Hey Anyone, Some of the freebee's and add-on's that I buy or download for Poser include "Template Files", which may be JPG. or BTMP. files and I don't know where to place them in the P5 file hierarchy. Most of these downloads come with "readme" files that tell you where to place everything except the afore-mentioned. Can anyone clue me in? Thanks in advance!

were ever you want to put them . They are used to make your own texture files . I found its better to put them outside the poser folder into a work area i have for makeing my own textures with. But thats just how i do it.

Thanks, but your response begs the question: how does one use these files to create textures. My Poser knowledge is about a "5" on a "10" scale and I don't mean to ask you to write a manual on the subject; if you can just point me in the right direction. Thanks again

no problum. Look at the texture file that comes with the file then look at the template . Most of the time you can see what everything is and how its laid out. You will need a program like adobe photoshop or paint shop pro or the freebie gimp inorder to make your own texture file. Most of the time its done useing layers . You can find all kinds of texture files all over the net to use making your textures or if you have a digital camera you can make your own. The clothing textures are the easyest to start out with and are pretty simple in design.

the template files are simply "blank" texture files,usually showing the wireframe view of the mesh,this just shows you how the object is mapped,what part of the image file goes where on the model..think of them like a coloring book,if you paint inside the lines you have a texture[using photoshop,paintshop pro or whatever image prog you like]...they are not necessary for the item to work,and as such you can put them anywhere or nowhere at all,they're usually included as a courtesy for those who may want to make their own textures

The templates are made from programs like UV mapper . it takes a 3d model and kinds of maps the outside of it . Kind of like if you took a orange peel off a orange in strips and laid then out in a square and take a photo of it. It remembers were everthing goes and what ever your replace it with will go back to the same original spot. hehe best example i could think of at the moment.

Have a look in the Poser 5 manual, there is a great tutorial on making textures by the fantastic Syyd Raven.

Okay, I think I'm getting it. If I open--say a body template map in Photoshop and color it, then save it I could use it as a texture map for a particular model? For instance: I could color the "Judy" texture map RED and apply it in the materials lab and have a RED Judy? And what of the wireframe lines, do they also appear? By the way is there a manual or something that teaches this? Once more, thanks

Sorry, I posted my last reply before I read #7. I will read the Poser manual. Thanks

You're on the right track there. And, no, as long as you completely cover the wireframe lines, they will not appear on the model when textured.

One important thing is to be sure and save your new textures under their own names rather than overwriting an existing texture. And make the names descriptive so that you can find and load them later! Suppose that you make a bunch of tattoos for the middle of Don's back... calling them tattoo1, tattoo2, tattoo3 isn't as helpful as dragontattootex and tigertattootex a year later when you go looking through your files. Snowsultan has made seam guides for most of the figures. If you are coloring solid colors (perhaps you've morphed the children into little green aliens) you won't need the guides, but if you want to paint tiger stripes or superhero costumes you'll want to line up the edges to match. His seam guides are in Free Stuff. Like the others, I keep my templates outside of Runtime. No sense loading more data than necessary. Carolly

Okay, I think I get it. I tried coloring a piece of clothing as per suggestion and used it in the materials lab and viola! it worked. Man...for someone to do a whole body and make it look realistic must take a phenomenal amount of tedious work! I'm sure there are some shortcuts I have yet to discover for that. Especially if you want to do things like realistic eyebrows or lips! Well, that'll be for another day--I have enough basics to learn right now.

OOPS! sorry bout the monster pic there, my bad :-O

Makes sense to keep them in a seperate folder somewhere.

rolf thanks for shareing that template Charlie . Some time next year the dial ups will be finished downloading. What is that a scuba suit ?

:-) don't think it'll take that long, only 168k, 19% of the original size. It's the catsuit that come with Natalia from DaCort.