I read a lot of tutorials on how to manually modify CR2 files and creating .mat poses files in text editors, some times it works and some times not. Most of the times I probably forgot to put a bracket in a line, but the main problem even if I do it right is that I waste a lot of time. Since Im at the bottom of my learning curve as far as regards 3D modelling software and having a day job I can only practice at night and during week ends (sigh!) the more time I can save the better. I read the info on both DAZ and Zenware web sites regarding CR2Edit and it looks great but I would like to know the opinions of the users. Is it really good as it seems? Does it really help you in your work? What about the new features in version 5? I would really appreciate some comment on this software. Thank you in advance for your time Staby

Speaking as the guy who offered to co-author the manual AFTER having bought and paid for CR2Edit, I think you could do far worse than acquiring it. That's also speaking as a guy who can edit CR2s manually, mind you. And I'm not working for Dan Wilmes in any way - he's just a lousy businessman who charges too little for his app, and wouldn't sales-talk it himself ;-) But the more people use it, the more people will have more time to spend creating figures instead of fiddling with CR2's.

...sorry, forgot to address your specific question : CR2Edit has (among 40+ other tools) a "MAT/MAP File Creator" tool that'll let you create a MAT file with a few clicks.

I just bought it over the weekend, so I haven't really learned my way around it fluently yet. I will say that it seems to be an INCREDIBLE program, putting a lot of power at your fingertips in a fast and easy way. I do find the documentation to be pretty sparse (if you have read the Zenware site, you have seen all the documentation, from what I can tell), but maybe this will change as people write tutorials or what-not. In any case, if you are creating characters or textures, IMHO I would pretty much say this is a must-have.

The new v5 manual is being prepared as we speak, hankim. Also, have you checked out the tuto's at http://www.zenwareonline.com/cr2edit/tutorials/tutorials.html

I have seen the tutorials there, and they have been useful. Sorry, I didn't mean to cast aspersions on them :) What I mean to say is that as more people pick this app up that have a lot more knowledge than me about Poser file "guts," perhaps tutorials will spring up around the net like we see with other things. (Someday, maybe I will have enough insight to offer one myself!) It's late and I'm rambling -- sorry 'bout that. Thanks for working on the new manual, btw -- volunteerism and generosity are really what makes this community special.

No aspersions percieved, hankim. I volunteered to co-author the app because I thought Dan W.'s time would be better spent adding tools to the app than writing doc about it. My motives are purely selfish ;-) To me, the essential attraction of Poser is the way it can integrate stuff from any number of contributors, each doing what they like best. That way, everyone can concentrate on what they enjoy, be it models, tex's, characters or pics, and "outsource" the rest to the community via forums like this one. And the more apps and tools like CR2Edit we have, the more people can make stuff for Poser without tripping over the infernal internals of Poser files. IMHO, Dan's app is a very large step in the right direction (probably why it's used by DAZ, no less).

Well said, and thanks again. Cheers.

Yes, thank you for your precious informations. I think I have to start saving the money...

I bought it from DAZ, and is the only thing I ever got from them that I asked for a refund. It is cumbersome, SLOW, poorly written, and buggy. There are better shareware programs available, but admittedly you need several small programs to do all that CR2edit claims. I also know a couple of other people who had similar experiences. It is too bad because to read their advertising, it soulds like just what we need. I understand there is a new version coming - maybe that will address these issues, until then, I say save your money.

Well Ron, you have no one to blame but yourself, because you never contacted me. When you have a problem with software, you tell the creator. If there truly is a bug, it gets fixed and sent out as a free update, but it nearly always turns out to be operator error, thru failure to read the 200KB Manual, or something with the person's system. Most copies sold are thru my own site, and of the 3000+ free and registered copies out, I have only failed to get it running properly in one case. There may be others, but like you, they never contacted me for what generally turns out to be a simple fix. It should be noted that DAZ subsidized the cost of developing Ver4, designed the interface themselves, and many of the new tools in the recently-released version5 were their specific requests, to help in developing Vicki2 -- they are a professional organization who worked with me thru all the betas, because they know that time is money, and they were tired of mucking about in Poser files in a text editor. Moreover, the time is quickly coming when there will be no choice other than CR2Edit, unless someone else gets busy, because of the increasing file sizes. Vicki2 is over 20MB, I can open in ver 5 and create a MAT file for her in less time than it takes Word to half-load the file. My main beta tester has opened and worked with 60MB PZ3 files, and I have opened a 100MB file. Try that in WordPad, just be sure to rent a good movie for while you're waiting. The moral of the story: if you are having a problem with ANY software, the first place to check is with the author. If this isn't done, it is like bitching about the government when one didn't vote. Dan http://www.zenwareonline.com/cr2edit/cr2edit.html Sorry Win only for software http://www.zenwareonline.com for ZenPaint, ZenTile, ZenGrid and VueMaster

B.S. You LIE. You shoule be ashamed I contacted you, and you know it - your "reply" was just defensive crap as above. You suggested that the problem was MY fault instead of behaving like a responsible developer. I was kind in my statement above, to tell the truth, your manual SUCKS, your help file is WORTHLESS, and I've seen better programming from High school kids. Stop telling lies on this forum, and suckering more people. The moral of this story is "Caveat emptor!" and thanks to DAZ for the refund!

Searched my mailboxes, no letter to or from you, it is possible but very unlikely they were dumped. The "help file" and the "manual" are one and the same thing. I offer this app as a service to the Community, not to make money, I make my living writing primarily insurance company apps. With the support time involved, I lose money with every sale, so if anyone doesn't want to save a lot of time by using it, that is fine with me. This all smells very much like a troll, and I will not respond further unless the circumstances are truly exceptional. Dan http://www.zenwareonline.com/cr2edit/cr2edit.html Sorry Win only for software http://www.zenwareonline.com for ZenPaint, ZenTile, ZenGrid and VueMaster

Well, I have all MY old email archived - be glad to forward your "reply" back to you. Normally, I don't knock products, but you seem to be in denial about any complaints. Here are a couple of screenshots just to show a SMALL portion of the poor programming. I mean REALLY! haven't you heard of LABELing your I/O boxes and windows? This is your "Dial Renamer" - it sure sounds like something that would rename a dial, Huh? Like maybe I want to rename my "Bend" dial to "flex" - cool, I could use a feature like that! This image shows what happens to anyone who uses the "Dial Renamer" - the pictures speak for themselves. You should be thankful I don't post a review of the ENTIRE program (I have the screenshots already, but thought better of it until you opened your mouth).

This IS extraordinary! Ron, you did NOT read the Manual, you show the quickie help that is there is remind you if you haven't read the full instructions in the Manual lately. Here are the full instructions for that tool, accessible from the main Help menu but also on the Web: http://www.zenwareonline.com/cr2edit/help/CR2EditDialRenamer.htm You say you wanted to rename a dial, yet you have the file browser set to the Geometry structure. OBJ files do NOT have dials. CR2 and PZ3 files do. There are a lot of very advanced tools in CR2Edit, and if you don't understand why you would want to, say, change GetStringRes values to "Friendly" ones, and you don't know there are no dials in geometry files, you shouldn't be messing with the tool. Also, I find it disconcerting that you should still have this piece of junk on your machine, especially since you got your money back... Dan http://www.zenwareonline.com/cr2edit/cr2edit.html Sorry Win only for software http://www.zenwareonline.com for ZenPaint, ZenTile, ZenGrid and VueMaster

Well, Duuuuuh! I figured that out for myself, after pondering this screen for a while, and a little deductive logic (because I DID know what I was doing). The problem is that I did NOT navigate to that folder. This is the folder which your program opened when the utility was launched. To get to the PROPER folder takes 10 clicks of the mouse (5 double clicks). Why? As far as screenshots go, I said above, I already have them. I made them while I was waiting for some assistance from you, and before the file was deleted. You are right about one thing, the community really does need something like this, which is why I spent the money on it in the first place. If this product did just half of what it claims, it would be a welcome addition to my tools. As it is, it is just too frustrating to use. BTW - do you ever answer a valid question without some snide innuendo? That's rhetorical - I think I know already. As far as loosing money? Let's see, 3000 sales at $24.95 comes to $74,800.00 - even if you had NO direct sales, and gave half to a vendor, that leaves $37,425.00 for you. Hmmm - you must have high expenses, huh? Or could it be that your business accumen is on par with your programming ability.

Read again. Start CR2Edit, start the Launcher, drop the file on the Launcher, the file is opened in CR2Edit. No need to close the Launcher, which you would have seen had you tried it. If you want to, you can drop a file on the NON-running app, as with many other apps. You can drop files on apps that support OLE, but the result may not be what you expected -- try it in Word. The Launcher is simply another time saver. Read again: 3000+ free and registered users. CR2Edit was free until ver3, when it was $10 -- and free to international users. All those who had ver3 and below get free upgrades for life. Ver4 was $25 for US, $15 for international. At this point it all adds up to close to $6000, for nearly 3000hr of coding, research and support spread out over 3+ years. $2/hr vs $60 for my regular custom programming? Yeah, I'm losing money. Dan http://www.zenwareonline.com/cr2edit/cr2edit.html Sorry Win only for software http://www.zenwareonline.com for ZenPaint, ZenTile, ZenGrid and VueMaster

Thanks for the clarification - it all makes sense now.

P.S. Sorry to hear about your financial problems too.

Thanks Ron, I consider it buried. The Dial Renamer was originally a separate app, in response to Lemurtek's(I think)discovery that the GetSTringRes numbers could be relabled with their English translations, making it easier to find your way around a CR2 (they need to be restored when you are done because such a CR2 will cause problems for international versions of Poser). There are as I remember 158 of them, numbers and names for each, that had to be typed into the code. I dumped the code into CR2Edit to consolidate things, but never really integrated it, hence the different appearance -- and the "smeared lady", as Dr. Ted calls her, who is kind of an in-joke for those who have had CR2Edit since the very beginning. In recognition of your input, I have added a reference to the Manual for further info, to the meager help displayed. I acknowlege that the interface of the app can be quirky, with odd colors, I can only say in explanation that 1)I am quirky myself 2)below is typical of what I have to write when I'm not working on Zenware apps -- after a few years of this stuff, you too would tend to cut loose when you could, LOL! As for financial problems, I have very few "needs", the freelance work is lucrative tho it interferes far too much with more interesting and fun coding... I guess my biggest ambition is to someday own a car built in the same decade as I am driving it in. But that is really for my wife's sake, not mine, I am perfectly happy with my 1946 Dodge pickup that I have been driving since 1973 -- told you I was quirky! Dan http://www.zenwareonline.com/cr2edit/cr2edit.html Sorry Win only for software http://www.zenwareonline.com for ZenPaint, ZenTile, ZenGrid and VueMaster

"The Dial Renamer was originally a separate app, in response to Lemurtek's(I think)discovery that the GetSTringRes numbers could be relabled with their English translations" Actually, Bloodsong was the brains of that operation. All I did was drive my hex editor though Poser, toting back the loot for her. :)

Yes, it all comes back to me, LOL! But that was a very big pile of loot you brought back, Lemurtek, seems to me it earned you quite a heap of cookies! (<-- THAT is going to puzzle a lot of people!) regards, Dan http://www.zenwareonline.com/cr2edit/cr2edit.html Sorry Win only for software http://www.zenwareonline.com for ZenPaint, ZenTile, ZenGrid and VueMaster