I load my main figure, load the second figure, parent it to the main, then save it.  When I restart Poser, load the main figure, then load the second figure from the library, it isn't parented.  How do I save it so it "sticks" to the main figure on loading?

you cant Parent figures ... you conform figures ..
Parent Props to figures or props to props .. not figures to figures ..
It wont work ..

Chris

Actually, you can. You have to save the parent to the library, not the child, then you'll get a prompt to save the single figure or the whole group. 

What you can't do is save a figure as a prop that will get parented when you load it, you have to saved it parented to the figure as a group.

but then it will be loaded as a whole group..
then it becomes one set , like a shirt incl a Bowtie ..
not loading a bowtie later..
as you can with parented props or conformed figures..

Or did i mis a class :}

Chris

Correct, I did mention that. That you can only do with props.

Barcode:  Under the Figure option in the menu bar you can Set Figure Parent.

What Hioushi is saying is impossible is exactly what I'm trying to do:  save a figure in the same was as a smartprop.

I have a train car with 8 compartments, high or low res; I want to give folks the option of loading only the high-res ones they need and the rest low.  I suppose I can make the default load with all low-res compartments, and a user can delete one and add the high-res there, then parent it themselves.  I am trying to make it simple for novice users.

Does anyone know of a hack for this?

You can try editing the CR2 files in a text editor or better a Poser file editor such Poser File Editor or CR2Editor.
You can try changing the parent line in the Body section to smartparent.
for example I sved a custom hair figure that was parented to a head so in the Body section I changed the line "parent head:1" to "smartparent head:1" and the the hair loaded in position parented to the head.

Barcode:  Under the Figure option in the menu bar you can Set Figure Parent.

Mmm yeah.. still you cant parent figures to figures..
And make em load seperated ...

Make it easy ..

extract the obj from the file and make extra loading options
with the Lres part and the Hres inside or how ever you want to make it..
Multiple option on loading, but all use the same obj files in geometries ..

Thats the most simple way .. make it prefixed for them..
one all Hi res one all low res one Lres and inside Hires etc etc .. the obj's will come from the same file.
So the zip or exe wont be bigger then otherwise..

BC

Barcode:  the cr2's already call external geometry. 

The files are:

HP_Carriage.obj
HP_Car_Int_High.obj
HP_Car_Int_Low.obj

How do you mean "make extra loading options?"

Quote - Barcode:  the cr2's already call external geometry. 

The files are:

HP_Carriage.obj
HP_Car_Int_High.obj
HP_Car_Int_Low.obj

How do you mean "make extra loading options?"

Did smartparent not work?

Smartparent DOES work.  I posted, but the post is apparently lost.

In the compartment figure I changed

Parent:  UNIVERSE
 to
smartparent:  Carriage:1

Now when I load the Carriage, then load the compartment from the library, it sticks to the Carriage.  Thanks ChrisCox!

One thing weird about it:  BODY_1 is added to the Carriage's Body Parts list.

In my final train I might have 3 carriages.  Can I alter the internal carriage BODY Name from   BODY:1 to a unique name so that each of them can have compartments and not be confused?

Is Carriage a body part or is it the figure?  What I did was parent to a body part and not the figure and I didn't end up with anything weird like you are seeing.

Also I would not change the interna name Body to anything else.  Body is one of the word that can be special to Poser and may have unintended consequences, but I would have to plat with it to be sure.  I know that if you create a figure with a part named Body it can act weird.

ChrisCox:
BODY isnt geom, just internal name in figure;  Carriage is the main shell of the car, then there are parts like Roof, doors, etc. 

I parented the compartment to the Carriage Part.  I'll try it diferently and see what happens.  I thought I should avoid parenting it to BODY since there's the same name in every figure and it could get confusing. 

I'm actually seeing the extra body part now, I must have overlooked it before.
And playing around with changing the Body's internal name like you suggested seems to be working OK without any unintended effects so you can try that and see what you think.

I think what you were doing parenting to the Carriage should be good. 

BTW when I wrote body part I was referring to parts of the body such as Carriage, Roof, Door, etc.

Attached Link: 1910 electric

Feel free to use the script as a template.... if you can't spot the items to change,
talk at me by site-mail.

Quote - In my final train I might have 3 carriages.  Can I alter the internal carriage BODY Name from   BODY:1 to a unique name so that each of them can have compartments and not be confused?

Yes, you can change the internal name "BODY" to something else. It is usually best to leave the display name, the name that appears in the "name" line, as "BODY", because this will allow you to select it via "Body" in the selection drop-down, other wise it will be placed in the "Body Parts" menu.

I find that using "smartparent" in a figure can cause problems if you try to delete either figure whilst the parenting is still in place. You should change the parent to UNIVERSE before deleting either figure. You should only parent the BODY of the child figure, but it can be parented to any part of the parent figure. A part directly under the BODY of the parent figure, "hip" in a human figure, is usually the most appropriate part, but BODY, or any other part can be used as the parent if desired.