I have background sets that I purchase for poser.  Now I get my scene already, figures and props and looking for that special background.  I go to load the background and generally it doesn't fit, and you try to move your scene around it doesn't interact well with the background.  I read somewhere you do it by going into the materials room and doing it that way. I've tried doing this but with no luck.  I see a lot of people in the poser galleries that have nice backgrounds so this thing can't be that hard to do.  So if anyone's got any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

You can crop or resize the background image to fit your picture , or you can use something like the Infinity Cove prop at Runtimedna (freebie) to Put your background as a movable prop in your scene .

the background images get screwwed 90% of the time in poser..
Poser is just not that good.
But maybe you can save the scene in PNG incl your shadows and then in gimp ot photoshop
paste it onto your background image..

using it in poser give me grey hairs :woot:

Chris

Don't use the Poser "background" for a background image if you find yourself wanting to scale or move the background.

Instead, go to the Primitive props and load a one-sided square. Examine the dimensions of your image, and copy those to the x scale and y scale of the square. For example, if your image is 1280 by 1024, put x scale = 1280% and y scale=1024%. This will give the prop the correct aspect ratio, and also make it nice and big.

Go into the material room for the square. Load your image into an Image_Map and plug that into Alternate_Diffuse of the Poser Surface root node. Turn off all other material effects, i.e. set Specular_Value = 0 and Diffuse_Value = 0.

We use this material arrangement so that the prop does not get lit or receive shadows. We don't want to light the backround photo.

Go back to the Pose room. Your square is now ready to manipulate. You can position and rotate the square any way you like so that you see what you want to see behind your figures and props.

If you want to change the size of the square (now a rectangle of course!) use the overall Scale parameter. This will keep the correct aspect ratio at all times.

I would like to thank everyone for there help. bagginsbill came up with the idea I can use in poser.  I just finshed a render, and for once the background did what I want it to do. Thank you!!!! 

Fir still images I never have any problem with File > Import > Background Picture.  I even think you can use a GIF, or AVI there(may need to do so from the material room though)  I know what size my scene is a, and then crop my image to match ahead of time, of coarse; but I think this displays the background image best.

If it is a prop your interested in, I suggest you look toward spheres.  You'll be surprised how well maps can be created for Sky Domes.

Or, if you have P7, you can just save your render as a PNG and composit with the background in an image processing program. However, bagginsbill's suggestion is the best way to do it if you want to have a really close match, since it is easier to move/rescale the background as a prop than it is to do so as a Photoshop layer.

Quote - Fir still images I never have any problem with File > Import > Background Picture.  I even think you can use a GIF, or AVI there(may need to do so from the material room though)  I know what size my scene is a, and then crop my image to match ahead of time, of coarse; but I think this displays the background image best.

If it is a prop your interested in, I suggest you look toward spheres.  You'll be surprised how well maps can be created for Sky Domes.

I will definitely look into sky domes, I did briefly and I'm intrigued.  I'm always looking for ways to upgrade my images, again thank you so much.

Quote - Or, if you have P7, you can just save your render as a PNG and composit with the background in an image processing program. However, bagginsbill's suggestion is the best way to do it if you want to have a really close match, since it is easier to move/rescale the background as a prop than it is to do so as a Photoshop layer.

Thank you so much for your post.  I've done a couple of test renders already have had no problems at all.  The way bagginsbill explained it makes it very easy and simple to use.  I do have Poser 7 so I will probably be trying this other ways as well.  Thank you again for your suggestions.

Quote - Go into the material room for the square. Load your image into an Image_Map and plug that into Alternate_Diffuse of the Poser Surface root node. Turn off all other material effects, i.e. set Specular_Value = 0 and Diffuse_Value = 0.

We use this material arrangement so that the prop does not get lit or receive shadows. We don't want to light the backround photo.

I've always connected the image_map to the Diffuse Colour with a value Diffuse Value of 1. I turn Specular Value to zero. 

Then I set up the rest of my scene according to the background image.  Then I hide the background. Render the figures and props with cast shadows.  Then hide the figures and props and then render the background on the square. I composite them together in Paint Shop Pro.  Because I had the scene already set up the way I wanted it, the background and figures .pngs match up perfectly.  Trying to get your scene lighting to match that of a ready made background is futile.  I think it's better to have your background interact with the lights in your scene.   This way the image takes on the lighting from the lights in the scene which IMHO gives a better result and makes the background actually look like the figure belongs with it because of the similar lighting.

I just tried the method you suggested, but I don't see the image in the Pose room until I render so it's impossible to gauge where to put your figure and props in relation to the background picture. Also, wouldn't connecting it to the "Alternate Diffuse" node prevent it from interacting with the lighting? 

You can see the image in preview if you also connect the image to Diffuse_Color. I forgot to mention that. But you should still set Diffuse_Value = 0.

Yes connecting it to Alternate_Diffuse will prevent it from interacting with lighting. This is on purpose. I don't really think its a good idea to light your background, particularly if it is a sky photo.

Consider this image:

The correct lighting for James (and anything else in the scene) is very dark, and lit mostly from behind. If I had lit the background photo with the same lighting, it would look completely wrong.

Quote - You can see the image in preview if you also connect the image to Diffuse_Color. I forgot to mention that. But you should still set Diffuse_Value = 0.

Yes connecting it to Alternate_Diffuse will prevent it from interacting with lighting. This is on purpose. I don't really think its a good idea to light your background, particularly if it is a sky photo.

Consider this image:

The correct lighting for James (and anything else in the scene) is very dark, and lit mostly from behind. If I had lit the background photo with the same lighting, it would look completely wrong.

Thanks for the last tip as well !!!!!!

 Wow!!!  Thank you so much for these tips.  I can't tell you how much this will help me.  I jut have one question if you don't mind. 

How can I use my background in this way but still be able to use the "floor" of the background as the floor of my image?  For instance if the background is say a room and I want my figure to stand in this room but on the floor of the room.  Is this possible or do I have to then use the export image route??

Thanks so much

Honey_ZA:

You will need a prop for this that repeats both the back and the floor, and you will need to put the image right (with the horizon line at the angle where the back meets the floor.)
You could also split the image - upper part background, lower part floor, and use two simple squares. I cannot split your images for you, but I can make and upload a prop you can use.

Give me ten minutes, ok?

Attached Link: http://www.arcebus.com/back_floor.zip

Have fun.

Oh my gosh.

Thank you so much arcebus!!  You're a star.  Will let you know how it goes. 

Thank you so much!!

Making an actual floor with an actual image on it is one way. But I try to avoid that, because it isn't likely that the floor/wall edge is going to line up with your perspective.

Another approach is to use the ground plane as a shadow catcher. Poser's ground is set up for this quite easily by checking "Shadow Catch Only" in the material room shader for the ground. You can also make any prop do this. A prop can be helpful if you need to rotate the "floor", i.e. the background photo shows terrain that is not level, and you want to catch shadows at an angle that correspond with that.

Click here and here to see examples of where I've done this. WARNING: NUDITY!!! Both of those pictures are of the same scene, but from different camera positions. The ability to move around your figure while still automatically compositing your background photo with the right perspective is really helpful and easy with this technique.

However, the color of the shadow that your 3D stuff throws on the catcher will be unlikely to match other shadows in the background photo. This is tricky stuff, but I have developed my own "shadow catcher" shader that can reproduce shadow colors and intensities that perfectly mimic those in the photo.

See this thread for my custom shadow catcher. You can download the shader and use it on your own floor or on a one-sided square. Follow the instructions in the thread to see how to calibrate it so it matches your own photo's shadows.

 Bagginsbill:  That is exactly what I want to do ( your images) Is your background one picture or did you use something else for the "floor"? I'm busy reading your other thread now.

Thanks

The background is just one picture. I used a primitive one-sided square, scaled up, to display the image behind the figure.

The shadow of the figure is falling on the poser Ground, which was set up as a custom shadow catcher so the shadow would be blue.

A shadow catcher is any object with a special shader on it. The shader makes the object completely transparent, so you see through it, except where a shadow falls. Then it becomes partially opaque, thus darkening the image that you see behind the floor.

 Awesome!  Thanx BB.

I'm gonna try that!!