How To Improve Your Posing!

Hey there! I just want to share some tips and tricks on how to improve your posing. SFM can seem really intimidating, and I'm here to ease that fear!

A lot more of the foundations of art will be discussed in this guide. If you are looking for more technical-based guides, I would recommend looking for other guides or YouTube videos to help with that.

This guide is meant for NOVICE to INTERMEDIATE users. I'll be going over the use of the basic pre-installed rig in SFM, as well as some posing without a rig. I will go into the most detail I can on my process of posing, and what I've learned along the way.

This is NOT a tutorial on the basics of SFM. A basic knowledge of how to move bones and bring models into a scene is all that is expected when reading this guide.

Important!

Assuming you are using the TF2 models or human models, posing with people is no easy task. The human body is very dynamic. There are so many joints, creases, and appendages that can do nearly anything.

My NUMBER ONE tip for newbies and experienced artists is this:
Reference, reference, reference.
An excellent source of references is Pinterest[www.pinterest.com]. It's free to sign up for and you can search for LITERALLY anything for inspiration. Search 'superhero pose' and look and the hundreds of thousands of results.

"But using references is cheating, Flynn! You have to be original. And plus, <insert game here> isn't realistic. So I don't need a reference."

I hate to break it to you, but even fantasy is based in realism. Let's look at TF2. As cartoony and unrealistic as the game is, standing poses, running motions, and shooting actions are pretty realistic. In Heavy's idle position, his back is not completely straight. He is leaning backwards to counter the weight of the minigun he is carrying.



Do not be afraid to use references. It will make your art more believable and natural-looking. This goes for anything you are making. Here's an example of 3 poses I strictly used references with.



And here is one of the reference photos from Pinterest.



The perspective is different for both pictures, but my final pose feels more alive and active because I used a reference.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND
I will not be going over lighting or faceposing in this guide. I plan to do a lighting guide at a later date. This guides is PURELY to help improve your existing art and skill in regards to posing.

Principles For Perfection

Before we create the vision we have in mind, certain principles and tips that are found across all art mediums and subject matter need to be understood or at least acknowledged when making your art. These aren't "rules" of art as much as they are what make a piece better. You can make your art however you like.

PRINCIPLE #1

~Human bodies are very dynamic, especially in hands, the face, and the spine.

By dynamic, I don't entirely mean that the subject is constantly in motion. While having a sense of motion improves the look, you can make a standing or still position have motion. Let's take a look back to Heavy I showed in the first section.

Heavy is in a very still, non-mobile pose. However, the movement is not because he himself is moving, but the shape and stance of his body.



The general motion of Heavy's stance is shown with the arrow. It feels like Heavy's feet are funneling your eyes from the bottom up since his stance is very erect and steadfast. This is why the A pose/civilian pose/T pose is pretty laughable. No human naturally stands like that. It feels flat, boring, and has no sense of direction. Even though its intimidating as hell in-game!

Let's look at a more exaggerated sense of motion. Here's an older work I did.



You can very much see motion, starting from the tip of the shovel closest to the camera, then up Red Soldier's arm, then to Red Soldier's eyes, which are looking at Blu Soldier, which lead to Blu Soldier's body, and so on. Get the picture?

Now, HANDS. They are notorious in the art realm for being difficult to draw. Think of them as miniature people. Hands can bend, twist, point, you name it. You still want hands to be dynamic, but since they are usually not the main focus of a lot of full body art, you want their motion to compliment the rest of your work. It takes a bit of an eye to get it to look right, but with practice, it will come naturally. I'll discuss how to make hand posing better later in the guide as well.

TL;DR, you want your work to look interesting and alive by having motion or a sense of motion.

PRINCIPLE #2

~Exaggeration can help make a more believable and interesting piece.

The brain frequently underestimates things all the time. Even when it comes to posing. Something a relative taught me who was in the photography business was,
"If it hurts or feels awkward, you're doing it right."
Obviously this doesn't work for all cases, but what she was getting at is that exaggeration makes it more interesting. Even in the reference image I will be using later, the subjects shoulders are curled in towards his chest.



Its very unlikely someone curls their shoulders that much when just looking at something. But, it makes the image look more compelling and interesting.

Let's look at another work of mine.



When snapping a medical glove, you generally don't take that kind or stance or reach your arm out that far. However, I exaggerated the action to make it stand out. Otherwise it would be sort of "meh". It is much better to go overboard than to do very little.

PRINCIPLE #3

~A story should be told in your art.

Now this is definitely more subjective than some of the other principles, and is definitely up to interpretation. So hang on to your hats.

"Uh, Flynn? I just want my edgy Sniper loadout on 2Fort. I don't need to write a Shakespearean novel."

You're right! You don't need to tell some grandiose story with death, romance, character growth, etc. Too often young artists (even SFM artists) will cram 10 to 15 characters all doing so much at once to the point where you don't know where to look at. You can have the whole TF2 team eating out at a diner or something, but there still needs to be a story and a focus.

Let's look at a more recent artwork of mine.



There are many characters in the scene, but your eyes are immediately drawn to Scout and I having an interaction. By putting the rest of the scene out of focus, we concentrate on the interaction. That is how the story is told.

You can tell that by the posing that Scout is nervous and/or trying to get something off of his mind, while I am holding the gift close to my chest and giving a thankful look.

"But, Flynn. I just want to make a profile picture."

Funnily enough, you can still tell a story. Let's look at something from the chest up.



This Scout looks concerned, scared, or like he's hiding something. Just the simple emotions on his face says it all.

When you aren't working with the whole body for a story, the face and shoulders can tell an even bigger story. The human brain always looks at faces first to tell if someone is a friend or foe. Its just an evolutionary habit. We can use that to our advantage in art. I won't be discussing faceposing in this guide, but it is still something very important to think about.

Rig vs. No Rig

This portion is just a comparison. How to add a rig will be discussed shortly.

Moving your model's bones is really tedious when starting your project. We want to get the general shape/gesture FIRST, and then move on to finer detail. So don't worry about fingers or small things like that. Rigs are a great way to tackle general posing. Rigs allow groups of bones to be moved at a time. Just like if someone grabs your hand to take you somewhere, your whole arm is going to go with your hand. (I wouldn't want just my hand to come off!)

The examples I'll be showing will have the camera at a 90 degree angle, the characters will be parallel to the camera, and movement will be simplified for the sake of understanding. This may be boring to you advanced buckos out there, but sit tight!

BASE POSE - No rig, no posing


RIG ADDED - Rig, 'rig_hand_L' bone moved


NO RIG - No rig, 'bip_hand_L' bone moved


Pretty nasty looking without a rig, huh? However, posing without a rig has its place! It's especially handy when working with fingers or very small bones. Just I had mentioned before, rigs are good for general posing. So when you add a rig, it temporarily hides the small unimportant bones from view.

Adding a rig will save a lot of time in the long run. TRUST ME. Do not spend and hour just trying to pose Scout's arms alone.

Adding Rigs and Posing

Alright! You've booted up SFM, you've picked your map, loaded in your characters, you have (or don't have) your reference, and you have a vision. Execution of that vision is where I'm here to help. If you would like to have the same setup in my examples, that is up to you. The things I'll be talking about will still work regardless of your setup or preferences.

If you know how to apply/use rigs, you can pose your character(s) and move on to the next section.

ADDING A RIG

Simply follow the steps as they are numbered. They are numbered on the image as well.
Notice in the image all of the white lines/bones that resemble a skeleton inside of Scout.

1) Head to the Animation Set Editor Tab. Find the model you want to add a rig to, and right click it.
2) Look until you find the 'Rig' option and hover over/click it.
3) If you haven't downloaded other rigs from the SFM workshop, then the only rig option should be 'rig_biped_simple'. That is the pre-fab rig in SFM. Click it to add it.



Now we check to make sure the rig is added. While your mouse is hovering over your main camera, hold the 'Ctrl' key with Windows to see a bunch of multicolored bones. This means our rig was added!



You may have noticed, there are a lot less bones than there were before. This is normal, as this is how rigs work.

NOW, this is where we take a look at our reference and begin the process of our general posing.

POSING TIME

I'll be using this photo as reference, and I'll have the link to it below the image.


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/589760513703491723/

First, if you are following your reference to the 'T', the camera angle should be replicated as well.

Remember how we held 'Ctrl' over the main camera to see the rig bones? We are going to do that again, but SELECTING the bones, not just viewing them. While holding control, hover over the bone you want to move, then click it while still holding control.

Say, I want to turn Scout's body to match the reference. I'll be looking for the 'rig_root' bone as it is the 'root' for the whole model.


Once your bone is selected, you can change whether you want to rotate or drag your bone across 3D space. You should see what looks like a hollow globe or XYZ grid where you selected your bone. Those options will be found at the bottom left of your viewport if they do not show up.

(Selected the pelvis bone so it was easier to see.)


ONLY WORK WITH THESE TWO TOOLS FOR THE BEST RESULTS.

I have found in my experience that messing with the other movement options was confusing and and difficult. I know others who can handle the tools fine, but 'rotate' and 'move' fill our needs perfectly.

You should be able to hover over the tools that are controlling your selected bone, then click and drag in the positions/rotations you would like the tool to create. For instance, Scout squatting.



Okey dokey. Now, pose up your character and I'll do the same. You can continue reading or do your posing then come back!

Refining Your Posing

Let's take a look at the general posing I've got.



I think it looks pretty accurate despite the fingers and facial expressions, and Scout's right hand I moved to make it more interesting. Now, we are going to refine our masterpiece.

POSING FINGERS

I mentioned before that adding a rig hides the unimportant bones. Now we are going to remove the rig to access those bones. It's just like how we added the rig.

1) Right click your model in the Animation Set Editor to view the list.
2) Find 'Rig' and hover over/click it.
3) Now look for 'Detach Rig' and hover over/click it.
4) You can click either 'Detach All' or the specific rig.

Now the bones that were hidden before should be back!
Then select the proper bones by holding 'Ctrl' while your mouse is over your viewport. Rotate and move them as you need.

BIG BRAIN TIP!
You can actually select multiple bones without a rig. This is extremely useful when posing fingers or trying to select that one bone you can't quick click with your current viewport.

1) Go to your model in the Animation Set Editor.
2) Click the '+' to the left of it.
3) A bunch of groups like 'Arms' and 'Fingers' should be visible. For fingers it would be under the 'Fingers' or 'RigArms -> Left/RightArm -> Fingers". Every model may be different. Especially ones downloaded from the workshop.
4) For fingers, you want to select them from the tips to the base. Hold 'Ctrl' and select bip_thumb_2_R, then bip_thumb_1_R, and bip_thumb_0_R. Or do it with whatever finger you are working with in that same order.



5) Right click the hollow globe (rotate tool active) or XYZ grid (move tool active) in the viewport.
6) Under the list, look for Rotation Mode and hover over/click it.
7) Change the setting from world to local. This means that joints will rotate relative to the joint selected, not the world as a whole.



Now, switch your active tool to the Rotation Tool. Your fingers should still be selected. Rotate the tool downward, and the finger should automatically curl! This is a great way to make a quick fist or point.



REMEMBER
If you want to rotate your entire model or change anything larger than fingers, you will have to change the rotation mode back to world, or your character will need an exorcist!

Alright, back to refining. It really is easier than it sounds. You can move things bone by bone slightly or make larger changes at this point. And even better,

You can reattach and detach a rig as much as you like.

If you like your finger posing but want to move the whole arm a little more, reattach the rig and the finger bones will stay in place!

The most important thing you need to remember in posing is the 3 Principles I mentioned. Art has many other principles and elements, if you want to get technical. But the three I mentioned are what apply best for posing.

Okey dokey, all the little things are done, you've got the fingers figured out, your pose is perfect and you're ready to render! Here's a comparison between my original pose and the refined.



The most noticeable things I changed was Scout's shoulders and head, since they are both very expressive parts of the body. I wanted to reflect that. I'm going to add facial expressions and then render it!



And, viola!

Final Words

If you have any suggestions on how to improve this guide or what other guides I should make, PLEASE comment your ideas and I will get to them ASAP.

Please rate and favorite this guide if you would like. That will tell me if you are interested in more on my end.

With that said, thank you for sticking with me through this guide and I hope you learned something from it!

Good luck!

[Mario64]

ik im late but in one of the renders u have a white outline over it, did u draw them urself or was it some editing program?

[FROZHQ]

What map did you use? it's cool

[Drippy]

good guide for me the one who haven't used Sfm for a long time, will be a good reminder.

[AverageInternetEnjoyer]

For rig biped simple, can you just check the arrow button to make the fingers selectable? Will it act differently from if the rig is detached?

[AiDowWork]

nice

[ServerBlight]

Well I don't use rigs since they always broken for me

[Sugeszan]

This was very helpful thanks for making this. rigs are real time savers

[Flynn]

That's so sweet of you! I just want to share my knowledge, and if that makes people succuessful or happy, then I'm happy. :)

[Kittilivia]

Love it, Flynn! You are one of the best contributors to the SFM community in my opinion and I agree with all of this!!

[Hikikuri]

thanks pal, this guide helped tons