(1) Bodysuits, catsuits, etc. ? - these are usually skin tight CR2 objects, but I don't have the foggiest idea what they are for ..... (2) Seam guides ? .... are these different from "template maps" ? .... they look very similar .... I think I am becoming an old hand at Poser, but these are two concepts that have slipped through the cracks .... thanks, Andrew

Bodysuits are nice because with the right texturing and transmaps, you can turn them into any number of normal clothing items. Shirts, leggings, tight jeans, swimsuits, lingerie... Seam guides are templates that have extra color coding to show you which polygons match up with each other.

WEll, it's been a while since I used a catsuit (or any item of poser clothing for that matter), but I remember being quite impressed 4 or 5 years ago when I discovered that you could add a transmap to the catsuit and turn it into anything from stockings to a T-shirt. 'Course, this was before Freestuff was jam-packed with all these bits of clothing. mac

So where do these transmaps come from ? .... are they parceled up with these quicksuits ?

No. Some people make their own, but most people either buy them or get them in Freestuff. Do a Freestuff search for 'catsuit transmaps' and you'll find a million. mac

Transmaps are just greyscale or black and white JPG images based on a template (UV Map). Black is transparent, shades of gray are translucent, and white is opaque. Just like the transmaps used for eyelashes and eyebrows and hair. You can make your own, find them in freestuff, or buy them with texture packages, and sometimes with clothing items that come with texture varieties. Transmaps do not come with the Millennium catsuits from DAZ, and not with the P4 clothes. Quicksuits are different from catsuits/bodysuits. Usually (in my experience anyway) that term refers to a copyright-free mesh that a modeler can use to make new clothing items, without having to start from scratch.

D'oh, I know. Here's an example of transparency on a catsuit. Rumiko (girl on the far left) is wearing the DAZ V3 bodysuit with a transparency map to turn it into panties and a camisole.

Tight clothing is nice... becaus it's tight :)

Tight clothing is nice... becaus it's tight :) Depends on where the bulges are located ;)

Loose clothing is nice because it is loose, because it is comfortable and the person wearing them is relaxed, and when a person is relaxed, they are open to a senuous mood, and those loose clothes slide right off. Loose is pleasurable. Hey, we all have our fantasies.

.... before the temperature of this thread rises too high....back to the technical issues at hand :)) another question leading on from this -- some of the characters have "spandex" morph settings .... are these related to the use of these quicksuits ? .... if so, how ? ... if not, then what are they ?

mathman, it's a quick and dirty way of making a character appear as though they are wearing a body suit. One thing you can't do without a bodysuit or similar, is apply a selective reflection map to a figure. Suppose you want Victoria to look like she's covered in silver polka dots. You couldn't do that directly on the model's skin because the reflection map would apply all over the body. So the trick is to make a transmap for the suit, leaving only the dots visible, them apply a reflection map to the suit also.

That makes sense, but where does the spandex morph settings come into it ?

They're used on a nude figure to simulate the appearance of a suit, or if they're on the suit itself, they can give it a "thicker" look.

• They're used on a nude figure to simulate the appearance of a suit * In other words to simulate the appearance of a skin-colored suit ? ..... what is the point of that ?

Not a Skin Coloured suit :o) You can use something like the Second Skin line from Daz (the ones on the picture) They are clothes painted ON V3's BODY, like Body Paint. You would like to apply the Spandex here to make it look more like clothes and less like BodyPaint. And it's Catsuits, not quicksuits. Quicksuits are a whole different matter, they're like starter suits for modellers.

For example, spandex on the wrists would thicken the mesh there so it looks like the painted on texture isn't painted on. Same around a neck, etc.