If you want something out of box for free you can use Blender and download rigged models here: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/rigged-characters-482b7772d3.... Or find poses and animations from https://www.mixamo.com.

Or you can use Houdini's free version, it comes with a fully-rigged mannequin and a realistic proportioned human. You can't export them in free version but if you're a 2D artist you can just screenshot and use it as a reference.

Houdini has everything from full-body muscle simulation to writing a OpenCL image processing kernel there. All free if screenshot-as-export is acceptable in your use cases. If you need actual rendering it's $25/mo billed annually.

This website's pro plus subscription is $15/mo.

(Not saying there is no room for another tool. Just stating the alternatives.)

• argee

  yesterday at 6:37 PM

  You can also just upload models to Mixamo and pose them using their animations right in there.

  However I suspect none of these (at least for static posing) beat the usability of the solution this app is imitating: purchasing a portable, posable mannequin that’s built for purpose.

As much as I would like to use this, $7/month seems like a lot when Clip Studio Paint has similar 3D pose tools[1] and a marketplace full of free models/poses for $4.49/month. Plus you get an entire professional art program...

[1] https://www.clipstudio.net/en/characterart/#:~:text=Learn%20...

• Joel_Mckay

  yesterday at 5:12 PM

  A permanent Clip Studio Paint forever license with quality pen input devices can be a good option.

  Blender also offers free rigged 3D base models that offer similar functionality too. Render a png of the 3D pose in 4k, and have fun in free Krita. ymmv with pen-pressure sensitivity features, as some devices are better than others. =3

  https://studio.blender.org/characters/

  https://krita.org/en/

No inverse kinematics?

That is the most important feature this would make me use this over the good old wooden puppet, which is small (10cm). I.e. it travels with me with my drawing utensils.

I guess I am asking: what exactly is the value proposition?

• progbits

  yesterday at 2:36 PM

  It's a checkbox in the "..." menu. Off by default for some reason.

• majiy

  yesterday at 2:32 PM

  What exactly is inverse kinematics? A short search tells me it is something like "if the hand goes in a certain position and a certain angle, elbow and shoulder must go into these angles", is that it?

  • rootlocus

    yesterday at 2:38 PM

    Imagine placing the feet on the ground at some location and then pinning them there. Now you can move the hips and the upper and lower legs as well as the knee orientations change to keep the feet planted in the same position.

  • embedding-shape

    yesterday at 4:55 PM

    This image explains it pretty well, you typically chose between Forward Kinematics, or Inverse Kinematics, depending on what you're trying to accomplish and how you want it to look like: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ebrahim-Poustinchi/publ... (imagine the robot parts are human limbs, same thing applies :) )

  • numpad0

    yesterday at 3:22 PM

    regular kinematics derive coordinates from joint angles

    INVERSE kinematics derive joint angles from coordinates

    it's useful when you have a chain of joints and a mug to grab with it

  • progbits

    yesterday at 2:34 PM

    Yes. Instead of having to figure out the bone angles one by one you can drag eg a finger and the rest will follow as much as constraints allow.

    • steezeburger

      yesterday at 2:39 PM

      Does it just make it easier to get in a position you want or does it give you more natural looking positions as well or any other benefits? It's pretty fun to play with!

      • dagmx

        yesterday at 2:47 PM

        It means that you can lock the end point to a position and figure out the rest of the pose.

        Imagine a character walking with forward kinematics. Every time you move the characters hips , you’d have to rotate the leg joints and make sure the foot doesn’t slide. Remember virtual characters don’t have friction.

        IK lets you lock the foot in a spot so you can animate the body above it without having to spend time matching the foot position.

        In a real world, this is like if you tried to put your hand on a door handle while jumping up and down. It’s easier to keep position when you hold the handle than if you were to just touch it.

        • wang_li

          yesterday at 3:36 PM

          It also means you can move the point and the rest of the joints adjust. Want to make your model walk? Just figure out the foot motion and the rest of the details are calculated based on joint range of motion and limb length.

          • dagmx

            yesterday at 3:59 PM

            Without some extra solving most full body IK systems won’t give you walking motion. It’ll just be like pulling a doll by its limb or QWOP

            You need a proper motion controller on top to actually have realistic walking motion driven by steps.

  • LoganDark

    yesterday at 7:46 PM

    Inverse kinematics lets you position the end of a limb and automatically moves the joints for it, rather than you having to move each joint manually.

Looks really polished. My one point would be that I would consider making the default model a realistic mannequin (or ecorche if you have it). I get you're saving that for pro, but I think that would make it more obviously appealing for people studying anatomy / perspective (which might be a bigger market than pros looking for pose-reference for illustration work).

Having the abstract mannequin as a default may make people feel like they might as well just buy one of those wooden posing dolls (https://www.amazon.com/wooden-mannequin/s?k=wooden+mannequin).

I've wanted a reliable tool like this for the longest time because I'd like to be able to draw arbitrary poses off my phone if I'm just sketching on the train and I'm having trouble visualizing how a shadow would fall or something. I of course would never pay a subscription for it, that's absurdist comedy. What I want is github pages page you can ctrl+s and keep forever, might just put my money where my mouth is on that one too. I've got a lot of three.js under my belt and local models have made me unreasonably bold.

This looks like a fantastic resource for artists who find traditional wooden mannequins a bit too limiting for complex anatomy. I particularly appreciate the inclusion of the "Timed Drawing Challenge," as consistent gesture practice is such a vital part of improving one's craft. Additionally, the option to toggle biological constraints is a very clever touch for those working on more expressive or stylized character designs.

Though the internet is for porn, this does not seem to support genital or secondary sexual characteric contributions to a pose. I respect the bold approach but doubt that it will discourage much use of this tool by that community.

• NordStreamYacht

  yesterday at 2:37 PM

  There was a Mac app called Poser which is probably what you want.

  • ndr42

    yesterday at 6:25 PM

    It was Windows first for some time, now it's Windows only.

What about male genitalia and woman's breasts? That's a perfectly valid and much drawn part of the human anatomy.

• cluckindan

  yesterday at 5:52 PM

  Why not both?

  • stronglikedan

    yesterday at 6:23 PM

    that's what "and" implies

Very cool idea, congrats on the launch!

look interesting, but not sure price make this worth that

What's up with the pricing? $7 per month for 'pro' or 20 for pro +. You can buy an actual real life manekin you can use forever for 10. Who's going to pay monthly for this? Who even is the target market.

If you're comfortable enough with 3D meshes to make use of the 3D export function in the paid subscription, you could just download a manekin into Blender and do all this for free.

• amelius

  yesterday at 5:34 PM

  The internet was great at first.

  But then companies figured out they could use it to force per-month payments down our throats.

The range of motion seems very limited. These dummies need to take a yoga class or two.

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