Very nice model. I like it.

Are you having trouble in the rigging room? I would personally import it as a single object file with predefined groups.

@ dhouck

How do you want the movable parts to operate, i.e., knobs rotate, doors open down, etc.
Please be specific for each movable part.

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

P.S. This look like a good potential candidate for a tutorial on how to rig a prop as a figure.

P.P.S. What version of Poser are you using?

Please do. I have used your tutorials regularly. Very helpful. 

You'll need to define a group for every part that you want to be able to move. Everything else place into a group named (I suggest), "base"

Save the OBJ file to Runtime/Geometries/YourFolder/YourFileName.obj

Write a hierarchy file ... a what????? OK just open Notepad and follow this example.

#################################################
objFile Runtime/Geometries/YourFolder/YourFileName.obj

1 base yzx
    2 door1 yzx
    2 door2 yzx
    2 door3 yzx
    2 door4 yzx
    2 knob1 yzx
    2 knob2 yzx
    2 knob3 yzx
    2 knob4 yzx
##################################################

Use your own group names.
Save as (I suggest), "range.phi"

In Poser use the menu File > Convert hier file and browse to range.phi
Poser will create the figure and deliver it to the figure library in the "New Figures" folder. You can choose a name for the figure but not the folder.

Load the figure from the New Figures folder.
Open the joint editor and use it to set the center of each part. i.e place the center where the door hinge should go.
In the Properties panel un-check the bends option.
Upon completion save the figure back to the library. You'll now be able to save it where ever you want, it does not have to be the New Figures folder.

That should do it :)

PhilC joins Dr Geep in a rousing chorus of.....

"Home, home on the range"

:biggrin:

I'd use the file with separate objs, as I think it would be difficult to slice that stove from within Poser.

The best way to slice within Poser, if you have to, is by using the Grouping Tool (one of the round buttons in the posing room).  There is an auto-group function in the Setup Room but it will give you no joy.

My process usually starts with an object file that has internal groups already.  My first step for a simple figure such as you have above is;

1. Select the Grouping Tool and "spawn props," then delete the original from the workspace. This creates individual objects from each group within your imported object.  You want one actual object for every part that needs to move (there is an exception to this for organics, but anyhow!)

2. Go into the Hierarchy editor, and drop parts on top of parts.  In the case of your stove above, all the moving parts are children of the stove itself.  If, say, there were knobs that turned on the front of drawers that slid, those knobs would be children of the drawers which would be children of the stove.

3. Select the base object (still in the Hierarchy editor) and click "Create Figure."

4. At this point it is safer to quit Poser, then restart, navigate to the root folder, and you will find your new figure in "New Figures."  Interestingly enough, as of Poser Six, the next time you save the figure Poser will remote the geometry for you (although it will put it in the character folder right beside the cr2).

5. Select the Joint Editor tool.  Switch to orthographic views (top down, side, front, etc.)  Turn the view to wireframe.  This makes it easiest to go through and drag the joint centers where you need them to be.  The essential part here is making sure you move the joint centers to the hinges of the doors.

6. Turn off bending on all parts.  For a non-organic figure, this is sufficient to get a clean joint (for an organic figure, like a clothing item, your work would just be starting now!)

7. Dial each part as far as it should go, make a note of the dial reading, then go into the dial by double-clicking on the dial itself and set limits.  You can also adjust the dial sensitivity and re-name the dial to something like "open" if you wish.

1. Sliding doors.  These are accomplished through the "Translate" dials, which unfortunately default to hidden.  There are two ways I use to un-hide them so you can use them;

a) Save the cr2.  Now exit Poser, fire up a text editor, and navigate to the cr2 you saved.  Scroll down past the geometry and actor definitions to where the actors are.  For each of these, you will see an entry like "Actor top_drawer:1"  That's the section that controls the part you want to slide.  Under that entry will be a stack of channels.  Look for the three channels called "xtran," "ytran," and "ztran."  Under THOSE are several entries, with the entry "hidden 1" close to the top.  Change that to "hidden 0." 

Save the cr2, go back to Poser, load the figure back into the workspace.  Now you can use the dials, rename them, set their limits etc.

Really, this sounds more complicated than it is.  Once you've looked inside a cr2 a few times it won't scare you too much to go hunting.  Oh, and there are much better examples than what I gave above...with samples of actual cr2 as examples.  I just don't have the patience this morning to find them, or to hand-type a full cr2 excerpt here.  Go look for Doctor Geep's tutorials.  They'll have everything.

b) There is at least one third-party tool, PhilC's "Poser Pocket Knife" which will hide and unhide dials from the Poser workspace via a Python script.

Anyhow, that's the basics.

Man, you guys are too fast!   Triple cross post!

I would use phibuilder . It makes creating the phi file a little easier.
http://www.royriggs.com/poser.html

Dont forget to set bend off on all the parts , and use the joint editor to set the centers(pivot points)

nomuse **and philc
I got thru all of your instructions with flying colors except for saving the cr2.  I salved the files  but lost all my settings.. how do I save a cr2

**

Odd.  You should be able to save the cr2 by opening a library window in "figures," and clicking the plus sign at the bottom.

When I'm doing an intricate figure-building job, I often save the scene as well.  That is your basic "File:Save" drop down.

Oh by the way Phil, I love PPK.  Made fine-setting the ratios in an ERC linkage so much easier!

oops... i clicked on the check mark ... I am in the process of re doing the joint editing and will try clicking on the +  Silly me... its always something really simple....Thanks

Heh.  Save early and often.  It's the only way to stay sane around computers.

 Another thing to point out is before you spawn props from the imported  OBJ file is to scale it first.

 I generally do this by bringing in a figure into the scene and scaling it to that figure if you have no dimensions to work from. Then re-export the object with only the last option checked. When you re-import it, the scale will default to 100% and will be at least approximately the right scale in relation to a figure.

Nothing worse than going through the rigging process to find out that when you load it, its the size of an aircraft hanger :-/

And just to reinforce what was said earlier save often. 

Ah, yes.  Good to mention.

Although you can scale the final rigged figure, it makes things simpler if your figure is close to 100% scale and zero position as rigged.

I usually make a "scale and position" pass at some point before the final import just before spawning.  It also gives me a last chance to check for reversed normals, bad materials groups, uncreased edges, and other mesh errors.  When the raw mesh renders correctly in Poser, I export it one last time to "freeze" it in Poser scale and position.  When I re-import, then I can comfortably spawn props knowing that they, too, are all properly zeroed.

BTW, a very useful little tool to have is this caliper:

http://www.sharecg.com/v/31396/Poser/Scale-Caliper-for-Poser

If you have real-world measurements for your model, you can check them against this handy tool.  For my current set, I built everything to scale in a different application, and I only have to make one known dimension fit in Poser to know the models are accurately scaled to the universe and to each other.

Err... This link might be better:  http://forum.daz3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=1113320&sid=90727b1ad32e10ad7429d7fe89e34dcf&flatnum=1

What about the uv mapping... I found that after I got my stove all rigged.. the texture maps did not work.. should it all be textured before or after you spawn props

You can uv map and texture at any time. Might be easier to uv map before you spawn props though.

I'm right now working on a project where I missed on some of the UV maps and had to clean them up during the texture stage.

It is annoying, but do-able.  The trick is getting the meshes out of Poser and back in again without disturbing the position and scale.

(Or, if you use the methods I've had to resort to over the years, restoring them to the same position and scale.)

 After you spawn props you will lose the maps. Re-assign the maps after the prop has been rigged and before the save to your directory of choice. 

re assign or re map.  I tried to re assign them and they did not match up so i am in the process of remapping and starting all over again.. good for the learning process I guess.

That's odd.  I've never had Poser remove or distort the UV maps.  Regardless of how I assemble a figure I find the maps I put on the objects are still there.

Nice.

I see you are making progress with textures, too.

Cool.

err hot! :)

Nicely done.

Bravo !!!

Well done, my friend, well done!

cheers,
dr geep
;=]

Careful ... I see the gas on on but there's NO FLAME ... you might have an EXPLOSION !

Oh, very nice.  The addition of the drip pans and racks adds a lot.

You know, once your cr2 is pointing at an external obj file, it is an easy matter to alter that obj file...do a little extra modeling, and plop it back in.

One trick I've used here and there is to open the figure in Poser, zero it, import a replacement actor or an additional part, and export...unticking the original actor and ticking the replacement.  The result?  A brand new object file completely compatible with the original cr2.