Hi. I'm trying to make a custom figure for Poser. I've built a simple mesh in C4D, created polygon groups that match those on the standard Mannequin figure, and used the Riptide plug-in to export the mesh as an OBJ. When I import it in to Poser and go into the Set-up room everything seems fine. I adjust the bones to match the mesh and then exit back to the Pose room. I can now apply poses and animate the figure and all of the bones are correctly applied to the mesh groups. BUT, the mesh groups all split apart where they were previously joined. I've attached an image to show the problem. What am I doing wrong? It's driving me crazy!

Thanks,

Steve.

Turn ON [menu] "Display" >>> "Bend Body Parts" <<< (check it)

For the studio AND the individual Body Parts (Properties) >>>  ("Bend")

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

Also, immediately after you go to the setup room and apply the rig, when you return to the Pose room the new figure becomes unwelded.  Save the figure to the library, start a new document, and re-load the figure, and then the geometry will be welded.

edit: You'll want to know this for future work in exporting/importing between Poser and other apps:  Poser splits the geometry in the OBJ file into separate chunks for each bodypart.  If you're going to try to pass a figure in and out of other apps for things like making morph targets you need to be aware of this (if you use interPoser Pro it handles this welding business automatically with no thought on your part).

Thanks for the responses, but unfortunately I still have the same problem. I already have 'Bend' switched on for both the document and the individual body parts (see image), and I've tried saving the figure to the library and loading it in a new document, but the mesh still breaks apart.

I am also having this issue and cannot figure out why.

Still breaking ??? ... :scared:

That may mean that the body parts are not "weld"ed to each other. :huh: ___ Huh?

In other words, the original mesh did not have the vertexes in adjacent body parts (objects) in exactly the same locations. :huh: ___ Huh?

---

You may need to go back and look at how you created the original mesh ...

Was it created from a single mesh?  :blink:
... And, then "group"ed to create the separate body parts? :blink:

... And, then, using the Grouping Tool, use the
Spawn Props" function to produce the individual body parts before creating the figure? :blink:

Just a few thoughts for you to consider.

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

As Geep said, the vertices in adjoining body parts need to line up (almost) exactly on order for welding to work. In addition to the "bend" line in each actor, there is also an "allowsBending" line in the 'figure' section, it needs to have a value of "1". If you have all that, and it still does not weld, open the cr2 in a text editor and check that the 'weld' lines exist in the 'figure' section. They should look something like this: weld abdomen:1
hip:1 weld chest:1
abdomen:1 weld neck:1
chest:1 weld head:1
neck:1 weld rCollar:1
chest:1 weld rShldr:1
rCollar:1 weld rForeArm:1
rShldr:1 weld rHand:1
rForeArm:1 weld rThumb1:1
rHand:1 [e.t.c...]

Also note that the welding only stops the parts from developing gaps, it does not add smooth organic bends. For that various joint parameter channels are needed.

Can you show the hierarchy of your figure?  You can get behavior like this depending on how you have it grouped and how you have bones related to each other (although looking at your pics I don'r see that is too likely).  Have you edited the CR2 at all or manipulated (or replaced the OBJ file that Poser wrote out after you saved to the library?

Hi. Thanks for all the help! I've spent a few days experimenting and realised that there were probably a few things I was doing wrong. Anyway, it seems to be working now, so for other readers here's the workflow I'm using to create new Poser figures using C4D and existing Poser skeletons:

• Create figure in C4D from a single mesh.
• Select polygons for each separate body part and name them to match the bones of the Poser Mannequin skeleton (I also apply a different material to each selection so that I can see if I've missed any polygons).
• Add a Riptide group tag to the figure and move all of the available polygon group names into the 'selected' area. This ensures that all of the grouping information is stored with the file.
• Export the mesh as an OBJ using the Riptide plug-in.
• Import the OBJ into Poser (it arrives as a single mesh with all of the polygon groups coloured differently).
• Go to the 'Setup' room and click on the 'Grouping' tool so that Poser breaks the mesh into separate groups.
• Click on the 'Translate' tool (to prevent accidental changes to the groupings) and open the Mannequin skeleton.
• Reposition the bones down one side where necesary, then use 'Figure, Symmetry' to copy the changes to the other side.
• Go to the 'Pose' room and save the figure to the library.
• Locate the CR2 file for the new figure, open it in a text editor, search for the 'allowsbending' parameter and change the value from 0 to 1.
• Create a new document and open the new figure.
• At this point if there are any oddities in the mesh when posing the figure they seem to be down to insufficient subdivisions on the mesh at the joint areas, or tweaks required on the joint parameters.

Thanks again for all the help,

 

Steve.

It sounds like you have it under control :)  I use Cinema and Riptide also and it's much the same for me, although you will probably get more comfortable with making your groups and eliminate a couple of steps.  What I do when making material selections and bone selections is when a selection is complete - or at least I think it is - I hide that group to be sure I haven't missed any small polys, and eventually when all polys are hidden I know I'm done.  You also don't ever need to touch Poser's grouping tool (thank god).

If you are going to be doing very much figure creation, you will save A LOT of pain if you look into a serious CR2 editor (I use Dimension3D's Poser File Editor for sale here at Rendo).  Doing it through plain text editors will drive you insane.

What [pjz99] said. Poser File Editor rocks - but if you (or anyone else reading this) are seriously short of cash, John Stallings' free one is at my site.