How can i make mat poses? A simple explanation preferable.

Pick up Mat-pose-edit from the freestuff....and then go for it. It is actually very easy to use...just open a character file and save it as a pose file. done :) Rawn

If you're using P5 - you might have to wait a while until MAT Pose Edit 3 is released (it's in Beta at the moment and looking good - I'm lucky enough to be one of the testers.) Another thing you could try is this: -Pick a MAT pose file which fits the character you're working on (e.g. Vic 3) -Open it in Wordpad or a similar text editor -Save it out to the name you want your MAT file to be -Go through the file and change the texture references to point to your texture files and values. It would take probably some experimentation before you get it right.

thanks Rawnrr and karen1573

Attached Link: http://www.silverleifstudios.com/MATTut.htm

Here's a link to the best tutorial I know of for making MAT poses. If you're modifying MATS as karen suggests, there are a couple of things to remember. First of all, MATs will only apply to figures or smart-props. Second, the MAT you modify should have the same materials as the other figure you want to apply it to (ie. modify a vicki MAT and apply it to vicki, NOT posette). Thirdly, if you modify MATs, they won't necessarily have the full list of materials for that figure. The trick with making MATs is to only include the materials you want to change. So, a MAT for vicki's eyes won't have the skin material in it. Lastly, when you open a MAT to modify, all you need to do is search for 'material'. The materials are divided into 'blocks', and each block starts with the word 'material',so thats an easy way to work your way through the document. Here's what a simple MAT with 2 material blocks looks like.

{
        version
        {
                number 4.01
        }
        figure
        {
                material floor
                {
                        KdColor 1 1 1 1
                        KaColor 0 0 0 1
                        KsColor 0 0 0 1
                        TextureColor 1 1 1 1
                        NsExponent 100
                        tMin 0
                        tMax 0
                        tExpo 0
                        bumpStrength 1
                        ksIgnoreTexture 0
                        reflectThruLights 1
                        reflectThruKd 0
                        textureMap ":runtime:textures:room creator:macfloor01.jpg"
                        0 0
                        bumpMap NO_MAP
                        reflectionMap NO_MAP
                        transparencyMap NO_MAP
                        ReflectionColor 1 1 1 1
                        reflectionStrength 1
                }
                material floor_outer
                {
                        KdColor 1 1 1 1
                        KaColor 0 0 0 1
                        KsColor 0 0 0 1
                        TextureColor 1 1 1 1
                        NsExponent 100
                        bumpStrength 1
                        ksIgnoreTexture 0
                        reflectThruLights 1
                        reflectThruKd 0
                        textureMap ":runtime:textures:room creator:macfloor01.jpg"
                        0 0
                        bumpMap NO_MAP
                        reflectionMap NO_MAP
                        transparencyMap NO_MAP
                        ReflectionColor 1 1 1 1
                        reflectionStrength 1
                }
        }
}

mac

You can also search on my user name in the free section. There's only one match which contains a Python script that works well with any PC version of Poser. If you have any questions on how to use it, just email me.

'that works well with any PC version of Poser' Except poser 4 which can't use Python. mac

I actually want to make a new mat pose for my free robot figure here in renderosity

xantor, The simplest way would be this. Save the figure under a new name (in characters) with all the textures you want applied. Open that cr2 in a text editor and cut out the middle section of the cr2, leaving in the figure section with the materials. Here's what you need to keep in.

{
        version
        {
                number 4.01
        }

That's the setion at the very beginning of the cr2. Start deleting on the line below below that closing brace } and delete all the way down to where the materials start. Here. figure { material skin { KdColor 1 1 1 1 KaColor 0 0 0 1 KsColor 0 0 0 1 TextureColor 1 1 1 1 etc, etc,

Just delete everything in the middle (you'll have to go a LONG way down), then save the file with the extension .pz2 and put it in any Pose folder. Re-open your figure, change some colors or textures just to see the effect, then apply the MAT you saved. All texs should now be re-applied correctly. mac

I don`t have the figure line in my cr2 :( The line before the first material says conforming 0

That's OK, xantor. Your figure must be based on a vicki or Mil figure. I was looking at a posette when I posted. Yours should look something like this

        weld    lFoot:1  
                         lShin:1
        weld    lToe:1  
                         lFoot:1
        allowsBending 1 
        figureType 1318 
        origFigureType 1318 
        canonType 8 
        conforming 0
        material SkinBody
                {
                KdColor 1 1 1 1 
                KaColor 0.211765 0.105852 0.0784314 1 
                KsColor 0.211765 0.105852 0.0784314 1

Just delete down to 'conforming 0' mac

thank you mac you have been very helpful.

No problem at all. I only know this stuff because I asked and other people helped me. Pass it on. mac

Oh oh... P4 / P5 has a little difference. You need to put 00 in some places. (Someone did a post somewhere explaining this, maybe someone remembers where the thread is I can't find it) Ya gotta watch out for that when you do MAT poses for P5 :) I came across it the other day while testing something, that's why I remembered. But I couldn't explain to you what you need to do lol. Silke

Does that mean that older mat poses wont work in p5?

Ummm... Slight Problem with the FreeStuff MatPoseEditor. I Keep trying to D/L it, and it seems to be corrupted. Does anyone know of an off-site host that has an Uncorrupted version? I'd like to try that before bothering the creator personally... (I'd much rather bother YOU guys IMpersonally!)

Attached Link: http://www.lut.fi/~pihlajis/MPE203.zip

Starlok, The file isn't corrupted, I just checked. Some server problems I guess.

I uploaded the package on a mirror server (the attached URL), it should work.

The 0 0 (double zero) line is pretty simple. When you add a texture to anything inside poser, it adds the double zero line after the texture path. Like this

                        reflectThruKd 0
                        textureMap ":Runtime:Textures:room creator:macwood04.jpg"
                        0 0    <--------- THIS LINE HERE
                        bumpMap NO_MAP
                        reflectionMap NO_MAP

No one seems to know what the zeros do in poser 4, but Poser 5 uses them to calculate displacement. If they're missing, it won't read the MAT properly. If you're making your own MATs, it's easy to forget about it. If you take the list of materials from the cr2, that line won't appear unless the material already has a texture applied to it. If you add a texture path to a material that didn't have one, and forget to add the 0 0 line, then Poser 5 will give problems. This is why I suggested to xantor that he/she add the textures in poser, then hack the cr2 to extract the MAT. By adding the materials within poser, the double zero line will always be there. The thing to do is, when you're using other people's MATs as a base, and modifying them, always check that the double zero is there. It's amazing how many MATs don't have it. mac

PS You also need double zeros after bump maps and reflection maps. mac

"You also need double zeros after bump maps and reflection maps" does that mean a new line with the two zeros?

Yes, xantor. This is what a single material block looks like when all 4 have maps (tex, bump, reflection and transmap)

                material wall
                {
                        KdColor 1 1 1 1
                        KaColor 0 0 0 1
                        KsColor 0 0 0 1
                        TextureColor 1 1 1 1
                        NsExponent 100
                        tMin 0
                        tMax 0
                        tExpo 0
                        bumpStrength 1
                        ksIgnoreTexture 0
                        reflectThruLights 1
                        reflectThruKd 0
                        textureMap ":runtime:textures:room creator:macpaper03.jpg"
                        0 0
                        bumpMap ":runtime:textures:room creator:macbump01.jpg"
                        0 0
                        reflectionMap textureMap ":runtime:textures:room creator:macrefl01.jpg"
                        0 0
                        transparencyMap textureMap ":runtime:textures:room creator:mactrans01.jpg"
                        0 0
                        ReflectionColor 1 1 1 1
                        reflectionStrength 1
                }

LOL. I just looked at your original post 'How can i make mat poses? A simple explanation preferable' Oh well... Nothing's simple in poser. mac

Er..... If you're making MATs, you'll want to make thumbnails for them too. There are dozens of ways to do this, but here's mine (this is from my next Help File.

• In poser, use a square-shaped document window (any size), and apply your MAT to the figure you're using.
• Move the camera in to get the view you want to use as a MAT image
• Open any camera library and save your document window as a camera file. Save it with the same name as your MAT- like 'mymat01'
• In Windows Explorer, go to the camera folder where you just saved the new file and delete 'mymat01.cm2' (the camera information).
• Drag the file 'mymat01.rsr' (the image information) to the Pose folder where your MAT is.
• When you open that folder in poser, your MAT will now have an image.

(Note - When deleting a file from poser, you may have to exit the folder in poser before it allows you to delete. If you drag a .rsr to another folder and can't see it, select another folder in that library, then go back to the first one, and the image should appear)

If you want to add anything to the image, like text, or you have transmaps that you want to see, try this method.

• Apply the MAT, exactly as above, but this time make sure you have the option to render in a new window (ctrl-y > New Window)
• Do a render and save it as a jpeg, psd, or whatever.
• If you want to add any text to the image, open it in a graphics app, add the text and resave it.
• Now delete the figure in poser and import the rendered image as a background (alt-f-i-b).
• Save the document window as a camera file, then delete the .cm2 and drag the .rsr to the correct folder, as above.

mac

thank you mac

Thanks Mac, that was the bit I saw. :) BTW - this little piece of advice you gave to someone a couple weeks ago (I think it was you, I really don't remember) stuck in my mind. So when a MAT pose wouldn't behave in P5 the other day... I looked, and low and behold - no 00. Added it, and it worked just fine. So we averted the evil "Won't work in P5" thing :) Just wanted to say thank you and that no advice in here is ever unhelpful. All you gotta do is remember it :) (Ok with a brain like a sieve, like mine, that's the REALLY tricky part...) Silke

BTW - I usually just frame what I want in poser, render it in the size I want it - and save as a png with the proper filename for the mat. Then dump that into the pose folder. Because for some reason... P5 seems to have problems sometimes to turn rsr's into png's. You'll still need the rsr for P4 tho I think. (Not sure) Silke

hi silke, Glad the advice helped. Re thumbs. The reason I do it my way is that I usually add text to my MATs saying what they're for or what they do (see pic). By doing a quick render, I can add what I want to it. And importing it as a background avoids all problems with rsrs/pngs. It just goes straight in as a thumbnail. As I said, there are dozens of ways of doing it. mac

I have the p3do explorer so making thumbnails isn`t really a problem but it is good to see alternative ways to make them.

I would like to add one point to maclean's explanation of MAT files. When you setup a texture map for a character in the PC version of Poser 4, Poser saves the texture refrence as an absolute path in Windows format, like this: textureMap "C:Poser 4RuntimeTexturesMy FolderP4 woman texture3-1200.tif" This works fine on YUOR computer, but the path to the file might be diffrent on someone elses computer. For this reason it is better to use just the file name preceeded by a colon (:) and enclosed in double quotes like this: textureMap ":P4 woman texture3-1200.tif" When no path is given Poser looks in the textures folder and all its sub-folders so it will finde a file listed in this format, but it may not find a file with an incorrect absolute path.

Thanks for pointing that out, les. The only thing I'd like to say is that I find the lack of a distinct path almost as bad as an absolute path. I use this, textureMap ":runtime:textures:room creator:macpaper03.jpg" which references Runtime without being specific about the folder or drive, but does name a specific folder. This means poser will find the texture instantly, as opposed to searching through the entire textures folder each time. Not only that, if your tex is called 'wood.jpg', there may be another 'wood.jpg' in a different folder, so poser may find that first and use it instead. (That's why I add the prefix 'mac' to all my texs - like 'macwood01.jpg') You can never know what folder or drive people keep poser on, but neither can you know how big their textures folder is. If it's 10 gigs, by not naming a folder, you're condemning them to extra waiting time. mac