I want to create shoes for poser – V3 or V4.

I built them with studio max and save it as OBJ file.

But I want that the shoes will be a poser file – props or figure.

First question: What files do I need for Poser?

Second question : What tools do I need create the typical poser files?

When I import the shoes now as OBJ file it happens nothing in Poser, maybe they are ti big.

thanks for answer

when you import something done at reaal world scale in max , it will be huge in poser. Import at say 20% of figure size on the poser import options, that should make them visible, then scale in poser to the right size, and export as an obj to set the scale. 

I use 250% for max import and 0.04 for export

For shoes you would want to allocate a toe group and make it a conforming figure. If you dont need it to bend just import them as seperate objects , left and right , and parent them to the feet, then save in the props library. 

You dont really need anything but max and poser to make stuff for poser.

Those shoes are probably far too big.

The process of modeling clothes for Poser is as follows:

step 1: IMPORT the .OBJ file of the figure you want to model clothes for into 3D Studio Max.
Scale it up by a factor of 100 if you work in inches in Max, or 254 if you work in centimeters.

step 2: Model the clothes around the figure.

step 3: Export the .OBJ file. Scale it DOWN on export with the same factor you used to import the base figure model.

step 4: IMPORt the exported .OBJ file into Poser.
Make sure you UNcheck the "Percent of figure size) checkbox - you don't want Poser to rescale the object!
Also make sure you UNcheck the "Drop to floor" or "Center" options - you'll want the .OBJ to appear EXACTLY where it was modeled.

Now the question is, do you want the shoes to be a conforming figure, or do you want them to be smart props? If the shoes are low and don't touch the shins of the figure, you can make things easy on yourself by separating the imported shoes into a left shoe and a right shoe prop.
Then you can load the figure they're designed for (V3 or V4). Disable inverse kinematics for the figure and set the figure in zero pose (all rotations, translations at zero, all scales at 100%).
Beware: not all figures load in zero pose! So check.
A fast way to do this is by opening up the Joint Editor window while the figure is selected (inverse kinematics already off), and pressing the "Zero Figure" button.

Now you can parent the left shoe to the figure's left foot, and the right shoe to the figure's right foet. Make sure that "Inherit parent bends" is checked.

Last: save the props to your library. Poser will ask whether to save them as smart props, choose Yes.

If your shoes are higher, e.g. boots that cover at least part of the shin, you'll have to make a figure. The procedure is quite different.

Make sure you have your shoes object selected. Then switch to the Setup room.
Poser will warn you that you're about to make a figure - well, that's what you want!

In the Setup room, pick the figure the shoes are designed for from the library palette. In the case of Victoria 3, pick V3 Blank, in the case of Victoria 4, pick V4 Dev Foundation.

APPLY the figure. THat'll give your shoes the correct bone structure.
You'll see that your shoes get far more bones than they need. You can delete all bones above the hip, but you must keep the hip, buttocks and thigs.

Now select your prop. Use the dropdown menu; don't click in the window. Before you know it, you'll have moved a bone, or the mesh itself, and that'll seriously mess up the procedure.
Open the grouping tool and choose AutoGroup.
You'll get groups in your figure for lShin, lFoot, lToe, rShin,rFoot,rToe.
Select each of those groups, and check if the red polygons are the correct ones.
AutoGroup tends to mess up a little, so correction here is necessary.

Instead of AutoGroup, you can also create the correct grouping in 3DS Max. Just split your mesh in separate mesh objects, one for each Poser body part, and name the meshes for their Poser body parts. Careful: names are case sensitive!
I personally do the grouping this way, in Max, because Max offers far more control over selections than Poser.

Alright. Once the groups are in order, you can switch back to the Pose room. If everything is alright, you now have a figure for your shoes.. Save it to the library, then load a figure (V3 or V4), and conform the shoes to this figure. Should work.

Whenever you bend toes or feet, you may find pokethru or "spikes". This means you'll have to tweak the joint parameters of the shoes. A lot of work, but necessary to make the shoes work as they should.

When the joint parameters are done, save the shoes back to the library as a Poser figure.
Next step is the morphs. V3 and V4 have morhps in shins, feet and toes, your shoes should have matching morphs.
There are several ways to create those morphs. Within Poser itself, using magnets and /or the Morph Brush, or using 3DS Max. "Modeling" a morph is a lot of work, whichever way you do it.

But if you REALLY want to know all the ins and outs, you should buy the book "Secrets of Figure Creation" by B.L. Render. It's a bit older by now (based on Poser 5), but all the info is still valid. Not for the faint of heart though, it is quite technical.

You email me directly which was quite OK but I'll reply here also because it is a frequently asked question. All the above answers are relevant so if those are addressing the issue just bypass mine, it may only confuse.

Hi tino,

If you are modeling in Max then the files when imported into Poser will probably be very large. I suggest the following work flow:-

1. Load the V3 figure into a new Poser scene.

2. Poser menu Figure > Use Inverse Kinematics > turn all off.

3. Poser menu Window > Joint Editor > Click the Zero Figure button

4. Select the figure's hip and in the parameters panel set all translations to zero. They may be already, some figures are, some are not.

5. Select the figure's Body and in the parameters panel set all translations to zero. They may be already, some figures are, some are not.

The figure is now at its fully zero pose.

1. Poser menu Edit > Memorize > Figure. Some figures have default bends set into them, this removes those unwanted presets.

2. Save this figure to the library with the name "My Shoes". You'll be needing the saved file later. Keep the figure in the scene.

3. Import your shoe model with NONE of the import option boxes selected.

4. Scale and position the shoes as required such that they fit the figure. You may need to separate the model into a left and right shoe and do each individually.

5. When the shoes fit use the Poser menu File > Export > Wavefront Object to save the shoes in their current configuration. In the export list ensure that you only have the shoes selected. In the export options DO NOT select "As Morph Target". If they are already grouped select to retain existing groups. Save as "Fitting Shoes.obj". Delete the shoes from the scene.

6. Open Fitting Shoes.obj in UVMapper ( free Lite version http://www.uvmapper.com ) . The actual UV Mapping can wait, if it is not clear which shoe is which apply Planar mapping from the top (Y).

7. Select all of the right shoe and assign to (or check that it is still in), a group named "rFoot". Some versions of Poser will add an indices number to the group which will need to be removed. (rFoot:1 --> rFoot). Select all of the left shoe and assign to a group named "lFoot". Save the model as "Grouped Shoes.obj"

8. Back in Poser import Grouped Shoes.obj .. Have NONE of the import options selected. They should arrive into the scene exactly fitting the figure.

9. With the shoes as the selected actor enter the Set Up Room.

10. Find, then double click on, the "My Shoes" library thumbnail saved previously. This will apply the bones from that file to the shoe model.

11. Return to the Poser room where you will be able to use the Poser menu Figure > Conform to, to apply the shoes to the model.

17 With the shoes selected save to the figure library. Either over write "My Shoes" or choose a different name.

The above can be refined, it may be for example that you have already defined the body part groups in Max. Also this method will leave a large amount of surplus (but harmless) data in the file but it will I feel be the most straight forward way of getting from where you are now to where you need to be.

Hope that helps.

Phil

Thanks a lot for all answers,

it seems the workflow is clear, but I`m shure all the ins and outs will come, next and maybe new questions.

thanks again

tino

Hi svdl

you said

Scale it up by a factor of 100 if you work in inches in Max, or 254 if you work in centimeters

I import V3 an scale it 14963103,0 % - then she has the heigt of 110 cm.

If I scale it by afactor of 254 – V3 is so small that you can`t create shoes.

Did you ever had this problem?

crazy...

What system units are you using in Max? I use centimeters.

I use centimeters - 1 unit is 1 cm
I import with the OBJ2Max plugin from habware.
in Poser5 the units are also cm

That's crazy indeed.
3DS Max has both scene units and system units. I have both set to centimeters.

The HABware plugin reduces scale by a factor of 1000 by default, Maybe that's the reason? You should change the scale in the import plugin, you shouldn't scale the mesh after importing.

hi svdl

how did you find out that the
plugin reduces scale by a factor of 1000 by default?

I`m shure that must be the reason
tino2

It's on the dialog that pops up when you import an .OBJ file, right hand side of the dialog. It says "Scale: 0.001". Replace by Scale: 254 and a Poser human figure will import at about 180 cm.