This is probably the hardest one to quantify, but it's something that is obvious whenever upload moderators look at an upload: have you really expended some serious time and effort on a creation? You can't just crank out a bunch of stuff in a short amount of time and expect it to be good. Nor can you spend a while just fiddling with something but not really trying and expect a good result either.

Always try to alter every or at least almost every joint a little bit. Altering just a few joints doesn't make a natural pose. Also avoid perfect symmetry. Even if you make a standing pose, you should alter the legs and feet and rotate the torso a bit to create a natural pose. Begin with the big changes and work your way down to the details. Don't forget to pose the hands and fingers as they count a great deal to the final quality of your pose. It's difficult, but try to alter the face as well to create some facial expression.

So, yeah, you can move all these joints in each direction without restrictions. But that doesn't mean you should. What you should do, is always keep in mind what the human body would be capable of when you move a joint. Don't go beyond the anatomically possible. Never bend joints in impossible directions or to impossible angles.

Of course it makes sense in some cases to go a bit beyond what a regular human would be able to do, but such poses need to fit a certain theme or context. E.g. you're free to make acrobatic poses that only a double-jointed circus artist can do. Contorted talking on the phone or walking the dog poses just don't make sense.

Tip: When you alter a joint for the first time or whenever you're unsure, check what's possible on your own body. Maybe work from pictures of real people. Make the poses yourself or let someone pose for you.

Tip: Range of motion of the major human joints

Keep in mind that a pose that is anatomically possible for the human body, isn't necessarily doable for sims without looking really bad. It doesn't make a useful pose if you alter a joint in a way that the sim mesh gets badly distorted even if it would be possible for a human. If the mesh gets badly distorted, try to work around it or go for something else.

This is best explained by an example: Stand straight on both feet and then lift one foot from the ground. Notice how you automatically shift your torso to the leg you're standing on? That is what what this is basically about. The center of weight of the sim should always be within the footprint. It's easy of course if the sim is lying on the torso or anything like that. However, if you make a seemingly simple pose like a sim who shifted the weight to one leg, you know, the standing leg vs. play leg thing, then you need to shift the torso to be right above the standing leg to make a natural pose.

Of course this doesn't apply to poses that are supposed to show sims in full movement.

Whether the sim is standing on their feet or sitting on their butt or whatever you can think of, always make sure that whatever the sim is resting on actually touches the ground. Touch as in not visibly float above it or sink into it. If you use an OMSP to make a sim sit on a stool or lie on a bed, make sure that the height of the OMSP perfectly matches the height of the surface.

Of course this doesn't apply to poses that are supposed to show sims in full movement. In most cases, e.g. jumping or running, you should pose the sim with one foot on the ground, like in the process of jumping off or landing. Showing a sim floating in the air will almost always look weird.

So, you altered joints on that pose all day and now that foot is floating above the ground a bit? Don't give in to the temptation to just stretch the leg! Always keep all the bones at their regular length. Stretched or compressed skeletons never look realistic, and can completely ruin an otherwise good pose.

Tip: Never move a joint! Just rotate them.

Always triple-check that there is little to no clipping, i.e. as little clipping as possible. On the other hand, if parts of the body are supposed to make contact, e.g. hand on hip, they should actually make contact and not miss each other by a foot. If a sim is supposed to have their hand resting on their knee, make sure the hand is actually resting on the knee and not going right through the knee joint or hovering way above the knee.

You CAN use cropped or closer pictures to show detail and/or for your thumbnail shot, but make sure you have at least one pic that shows everything.

This is not an absolute -requirement- and for some things like historical furniture and the like you may do better with a simple basic set that matches your theme - just make sure that what you're doing in the background doesn't detract or distract from what you're actually uploading.

Remember that your upload should showcase what -you- have made, so if you pack a room with decorations, it may not be obvious at a glance what it is you've actually created!

If you think that your poses would go well with some additional effects from your graphics program, feel free to attach related screenshots to your upload. However, these screenshots can only be additional and can't replace the required screenshots!

So this long hair and that dress you downloaded the other hair are absolutely stunning? Sorry, but a pose upload is probably not the best place to show them off. It must always be recognizable where under the clothes and hair the sim and the skeleton is.

There are no absolute requirements about hair and clothes, but make sure that they don't hide the actual pose. If you're unsure, just use short hair and tight pants and shirts.

You MUST use free or EA/Maxis items in your screenshots! MTS promotes and supports free content, and using pay content in screenshots is basically like free advertisement for paysites. This includes pay content you found elsewhere for free - if it was pay originally, it's still promoting pay content. We strongly recommend taking pics with neutral backgrounds, just showing off what you've made and nothing more. Not only does this look nicer for uploads, it also eliminates any possibility that you may inadvertently include pay items in your screenshots.

As per the news item of November 2010, do not use pay items in your upload. A pay item is an item that you'd have to donate money to access if you went to the original creator's website. It doesn't matter if you can get it for free through a file sharing site - it's still a pay item. Don't use pay items in your screenshots either, even if they are not included. Links for "optional" or "recommended" content may be included as long as they are free sites only.

If you need free hair for a model in your pics, MTS has an extensive collection of free hairstyles in our Downloads section. You can also look in the TS2 Hair Gallery or TS3 Hair Gallery for more free hairstyles to find something you'll like.

We STRONGLY recommend that you credit the hair (and other content) used in your screenshots in the text of your upload post. With hundreds of hairstyles out there, it's very difficult for our upload moderators to know every hairstyle on sight, and if we have to hunt down where the hair is from to see if it's pay or free, it may take longer for your upload to be approved. Make it easy on us and at least say something like, "Hair from XM Sims (free)" in the text of your post under a little section for model credits.

Sometimes you may even need to show a pose from two angles to fullfill the requirements.

Good titles:

• Mission-Style Living-Room Set
• 10 Simmer Way (Large family home)
• Fluffy Party Dresses

Bad titles:

• My First Upload!
• Lipstick

A link and credit means writing something like: "Everyday hair by Anubis360: http://www.modthesims.info/d/402962" - it states the item, the creator's name, and gives a direct link to where it can be found. Just linking to a site is not sufficient!

You may use content from the EA Store on your sims, but again, you need to link and credit it as such, so people can get it.