Does anyone know where I can find a good tut on lighting effects when texturing? I dont know how else to ask this - like the code in the mat file that looks like this:

KdColor 1 1 1 1
KaColor 0 0 0 0.1
KsColor 0 0.27451 0.141176 0.499999
TextureColor 1 1 1 1 
NsExponent 10
tMin 0 
tMax 0 
tExpo 0.6
bumpStrength 1 
ksIgnoreTexture 0
reflectThruLights 1
reflectThruKd 0

Also reflections colors and stuff. i dont understand the color codes much and looking to learn more about this stuff;)

Thanks :)

See http://www.kuroyumes-developmentzone.com/poser/poserfilespec/material.html for information on these.  Not a tutorial just descriptive information.  These are Pre-Poser 5 material specs.  Poser 5+ use the Shader Nodes from the Shader Tree.

The values after KdColor, KaColor, KsColor, TextureColor, ReflectionColor are RGBS (Red-Green-Blue-Strength) values.  You are probably more accustom to 0-255 values for RGB.  These are the same but in the range 0.0-1.0 (255 = 1.0).  To convert them into 8-bit 0-255 values, just multiply by 255:

8bit value = 255.0 * realvalue

The link for kuroyume's site does not work for me at the moment, perhaps it's down with a server problem, in the mean time here is what I remember, there may be some errors.

This is the old P4 type code, I'm not sure how it interacts with the new P5 and up material nodes. Below is what it translates to in the P4 interface. In P5 and up some things have diffrent names in the interface, eg Object Color = Difuse_Color, and Highlight Color = Specular_Color, there are probably some others.

KdColor in P4 is the Object Color. The first three numbers represent the values for R, G B, respectivly, I'm not sure what the last number is, but it always seems to be set at one in my experience. I think the values accepted range from "0" to "1". So:

"KdColor 1 1 1 1" is white
"0 0 0 1" is black,
"0.5 0.5 0.5 1" is mid grey
"1 0 0 1" is red,
"0 1 0 1" is green
"0 0 1 1" is blue
"1 1 0 1" is yellow (red + green = yellow)
"1 0 0.3 1" is cold red (red with a touch of blue added)
etc, etc.

The same applies to the ka and ks colours, and probably the TextureColor, though I'm not sure what that is.

 material Preview
  {
  KdColor 1 0 0.299992 1  [Object Color (Difuse_Color)]
  KaColor 0 0 0 1  [Ambient Color]
  KsColor 0 0 0 1  [Highlihht Color (Specular_Color)]
  TextureColor 1 1 1 1 [don't know]
  NsExponent 1 [Highlight Size, inverse value, 100=smallest, 1=largest]
  tMin 0 [Transparency Min]
  tMax 0 [Transparency Max]
  tExpo 0.6 [Transparency Falloff]
  bumpStrength 1 [bumpStrength, decimal value -1 to 1 with 0 being effectivly "off"]
  ksIgnoreTexture 0 [Apply texture to highlights, value 1 or 0]
  reflectThruLights 1 [Multiply through lights, value 1 or 0]
  reflectThruKd 1 [Multiply through object color, value 1 or 0]
  textureMap NO_MAP [path to texture map]
  bumpMap NO_MAP [path to bump map]
  reflectionMap NO_MAP [path to texture map]
  transparencyMap NO_MAP [path to transparency map]
  ReflectionColor 0.211765 0.254902 0.78822 1 [same color system as KdColor]
  reflectionStrength 0.492063 [Reflection Map Strength]
  }

Thank you- helpful in what im trying to accomplish here :)

I call my server 'Fritz' as in 'on the fritz'. ;)  Probably will need to invest in a new computer sooner that I'd like.

I made a real cute Santa and sleigh, etc.  Then I decided to have him fly over the world.  Well, I got the world under him --- but I had to pull it wayyyyyyyyyy down below the floor.  When I render it looks cool -- but in the preview the shadow of the world is at floor level and the world is below.

I thought about this for a long time because I didn't want to mess with all the Santa stuff.  Too many objects to try to raise.  

1. How can I lower the floor?          This would make the world above the floor line and the shadow wouldn't show -- I hope.

2.  In the preview, the shadow shows.  In the full render it doesn't.  But when I print out the render it prints the preview and the shadow is there again.  Why?

3.  Also, my background was white and then I added an object and it turned dark.  So I made the lighting "daylight" and the color is good -- and white in the preview.   In the render it is a light green.    Why does the render look different than the preview? 

4.  Any ideas how to add a night sky without making it too dark?

Thanks so much in advance. 
Bev

1. Do you mean the floor grid or the Ground Plane prop?  For the latter, just turn it off in the menus: Display->Guides->Ground Plane (Ctrl+G).  For the former, you cannot change that at all - it represents Y = 0 and there is no changing it.  The solution: change where your figure and world are in relationship to the floor.

2. Are shadows enabled for the renderer (Poser 4 or FireFly)?  Are Cast Shadows enabled for the figures/props in the scene?  Do the lights consider shadows?

3. You can change the background color in the Render Settings.

4. Use a (LARGE) sphere and map a night sky texture image to it - or get BagginsBill to show you how to make one procedurally. ;)  To avoid darkness - especially occluded lights, make sure they are point or spot  lights and inside the sphere.  Infinite lights will cast shadows from the sphere internally on everything.

I might have been better if you had started a new thread to post these questions, more people would have seen it, but never mind, I'll do my best.

It would help if we knew which version of Poser you are using. Questions sometimes have diffrent answers for diffrent versions.

1). If the "floor" is the GROUND plain than you can't lower it, you are stuck with it at the hight it is at, but you can hide it. Select the GROUND from the Props menu, from the Object menu select Properties, un-check the Visible box.

If you need a replacement for the GROUND plain, load a square prop from the Props Primitaves pallet, turn it on its side by xRotating it 90° using its paramiter pallet dials, yTran it to the desired hight, then scale it to the desired size.

2). These are probably "Ground Shadows", they are an aid to posing, not real shadows. You can turn off Ground Shadows, from the Display menu un-check Ground Shadows.

To print your render, first save it to a file. From the File menu, Export > Image, Chose JPEG in "Save as type" box and "High Quality 90" as the compression. Now send the JPEG you just save to the printer as you would normall do to print a file. This may not be the best way, but it should get round your problem.

3). I don't know.

4). You can set the Background Color to any colour you like. From the Display menu select Background Color, you will be presented with a standard box where you can choose any colour you want. Alternativly you can load an image of a night sky (say a JEPG photo) as a background. From the File menu, Import > Background Picture. Idealy the picture should be the same dimentions as as you desire for the finished render.

Okay.  I'm using Poser 7

I'm also a newbie and even though I was computer analyst, I'm finding I'm dumber than a post in understanding this stuff.

Soooooooooooooo  I copied Kuroyume's answer and lesbentley's answer to my clipboard and I'm going to go and try all the suggestions -- and try to understand what you said (a foreign language).

I'll get back to you in a month or so when I figure it out and tell you if I fixed Santa.
Thanks again.
Bev

Good luck Bev, all the best!

Oh, and the floor I'm talking about is the blackline grid.

Yes, I can't wait for this stuff to "snap" in my brain and all make sense -- I have tons of ideas but it's taking me too long to do stuff.

Maybe I'll have my Santa done by 4th of July.
Bev

Kuroyume,
I was reading your suggestions and I hate to be a pest but. . . .  

1. Do you mean the floor grid or the Ground Plane prop?  For the latter, just turn it off in the menus: Display->Guides->Ground Plane (Ctrl+G).  For the former, you cannot change that at all - it represents Y = 0 and there is no changing it.  The solution: change where your figure and world are in relationship to the floor.

I'm thinking it's the floor grid.  But how do I change the figure and world in relation to the floor?  If I have 20 objects, Santa, sleigh, deer etc -- do I move each one individually or is there a way to move them all at once????

Thank you.
Bev

You can use the Translate/Pull tool or the transX, transY, transZ dials on the objects.  For figures, you either use the Hip or Body body parts for translation (movement).

Add a Primitive Prop (say, a Sphere) and scale it to like 1% and change the name to something like "World Null" (you can change the name on the Parameter Dials window or in the Hierarchy Editor).  Open the Hierarchy Editor (Window menu).  Drag and drop each main object under that Sphere (parent them to the Sphere).  For figures, this is the top most "Figure 1" or similar.  Best to close the hierarchies down to those below Universe to make parenting easier.  Now when you translate the Sphere, everything in the scene moves with it.

Holy Cow.  
Boooooo Hooooooooo   the sound of tears.
I will try this -- after I figure out what you said.
Thanks
Bev

Just to clarify, my question has to do with creating and texturing poser items, not rendering :) Just some mat settings I wanted to know about during the creation process of lighting my materials.

I spose these can be for rendering I guess, but that wasnt the reason I was asking.

You should really start a new thread, no offense, as i will probably have more questions very soon pertaining to my thread here as I go. Just wouldnt want to turn this thread into a mess!

Best of luck to you.

Sorry.  The title of this thread is Poser Question.
So naturally I thought I could ask general questions. 

Well, no, you post your own thread in the main poser forum. This was my question lol

Ok, speaking of my question.
I still havent been able to get that link to work.
I'm wondering, is there a list somewhere of color codes for mat files so I know what colors Im looking at or adding when dealing with mats? Wondering if there's a list somewhere beyond basic colors?

Something like the color codes in html possibly?

I don;t know anyone who create texture "by the numbers".. in poser, you have a color picker,and just adjust the sliders the way to want them. then just save whatever you are working on back out with the new colors.

You can save out materials in P5+, with P6+ you can save out material collections, and with shader spider, you can even save out mat poses for DS, and poser 4+.

You add the colors while in poser, and are looking right at them while you adjust them, so i don't understand what you are trying to accomplish. Trying to change them by hand editing a file in a text editor?

Noooo, not what i meant at all.

I mean is there a list or something to assist me in understanding the color's numbers? I mean when i open a mat file and see a '3'  under a value for a reflection color, I dont look at it and say 'red' ( if thats what it is ) = Im asking if anyone has a list of these things.

Yes, you can adjust a mat file by adjusting these numbers. But how am i supposed to know what the numbers mean?

Didn't I explain it well enough?  And the link should be available since before I posted my quip on 'Fritz' yesterday.

ReflectionColor R G B S

R = RED
G = GREEN
B = BLUE
S = STRENGTH

The values on TextureColor, KdColor, KsColor, and KaColor represent the same thing.

The values are from 0.0 to 1.0.  Normal RGB is 3 8bit values and each value can be in the range 0 to 255.  Doing the math here, there are 16777216 combinations of these three values to make any color in 8bit RGB. I don't think you want me to list them all with a little color block, do you? ;)  The last value is Strength.  So, if that is 1.0, the color is the same as if S wasn't there.  You multiply Strength times each other value (RGB) to change the strength (Value of HSV type color specification).

The other values are mentioned at that link:  Unofficial CR2 File Specification.  It doesn't get into depth on explaining the values (like above) but some information is there to get you started.  For instance, bumpStrength is the amount of bump to apply to a Bump map texture - the depth it will seemingly appear to emulate.  0.0 is obvious none.  1.0 is a lot.  You can even go negative or above 1.0.

*Didn't I explain it well enough? *

No need to be rude. I was asking if there was a complete color chart such as color coding in html has. I did not ask you to explain it again. 

If there is not such a list you are aware of, then ok.

Other than the 4 basic colors, I'll figure out the rest on my own. Thanks.

Not trying to be rude, but it is easier to explain the theory behind something like this (catch a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him to fish and he can eat for a lifetime). :)

You can use the Color Picker in almost any application (including Poser) to set the RGB values and see the results.

Type "HTML Color chart" into Google and you will get more than enough to use.  The problem with HTML Color specification is that they are specified in Hexadecimal (FF00CC).  Each pair represents the 0-255 value that I mentioned before - so 'FF' is 255 (R), '00' is 0 (G), and 'CC' is 204 (B).  If you have Photoshop, you can open its Color Picker and enter the Hexadecimal value to get the RGB quite efficiently.  There are probably little free programs that will do more out there (?).

I've already got the color chart. That's the question I needed answered. What i was unsure of was if the two were the same or if poser would be different. As I had no way of knowing this automatically, it was something that had to be asked.

Thanks.

Honestly, I can't think of any use for this info at all.

Since you wouldn't really want to manually attempt to do it in a mat file or cr2, I'm wondering if you are trying to do something in a way far more difficult then needs to be used?

What specifically are you trying to accomplish?

I am working on different 'effects' for a texture project I am working on. Experimenting with settings to achieve a different look.

Again, as previously stated, I am not manually coding mat files. I am playing with the settings.

Perhaps this info is not useful to you, but I am finding it exceedingly useful.

Thanks to all who helped.

Wouldn't it be so much simpler though to just use the color picker from within poser to tint your textures?

You could breeze through 20 settings in under 2 minutes, and that would probably take you over an hour tinkering with the numbers with a file editor.

Because I had to clarify what the numbers meant. This is for the creation of a mat file for a package that will be sold.

Like anything else, if I learn what the numbers mean, and can look at them and understand what Im looking at, my method of putting together mat files will be less than 2 minutes, verses hours.

I am not looking to render or create artwork. I am looking to learn to read what i am looking at in a mat file. I dont see anything wrong with that personally.

If I create a black outfit and want a 'teal tint' to the texture in the front, i can use my editor to quickly achieve this, rather than opening poser, loading all my items, waiting for the material room to load, finding the right settings , then try to decipher which is which.

Like learning html code, its quicker to open something in an editor and make a quick change than 'trying different things until you achieve the right results.'

This is just a notion, but i'm guessing the more I learn about what I'm looking at, the more I can become experienced in using poser, creating products that have their own look and charm, and do well at rendo, but it's just a notion.

Again, I dont see the problem with asking for help in something I'd like to learn.

Propschick, I think I understand where you are coming from, and I agree with you. I have always had a desire to find out how things work "under the hood", and though what I learn is not always usefull, a lot is.

As kuroyume said, with 16777216 combinations, a full colour chart is not practicle. Never the less understanding how the colours work in a MAT file can sometimes be usefull, and I have at times used this knoledge to set white, black, or a primary colour in a text editor, rather than in Poser. But I think that the more important point is the general one, that exploring how Poser script works has given me more control over Poser, and allowed me to do things that are just not possible through the Poser interface. So for me, yes please tell me how it works in the file, and then let me decide if I want to do it in Poser, or in a text editor.

Cool:)