Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to improve my workflow.

My problem is this.

I think of a scene. This scene usually involves at least one Poser figure plus some scenery props (often indoors).
I create the figure in Poser, chuck together some rough stuff (in Hexagon, usually) to indicate walls, floors, ceiling, stairs/steps, whatever. Just position indicators.
I import the scene into V5I and do a rough check to see if the situation is viable. Add some silly textures, get a general idea of the lighting etc.
So far, so good.

Then I develop some as much of the detail as I can. All the additional props... errmm.. well not all, and that's where my problems start.
I TRY to add all the detail, but inevitably, I miss some things out, or think of them later. Usually this happens after I've assigned "final" textures to everything. I realise "there's a focal point missing - just needs a small extra prop in just that position, that willl look a lot better, shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes....".

Now at this point, my major scene is a .obj file which will load easily into Poser, properly positioned and scaled (just by importing it with all options off - I set it up that way in the 1st place). I can add things to it (and delete things from it) in Hex and all works lovely.

If I try to load that same scene directly into V5I it comes in at Poser scale (i.e. tiny) and at "stage centre" instead of where it was (unless I use "replace object", which sometimes works but most times doesn't 'cos whatever I've added has changed the bounding box..)
But if I load into Poser and save the scene (under the same name, carefully making a copy of the original scene just in case everything goes FUBAR) then I lose any existing textures I've carefully worked out.

And that can be a major time-waster, especially if all I want to do is add (eg) a spade to the scene.
OK, I could save the spade as a separate .obj and import that into Vue. But then I have to re-scale/position it within Vue, and to be honest, Vue's scale/rotate/postion facilities are not exactly easy to use (especially in a crowded scene where everything's gone to box-representation). And especially not if the said spade needs to be attached to a figure's hands (which may also need alteration to the figure's Pose.. back to square 1).

But unless I've missed something fundamental, going via Poser is my most "work-efficient" route. Just means I have to save any special textures I've developed...

I suppose what I'm really asking is:
Is there any way to add little details into a Vue scene, at a specific position and a specific size?

Sorry for long post...I got frustrated today.

BTW, just in case you hadn't guessed, I use Vue more as a "better render than Poser's Firefly" than as a landscape generator. 'Tho I do use it for that too..

Cheers,
Diolma

I see what you're trying to do but I do it a bit different and I don't model so I can't offer anything there!
Anyway the way I do it is:
Set up my scene in Poser, take it into Vue as a pz3, set up lighting, atmos etc. to how I want. If I see something I could add from Poser then I'll open the pz3 in Poser and add it in there and re-save it. This then prompts Vue to ask if I want to re-load the pz3 because it's changed, so I say yes and the whole scene comes in again with the new bits, but in the same position!!
I find this the easiest way for me, I don't suppose it would do for others though!

Sorry if that's not what you were on about!!

I must admit I tend do do the same.  I wait till I'm really happy with what's in the scene before I start on the texturing.  Means I have to be a bit ruthless sometimes when I see something just before I hit the render button that needs changing :)

Thanks, both of you, that sets my mind at ease:-)
(doesn't help me, but stops me spending a l-o-o-o-n-g time trying to find a quicker way to do things..)

Oh, and @thefixer: Yup! you got it right, that's exactly what I was on about (which also relieves me since now I know that I didn't make a pig's ear out of what I was trying to explain..).

I'm an amateur, sitting at home doing all my stuff on my lonesome. So I can't wander around the "CG Offices" asking about the best way to do things (and get paid for it). I have to try to work it all out for myself. Hence the questions here and elsewhere..

A major "problem point" for me is when I can leave off modeling and start using textures for the effect I want. This is particularly true for surface detail (until I can afford V6I and its displacenment mapping). The decision point between when to stop adding detail and start using bump-maps means I have to be able to imagine what Vue would make of the object in the scene (and how far away it is from the viewer), etc.

If I model too far I clog up Vue with poly-intesive models.
If I model too little I lose "edge detail" and realism...

Oh, well. I 'spose it's all a matter of experience..

Cheers,
Diolma