I've been working with Wings3d, making props here and there for Poser. I've gotten better at making the shapes I need but there's still a lot I don't know and a lot of improvement I need to make. Ultimiately I'd like to get to a point where I can make stuff that is good enough to sell on Renderosity. However, my props still look sort of lackluster when I import them into Poser and apply materials. The colors look sort of dull and details come out blurry in the texture maps I apply to props. I've been working with OBJ files and wonder if 3DS would be a better format for importing from Wings3d into Poser. However, all I have is UV mapper and it doesn't work with 3DS objects, only OBJ.

I'm sort of wondering if the dullness of my texture maps is due to using UV Mapper or if there is some other reason.

Above is a French Navy hat. Notice the writing on the front looks sort of blurry. It's not blurry on the texture map. How do I get my texture maps to look sharper in Poser?  Thanks for any help!!

Gary

Image size of the original texture map might have something to do with how sharp the letters are.

As far as the lackluster aspect: are you using a version of Poser not Pro? If so, my take on it is because of this (explained best by CobaltDream):
We want a linear workflow using Gamma Correction.  Why use a linear workflow?  The colors you see on your screen are in non-linear sRGB color space.  The calculations a renderer makes are linear and produce linear results.  If you don't anti-correct colors before they reach calculations like how to shade and highlight a surface, then they make the wrong calculations.  If you don't correct the final result, then the render will be in linear color space and won't appear properly on your screen.  That means we want to anti-correct all our color inputs and correct all of our outputs.

What this means is going into the material room and creating some nodes for each material that uses colour or a colourMap. Look up Gamma correction on this forum to see how that is done.

Bantha has a Wacro that you can run against your materials to gamma-correct them.

If you are running Poser Pro, then activate Gamma-Correction.

could just be texture filtering - turn it off

I have taken a look at your freebie and, unfortunately, you have not included the appropriate textures.  My P8 is looking for files that don't exist in the runtime.  You will need to go back and repackage your zip. 

For crisp text a uv map of 2048 is good. If your map is only 256 or 512 you will have problems.

Yep, make sure your textures are sufficiently large in order to have nice detail, turn off texture filtering as it makes stuff blurry, and in your render settings set the shading rate to 0.00 or 0.02 at the most. That should make things nice and sharp.

Laurie

I rendered your cap and the lettering looks perfectly fine.  It appears that you posted a preview image and not the final render.  Preview texturing sometimes do not appear sharp and clear unless you use hi resolution images.  If your images look dull, I would first check that your monitor is properly calibrated.  The settings may be incorrect.  Unfortunately, you have chosen a poor example for your problem.  Your model is basically black and white, and Robynsveil's suggestion about gamma correction does not truly apply except for the red pompom.  Try to add some material texturing detail to the cap.  

I would check the monitor first.

Quote - I have taken a look at your freebie and, unfortunately, you have not included the appropriate textures.  My P8 is looking for files that don't exist in the runtime.  You will need to go back and repackage your zip. 

**Hi hborre, the textures are in the same folder as the pp2 file. When I load the freebie on my machine everything works fine. I think the problem may be that my computer's C drive is actually lettered H. So when Poser looks for the files it is probably looking for an H drive. I'm not sure how to correct the problem on my machine.

Is there a way to manually make the pp2 file look for its files in a C drive instead of H? Otherwise I won't be able to change it.  :(**

Most of the paths are correct, :Runtime:Libraries:Props:GRC Props:French Navy Hat:, except for the extraneous image you have plugged in to the Specular Node for the Cap Bottom, H:Documents and SettingsAdminMy DocumentsPOSER UNITSWINGS ProjectsFrench Navy Cap 1500x1200 LP 750x600.png

Quote - Most of the paths are correct, :Runtime:Libraries:Props:GRC Props:French Navy Hat:, except for the extraneous image you have plugged in to the Specular Node for the Cap Bottom, H:Documents and SettingsAdminMy DocumentsPOSER UNITSWINGS ProjectsFrench Navy Cap 1500x1200 LP 750x600.png

Thank God! That I can fix! If there is an H drive problem I won't be able to fix it. Thank you!

OK. I've uploaded a corrected file. Everything should work fine now. Thank you Chris for the heads up! Please keep me posted if anyone finds any other problems with the file.

Quote - ... and in your render settings set the shading rate to 0.00 or 0.02 at the most.

Just a quick note about this. 

If the Render MSR (minimum shading rate) value is lower than the object's or actor's MSR (set in its Properties), the latter value is used.

The default object/actor MSR is 0.2. I use a Python script to change it selectively in a scene, but apart from that I have never seen it set to any other value for anything I've ever used. So a Render MSR less than 0.2 is usually meaningless.

For better textures in draft renders, just switch off texture filtering. (You can set this state in the cr2). For final renders, reduce the Render MSR to 0.2.

Izi