Learn the basics of SimPose with this easy to follow tutorial.

What is Simpose?

Sim Pose is a tool used by many hackers, skinners, and creative people to:

  1. test and display skins
  2. edit or add animations to The Sims and
  3. create comic books or graphics using sim characters.

What it does is allow you to take any sim character and pose it like you would a bendable doll. With earlier versions of the program you were limited to posing up to two sims at a time. But with the latest edition of SimPose, you can actually pose up to four sims at one time for a group portrait.

So are you ready to learn all you need to know about posing and taking neat snapshots of your Sims? Great! If you’re a complete and total newbie, let’s start with a very basic tutorial to get your feet wet.

Step One: Open SimPose

Open up SimPose. Your screen should look like the screenshot below. There will be a red-haired sim with an aqua business suit. Let's call her Sharon.

Step Two: Change Camera Position

We need Sharon to face us so we can pose her. To do that, go to the "Lights/Camera" tab, then click on the arrow under "Viewpoint and rotation." Finally, select "Facing."

Step Three: Change Background Color

Is Sharon facing you? Great!

Now, we can start posing her here on out, but I think it would be better to change the background to white to make it easier to see her. To do that, go to Camera/Lights controls (located under the "Lights/Camera" tab). Choose "Background."

Now go down a little bit and click on the large button that says, "Change." Pick a color and choose white. The background will now be white.

Step Four: Let's Zoom In

Sharon is facing us, but she's a little too small. Let's make her nice and large on the screen. We can do that by using the "Zoom" slider.

Step Five: Bring Sim Down Using Offset Slider

Uh oh! Sharon is not in the center of the screen. Let's lower her down and make her front and center. To do that, move the "Offset" slider.

Step Six: Switch to Character Tab

Now we're ready to start posing Sharon a little. To do that, switch to the "Character" Tab.

Step Seven: Let's Bend the Shoulder

Scroll all the way down to the part of the "Character" tab that says "Joint Control." There is a drop down box. In the drop down box is a selection of joints that you can bend and rotate. Choose "L_ARM" to select Sharon's arm at the shoulder. Next, use any one of the sliders to play around with the rotation and bending. Below is what Sharon looked like after I bent her shoulder. Now her whole arm is raised.

If you play around with the limbs under "Joint control" and move the sliders around, you will figure out how to rotate and bend every joint in the sim's body--the knees, elbows, wrists, ankles, neck, head, waist and ribcage.

Below are more screenshots of Sharon's limbs being bent and rotated to give you a better idea of the process.

Step Eight: Rotate to Double Check Pose

Sometimes, when you're posing in SimPose, a sim can look great from the front but look terrible from different angles. A way to see how well things are going is to rotate the sim.

To do that, go to the "Lights/Camera" tab again, choose "Camera" under "Camera/Light" controls. Then move the slider under "Direction" to rotate your sim.

Step Nine: Rotate Back to Front and Keep Posing

Rotate your sim back to front camera view, go to the Character Tab again, and keep tweaking your sim until you're happy with the pose. Below is my completed pose of Sharon. The pose could be a little better, but this is just for the tutorial.

Congratulations! You just posed your first sim! If you’ve got a basic idea of how posing works, you’re well on your way to becoming a SimPose master. If not, keep experimenting with the sliders and drop down box in “Joint control” to get a better sense of how it all works.

Additional tutorials in the Ultimate SimPose Guide: