just to try and avoid the problem of objects that are reversed when I import into poser I went as far as importing them with their normals flipped(when needed), exporting andassembling in carrara(where they're fine)with other parts(welding them together in the VM) and than sending them back into poser where...oh joy some of them are flipped again, but others aren't and its all one object now.I notice this happens also when I duplicate with sym...a part in carrara and than combine it with the other half(sometimes)this is annoying I tried importing here one way and exporting there another way and although everythings fine in carrara when I import into poser one legs reversed, both feet ....if this object is fine in carrara is therer something I can do that loks it like it is so things don't flip in poser?I obviously understand very little about this whole normal flipping.

heyas; i have ray dream, and when you're cutting the mesh in it's mesh form modeller, sometimes the cut pieces have the vertex order reversed or SOME weird nonsense... anyway, the upshot of which is, you get some body parts that are inverted, and some that are normal. this is what i do (not sure if carrara has the same commands/options, though): i export my obj from ray dream, then open it in 3d explorer and check for which parts have ab-normals. then i jump back into the object in ray dream, select all the backwards pieces and hit polymesh:reverse normals. re-export, and it is fine. 3d explorer is a shareware goodie... i'm not sure exactly where you get it, try searching www.shareware.com. :)

thanx for the help, I tried flipping the polygons with the group tool in poser but they just disappeared and than I opened it back in carrara ,and there is a polymesh:reverse normals option but I can't use it .was the 3D explorer just to view the objectfor the inversed polygons(I can do that in poser) or does it convert it so that I can reverse normals when I open it back into carrara or perhaps I'm not using the rightoptions when I open it up in carrara.I will try using UV mapper butI am unsure ofwhatto do with that exactly.I really hope there is a way to fix this problem, thanxagain

I tried UV mapper but it freezes on me when I export the object(it's pretty hefty)I had been assembling a creature in carrara before in the same manner( I metaball half of a body and than duplicate with symmetry the other half) but it was 6 legged so I never got around to importing into poser because I thought I'd wait, well now I thought oh god what state will this thing be in, but I opened it in poser to find that only one leg is flipped(no prblem fixing that) butnow I'm like how the heck am I supposed to know when assembling in carrara what parts are going to flip and what aren't?When exactly does this decision come about?this has got to be a serious flaw in developing if its just random and there's no pattern to pik up on, now will I have to export import each section as I build to see?very frustrating.sorry about the speel I just need to release my tension....wheew thats better

If "reversed normals" means that the vertexes in any facec are clockwise when seen from outside, Larry Weinberg could try programming this feature in: Let the user select a face which is the right way out. Then go to all faces which are adjacent to that face along an ordinary edge where 2 and no more than 2 meet; if any of those faces are the opposite way round to the original face, reverse the order of the vertexes. Do the same with the faces adjacent to those, and repeat until you can't get any further. I wrote this feature into a mesh-handling program that I wrote for myself, and it is useful. all disarranged vertex-orders put right without having to ferret for them.

I'll have to read that one a few more times mr. apple, for now I just check each part as I go.out of carrara, into poser, back and forth, weeeeee......

heyas; yes, i use 3d explorer to check the normals. 'cuz it loads a heck of a lot faster than poser! :) the uvmapper thing to fix black polys is... um... er... well, hit the help thing, and look under hot keys and find 'fix deranged polygons' or whatever it is, and hit that button. i don't think there is a way to predict if the program is going to read/write your vertices clockwise or counter-clockwise when you detatch the pieces. it depends on what order you drew them in, and what order you cut them in. if you can keep track of all that... you need a life. ;) don't check each part, check the whole obj, once it's done, but before you do the phi conversion or whatever it is you're going to do with it.

I don't understand what the deal is on flipping normals either. If you mirror an object in 3DS Max you must either flip the normals in Max or Poser to have it show right in Poser, but if you flip them in Max, Max will then treat it as "inside out", I think the only way around this is to export and import as an object file, then it is O.K. Oh, the key bloodsong coun't remember is the Insert key in UVMapper.