I know that there are plently of MAT tutorials out there, but they aren't seeming to work for me. I'm using a tutorial for MAT Pose Edit, rather than text editing, and when I save the MAT file it doesn't work quite right. The fie shows up in the pose library, but there is no button to apply to pose. Any ideas what the problem is? Thanks.

Do you have a figure loaded into Poser? The Apply button won't appear in the Pose Library unless there's something in the scene to which the pose can be applied.

Yes I do, I even have the figure selected. It's even the figure that I made the MAT file for. I'm pretty sure I'm doing everything right. Any other ideas?

Attached Link: http://www.ronknights.com/mat/index.htm

That happens sometimes and closing the Poser window and reopening it helps refresh the menu. Just double click on the pose and it should apply.

'The file shows up in the pose library, but there is no button to apply to pose' Make sure you actually select the pose first. Then the button should appear. mac

Thanks for all the help so far, but I'm not sure you understand the problem I'm having completely. I haven't actually tried the "closing the Poser window" idea yet, so I'm not sure if it will work or not. However, the problem does not lie in whether or not I have the pose selected. I do have the pose selected and when I have it selected, there should be a button to apply the pose. There is no such button. Double clicking also does not work. The problem is that the pose just doesn't apply. I'll check out the tutorial that you suggested Roger, but I have been working from MAT Pose Edit tutorials so far. They just aren't working for me. Anyone have any other ideas? I'm kind of at my wits' end here. Any more help would be so much appreciated. Maybe someone else has had the same problem and resolved it... At least I hope so. Thanks for all the help so far, and for the future help that is eagerly awaited.

-CelestialBadger

I have the distinct feeling that you're trying to apply a MAT to a prop, not a figure. At least, that's the only other scenario I can think of that would cause this. If you are using a prop, parent it to a figure first, then apply the MAT. Usually, when the button doesn't appear, it means there's nothing in the scene a MAT can be used on, ie. no figure. mac

At the worst, CB, you can mail me the files and I'll have a look, if you want. mac

It is a prop, yes. Do I need to parent it to a figure, or would it be good enough to have a figure in the scene? I guess these are questions I can answer by myself... Thanks for all of the help.

-CelestialBadger

CB, Ok. That explains everything. There are several things you can do now. If you have a figure that you use the prop with in scenes, that's fine. Parent the prop to it and when you save the figure, the prop will save along with it. If you have no figure you want to use, there are 2 alternatives. One is to use any figure at all, (preferably a small file-size one and fairly simple), set the body scale size to 1%, then make it invisible, (select BODY, go to properties and uncheck visibility). That way, your prop is parented, but you don't have to see a figure all the time. You can also save this figure + prop in characters too. Or else you can get a thing called a Null Figure (from www.nerd3d.com), which is a blank, invisible figure used to prevent crosstalk. But it also works perfectly as an invisible figure to parent props to. mac

Okay...but if I'm going to have this smart-propped, say to Michael, will the MAT files work even with Mike not in the scene? If not, how do I get around that?

scenario #1 If Michael is in the scene with the prop parented to him, the MATs will work. But if you then delete Mike, your prop will be deleted along with him, because he's the parent. scenario #2 If Michael ISN'T in the scene, you can't apply the MATs. Add Mike, parent the prop, apply the MAT, select the prop and set parent = Universe. Then delete Mike and your prop will stay. scenario #3 You use one of the 2 solutions above. Invisible figure or null figure. In that case, you can delete Michael without deleting the prop, but you can't have the prop move around with him, because it's parented to another figure. scenario #4 You use an INVISIBLE Michael as the parent, then add a second, visible Mike figure. Pose the second one, then press ctrl-c (copy), select the 1st Mike and press ctrl-v (paste). This will pose the 1st Mike identically to the 2nd and your prop should be in position. Every time you re-pose Mike2, copy and paste to Mike1. The only disadvantage to this is you have to keep making Mike1 visible in order to paste. (Menu/Figure/Show all figures). All in all, a bit of a hassle, but MATs on props are a hassle anyway. mac