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

First some info for those who wonder what MAT Pose Edit is: It's a tool for making MAT poses, MOR poses, SDMAT poses, utility poses, or a combination of these pose types. MPE can open almost any character, pose, prop, hair, hand, face, camera or light file. Some documentation and tutorials can be found at http://koti.mbnet.fi/~ilaripih/MPEHome/

It's a relief I finally got this finished. I've really enjoyed working on MPE but it's also been stressfull at times. I've decided that I'll now start doing something more creative like render a nekkid vicky in a temple, but I'm going to support MPE also in the future so please keep the questions and requests coming.

I'm sorry that some of the planned features like morph injection pose support isn't included. I have this strange problem: my girlfriend is from the real world so I can't spend all my time in this dimension. I'm also a little busy with my studies. But morph INJ poses are in the task list for the next version so don't worry.

I haven't been an active member here at all (if I had I'd probably be banned by now) but I do explore the site and especially this forum frequently. I also guarantee that anyone asking about MPE here or via e-mail, will get an answer.

Huge thanks to all the people who beta-tested, wrote tutorials, gave advice, requested new features or asked questions. Positive feedback alone keeps me doing this. The beta-testing took heck a lot of time so I guess that means MPE is now stable and reliable.

I hope you find MPE 3 worth downloading, I'd love to hear your honest comments. Hopefully some of the beta-testers will participate in this thread to share their thoughts.

Best regards,
Ilari Pihlajisto (ilari.pihlajisto@mbnet.fi)

I almost forgot to include the "What's new" list:

-P4 <-> P5 pose file batch converter

-Ability to make Poser 5 compliant MAT files

-Support for large (over 100MB) characters

-Drag and Drop support for textures, bump maps, etc. Means that you can drag and drop image files from Windows explorer on the map text boxes.

-File Information window. Displays information about the amount of objects, materials, morphs, poses, etc.

-Image previews. Thumbnails are displayed when opening a file and in the main window. All the major image formats are supported (unfortunately not RSR), even .bum files.

-"Import data" window. Various Poser files can be combined into one Pose. One can for instance combine a Character file with lights and cameras.

-Indication and repairing of incorrect map paths. When a map file isn't found it will be indicated with red text color. MPE can also try to automatically search for the right folder.

-Preferences are saved in a Settings.ini file instead of the Windows registry

-Loading of morphs and poses can be interrupted at any time with the Esc button

-Support for light and camera files

-MTL Export. MPE can save materials into an .mtl file (which is used by for example Bryce).

-Sub-dividing materials (SDMAT) support.

-Better support for Poser 5 files. Shader tree nodes no longer make MPE load every material multiple times.

-Utility pose support

-Greatly reduced loading times

Thanks scouge. In an ideal world, time would replace money as currency. Altruism would replace greed as motivation. You'd be a millionaire! Cheers!

Thank You soo much Ilari, MAT Pose Edit is number one of my daily use Poser utilities programs, most useful. :)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!! faints

Woah! Thank you very much!!!!

Thanks a zillion times !

Thanks Scourge for making such a great tool available to the community!!

Kiitos!! Very much appreciated. I just wonder.. What is this Real World thing you refer to? It sounds scary if it is something that can take you off your computer...

Yes the Real World, it is scary. I was born and raised there but fortunately I found a way to escape. Just when I thought I was safe I got dragged back. Now I keep switching between the two dimensions.

Congratulations Ilari!!!! This is really an awesome contribution to the community. Testing it was a pleasure because you are so dedicated to creating a product that has REAL functionality for people who need to create MAT poses (among other things). There are so many new features that even your list above does not begin to cover them all. I can honestly say that MPE3 is hands-down the BEST program of its kind (and I have spent good money on the others just to discover that they are cumbersome and counter-productive). "Real Life"? Isn't that the place we have to go when our computers break down? I hear that nanite technology will soon make it completely obsolete. ;-) Ilari, I hope your girlfriend looks good in a loincloth with a sword! Thanks again for providing this great utility. Poser just got a bit easier and more fun to use!

If you havn't installed this utility, do so now. It is worth the effort if just for the ease it offers for setting up textures. Why he didn't put it up for sell is beyond me?? This is one great program!

Yes, it's one fantastic program, and it's FREE. So what are you waiting for?

Ilari did a fantastic job on this program :) I loved it in the first versions and I have enjoyed using it during the beta :) The options and capabilities of this program are fantastic Its quick, simple to use and fast. It will continue to be my Mat pose editor of choice. I especially love the ability to create selection templates on the fly :) Fabulous work Ilari and thank you soooo much for a quality program that meets my needs so well.

Thank you Ilari for this program. I had the pleasure of working with the Beta of MPE3 and I must say it's fantastic! Ilari really is a genious isn't he? ;) To all those who haven't tried this program who are fairly new to poser, go for it! I am new to poser and just started with textures ext. Even I was able to easily work with this program! I'd never be without it again! I'm sure I haven't even gotten to all it can do, but what I have has been so much fun. Congradulations Ilari on a fantastic job. To the community, this program is a must have! As for the real world, I have a 6 mth old yelling at me that it's time to return lol. Cya later ;)

I have a question in regards to MPE and P5's shader nodes...

I seems like MPE will write a .pz2 that looks very similar to a .mt5 EXCEPT for these lines...

shaderTree
{
node "poser" "PoserSurface"
{
nodeInput "Diffuse_Color"
{
value 0 0 0
parmR NO_PARM
parmG NO_PARM
parmB NO_PARM
node NO_NODE
file ""
}

---

shaderTree
{
node "poser" "PoserSurface"
{
name "PoserSurface"
pos 10 10
showPreview 1
nodeInput "Diffuse_Color"
{
name "Diffuse_Color"
value 0 0 0
parmR NO_PARM
parmG NO_PARM
parmB NO_PARM
node NO_NODE
file ""
}

The top is from the .pz2 created by MPE, the lower from an .mt5, the difference is these lines...

name "PoserSurface"
pos 10 10
showPreview 1

and also the "name "Diffuse_Color"

The .pz2 didn't work, just beeped.
I added the lines and it still just beeped.
I tried changing the file extension and placing it into MATERIALS, still beeped.

HMMM I must be missing something.

Strange...Check that the version number is correct:

{
version
{
number 5
}
figure
{

You can check the "Poser version for all P5 files" preference and enter "5" in the text field to always use that version number in P5 files.

If you get a beep or nothing happens when applying a MAT pose there can be several things - one is that you do not have an appropriate figure selected (be sure to also select some BODY part because some times it can appear that you have the right figure, but a prop, camera or light is selected instead of a body part so the MAT will not apply). The pos and showPreview lines would not affect the application of the MAT, just how the material is displayed in the Material Room. It could also be something else, so I'll check mine to see if something sneaked buy us - thanks for the alert.

No. Sorry folks, I DID miss something... I WAS TRING TO APPLY IT TO A PROP DOH! The prop was the only thing in the scene. Apparently Mat poses for props don't work unless they are either parented to a figure, or you open the file in a text editor and change "prop" to "actor". So now what do those lines do?

Phew, I'm glad it wasn't any serious bug in MPE.

I think someone else (maybe ronstuff) can explain those lines better than me.

Sorry guys, didn't mean to cause any sphincter clenching.

Thanks! MPE is indispensable.

BRILLIANT!!! I've now had the chance to play with MPE3 and what a superb program! Very impressed indeed! I love the ability to search for and repair incorrect map paths (as well as the previews), but I'm a stickler for neat organisation. I have Poser installed in its own partition (with the path H:! Poser !). My neatly organised chaos involves another 15 gig! partition where Vicki2, Vicki3 (without the deltas!), Mike, Hair etc are all given their own runtime libraries. After installing MPE3 I setup all the preferences to point to my Poser installation. I then loaded a pose file from my own peculiar Vicki3 runtime (which has the path N:3 VICKI 3). I'm constantly re-jigging locations, and like most of my MAT files, the pose contained incorrect path references. MPE3 immediately scanned but (not surprisingly) couldn't find the correct paths. However... what I've just found out, is that by simply (temporarily) changing just the Poser Folder location in preferences, MPE3 will find and repair in a flash. Frankly, I prefer it this way rather than (for example) MPE3 having knowledge of all my different texture folders. No doubt I've many duplicate textures, but correcting paths this way ensures that I'm keeping everything self-contained and accurately referenced in its own individual runtime library (great for burning backups). Again, Thanks to all involved.

Hey caulbox, drive N? How many drives/partitions do you have? Whew!

No problem, iamonk. My sphincter handled the emergency situation pretty well.

Ronstuff,
I asked my girlfriend and she didn't like the idea of posing for my first "Vicky in a temple with a sword" image. She's afraid I'll some day start calling her Vicky and try to apply some MATs and morphs to her.

caulbox,
Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoy the new features. And as you said, thanks to all involved.

Yeah I'm a bit OTT (or should that be XYZ). My last hard drive partition is Q (just the swap file in that one!) but virtual CD drives go all the way to Y. I need to keep a spare one JIC :)

Thanks so much for your expertise and such a great gift to all of us. cheerio lululee

well.. I've managed to crash it everytime so far... keep getting 'line out of range' then booom... back to desktop...

Well, I just installed the previous version a few days ago, and I was just beginning to see how invaluable it was. But I am using Poser 5 exclusively, so this version should be the ticket for me. Just one question though...do I need to uninstall the old version first? Or do I just install this version over top of it? Or do I install it to a new directory? Thanks.

Kaibach,
Might be some components missing or out of date in your system. What version of Windows do you have? When does it exactly crash (during installation, starting the application, opening a file)? I'd also like to know the exact error message you get.

MenInOhio,
I suggest uninstalling the old version first, there should be no need to keep it.

Windows XP Pro, all updates... only happens with figures I've made myself in Poser... so it could be that.. the error is 'Error in the Openfile function input past end of file, error number 62. Code line number 1430' followed by 'Run-Time error '9': subscript out of range' then back to the desktop....

I was lucky enough to get to test this. It is WONDERFUL. I was so so tired of having to edit my mat poses and this takes care of this problem. Thank you so much..

caulbox - you are right about that little feature - this is really a "smart" (or more appropriately "intelligent") little app. When you change the Poser Folder, all the relative folders are automatically switched to that path - it works great with multiple P5 runtimes. I just wish Ilari had put the Poser Folder selection at the TOP of the list rather than at the bottom, more people (including myself) would discover that feature before they manually assign each individual runtime folder - well thats something for the next version, I guess ;-) iamonk - those lines: pos 10 10 - (optional) sets the location of the node parameter gump in the material workspace. showPreview 1 (optional) describes whether the node thumbnail will be initially displayed or hidden in the workspace. "name "Diffuse_Color" (optional) You can name the nodes anything you want or not at all in which case Poser will use the internal name for the node. This allows you to make custom materials and give them special names that might be more descriptive and appropriate than the default names. The behavior of the node has nothing to do with its (external or "user-defineable") name which is just a label applied to the node. Kaibach - I can't imagine what the problem is unless it is a VB runtime problem - I'm sure with some additional info Ilari can track it down though :-)

Thank you Ron for the explanation.

Kaibach,
You're probably trying to open compressed files with MPE. Uncheck "Save compressed files" in Poser's General preferences and save them again. You can also use a file compression program like Winzip or a Python script to decompress the .crz files.

aaaaaaahhhhhh yes... that is it.. lol I save compressed as default...

Kaibach - If it doesn't seem to be an issue of compressed files, then please check that you do not have any NON-alphanumeric characters in your filenames except for "-" and "_" - I know several VB apps that have problems with commas, apostrophes, ampersands and other unusual characters in file names because they try to interpret them as commands or delimiters.

nope.. just plain chars only... it's the compression doing it :( okies I'll resave ... gods I need a bigger HD lol

I must say, it was a joy testing this. I have never seen such dedication. Scourge has created a masterpiece. MPE3 is now a must have utility in your poser arsenal. Makes life so much easier. Thank-you scourge. beryld/Tashar 59

Thanks ronstuff - I take your point about the Poser Folder being at the top. Just one more thing. I'm now beginning to explore P4 <> P5 format conversions. A big frustration I have with the DAZ purchases, is the lack of P5 MAT files. Already, I can see such a welcome difference after converting many DAZ files to P5 format. However, the bump map is applied to the bump channel, and (eg) a P4 bump setting of 30 is translated to a value of 0.030000 in the material room, which does seem too high? I don't know if I'm either wishful thinking or missing something obvious here, but might it be possible to arrive at a sort of universally applicable algorithm which could be employed to translate/downgrade the bump settings for practical purposes. I've just been testing the ! V3MakeUpHi.pz2 MAT file, and the bump setting appears to be way too high. It would be great if I could run a batch conversion on all the DAZ products, which would result in ready to apply MAT poses?

May I also add my congratulations to you Irali for a wonderful job that came to its conclusion. And you may count on me again and everytime to beta-test anything you make. Cheers!

And I'll never mispell your name again Ilari... Bad - bad keyboard! LOL

As one of the beta testers I have to say that working with this program has been fairly painless ... after one tiny problem I had, I didn't have any issues. And thats a Good Thing

caulbox,
I don't own Poser 5 yet but the beta-testers have helped me figure out the P5 stuff. I was told that the bump value should be 1/10 of the P4 bump (gradient bump) setting and that's how MPE converts the values. Do you think 1/100 (P4 bump value of 30 translated to 0.003) would be correct or is it more complicated? What do you think Ronstuff?

Unfortunately you can't convert all the P4 MATs into P5 format. Partial MATs (Skin tones poses, bump strength poses, eye color poses, etc.) don't work in Poser 5. If you try to convert partial MATs into P5 format MPE will display a message which tells that the conversion can't be done. However, you can use P4 partial MATs in Poser 5 if the MATs don't affect the image maps (textures, bump maps, etc.). Well, at least that's how I understood it.

I think I can see where there may be problems with partial MATs. I'll think about that more. As for the general "Theory of Relativity" I think you're posing the ideal question for all the artistic genii at Renderosity to resolve. I'm more of a practical PC technician to be honest, but I'd be fascinated to earwig on any discussions about this.

Just re-read you message. I'm staggered that you've been able to do this without owning Poser 5! If a complimentary copy is deserved anywhere, then you should have one.

caulbox - I think you are correct, and I will take the blame for this one because I am the one who gave Ilari the initial conversion factors which were used. This was implemented so late in the beta cycle that I guess we didn't have time to do test renders because we were more concerned with the nodes being properly assigned in the material. It doesn't show up on some bump maps which are more tolerant of over-application, but it sure does give Vicky3 a bad case of acne! I'm pretty sure this can be fixed - it looks like we are off by a decimal place - thanks for the quick observation... I also agree that we should all chip-in and get P5 for Ilari! I'm entering a couple of contests that have it as a prize, so if I win, I'll give it to him ;-) please dont blame him for the error in the conversion factor, as that was one of my contributions. There are limits with the P5 capabilities of the current version, but we are dedicated to finding ways around them in the next version - right now, Ilari has earned a rest for the Holidays!

Thanks Ron - I think you both deserve a holiday before anything else!

I hope there is a simple conversion with the bump values that CL uses in Poser 5. If not, the ratio is just a matter of taste, an art related issue like you said caulbox. I'd also like to hear what people think about it.

P5 support wouldn't have been possible without the helpful beta-testers. They told me pretty much what to do with the shadertrees.

Complimentary copy? MAT poses aren't supported by CL, that's why "hacking tools" such as MPE exist. So I think CL has very little interest in my work. Even the much greater Poser tools like the must-have P3dO Explorer by Yarp aren't supported by CL, or so I have heard.

Don't blame Ron either, he has helped me so much with MPE3. If you find the perfect ratio for the bump strengths please let me know and I'll fix it.

. for now

.

I haven't read the entire thread, but fell in here reading the above post on bump map strentgh in P5...with V3 I've been messing with that setting and usually use .025 as head and neck setting for bump, and about .03 for the body...usually gives pretty good results.