How to Use Poses Part 1
You will need: Pose Player &
HelgaTisha’s Model Poses 21
Before you start to get worried, this is actually a lot easier than you probably think it is. I know it is easy than I thought it would be. The first few tutorials I found were all out of date which threw me off. Now that I know how posing currently works, it’s fairly easy! Just follow the simple steps below and you can do it too!
Why would you want to use poses? They are mainly for taking screenshots for storytelling or showing off custom content. They don’t actually affect gameplay at all. So, unless you plan on posting screenshots for storytelling or other similar uses, using poses probably isn’t for you.
To use this tutorial you will need a couple of things: the first is Pose Player from Andrew’s Studio which is a mod that makes this whole thing work. Unzip the archive and drop the two files inside into your Mods folder to install.
You will also need some pose packs. These can be found in numerous places on the web including The Sims Resource, Mod the Sims, Tumblr, etc. For the sake of this tutorial, please download this one: HelgaTisha’s Model Poses 21. Install both of the files in the zip file to your Mods folder. I put all of my poses in a subfolder to keep things organized so that would be “Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods/Poses” for me and maybe you too.
Actually, there are a couple methods of using poses depending on how the poses are set up. I’ll detail the most common method first which is “in-game”. The other method, and variations of the in-game method, we will save for future tutorials which will be coming soon.
In-Game Posing: Simple Standing Poses
Step 1
If you don’t want the plumbob to be over your Sim’s head in your screenshot, you need to enter a couple cheat codes to turn it off. Bring up the cheat code panel by pressing CTRL+Shift+C at the same time and then a text box will appear at the top of your screen. In that text box, start by typing testingcheats on and then hit the Enter key on your keyboard. Now go back to that text box and type in headlineeffects off and then hit the Enter key again to actually turn off the plumbob. (Don’t worry, you can get it back later if you want to play with this Sim again.)
Step 2
Next, take your Sim to a nice spot somewhere to take some screenshots. I chose a beach in Sulani because Sulani is just beautiful everywhere. Have your Sim stand still. You may need to turn off autonomy in the game’s Options Menu to make sure they stay put for a while. See the screenshot at right for how to turn off autonomy.
Step 5
In the next pop-up menu, it will list each individual pose inside the pack we just chose. You can do two things here: 1. Select only one pose then X out to have your Sim hold that one pose until you tell them to stop. 2. Select a few poses to have your Sim cycle through those few poses until you tell them to stop. We are going to do the first because: simplicity. Click on Pose 9 and then click the X buttons on the top right until you return to your Sim.
Step 6
If I’m anywhere the instructor I think I am, your Sim should be posed like the one on the right. Are they? If they aren’t, feel free to contact me with questions or yell at me on my Discord Channel. If they are posed like the Sim on the right, yay! This is where you take your screenshots! (If you don’t like taking screenshots with the in-game camera, see my *Notes at the bottom of this page.) Once you’re done taking your screenshots, continue on to the next step.
In my next tutorial I will detail how to use poses in CAS. The third posing tutorial will detail how to use poses with props and furniture. I hope you found this tutorial helpful and easy to follow. If you have any questions, corrections, etc., please feel free to contact me via email or talk to me on Discord.
*Notes
If you’re like me and don’t like using the in-game screenshot camera thingy and prefer to use an external screenshot program, I have a recommendation. I used to use the free version of Fraps but was always on the lookout for something better, that was also free. I finally found ShareX. It’s great! I setup my own hotkeys and that’s what I now use to take screenshots of everything including my Sims. (This is not a paid endorsement, just a fan wanting others to know about a really good free program.)
