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.