Quote - bb - the following code in vssui.py works on Mac / Poser 7 and should still work on PC (any Poser version). The first line is the commented-out original:

#call = os.path.join(vssFolder, self.pyfileFmt % (i+1))
call = os.path.join(vssFolder, self.pyfileFmt % (i+1)).replace("/",":")

if call[:1] == ':' : call = call[1:]

I've tested this with the vss folder in another location (outside of any Runtime) and it works fine.

Someone will need to test that this still works okay on Mac / Poser 5/6.

Yeah that makes sense. It should have no effect on PC because vssFolder will have in it, not /. And the path never begins with colon.

Hi bagginsbill,

no, I have not a special German Victoria4. It is the Original V4 from DAZ with the Original Skin. I have the same error with other figures.

Hm, yes, I think it is a translation problem :-( body is called in German Poser Version Körper.

Soni,

Do you want to see if we can fix it?

Open vss.py in a text editor.

Search for the line that has this text in it:

it is a figure

The next line says: actor = actor.Actor('Body')

Change that to: actor = actor.ActorByInternalName('Body')

I believe this change will get around this problem.

Save that, and run vssMainButtons.py again. Then see if it works.

If it does, I will include this change in the next release.

There is another potential translation problem, having to do with material names.

You may be able to fix this too.

Open vss.py again in a text editor.

Search for the line containing ExtName.

It looks like this: return item.ExtName()

Change it to this: return item.Name()

Hi bagginsbill

thank you, it would be super, if we can fix :-) because the Script is excellent.

I made the two changes and try again, but sorry - error.

Hmmm... okay, I'll go back through this thread looking for a reason for this... unless bb or someone else can give me a clue what's wrong....?

Hmmm - you're experiencing the bloat bug. That's where VSS mistakenly think you have a displacement map, when in fact you don't, and a constant amount of displacement is being added. This is another Poser weirdness - what is the name of the file in an Image_Map that doesn't have a file in it? The answer is supposed to be null, not a name, but sometimes I seem to be getting the string "None" - which looks like a file name.

You can just rip out the displacement subtree from the Template Skin shader and that problem will go away.

The images are very small, so it's hard to tell, but it looks like you're getting some splotchiness on the forehead. In my skin shader, I disable texture filtering because it reduces detail for a lot of skin texture. What is your min shading rate? If you're going to render small like that, you need to decrease the shading rate below 1.

Or - is it because of the spots node I have in the shader? I can't really tell - the renders are so small I can't make out the shapes. I can't tell if those are in your color map, or being added by the shader.

Soni,

I don't know what to do. Every figure has a "Body". V4 definitely has a Body. Why Poser thinks that Python plugins should have to know the name of every body part in every language is ridiculous. The internal name is supposed to never change.

Anyway, it seems to have synchronized for you. The part that is failing is just trying to use a trick to get the preview of the figure to refresh. See, when I change the shaders, you want to see them in the shaded preview. But Python has not a single function that successfully updates the preview window after changing shaders on a figure. (Don't everybody start telling me all the UpdateThis and UpdateThat methods - they don't work. svdl and a few other Poser Python experts have confirmed it.) The only way I found to make it refresh the preview is to save the entire figure's material collection, and then reload the collection. That is all the function is trying to do. Your figure actually has been updated.

I guess I'm going to have to get a Macintosh, and also the English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian versions of Poser 6, Poser 7, and Poser Pro, for Windows and Mac.

Let me see - that would be 30 versions of Poser I need to have.

Sigh...

Soni,

Vorschau is Preview. That is a translated material name. I'm almost certain that is actually called Preview in all versions. Are you sure you ran the modified script? 

Hi bagginsbill,

hm, no I am not sure I have the modified script. I download the newest Version and try again. Thank you.

I don't mean that you need to download. I mean did you save the changes i described above and reload VSS?

Hi bb - thanks for the response. I was ploughing my way through the thread but I'm only up to page 9. I noticed a few posts about this, but I thought it was just a Poser 6 issue.

(It was like this on a larger render too, but it took so long to complete just a few render buckets that I cancelled it. I used a min shading rate of 0.2 for the larger render, but increased it to 0.5 for the smaller ones just to make them quicker.)

Anyway,I think I follow what you say, so I'll just go away and fiddle, and leave a larger render running overnight.

Btw, I have to say - I have the greatest respect for your incredible dedication to this project. Lesser mortals would have thrown in the towel long before. I know you nearly did... but you didn't. :O)

Hi bagginsbill,

you mean  

Change that to: actor = actor.ActorByInternalName('Body') and
Change it to this: return item.Name()

yes, I have.

Quote - I guess I'm going to have to get a Macintosh, and also the English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian versions of Poser 6, Poser 7, and Poser Pro, for Windows and Mac.

Let me see - that would be 30 versions of Poser I need to have.

Sigh...

I suspect that a better way to do this would be to look up the English string in Runtime/ui/languages.xml and then use the major and minor numbers as arguments to poser.StringResource(major, minor) in the comparison.

I have a question (not sure if this has been asked before or not).  First, I want to say I love the results that we can get with VSS.  Awesome!  I was wondering though, I do love what it does to the eyes, however, is there any way to keep it from actually darkening the color?  I always end up with a much darker shade rather than the one I started with.  Any assistance in this regard is appreciated!

Are you talking about the iris or the sclera? They are very different shaders.

Oh, sorry...I was referring to the iris.

Open your VSS prop in the mat room. Select the Template Iris material.

The attached screen shot shows the shader, and what to change. It's very easy.

After you make the change, Synchronize to send it to your figure.

Once you have it how you like it, save the new prop for yourself to use again in the future. Or you can save the individual modified material if you like.

Remember, the prop is like a simplified figure - one material per, well, "material". Thus it is easy to change that material, and then save it for future use.

Thank you so much! 

Hi Sony, is it the P6 or P7 Version. P7 should work with all languages but P6 in localized versions have trouble with some python scripts.

Hi Ulli

it is the German Poser 7 Version.

Mac OS X 10.4.11 Intel Xeon with Poser 7.0.4.220

I now have the Poser SR3 update.

The VSS script now works as you expect it.

I load the buttons into my python window.  Hit "synchronize" and the VSS goes to work - just like on PC.

Who -hoo!  Poser got fixed and now your script works, so now you can continue on the VSS!!

Really!?! That's great news. SR3 fixed the python buttons bug. Wow. They didn't even mention that one.

Hmmph!!

I suppose I have to be thankful that all those late nights investigating the problem, finding out what caused it, and providing a fix at least gave me a little understanding of Python.

Can't help feeling a bit p-o about it though...
I'll get over it.
:O)

After loading the vssMainButtons.py into my python window and then I click it, I get the following:

script button 1: 'Synchronize'
       invokes: '/Applications/Poser 7/Runtime/Python/vss/macro1.py'
script button 2: 'Render'
       invokes: '/Applications/Poser 7/Runtime/Python/vss/macro2.py'
script button 3: 'Designer...'
       invokes: '/Applications/Poser 7/Runtime/Python/vss/macro3.py'
script button 4: 'Parmatic...'
       invokes: '/Applications/Poser 7/Runtime/Python/vss/macro4.py'
script button 10: 'Poser Main Buttons'
       invokes: ':Runtime:Python:poserscripts:mainButtons.py'

The buttons are then loaded up as usual.

After loading up the Control prop (I used VSSGeneric in this case), I click on synchronize and get the following:

Synchronizing SimonG2 from VSS_1
Synchronizing nodes from Template Skin to Body
Synchronizing nodes from Template Iris to IrisRight
Synchronizing nodes from Template Pupil to PupilLeft
Synchronizing nodes from Template Lash to EyelashBottom
Synchronizing nodes from Template Lash to EyelashTop
Synchronizing nodes from Template Cornea to EyetransLeft
Synchronizing nodes from Template InnerMouth to InnerMouth
Synchronizing nodes from Template Eyewhite to EyeballLeft
Synchronizing nodes from Template Skin to Head
Synchronizing nodes from Template Cornea to EyetransRight
Synchronizing nodes from Template Skin to FingerNails
Synchronizing nodes from Template Eyewhite to EyeballRight
Synchronizing nodes from Template Teeth to Teeth
No rule matches zone Preview - skipping.
Synchronizing nodes from Template Iris to IrisLeft
Synchronizing nodes from Template Skin to ToeNails
Synchronizing nodes from Template Pupil to PupilRight
Synchronizing nodes from Template InnerMouth to Tongue

The next time you run synchronize, if the message is the same
as this one, I won't bother printing it.

Yup, jd, that's VSS doing it's thing to Simon. His shaders now look like a cross between the London Underground and Spaghetti Junction. No, much worse than that.

Now go render and let's see what you get!
:O)

Quote - ... His shaders now look like a cross between the London Underground and Spaghetti Junction...

???

Did you look at Simon's skin shaders in the Material Room after you Synchronised?
Sorry if you don't understand the references... it just means they look very complex and convoluted.
What matters, of course, is what the render looks like. :O)

BB, I'm ready for the next testing stage.  Is it designing? 

I have material zone names that aren't standard.  How do I get the VSS control prop to work on them?

After all, we have to make sure all the other buttons are working too.

Quote - Did you look at Simon's skin shaders in the Material Room after you Synchronised?...... it just means they look very complex and convoluted...

Yes,  I've been in the material room many times having to adjust maps that were improperly placed. 

It's looks convoluted, but it works.

Here's my message:

Synchronizing Horse  from VSS_1
No rule matches zone InnerEar - skipping.
No rule matches zone Forelocks - skipping.
Synchronizing nodes from Template Cornea to RCornea
No rule matches zone Tail - skipping.
No rule matches zone Preview - skipping.
Synchronizing nodes from Template Cornea to LCornea
No rule matches zone ManeLeft - skipping.
Synchronizing nodes from Template Pupil to RPupil
Synchronizing nodes from Template Eyewhite to REyewhite
Synchronizing nodes from Template Lash to Eyelashes
No rule matches zone ManeUp - skipping.
No rule matches zone Coat - skipping.
Synchronizing nodes from Template Eyewhite to Lacrimal
Synchronizing nodes from Template InnerMouth to Gums
Synchronizing nodes from Template Iris to LIris
Synchronizing nodes from Template Skin to Nostril
Synchronizing nodes from Template Teeth to Teeth
Synchronizing nodes from Template InnerMouth to Tongue
No rule matches zone EyeSocket - skipping.
Synchronizing nodes from Template Eyewhite to LEyewhite
No rule matches zone Fetlocks - skipping.
Synchronizing nodes from Template InnerMouth to InnerMouth
Synchronizing nodes from Template Pupil to LPupil
No rule matches zone ManeRight - skipping.
Synchronizing nodes from Template Iris to RIris
No rule matches zone Hoof - skipping.

The next time you run synchronize, if the message is the same
as this one, I won't bother printing it.

There are material zones on your figure (the horse) that we need to make rules for.

Open your control prop in the material and select the "Shader Rules" material to edit.

This material uses fake nodes to specify the shader rules. (duh) The Rule nodes try to match a material name on your target. The asterisks indicate additional characters that can be matched by that rule. Case does not matter.

For example, the "nail" rule matches "nail", "nails", "fingernail", "FingerNail", and "hammerMyNail". Notice there is also a "fingernail" rule. When two rules both match a material zone, the longer one wins.

Each rule is connected to a Copy node. A Copy node specifies a source material to copy from, on your control prop.

So reading this set of rules, it means that a crapload of target zones will be copied from the "Template Skin" material on the control prop. This is why we can edit "Template Skin" and see those changes copied to dozens of target material zones. If you scroll down in your shader, you'll see other rules and other copy nodes. Study those a bit and they should make sense.

You may wonder why I have nail, fingernail, and toenail, when nail alone would get the job done here. The reason is so you can change your mind about one of those. Suppose you want shiny, painted fingernails. You would add another source template shader - perhaps called NailPolish. You would load that template shader with nodes that accomplish that simulate that material. You would then add a new Copy NailPolish node, and then connect that to the Rule fingernail. Thus, you would make an exception to the nail rule that says if its finger nails, use NailPolish. Get the idea?

So we have to think about what are our horsey materials. Clearly we can use Template Skin for most of the figure, although we'll probably want to actually change that shader. (Unless you want the horse to look like hairless human skin.)

For each of the skipped zones, we need to add a rule, and maybe a Copy node and a new template. I'll let you decide what to do for each. But I'll just guide you through the individual steps either way.

Ready?

Click to the Designer if you haven't already.

Click Add a Rule Node.

A dialog box comes up.

Using the pulldown, select * other - type it in *.

Hit OK.

You may be wondering why the pulldown lists all the control prop templates. The reason is because it is possible to turn a figure into its own control prop! What?!? You can set up a figure so it has VSS control zones on itself. Then you pick one of the figure's own zones to be the master and copy that zone to other zones on the same figure. For example, on Simon, I can copy Body to Head and just edit Body directly, then Synchronize. But, that's another lesson for another day.
 

You can enter a name without asterisks and it will be an exact match. Or you can enter with asterisks at either end or both.

Do you want to exactly match Coat? Type in coat

Do you want to match coat followed by any characters? Type in coat*

Make sense?
 

Try synchronizing now. It should follow the new rule and copy Template Skin to Coat.
 

Let's type in a new one.

Click Add Material Zone.

A dialog comes up. Using the pulldown, select * other - type it in *.

Another dialog comes up. Enter Hoof and hit OK. Be very very careful typing this name. I have not found a way in Poser to delete or rename material zones, so there's no way to correct mistakes. Perhaps you want to save the prop before you do this.

You now have a new material zone template on your control prop. You should be able to see it in the materials list. You'll need to come up with a good horse hoof material and put it in there. A lesson for another day. :)
 

Add a Rule Node. Type it in. Enter hoof.

Then click Add a Copy Node. Using the pulldown, choose Template Hoof. It will be there because you added the material.
 

For each image map you intend to use in the shader, add a node and connect it to the place that indicates its purpose. Here I've connected to Diffuse_Color, Specular_Color, and Bump.
 

Now you can continue to build the shader, adding more complicated calculations. Each time you want to test it, just hit Synchronize.

That's all there is to it. You should save this modified control prop to your library for future use.
 

Aarrgggg!

I so want to get to this but I'm away from my Mac for another 4 and a half hours.

I'll report my results / experience at that time.

Thanks for the info!!

The control prop has a material zone call "Apply Rules". This defines which figures or props these shader rules apply to.

By default, I set up the VSS control prop to apply to any figure. This is a special rule spelled . That syntax is a special case for matching any figure at all. You probably want to delete that rule for your horse control prop.

Instead, you want to add a Rule node that specifies mil horses. I assume, from your screen shot, he's called Horse. I suppose if you added another one, he would be Horse_2 or something.

So to apply this rule to any horse, I add a rule for horse*

That means that these shader rules will apply to any figure or prop whose name begins with horse.

Quote - ... I assume, from your screen shot, he's called Horse. I suppose if you added another one, he would be Horse_2 or something...

I wish DAZ were that clever!

No, when I load up the Mil Horse is shows up as Figure, Figure 1, figure 2 and so on.

I changed the name to Horse in the Body's properties tab.  A habit I picked up from working with multiple models in the same scene.

So, once I change the name of my figure to "horse," will the above info still work?

Yes

You're a genius.

But, I'm sure you're getting sick of hearing that.

"...Synchronizing nodes from Template Skin to Coat..."

Yes, it looks like a hairless horse, but you can see that the VSS worked it's magic.

I'm hoping you might have some suggestions for getting that velvety / furry coat a horse has.  (as if you haven't helped enough already!)

Now, I'm off to the next part:  adding a new Material Zone.