style="text-align:left" | No stretching or compressing (*)
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|[[Image:Guidelines_poses_stretchcompress.jpg|right|thumbnail|300x300px]]
So, you altered joints on that pose all day and now that foot is floating above the ground a bit? Don't give in to the temptation to just stretch the leg! Always keep all the bones at their regular length. Stretched or compressed skeletons never look realistic, and can completely ruin an otherwise good pose.
<blockquote>
'''Tip: Never move a joint! Just rotate them.'''
</blockquote>
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! style="text-align:left" | No clipping and no anti-clipping (*)
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|[[Image:Guidelines_poses_anticlipping.jpg|right|thumbnail|300x300px]]
Always triple-check that there is little to no clipping, i.e. as little clipping as possible. On the other hand, if parts of the body are supposed to make contact, e.g. hand on hip, they should actually make contact and not miss each other by a foot. If a sim is supposed to have their hand resting on their knee, make sure the hand is actually resting on the knee and not going right through the knee joint or hovering way above the knee.
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==Screenshots==

People want to see what they're downloading!  Your screenshots sell your upload - if people don't like the look of your screenshots, they're not going to download - and if your screenshots are too bad, you won't get your upload approved.

{{Guidelines-Screenshots-BigEnough}}
{{Guidelines-Screenshots-WellLit}}
{{Guidelines-Screenshots-Angle}}
{{Guidelines-Screenshots-WholeThing}}
{{Guidelines-Screenshots-CloseEnough}}
{{Guidelines-Screenshots-NeutralBackgrounds}}

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! style="text-align:left" | Add the pose names to your screenshots (*)
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|Please add the pose name as text to the screenshot so downloaders see what pose it's actually showing. Make sure your text is in blank areas of the picture or covers an absolute minimum of your creation. Text should be formatted as it would be entered into the pose player  e.g. a_ballet pose_01
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! style="text-align:left" | No Photoshopping on required screenshots (*)
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|While it can be tempting to get artistic with your screenshots in Photoshop, please don't. Screenshots need to be just as things look in the game, with no extra filtering such as contrast, sharpen, blur, saturation, etc.


If you think that your poses would go well with some additional effects from your graphics program, feel free to attach related screenshots to your upload. However, these screenshots can only be additional and can't replace the required screenshots!
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! style="text-align:left" | Clothes and hair can't cover the poses (*)
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|[[Image:Guidelines_poses_baggyclothing.jpg|right|thumbnail|300x300px]]
So this long hair and that dress you downloaded the other day are absolutely stunning? Sorry, but a pose upload is probably not the best place to show them off. It must always be recognizable where under the clothes and hair the sim and the skeleton is.


There are no absolute requirements about hair and clothes, but make sure that they don't hide the actual pose. If you're unsure, just use short hair and tight pants and shirts.
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{{Guidelines-Screenshots-InlineandAttached}}
{{Guidelines-Screenshots-Tips}}

===Required Screenshots===

You always need to show all poses that come with your upload. Beyond that the screenshots need to meet certain requirements.

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! style="text-align:left" | Actual in-game screenshots with enough light and shadow (*)
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|All required screenshots must be taken in the game with actual in-game backgrounds. Please don't cut the sims out and put them into random non-game backgrounds.

Also please make sure that your poses are shown in a scenery that is light enough and lit well enough to see shadows. It's important that it can be seen that a pose is neither floating nor sinking. Unless it is meant to, of course.
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! style="text-align:left" | Show the arms and legs (*)
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|Make sure that your screenshots show where the arms and legs are in relation to the torso and how and at what angle they are bent.
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! style="text-align:left" | Show the hands (*)
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|Hand and finger positions and angles are very important for a good pose. Make sure that they can be seen on your screenshots.
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! style="text-align:left" | Show the face (*)
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|Make sure that the facial expression of the posed sim is visible so folks can see whether the sim is frowning of smiling. Yes, posing the face is difficult and maybe you only altered it a little bit or even used the neutral default face without altering it. Still, downloaders must be able to see the facial expression of the poses.
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! style="text-align:left" | Show a pose from two angles if one isn't enough (*)
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|If you're struggling to make that one single screenshot that shows a pose in all its glorious detail, why not just make two screenshots from different angles? While one screenshot may be enough to show off a pose, it's never wrong to make two.

Sometimes you may even need to show a pose from two angles to fullfill the requirements.
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! style="text-align:left" | Pose List Thumbnails (*)
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|Your in-game pose list should appear with thumbnails of each pose so users can easily identify the poses they’re looking for. The optimum size for these thumbnails is 59x60pixels. In most cases the overall file size of your upload, with pose list included, should be under 200kb. [http://http://www.den.simlogical.com/denforum/index.php?topic=948.0 Pose pack tutorial]
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==Right Info and Right Files==

Once you have your creation made and screenshots taken, you need to make sure you have the correct files and information ready to do your upload.

{{Guidelines-InfoFiles-ZipRar7z}}
{{Guidelines-InfoFiles-Title}}

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! style="text-align:left" | Description of Poses (*)
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|This doesn’t have to be very long but your description should make clear which poses are part of your upload. '''For the main text only''', you are no longer required to list the pose names in the ''exact'' format they would be entered into the pose list; descriptions or numbers to match the full names on your required screenshots would be fine.
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! style="text-align:left" | Pose List Compatibility (*)
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|Please make sure your poses are pose list compatible. Please state that they are compatible in the written portion of your upload to show that you have done this. [http://www.den.simlogical.com/denforum/index.php?topic=948.0 Pose pack tutorial]
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==Additional Stuff==

* If your upload is rejected or marked as changes required and you're not sure why, ask in [http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=492 Creator Issues].

* If you're not sure whether your poses are ready for uploading, use the [http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=473 Creator Feedback Forum] to get feedback on it.


[[Category:MTS2 Creator Guidelines]]
[[Category:Sims 3]]