Draw the human body faster with 3D posing built for speed

Meet Manikin

A digital reiteration of the classic artists mannequin.

The mannequin was born out of the need for an interactive human anatomy reference to tackle problems like foreshortening, proportion and depth. We expand upon the wooden mannequin for figure drawing with various 3D models and tools to help you with shape recognition, shading, perspective and stance.

POSE FAST

LESS fiddling, MORE DRAWING

Moving things in 3D often involves a lot of interaction for even the simplest of goals. This is why we wanted posing to be as intuitive and simple as possible with a bare minimum in menu diving and without losing complexity. A straightforward and intuitive design keeps all functionality close without drowning you in options. Our goal is to let you spend more time drawing and less time setting up your pose reference.

APPLY ANIMATIONS

USE ANIMATIONS AND SEE HOW THE BODY MOVES

Even for the most hardened artist it’s not easy to imagine how the body moves. In MANIKIN all animations can be viewed in detail. Use them to get faster to your desired stance or use them as a figure study for motion and gestures.

Pose references for ARTISTS

POSING BUILT FOR QUICK REFERENCE

Manikin is built to help you quickly draw what you had in mind. Nothing more, nothing less. Manikin is an attempt to create a lightweight posing solution that is geared towards the speed of sketching.

CREATE EXPANSIVE SCENES

INSERT 3D SHAPES AND AS MANY MODELS YOU NEED.

Create scenes with multiple characters or manipulate simple 3D shapes to quickly visualize the outlines of your sketches, generate storyboards with screenshots or frame your comic book illustrations and mangas.

DYNAMIC LIGHT

See how the light would fall on your scene.

To ease your shading needs you have up to 4 fully adjustable lights at your disposal to create dynamic drop shadows and realistic depth.

CAMERA CONTROL

You get full control of your camera.

Use 360 mode to quickly move around your models and set up your scene. Then switch to Freelook mode to get the exact camera angle you had in mind, adjust your field of view and get drawing!

SHARE POSES WITH ANYONE

The feed above is our Old masters new angles collection. All of these scenes can be opened in Manikin!

Save your files for later access or export your pose as text to import it on any other device from Windows to iPhone or Android to macOS. You can easily move from one working area to another and at the same time share your creations with any other Manikin user.

Poseable 3D hands

Need a modeled hand with drawing? We got you.

Manikin also includes posable hands, left and right. After long talks with artists a common problem for professional artists was having to use your own hands for reference. We improved upon posable hands with animations so you can also see how a hand changes when performing specific tasks.

Skeleton models

Sometimes you just need a posable skeleton.

When you need more mobility and realism than a mannequin you can use the poseable skeleton model. Manikin includes a skeleton to help artists with their posing needs. It’s a challenge finding a balance between usability and realism, but we worked together with an licenced osteopath to get as much realistism in the mobility as we could.

What our users say

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SCREENSHOTS for digital painting

Check out the poses by Manikin feed for examples!

Use screenshots to quickly generate storyboards to plan your artworks. Or use cutout screenshots that you can immediately use in Photoshop, Coreldraw, Procreate, Paper or whatever digital drawing software you use. No more hassle with erasing backgrounds from pose screenshots. To this extent we are building a pinterest page with screenshots of pose references you can use be sure to check it out!