Here's my shot at a FAQ to explain where Poser files go. IM wouldn't let me send it directly to Shoshanna because of its length. Maybe it needs to be pared down. Most of the free Poser downloads, from the net, are zipped files. Most will have a readme that states where the files go. Some are zipped in a smart fashion that will automatically unzip to the correct folders if they are unzipped to the Poser directory (which, by default, is at c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoser for Poser 5 or c:Program FilesMetacreationsPoser for the older versions). To find out where Poser is, right click the Poser icon, in the Start/Programs menu, and look at Properties. Things get a little trickier when there isn't a readme or the readme doesn't have any information about where files go. That means the files have to be manually moved to the correct locations. For somebody unfamiliar with Poser, it's a bit intimidating figuring out what files should go where. Poser looks for files in specific locations. Put them in the wrong place and Poser doesn't know where to find things. Since the files must be in particular spots, it eventually becomes second nature to figure out where files should go. Files, with a certain extension, go to a certain spot. Here's a quick description of where things go, by their file extension: Every file will have an associated .rsr file (sometimes .png for new stuff), of the same name, (except for some of the .obj geometry files). The .rsr is usually a thumbnail image for the item in Poser and, without it, Poser will show a shrugging figure instead of the thumbnail. Move the Poser file and thumbnail, that have the same prefix, to the same spot. If there is a .obj, .cr2, and .rsr with the same prefixes, keep the .rsr with the .cr2. .pz3 - Poser scene. Double clicking will open a file in Poser. This goes anywhere. One disadvantage of a .pz3 is that it embeds all the files it uses into this one file. That means it doesn't show up in Poser's library thumbnails. If a person wants an object in their library, it has to be manually added (which would be another lesson). .obj - goes in the Geometries folder. This one is critical because it's the 3D object Poser uses and a line in the .cr2 will say where it should be found if a readme file doesn't. c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoserRuntimeGeometries tif, bmp, bum, jpg - These are usually the image files used to texture an object and make it look realistic. Some Poser files will look in specific places for this information, but a person can show Poser where to find it if the program doesn't know where it is. In most instances, if Poser is having a hard time finding a file, it's a .bum file. This is a bump map for older versions of Poser. Poser 4ProPack and Poser 5 do not require the use of .bum files. A lot of free downloads (and even some commercial programs) will supply a .jpg file instead of the .bum file because a .jpg is about 10% of the size and easier to download. Unfortunately, Poser doesn't know that this is happened and will say it cannot find the .bum file. Users of Poser 5 (with the latest updates installed) should tell Poser where to find the .jpg file that is the bumpmap, but sometimes it's easier to hit cancel and tell it to stop looking for files it cannot find and apply the bump map manually. With older versions, the bumpmap .jpg has to be converted first to a .bum file within the program. c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoserRuntimeTextures The below files are part of Poser's Library. All the items appear as thumbnails within the library. The files can be placed anywhere within their Poser library. A readme file may say that a new cat should place the .cr2 under CharacterMyCat, but you can place the file under CharacterAnimals if that is a more logical place to find it. Poser opens the file from where it is. Geometries and textures (and sometimes props embedded in a CR2) get called out when a Poser item is loaded and expects Poser to find files in specific locations, so it's best to place them where the readme says they should go. Everything else can be moved around without much worry within a specific library. Keep in mind that specific file extensions go into specific library folders. A ,cr2 must always be placed under Character. It can be in a folder under Character, such as Animals, but the Animals folder must be under Character. .cr2 - Character, this is the Poser figure file for loading a person, animal, or bendable prop or hair c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoserRuntimeLibrariesCharacter .pz2 - Poses (preset poses, such as running) or MAT (textures) or Morphs (body/face changes) c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoserRuntimeLibrariesPose .pp2 - Props (usually objects that don't bend) c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoserRuntimeLibrariesProps .hr2 - Hair files that parent to the head automatically (some hairs are .cr2s because they can move) c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoserRuntimeLibrariesHair .fc2 - Facial expressions or morphs c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoserRuntimeLibrariesFace .cm2 - Cameras with different focal lengths and positions (occasionally, a producer will put a MAT pose into a camera folder and that can be irritating because they don't normally go there) c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoserRuntimeLibrariesCamera .hd2 - Hand poses, preset poses with the fingers set up for an action c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoserRuntimeLibrariesHand .lt2 - Lighting arrangements with positions, colors, intensities saved c:Program FilesCurious LabsPoserRuntimeLibrariesLight With Poser 4, folders all have to be directly under the main Poser library directory without any nesting (nesting is having a folder within a folder). As a user's Poser collection grows, this eventually becomes very unwieldy. Somebody with 1000 props (don't laugh--it doesn't take that long to find that many Poser items even as freebies) cannot easily organize those props. New folders can be created in the Props library folder, but it's hard to organize. Poser 5 allows nesting folders. There can be a folder for Household Items and that folder can have folders for Bedroom, Kitchen, and so on. It's much easier to organize Poser 5 content because things can be logically grouped. Every so often, library content needs to be reorganized because a lot of Poser items get installed in folders that the producer used. DAZ will install their animals in a folder called DAZ Animals; another producer might install it under their name, such as Dave; while another company might install their figure under New Animals. After a few years, it's hard to remember if a particular animal is installed under any one of dozens of different folders. It's best to get into the practice of moving items into similar photos, such as putting all animals under one Animals folder and all Victoria clothing under a Victoria Clothing folder. Poser dynamically looks for material whenever a new library folder is clicked so changes can be made while Poser is running. Changes made to a library folder, that is already open in Poser, won't be seen until Poser is forced to look again in that folder. Moving to a different folder or library will reset the content that Poser reads. For example, if the Animals library folder is open in Poser and new animal figures are added to that folder, those new figures won't be seen until the user goes to another library, say Cameras, and then back.

A fussy point: "One disadvantage of a .pz3 is that it embeds all the files it uses into this one file." Partly true. If a prop or figure already contained an embedded OBJ when it was included in the scene, that embedded information will be embedded in the PZ3. But a prop or figure that was built in the ordinary way, with separate OBJ, will refer to the separate OBJ in the PZ3. So most of the time, a PZ3 behaves the same way as a prop or figure, requiring OBJ files to be in their correct places.

There is a 2000 character limit on ims or emails sent through Renderosity. If you want to send me something longer, you can send it through your own email to Shoshanna@renderosity.com I'll add this into the faq next week when I do my weekly updates to the community page etc... I really appreciate your help :-) Shanna. If anyone else wants to post some stuff for the faq, I'll happily add that too.