Small Tips for Finding Poses for Couples [CP77]
This is kind of a random piece of CP77 posing/AMM advice that’s been rolling around in my head for a few months:
I think “What are some good poses for couples?” is one of the most common questions people ask when they start getting deeper into AMM and posing. But this question is probably not going to get you the answer you want because 1) it’s really vague (everyone’s got different ideas of what makes a good couple scene) and 2) you totally do not have to box yourself into only using poses that are “meant” for couples.
There are the “synced” animations, like the couples with their arms around each other’s shoulders or the couples with one person crying on a bench and the other on the ground consoling them (although I would say these are probably easier to do by NPC swaps than finding the specific spawnable poses, honestly). And there are some quest-specific animations that might suit your needs, like any of the Cloud’s doll anims from Automatic Love or the sex/kissy ones from Never Fade Away (both available here for male NPCs).
But you don’t have to box yourself into only using poses that are specifically designed for couples: a lot of the poses I use for Goro aren’t “romantic” or “couples” poses. They’re just random poses that put him in a position that work with a scene idea I have. Both of these were done with the q101_goro_delamain pose (available here):
So if you’re trying to find something to work for your ship and you have no idea where to start, here’s my advice:
Have some general idea of what you want the couple to do, like holding hands in a park or snuggling on a bed or being naughty in the shower.
It doesn’t have to be a concrete vision (and it might even be better if it’s not), but just get a concept brewing. Browse couple photos for references or look at love scenes from your favorite shows/movies to get an idea if you’re really struggling.
Stick with pose packs that have references available (start with this list).
You can usually get a general idea of what a pose is going to look like based on the file name, but it’s much easier to work with actual image references. Once you have a good idea in mind for a scene, then you can browse the references to find something that will match closely with what you’re envisioning.
Alternatively, browsing the references might even give you inspiration if absolutely nothing is coming to you–Sometimes I have no idea what I want to do, but I’ll look at my reference folders, and I’ll suddenly see the possibilities of a pose/animation that I never noticed before.
If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, ask for specific pose recommendations.
In my experience, most people are more than happy to share where they got a pose, so definitely reach out to folks if you’re struggling to find what you’re looking for! ♥ But you’ll get a much better answer to “Does anyone know of a hugging pose for a male NPC?” (there’s a Saul-hugging-Panam one here) than “What’s a good couple pose?”
Embrace a trial-and-error/fuck-around-and-find-out mentality.
This stuff is not an exact science, and it’s gonna take practice. Even if you have what you think are the perfect poses, you might get into photomode and realize that they don’t work the way you wanted them to. Conversely, you might just throw a random animation in there and find with a little rotation or freezing it at just the right moment that it’s giving you exactly what you didn’t even know you wanted. Experiment and be willing to give yourself some space to learn and screw around.