Okay, so for the last two days I'm working on a scene. Fighting with it even. So today it's almost where it needs to be for me to start the finishing touches. I try to save the file (I save my work often) baaaaad move!!!!! My comp freezes soooo not thinking anything of it I figure my old files still saved not to much extra work so I end now the program. Okay now reload......argggghhhhh!!!! Only one of my two characters is there, the other is gone (and of course it was the harder of the two)-no lights none! Ruined!!! eEEEEkKKK I had no idea that it would partially overright a file!!! Did you know that could happen????? If not let me warn you now! This sucks!!! Back to the drawing board :(

That sucks. I always give my computer time for the save, I don't trust anything. I also put all my characters together by themsevles and save them to my libraries. If something happens to my saved PZ3/PZZ, I only lose the pose, very rare though. Did you import or "open with" the PZ3? The lights will not work if you import. One of the things I had hoped that was fix in P5, but not.

I've had this happen, too, and it really bites. Now, I save multiple versions instead of overwriting so I only lose what I've done during that session. I also usually create the figures and save them to my characters file. Once bitten, twice shy.

"I save multiple versions instead of overwriting so I only lose what I've done during that session." Yep, me too. My computer loves it when I'm finished and I can toast the WIP folder, 1Gb or more.

Sequential filenames really help you keep track of a project. E.G. Poser Project.pz3 Poser Projecta.pz3 Poser Projectb.pz3 and so on. Cheers, Cliff

Did you look in the Hierachy window and see if the figure is really gone? Occasionally its visibility gets turned off for some reason. If clicking the eyeball next to it doesn't work, try opening the Animation window, selecting the figure's name if it's there and using File/Get Info to pop up the figure's info box and clicking the visible check box. Good luck - Elisa/gryffnn

Another idea is to save all the main elements separately. You can rebuild the scene easily this way. It's also a good idea to build up your scene a little at a time to prevent Poser grinding to a halt while you're working on a pose and so on. I generally load in the figures one at a time and add the clothes, accessories and so on until the basic character is how I want it. Then I save it out and work on the pose. Once the pose is done, I save that. If there are several figures interacting I load them in and get their poses and positions right, then save them and their poses individually. Only then do I start to bring the whole scene together. If it's an interior shot, I will have usually created the environment first and added in the lights (also saved). I'll add in the figures next, pose them and make a test render. If anything needs tweaking this is the point where it can get tedious if there's a lot of stuff in the scene. Once again, I save out the individual poses, lights, cameras, whatever. I'll also save the PZ3 but having the individual elements saved means I can rebuild the scene with a minimum of fuss if disaster strikes.

SamTherapy's workflow should be the standard practice for Poser or any other 3D program. It's much easier to work with a character without the scene in your work area. It's the way I work too, except I save to a new file with a sequential number between each step and I save it to a Project folder in the Poser Library also. I load the character, adjust morphs then save. Add the clothing, make adjustments and save to a new file. Load props to the character and save to a new file. Make the pose and save it to a new file. And so on making a seperate file for each character and the scene, etc, etc. If you lose something, it's much easier to recover this way. If you accidentally change something you didn't mean to change you have the option of loading back in from the library or importing it from your .pzz or .pz3.

One of poser's nastier habits is saving half a file for no apparent reason. Someone else here had this happen recently and sent me the .pz3 to look at. I discovered it had saved about 2/3 of the file and suddenly cut off in the middle of a character. Go figure! The safest way is to save different versions of a file. I use A and B versions, alternating the saves every 5 minutes or so. mac

Iff you haven't resaved since, you may find a backup copy of the prior version of the .pz3 in your directory. Can't remember what it's renamed to, but it was obvious. This is not deleted until the current save is complete, so it should be there. If you find it, rename it now so it isn't overwritten. Obviously it'll be out of date, but I've had some luck in editing the corrupt one in a text editor (trim it off to a point where it'll at least load a partial scene), and then saving out parts of the new scene, e.g. characters, poses, props, and then loading into the renamed old saved one... As I say, sometimes.

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I did look around the window and settings and yup it was lost Oh yeah and I did use the open not import. It's all good though now. I did like was suggested and saved each character in their own scene, then put them all together, then voila! It only took forever lol. But now I've learned my lesson and with a little luck and the tips you shared hopefully this is the one and only time!