This may belong in Poser Technical, I'm not sure, but perhaps someone here can help.

I've been modelling a fine length of chain, and the file size of the resulting object is very large due to the high poly count. Each link in the chain, however, has an identical geometry. Does anyone know if it's possible to build a single prop out of multiple small, identical elements that are each positioned differently (the same .obj file is referenced repeatedly within the .pz2 file, but Poser sees the result as a single object)? Could it even be possible within a figure (using multiple references of a .obj to produce a single body part)?

If someone's tried it and found it really doesn't work, or has got it working and wouldn't mind explaining, I'd be very grateful. If not I'm going to start experimenting for myself, but it seems likely that /someone/ has given it a go. :)

Yes, certainly. I did the same thing with my Weather kit, which has PP2 files containing 50 raindrops, 50 hail-balls, and 50 snowflakes. Each PP2 uses only one OBJ, but repeats the reference 50 times. Download the Weather Kit in Freestuff/utilities, and look at the PP2 and OBJ files to see the pattern.

heyas; i tried doing this in a cr2 (posable chain), and it did not work :/ actually, ock... what happens if you load the weather prop, then decide you want to delete it? you don't have to delete each of the 50 pieces, do you?

Poser does not do instancing. Even if your chain links all point to the same obj and just shifted (yes I've done this with ropes and such) poser will make a seperate memory instance of the obj for each link. I have talked directly with CL about this and they confirmed it. Its a huge lacking feature in their product. For example I had a desk with a computer and clutter and wanted to duplicate it through an office. I assumed it would load the desk once and any new loads would share the obj mesh. Nope. Each load is new memory. CL assumes any and all geometry can be potentially morphed so it assumes all geometry must be unique. It does not matter if the geometry is embedded in a poser file or a seperate obj mesh. The only thing you would save is disc space.

Well, I did this with a cr2 and had no problems. All I did was load the same obj 10 or 12 times in different positions and set the cr2 to point to a single obj. Afterwards I decided it wasn't worth the hassle and trashed it, so I can't look to refresh my memory, but it worked OK. IIRC, I just referenced the obj multiple times in the cr2. I'm a bit hazy on the details now. I also seem to remember that VK has done this without problems, and he knows more about cr2s than all of us put together (sorry folks, but it's true). Thing is, it's a pretty boring business setting up a long line of objects, but it sure as hell cuts down the file size. mac PS ARe you sure you can't cut down the poly count in the modelling app? It would save a lot of hassle.

Thank you very much for the responses everyone, the comments on your own experiences trying this were informative. My main thought was that something like this might reduce the total file size rather than the memory use (my old machine copes with it fine memory-wise, but it's too big to make a practical download). From what people have found, it looks as if it might work for that. The main part of the chain doesn't have to be poseable, which would make things simpler. I'm only using Anim8tor, UVMapper and Poser itself for modelling, so I'm not sure how I'd go about reducing the poly count. Is it possible in Anim8tor? My only other thoughts on how to do things was that I'd do a mesh with lower detail on the chain to go with the rest of the model, and then make the chain itself available as a seperate download for people wanting the high-poly mesh for closeups. I'd love to find a way to simply squidge the existing object into a smaller file. Any suggestions that don't involve my having to spend any more money this month would be hugely appreciated!

I'm not sure how you can reduce the poly count in anim8or since I only use it for making morphs. I've never actually modelled in it. But I'm sure there must be a way. When you say it's too big for download, how big are we talking here? Huge? Mega-huge? I model in 3d max and at first, I didn't even think about file size. Then when I got the stuff in poser, I had things like earrings that were 5 megs each and stuff. LOL. So I started reducing number of sides, segments, etc to a more reasonable number. There's a fine line between huge file sizes and reasonable quality. It's just a matter of finding it. On balance, I'd advise you to concentrate on the poly count reduction, if possible. mac PS Try checking the anim8or site tutorials. Maybe there's something there that would help.

BTW, wouldn't the "readScript"-command be helpful here? AFAIK, it reads a specified file at the place (inside the cr2) where the command stands. So you can have one object (a single chain part) and can read it whenever you have the inline object now. Willy PS: Search for "readScript" here in this forum. There are some links.

Attached Link: http://rbtwhiz.com/rbtwhiz_rScript.html

Well, Readscript is used to call up other files. In vicki 3's case this means sending a call to one file which will inject certain morph channels, then a second pose file which will set the MT values. And, if required, a third which will set materials. But, AFAIK, it's not possible to send a call to geometry, ie. an obj file. That's a cr2's job. mac

Ah, you're right, maclean. Readscript can only read poser files like pp2 or cr2. But I have cut out the inline geometry from a pp2-file and replaced it by a "objFileGeom"-command. This works - more or less. You still have to have the channels and all. Willy

Say what? Is this 'objFileGeom' command run fom a readscript? I'm interested. mac