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Poser - OFFICIAL F.A.Q (Last Updated: 2024 Dec 29 8:45 pm)



Subject: HELP REQUESTED -- figure scaling


RnRWoman ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 6:45 AM · edited Mon, 30 December 2024 at 3:12 PM

Hi;

I'm creating two chars, one needs to be 5'0 and one 5'7. Somewhere awhile back on another site someone listed what the dial settings and their equivelent real life height. Can someone help me with this? Thanks!

--RockNRollWoman


Grey_cat ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 7:03 AM

The height you want the figure to be divided by the actual height of the figure times 100. Vicky = 71 to make her 60 (5'0") would be; (60/71)*100=84.5% Mike = 73 to make him 67 (5'7) would be; (67/73)*100=91.8%


Jlbrown907 ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 7:22 AM

Grey cat, This is great info to have, but I have question. I don't understand how you know the figure height you want the figure to be. Example, how do you know that 60 equals 5'0"? Is there another formula or rule of thumb to calculate the figure height you want. I'm definitely missing something. Thanks


RnRWoman ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 7:25 AM

Hi! Thanks for the help! Actually both chars are made from V3. What are the exact dial numbers to use to achieve this? Also I use the "Scale" dial instead of the Scale X, Y, Z's with these numbers, right? The toughie will be getting the clothes to fit w/o them going nuts LOL. Good point to bring up, JL! --RockNRollWoman


gildedgecko ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 7:40 AM

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/freestuff.ez?Form.Contrib=Ian+Porter&Topsectionid=0

I'm told Poser 5 has a height gauge (imagine that!). For those of us with P4, there is a free caliper set in Renderosity freestuff by Ian Porter. Do a search for "caliper" and it's the only thing that comes up :-) Or follow the link above. Yes, you use the 'Scale' dial on the Body. And you get the clothes to fit by conforming the clothes and then scaling the clothes using the Body scale dial to the same percentage that you have V3 scaled to. Works fine. For me, anyway.


SamTherapy ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 7:48 AM

Jlbrown907 - 60 is 60 inches, ie 5'0".

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Grey_cat ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 7:53 AM

5 feet x 12 inches = 60 inches. You want every thing in the the same units. Scale only the body, do not scale in the x, y, or z separatly. To help the Illunsion, if you scale the body up, scale head down one or two percent, if you scale the body down, scale the head up. (67/71)*100=94.4% When conforming clothes, after the clothes are comformed, use the same scale on the body of the clothes.


RnRWoman ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 7:57 AM

Thanks everybody! I'll try this out. What is 5'7 for V3? --RockNRollWoman


Grey_cat ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 8:05 AM

94.4%


RnRWoman ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 8:06 AM

THANKS! :) And thanks GG for the link! Very useful tool! --RockNRollWoman


Bill B ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 11:22 AM

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Hey all, Let me jump in on this convo if anyone would have any additional input. Im really glad I logged on today to catch this. I use poser in my work as a toy sculptor. Scale is a real concern for me in that the figures them selfs get milled on a CNC machine making the figure a real world object. I usually do my poser work and then take the fig in Light Wave or Rhino to scale and check my measurements ( Well take a look at the Mike war lord figure pic ) So my question is since I am a toy maker all my poser figure work is done at a very small scale usually under 8 inches and 6 tall being about the average. So based on this info is this the case. I down loaded the caliper to try it. 1% unit in Poser = 1 Inch in the real world ( Right ) lets take it a step farther. In all my toy work I methodically measure everything in the computer and out and my tolerances are usually about .030. I need to be that accurate. I need to break it down into 100 thousands of an inch. Is that possible just by simple math. If I want a 6 inch poser figure would that be? 6.5% poser units ????????? to = 6.500 I just tried this if that is the case that really helps me a lot in my work. BUT the cameras go wacky when scaling the fig so small. Is there any way to break up the measurement units into 100 Thousands of an inch so I would be able to measure down to that degree of accuracy? For example if I need a figure that is 6.850 or 8.237 etc. I doubt it?? Any more info would really help thanks Bill B


Bill B ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 11:31 AM

OK just tried the calipers by Ian and the read me says it measures in feet only it dose not break it down into inches. SO if I use the dial mesument value and just assume that I am working in inches would that WORK???????? Just the same. Thanks Bill B


Grey_cat ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 11:43 AM

Poser's scale is 1/8"=1'0" Dork is 3/4" tall 3/4=6/8" 1" = 1.04% For every .125 you move in poser, you 12 inches in the real world.


Ian Porter ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 1:43 PM

Hi, I made the calipers way back, and at the time I did not know about the offical size of Poser units. I set it up so that the P4 guy is six feet tall. I'm not sure how close that is to the offical scale, but hopefully not far off. If you want to use the calipers, then one inch would be 0.08333333 on the gauge, therfore 5 feet seven inches would be 5.5833333. Cheers Ian


Ian Porter ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 2:18 PM

Bill, Sorry, I confused RnRWoman's question with your own. I guess it depends what size in Poser a model has to be, for your cnc machine to produce a figure of the size you want. There may be a scaling factor you need to apply in Lightwave/Rhino to get the size you want. Having said that, I guess it would be useful to you to adopt a consistent scale in Poser, so that each model would need to be scaled by the same amount when converting for your cnc. As you say, you could use the caliper, and read the gauge off assuming it is calibrated in inches. That would give you a consistent scale for your models. Hope that helps I like your Warlord figure, It looks like a good paint job too. It must be great having solid verions of the figures. Cheers Ian


maclean ( ) posted Fri, 25 July 2003 at 3:03 PM

There's another way to measure scale in poser. This is information I got from Ronstuff (and he knows what he's talking about). A poser unit = 8 feet or 96 inches. This means if you Xtrans a figure by a value of 1.00, it will move 8'/96" to the side. Now the interesting thing is this. The standard poser Box prop (at it's default size) is exactly 1/10th of a poser unit. If you scale it up to 1000%, you'll have a box that is 1 poser unit tall/wide/deep, (8 feet). By using the Front camera, you can measure the box against any character by putting it to one side and scaling it down to the char's height. Once the box is the same height as the char, divide the box's percentage to get the height in feet/inches. Here are Ron's calculations. 1) 1 inch = 0.0104167 Poser units 2) 1 foot = 0.125 Poser Units So 800% would be 800 divided by 0.0104167 = 76.8 inches or 6.4 feet. mac


compiler ( ) posted Sat, 26 July 2003 at 5:57 AM

There was once a ruler with metric units, but I could not find it in the free stuff today. (glad I downloaded it at the time it was available : I don't understand a thing about imperial units).


maclean ( ) posted Sat, 26 July 2003 at 9:53 AM

Compiler, I think you're talking about Dr Geep's scales. He had 3 - two in Imperial, and one metric. Unfortunately, I think he took them down. I have them and they're very useful. And I agree. Imperial measurements are awful. I learned Imperial as a kid in scotland, but having lived in italy for 20 years, I can only think in metric now. mac


compiler ( ) posted Sat, 26 July 2003 at 5:46 PM

Hey Dr Geep ! Glad to hear from you again ! We miss you.


maclean ( ) posted Sat, 26 July 2003 at 7:00 PM

Hi geep, Good to see you back again. mac


Bill B ( ) posted Sun, 27 July 2003 at 1:40 PM

Well it seams as though its not as cut and dry as we would all like. Bummer! So I would ask this to IAN is do you have any plans to rework the calipers Im sure we would all be grateful. The conversions are just to whacked. Would there be a way to simplify the whole thing. To be able to measure in decimals? Thanks Bill B


Bill B ( ) posted Sun, 27 July 2003 at 2:27 PM

V 5


Bill B ( ) posted Sun, 27 July 2003 at 3:33 PM

I Know about the scale factor in P5, so in the end just to confirm what dose a poser unit =


maclean ( ) posted Sun, 27 July 2003 at 5:41 PM

geep, Are you sure about this? If so, it means that poser 5 units are differnt from poser 4. In poser 4 1 unit = 8' or 96". mac


maclean ( ) posted Sun, 27 July 2003 at 7:42 PM

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=1207252

Hi geep, No need to show me respect. LOL. I was just quoting the information I got from ronstuff. Here's the link to the thread where he discusses poser units and scale. mac


maclean ( ) posted Sun, 27 July 2003 at 8:22 PM

As you say, it's a controversial subject allright. I just wonder why MetaC ever started with this tiny pinhead poser universe in the first place? I mean, wouldn't it have been easier to go with everyone else? Ah well... who knows? mac


Ian Porter ( ) posted Mon, 28 July 2003 at 1:35 PM

Bill, I will see if I can make a new caliper, which measures in metres, in P5 scale as Dr geep says. I'm more used to working in feet and inches, since I used to do a lot of model railway building at 4mm to the foot. That's another example of NIH, since outside of the UK everyone else adopted 3.5 mm to the foot for similar sized models. That decision, of about 50 years ago, still plagues UK model railway enthusiasts, but I digress... If I can make another caliper I will post in freestuff. Cheers Ian


Bill B ( ) posted Mon, 28 July 2003 at 5:16 PM

Ian Cool Actually I would request inches down to 3 decimal places it possible. Thanks


ronstuff ( ) posted Tue, 29 July 2003 at 6:18 PM

Hi guys! Since my name has been mentioned, I thought I'd jump in here for my 2 cents worth. I hope Dr. Geep understands that I admire most of his work and acknowledge his significant contribution to the Poser community. However, in the matter of Poser Scale Units for Poser 4 AND for Poser 5, Dr. Geep is just wrong, Wrong, WRONG. He uses circular logic and mathematical mumbo-jumbo to obfuscate the issue, and he seems unwilling to consider even VALID proof which contradicts his pet theory. Furthermore, he claims that CL has somehow verified his theory, but my sources at both Cl and Egisys have verified that the scale in Poser has NOT changed since the introduction of Poser3 and has remained consistent in Poser4 and Poser5!. (although there is a bug in the P5 scale-translation process which I will describe below). The FACT is that the definition of one Poser Unit is no different in P5 than in P4. PROOF: If there were a difference in scale between Poser 4 and Poser 5 then EITHER the P4 male figure loaded into Poser 5 from your Poser4 runtime would be a different size than the Poser 4 male shipped with Poser5 OR the meshes and/or the Cr2 scaling would HAVE TO BE DIFFERENT. THEY ARE NOT. FACT: the scale unit is the SAME in Poser5 as it is in Poser4. Anything which suggests otherwise is just B.S. IMPARTIAL PROOF of the value of One Poser Unit - In my previous posts on this topic, I used Poser 5 as a reference, never thinking that someone might be silly enough to suggest that the scale in P5 were different from P4 - because it isn't. Fortunately, we don't need P5 to proove the value of One Poser Unit. Below is a proof that anyone can do using ONLY Poser4 and a 3D modeling app, so we can eliminate the issue of "different scales in P5". Note: In order to perform this test you must have a 3D modeling program that can work in a PRECISE scale using UNITS = 1 inch. Below I explain how to set up 3DS MAX for modeling in inches, and then offer the proof after that. Other programs use different standard units (the C4D standard unit is 1 meter for example) but they all can be changed to inches. Note2: Poser5 has a BUG in its unit translation calculations so to avoid this bug, you must launch P5 with units set to "Poser Standard Unit". Once launched, you may switch between units, and P5 will calculate them correctly. BUT if you launch P5 with units set to anything other that Poser Units, the calculations when switching units will be INCORRECT. This is perhaps where some people get confused about units in P5 because at times they can appear to be inconsistent. Use this workaround and everything will be fine. Fortunately in the proof below we do not need Poser5. On to the IMPARTIAL PROOF...


ronstuff ( ) posted Tue, 29 July 2003 at 6:19 PM

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Part 1


ronstuff ( ) posted Tue, 29 July 2003 at 6:20 PM

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Part 2


ronstuff ( ) posted Tue, 29 July 2003 at 6:20 PM

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Part 3


ronstuff ( ) posted Tue, 29 July 2003 at 6:21 PM

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Part 4


ronstuff ( ) posted Tue, 29 July 2003 at 6:21 PM

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Part 5


ronstuff ( ) posted Tue, 29 July 2003 at 6:32 PM

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Part 6 - Conclusion I hope this clarifies the issue for some people. This is an impartial proof, and is not just a pet theory, it is FACT. Anyone who insists on using other THEORIES about Poser units is just doing a huge disservice to the Poser community by perpetuating a FALLACY. There is nothing personal about this presentation - I am only trying to help the Poser community that I love so much have access to ACCURATE information. Because this is a virtual world, any user is free to PRETEND that Vicky is 6 feet tall or that Michael is a 4 foot dwarf - it is all relative to many people -- and scale precision certainly is not necessary for making great renders and having fun. HOWEVER for modelers who do desire PRECISION, then scale is important - especially for anyone who is making a RULER or other measuring device for Poser. PLEASE do not perpetuate this FALLACY any longer, now that we know better. Thanks, Ron


maclean ( ) posted Tue, 29 July 2003 at 6:49 PM

Thanks for posting this ronstuff. Excellent explanation. I've been using your tips with the poser Box Prop (at 1000% = 8 feet) to check various sizes. Very useful for those of us who don't have poser 5 measurements. mac


Suede ( ) posted Tue, 29 July 2003 at 7:57 PM

All due respect to you as well, but I do believe that ronstuffs conclusions ARE fully applicable to poser 4 and that there is no different scale between 4 & 5, and are actually more accurate then GPS.


Ian Porter ( ) posted Wed, 30 July 2003 at 7:11 AM

Hmm. It looks like Dr Geep has deleted his posts in this thread, which I would have liked to have looked at again. I can see Ron has made a very forceful argument in favour of 1 Poser unit equals eight feet, backed up by a proof. In the interests of healthy debate I feel bound to follow this up, especially since I might make another measuring device. With all due respect to Ronstuff I am not convinced that the proof of 1 poser unit equals 8 feet is as incontrovertible as has been claimed. I do not have MAX, so I cannot replicate the process described here, however... As I understand it Ron, you create a cube in MAX which is eight feet per side, and then scale this down to one ninety sixth of its original size. This makes it now one inch per side. When this cube is imported into Poser it comes in at one Poser unit high. Does this not mean that 1 Poser unit is actually 1 inch in MAX? Since the Poser figures are all less than 1 Poser unit high this gives us a problem, because we expect them to represent humans. Since the P4 man is 0.75 Poser units high (therefore three quarters on an inch high in MAX, if no scaling factor is used), then applying a scaling factor of 96 times will make him six feet tall. However, we could for instance have chosen to apply a scaling factor of 144, and this would make him nine feet tall. I believe using the same proof above, you could make a cube in MAX, 12 feet per side, scale it down by 144 and then import this into Poser. It will come in at 1 Poser unit high, therefore following the proof 1 Poser unit could be argued to be 12 feet, and since the P4 man is 0.75 Poser units he would then appear to be 9 feet high. My point is that a scaling factor of ninety six times between MAX and Poser is convenient, in that it makes the P4 man six feet tall,and makes a Poser unit eight feet, but it is an assumption, which I think stems from a belief that he is six feet tall and cannot be proven to be correct in this way. I believe that CL or MetaC may have made a statement in the past, that the P4 guy is supposed to be 6 feet tall. I agree that a scaling factor of 96 times will make that figure six feet tall in MAX. But I don't think it can be proven mathematically, without standing on the foundation of 'The P4 man is six feet tall, therefore....' Having said the above I must also say that having the P4 man work out at six feet tall, and a Poser unit of eight feet suits me fine. It may be that I am missing something here, so please correct me if I have made a mistake. Constructively Ian


Jlbrown907 ( ) posted Wed, 30 July 2003 at 11:42 AM

With all due respect to all concerned, the bottom line is how do I figure out the measurement (in feet/inches) in POSER, not Max or Bryce or anything else, just Poser. Is someone going to develop a tool for this, if not just a reasonable formula using known Poser objects/terms would help me tremendously. I'm working on something where just eyeballing it is not quite acceptable. I'm totally confused now. Thanks


ronstuff ( ) posted Wed, 30 July 2003 at 1:55 PM

LOL, Ian! Good points! Our only "mistake" is that we think like Humans ;-) In a nutshell, you are partially correct in that ANYTHING reduced to UNITY will equal 1. Mathematically speaking, "ANYTHING multiplied by its inverse" = 1. All this "prooves" is that "One Poser unit" = 1 or, more precisely 1 = 1. This is what has tripped up many attempts to "prove" various Poser scale theories, and is why I have tried to refrain from calling this "mathematical proof". What I have posted above is, of course not the entire proof, most of which is contained in other threads; rather it is more like supporting evidence based on testing an assumption - what is important to note is not necessarily that the box comes in at 1 PU tall (because we already know that it was reduced to unit value, mathematically in MAX), but that when compared to a P4 male figure (at 6 feet tall) it is 8 feet tall IN POSER even though it is 1 UNIT tall in the 3DS or OBJ file. You are correct that fundamentally it is based on the FACT that the Poser4 Male figure is 6 feet tall, and would be meaningless without that KNOWN value (the 6' parameter has been verified by Curious Labs, and is observable in Poser5 with units set to feet or inches - see my note on the Poser5 scale bug above). So far, so good, but where your logic fails you is when you suggest "Does this not mean that 1 Poser unit is actually 1 inch in MAX?" Here you are confusing the meanings of "units" and "scale" which I have illustrated in previous posts, but will try to briefly explain here. In any 3D file document (3DS, OBJ, C4D, LWO etc.) all dimensions (vertex coordinates) are recorded as a series of numbers without any reference to units of measurement (except as a single notation line in SOME file formats). For example, the box we described above is 1 UNIT x 1 UNIT x 1 UNIT in length, width and height in the FILE that is passed from the modeling program to Poser(NOT 1"x1"x1"). If you import that SAME file into a program (or even back into MAX) while using a different SCALE than the one we used to create the box, it could appear to be a 1 foot cube, a 1 inch cube, a 1 meter cube, etc. based on what the internal SCALE of the importing program is currently using at the time of import. In other words, ONE UNIT is meaningless without SCALE information and the two are not always the same (such as architectural scales like 1/4" = 1 foot). Just remember that UNITS are relative values and SCALE is the RATIO or conversion factor for translating one measuring unit standard to another. Poser does not use "inches" or "feet" or "meters" as its UNIT of measurement, it uses a measuring unit called the "Standard Poser Unit". All numbers are recorded in these units, including the numbers used in exporting and importing files with other applications. To translate these numbers to meanignful units in other applications, we need the SCALE information (1 Poser Unit = 8 if your program is using FEET as UNITS -- 1 PU = 96 if your program is using INCHES as UNITS -- 1 PU = 2.4384 if your program is using METERS as UNITS). Also note that this has nothing to do with 3DS MAX except that I used it in my example. The same thing applies to ANY modeling program, using ANY unit of measurement. As long as you know the correct conversion factors, you can model precisely and bring your model into Poser to be EXACTLY the dimensions you expect them to be. This is not just about making a 96" box that JUST HAPPENS to come into Poser at 1 PU, but it is about making a chair that has a seat height of 17.5" in your modeling program and having it properly FIT a POSER figure just like the SAME chair would fit a 6' tall person in OUR world. For exact conversion standards between any program and Poser, see my next post.


maclean ( ) posted Wed, 30 July 2003 at 2:59 PM

'it uses a measuring unit called the "Standard Poser Unit". All numbers are recorded in these units, including the numbers used in exporting and importing files' OK. I have a question at this point. Poser imports at 'percentage of figure size'. Does anyone know exactly which 'figure size' this refers to? Dork? Posette? The Jolly Green Giant? Presumably there's a standard here, so is it be based on the Poser Unit? I hope so. Jlbrown, In the absence of any tools to measure, do what I do. Use the Poser Box Prop and the Front Camera. At 1000% it measures 8'/96" and the sixe can be worked out from the percentage fairly easily. See my post above - #16 mac Is geep offended? Why'd he delete his posts?


Jlbrown907 ( ) posted Wed, 30 July 2003 at 5:02 PM

THANK YOU MACLEAN! That's all I personally was looking for! And by the way, I think Geep was a bit......offended. He pretty much said so in another thread. Thanks again.


maclean ( ) posted Wed, 30 July 2003 at 5:10 PM

No problem. Glad to help. Yup, I saw the thread. Pity. I respect Dr geep, but I think we all just want to help each other and have correct information. mac


ronstuff ( ) posted Wed, 30 July 2003 at 5:36 PM

file_68584.jpg

Poser Measuring Units and Translating them to other units. Above is a graphic which contains the SCALE translation factors for converting Poser Units to other unit standards. The same information will be given below in text format so you can cut/paste it into a note for yourself. There are two different ways that people can use this information. 1) Exporting or Importing properly scaled objects between Poser and other applications; and 2) scaling, placing or moving objects WITHIN Poser. Details for each follows: 1) Importing/Exporting -- To really understand this process, we must understand the difference between DISPLAY UNITS and DOCUMENT UNITS. Some modeling programs allow the user complete freedom for setting EITHER of these parameters independently, trusting that the user fully understands the implications of using different standards for DISPLAY and MODEL DOCUMENT CREATION. For example in MAX, I can set DISPLAY units to "user defined" and enter the factor for Poser Units into the definition. Thereafter all dimensions shown on MY SCREEN (grid, translations, etc.)will be expressed in Poser Units (solely for MY benefit), but the FILE that is being created and all INTERNAL numbers and calculations used by MAX will have dimensions expressed in the DOCUMENT SCALE setting (which COULD be inches or feet or meters or millimeters or whatever the user specifies, but does not HAVE to be the same as the DISPLAY units). In a more likely scenario, it is common for people to MODEL in feet, but DISPLAY in inches or MODEL in meters but display in feet. This is a matter of convenience for us, but can be confusing to people trying to do precision scaling between two different applications that may have two entirely different sets of DISPLAY and DOCUMENT settings. In Poser 4 we had no choice (display and document units were always expressed in PUs) but Poser5 allows us to have different DISPLAY units from the DOCUMENT units. So if you do use the option of setting your P5 display units to feet, inches or meters, please keep in mind that the DOCUMENT is still being written in POSER UNITS, and therefore any import/export you do will be done in Poser Units and NOT in whatever DISPLAY units you specify. Bottom Line - When importing/exporting between Poser and ANY modeling program, the DATA which is passed is always expressed in DOCUMENT UNITS not DISPLAY UNITS. This is why we can't just say that "1 Poser Unit equals X MAX units or Y OBJ units or Z 3DS units" - instead we need a set of factors to convert between Poser Units and WHATEVER the DOCUMENT scale of the other program might be AT THE TIME it is being transferred. These factors are as follows: Start With: Multiply by: To get: Poser Units 8 Feet Poser Units 96 Inches Poser Units 2.4384 Meters Poser Units 243.84 Centimeters Poser Units 2438.4 Millimeters Inches 0.0104167 Poser Units Feet 0.125 Poser Units Meters 0.4101 Poser Units Centimeters 0.004101 Poser Units Millimeters 0.0004101 Poser Units To further complicate matters, some import/export filters use percentage factors rather than multiplyers for calculating translations. Both MAX and Truespace use PERCENT factors not multipliers as are used in Rhino. This is not a problem when we think about it, and come to the realization that 10% of something is the same as factoring by 0.1 and 50% of something is the same as factoring by 0.5. So to convert between FACTORS as used above table to the PERCENT EQUIVALENT, simply MOVE THE FACTOR DECIMAL 2 places to the right to get PERCENTAGE equivalents. Armed with this information (and the fact that Poser uses Y-up coordinates and some programs use Z-up - but that is another tutorial) you can model anything you like in ANY application and bring it into Poser with NOTHING checked on the import filter, and have the object appear scaled relative to Poser people exactly as it would be scaled relative to us. 2) Manipulating objects WITHIN Poser: While measuring devices are handy things to have in Poser (provided they properly reflect the Poser Scale), they do suffer from some limitations of accuracy because they are based on visual comparisons in a PREVIEW window with somewhat limited pixel resolution. They might be fine for ballparking a dimension or measuring the height of Poser figures, but they are not so easy to use on diagonals or for very small or very large distances. So far, Ian's original calipers are among the most accurate measuring devices that I have seen, but are subject to the limitations described above. Sooner or later anyone interested in manipulating objects with precision in Poser will just have to come to grips with the Poser Unit. It really is not that difficult if you keep a little calculator handy on your real or virtual desktop. The numbers above provide the factors necessary to perform very precise placement and movement within Poser without using any other devices. It reeally is simple once you commit to doing it. Here are a few examples: Let's say you are arranging furniture in your Poser scene, and every time you add another prop, it comes into Poser squarely centered on the global axis, and not where you want it. Most people will place the object by spinning the translation dials, or grabbing it with the move tool. Both of these methods can lead to unexpected results depending on many factors, and it may take many adjustments to finally get the object where you want it. An easier way involves using your knowleged of "real world" measurements and how to apply your lifetime of experience judging sizes and distances. In Poser all you need to know is what the "real world" equivalent of a Poser Unit is, and some simple mathematics. Then, if you look at your scene, you can easily visualize your locations and estimate them in your head. For example, you don't need anyone to tell you that your sofa in this scene is "about 6 feet long (or whatever)" or that the chair is "about three feet from the end of the sofa" or that you would like the painting on the wall to be "about 12 inches above the back of the sofa". You just KNOW these things without having to do ANY calculations. All you need to do now, is communicate that information to Poser and you will set up your scene in a fraction of the time. The factors in the table above are the keys. Let's say that you eyeball something that needs to be about 9 feet to the right and 5.5 feet toward the back of where it currently is. All you do (with your calculator) is multiply your distance estimates by the appropriate unit factor (feet in this example so the factor is .125) to determine what numbers to type into the xTrans or yTrans parameter. So "9 feet to the right" is the same as telling Poser to move by 1.125 units (or ADD 1.125 units to the current xTrans value to move it to the right - subtract to move it left), and "5.5 feet back" is the same as telling Poser "subtract 0.6875" (subtract to move back on the z axis or add to move forward). OK, I agree that in the above example, it would have been just as easy to use the "standard methods" of object manipulation in Poser with equal ease, but next is an example of a REAL situation I encountered where these "standard methods" totally failed me, and the ONLY thing that would work efficiently is my calculation method. I don't know if you are familiar with a scenic environment made by Transpond (RDNA) called "Menme de Caomh" which is a really nice environment comprising steep hillsides, a valley with a lake, two waterfalls and several full-sized buildings and bridges. I would roughly estimate that the setting represents dimensions of about 200 feet in either direction and 50 feet in height. Now, when you load a Poser figure into such an environment, it is completely hidden somewhere in the terrain, and you can imagine the difficulty one might encounter is placing your figures. First of all, because it is hidden by the terrain, you cannot "grab" it with the move tool. Second, trying to move the figure by tediously turning dials at the rate of about 1 foot per turn, is futile especially when you cannot even see the object you are moving. Not to mention the similar difficulties you might have setting up your camera. Fortunately, Transpond anticipated such difficulties, and cleverly provided several camera presets and figure translation preset poses to get a figure to any one of several pre-defined locations with a single click. Unfortunately, the spot where I wanted my camera and the spot where I wanted my figure were not among those presets. Even so, within 15-20 seconds I had both my figure and my camera positioned exactly where I wanted them. Here's how. First I eyeballed the terrain height to be about 25 feet where I was working, so when I loaded my figure I immediatley set the yTrans to 3.75 (because 3.75 PU would raise the figure about 30 feet - and I wanted to be sure to be above my 25' estimate) so sure enough, my figure popped up in the air above the terrain enough for me to get my bearings. From there it was easy to eyeball the distances to the figure location I wanted and type them into the xTrans and zTrans parameters rather that twisting the dial till my hand fell off - and finally lowering the figure until the feet were on the desired surface. Same for the camera. Very simple and very fast to move large distances with accuracy. I'm not saying this is for everyone because clearly it is not. But if anyone is interested in scale or precision, it is better that we all use the same set of standards than for each of us to promote our own concepts. The information I have porovided here is not "MY" standard, it is the POSER standard as defined by Curious Labs, and all I am trying to do is help people understand the significance of that FACT.


ronstuff ( ) posted Wed, 30 July 2003 at 5:50 PM

file_68585.jpg

Dang, the formatting on my table was lost - sorry folks - you can reformat it into a table that is a bit clearer is you just spread it out. Anyway, Mac, I beleive that the Percent of "Standard Human Figure" was a concept introduced WAAAAAy back in Poser 1 or 2 and has not applied since the introduction of Poser 3. Unfortunately it is one of those untidy bits that have never been addressed in Poser's evolution. See the picture above - the blue box was imported to be 100% of a "standard Figure" but as you can see, it is much shorter than the P4 guy which is standing behind a P2 guy. The box is roughly the size of a Poser2 figure not a Poser 3 or 4 figure! I'm sorry that Geep got offended and ran off to another thread where he can be idolized, but I think his behavior is childish and does not serve the community as well as he would like to think.


maclean ( ) posted Wed, 30 July 2003 at 7:32 PM

Very good indeed, ron. I'm saving this thread. It's pretty much a tutorial in itself. As you know I'm working on a room pack, and when this subject came up a few months ago, I already had everything built. I had been using my own method of scale/import, which is an odd system, but does work, although I wouldn't claim it's anywhere near as precise as this. Mine's more of an 'eyeball' system. Anyway, I was using Max Units and basing the object size on the fact that a poser figure is 100%. Therefore, if my door was built at 110 units high, I would import it at 110%, and all the other parts of the door would be imported at the same percentage as their max unit size. This allowed me to import as 3DS and make sure everything fitted when I had to assemble 20 or 30 parts for a figure. As I say, it's not a very sophisticated system. LOL. But I wasn't dealing with figures that required an extreme degree of precision. For my next project, I'll use your way. mac


williamsheil ( ) posted Thu, 31 July 2003 at 4:20 AM

I missed Dr Geep's post, but from what I can tell, he did imply that P5 had "changed" the Poser to real world conversion factors. There was some truth in this. For interest, from the ReadMe file of the SR1: * Poser's real world units have been re-scaled for greater accuracy by changing the scaling factor to 8 from 8.6. * So at least on the initial release of P5, there was a different conversion factor being used. The current conversion seems to have reverted to the original 1/3 DXF, 8 foot conversion. Bill


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