can someone tell me how to have a avi play over the timeline as a texture

What version of Poser?

5 sorry

you can assign an avi file to an object as a 2d texture. If you had a model of a tv set and the screen was one of the objects, you go into the material room with the screen selected. Click on diffuse color to get a new node and in the new node and select 2d texture. Under type, select movie and then on the rollout for video source, you click on then browse to the .avi file. It only shows up if you render the image or make a movie. I hadn't realized you could do this but it is pretty cool. You can also load an avi file as a background image.

ya i know that but i want the avi to play out as the animation goes

.

If you want to change the playback speed, you can put a math node between Frame_Numer and Movie with a multiplier in it.

Stewer - this math node is for the entire avi file in terms of playback speed. Is there any way to synchronize the frame in the avi file with the frame in the animation timeline? Also, the avi file only appears if I render the frame even if I set my figure style to textured. Can I change that so that I can see the frame of the avi on the object at the frame in the animation timeline?

The shasder in the image is setting texture frame rate 1:1 to animation frame rate. You only see it during rendering, not as a preview.

I apologize to BrandonC for taking over his message but I think that I know what he is getting at. Having a character in front of a television and having him react to what he is seeing requires that you can synchronize what that frame of the avi file looks like with the character's response. If you move the timeline to frame 85, you want to see how the avi file looks at 85 so you can change the character's motions after frame 85. You can't do that unless you render at frame 85. Basically, you are at trial and error in constant rendering. If you could somehow move the frame through the animation and see what the avi appear at each frame, it would help.

Yup. There was an old thread nobody here seems to remember/or kept a link to that was all about this and the inability to preview .avi in the studio (p5). As others have mentioned, only by rendering can you see your .avi. ((BG .avi's can be previewed though)) So consider this: import the same .avi as your BG. Pose/Express/animate to your hearts content using the BG .avi as your sync source ((since its the same one your using your texture as)) Once you've finished. Save your animated Pose/Expression THEN build your scene. (remove/replace your BG or start a new pz3 with your fresh pose/expression files) and your set. Makes sense? Does to me :) Good luck.

3ncryptabl3_lick thats a good freaking idea ;) thanks

now about the tv , the tv in this case is daz's laptop can someone tell me please, why the .obj has the textures for like top bottom topscreen ect but in the mat room it only shows just one entry ?

You can preview the AVI in the material room. The preview image of the PoserSurface node will show you the movie file at the current frame.