Okay, I select properties on on the mag zone and select a specific group I want the magnet to deform. I do this on a prop. I save the prop to the library, when I load it again, the mag zone settings are now for the whole prop and not the specific group. Is there a way to hack the pp2 and fix this so that when the prop is loaded into a new scene, the original magnet zone set up stays as I had it? Thanks in advance.

Hi shadownet,

After you have the prop exactly the way you want it ...

1. Select the object
2. [menu] "Spawn Morph Target"
3. Delete the Magnet (or Base or Zone)
4. Adjust the new (morph) parameter dial as required
5. Save your prop.

Poser does not save all the data associated with magnet deformations but it does save the data associated with a morph.

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

Hi geep. Thanks for the help. As you know, morphs do not work well for certain transitions, such as rotating on the x,y, or z rot. Also, one magnet can replace the need for several morphs, thus making for a overall lighter prop file size. What I am wanting to do is animate the prop, which I can do with magnets. Morphs do not work as well. However, when I save the prop to the libary, the specific zone group info is not saved. I was wondering if there was a way to add this back into the PP2 file via a hack. That way the zone info for the specific groups would be there when the prop was loaded into a new scene. I think this info stays when the file is saved as a pz3. I am going to check that next and if so, maybe I can figure out what settings are needed. :O)

Nope. Does not seem to store in the Pz3 either. Oh well. I guess it is morphs or nothing.

Just a random thought, but have you tried copy/paste? I don't know if it will work like you are wanting, but Poser stores alot of information about specific things when you copy it to the clipboard. Then you can paste that information into a text editor and try to manually put the data you are looking to add into the prop file. Also something to help your prop file sizes be smaller is to have them reference external geometry instead of keeping the entire prop inside the prop file. Not sure if you knew about that or not, but it definitely cuts down on the sizes PLUS it makes it really easy to re-texture and stuff when you've got the geometry in a seperate file from the prop.

Hi Yggdrasil. Yes, copy and paste is very useful. Unfortunately it does not grab this kind of info. Mostly only dial settings. Also, thanks for the tip on external geometry. I almost always do that. My problem is I always want to make things harder than they need to be for the sake of making them easier for the end user. Not always practical to do in Poser or even smart. I really should just KISS this. I could smart parent the different moving parts to the main prop or Icould make the prop a figure prop. Instead, I try something different cause I find draw back to the other methods. But it looks like I may end up doing one of those anyhow. Thanks for your comments. :O)

Always there to try to help with suggestions that sometimes escape us. Shame about the copy/paste thing.

Yeah, thats what makes this place so great. All of us who use Poser pick up a trick or two, and when we all share a little here and there, we all benefit.

You should save the magnet, not the prop. Make your magnet do what you want. Make sure your magnet is selected (you can have base, zone or mag selected). Click on + sign in the prop library. Enter a name for your magnet then click on Select Subset. Select the Mag Zone, Mag Base and Magnet. (note: Do NOT select anything else, especially the prop) Click OK, then OK again. Done, saved to the prop library with your settings. Next time you load the prop, you then just load the magnet from the prop library like you do anything else and it will work the way you want :)

Hi Xena, thanks - unfortunately that does not work either. At least not in Pro Pack. I save magnet sets all the time, but it does not save specific group properties info for the zone when you save the magnet set to the library as you describe. :O)

Poser does not seem to save any information relating the mag zones to the groupes, so there is no way to reverse engineer this. In some circumstances you might be able to spawn props from the groupes then use a multi object pp2, or convert the objects to a figure, then just attach the magnet to the appropriate actor/prop.

Hi Les, well if you don't know a way to hack the prop file to do this, then it probably can not be done. :O) Yes, there are other options, and I have already opted for making it a prop figure. Thanks again to everyone who offered their assistance. S