Bump value depends on the default unit system.
Where can I find a converting rule (table)?
Thanks

ONE POSER NATIVE UNIT IS THE EQUIVALENT OF 8.6 FEET, OR 262.128 CENTIMETERS.

from Poser 7 manual.

on menu, go to Edit-->general preferences-->interface.
There it will show if you are using inches, feet, centimeters, or whatever.

Medzinatar is right. If you are using a standard unit of measurement, it's easy... For instance, if you were using inches and had your bumps set to 0.25, that would be the equivalent of a quarter of an inch. 1.00 would equal one inch. Hope that helps.

Laurie

The bump value that you dial up in the material room is displayed in your preferred units, as specified in your General Preferences. You don't need to convert this, just be consistent in what units you work with if you are designing or editing materials in Poser.

In material definition files, however, the bump (and displacement) is always stored in inches. Unless you edit these by hand, I don't think you need to worry about this.

The only unit that does not have a 'real world' conversion factor is the Poser Native Unit, for which markschum gave the conversion factor above.

There is so much to bump maps, but for gradient bump, the number you enter for value is the height of pure white (RGB all 255).  Depending on dynamic range of map, you might not have any of the max values or the average values are way lower.

If you need bump to go above and below surface, you can use subtract node to get negative values for map output to offset

 It just occurs to me that I've never checked this.. but.. if I make something with a displacement map and share it... will it then be converted to whatever units the recipient has? As in, my Poser is set to cm. so if someone who uses inches downloads my material, will it then be autoconverted to inches?

Yes, that's correct, but it'll convert correctly though, no matter what your setting was when you created your displacement. It will adjust to their measurement settings. I tested it ;)

Laurie

The units you use in Poser are just the way the value is displayed on your screen. In your scene file, and in any material definitions you save, it is stored in inches.

When somebody else uses your material, it also uses inches. But Poser displays it in whatever display units they are using.

X-post... what Laurie said!

I did not realized that values where automaticaly converted. Interesting !
Thanks all.

 Aha so Poser's "native" unit is actually inches? That's odd. I could sort of understand if it internally used itw own PNU, but inches? Why inches? L

Not that it matters since it's "converted" and looks right no matter the display units, it just strikes me as odd :)

But good to know it will still work!

Quote -  Aha so Poser's "native" unit is actually inches? That's odd. I could sort of understand if it internally used itw own PNU, but inches? Why inches? L

Not that it matters since it's "converted" and looks right no matter the display units, it just strikes me as odd :)

Actually you may be right, TG - Poser might convert to PNUs internally - I don't know. I prefer to ignore that bit, because we (who have no access to the source code) only ever see what is either on the screen or in the saved files. Any internal conversion is just an extra layer of complexity that I (for one) don't need!

I seem to remember from an old bagginsbill post that bump/displacement is the only case where the library file stores the value in inches. All other poser distance values, in props, figures etc. are PNU. I don't have the patience to go searching for the thread right now though. :)

Correct.

And the P node, that returns position, does so in units of tenth of an inch, i.e. the value 10 = 1 inch. More than one person has claimed it is 1/1000 of PNU but that's just plain wrong. I can prove to the 10th decimal place that the P node speaks in Poser inches. This is why I so often talk about the 103.200005 business. That last digit matters if you're making precise displacements or P-node calculations. If you're off by a millionth of an inch, it is visible in some cases. Not because of position, per se, but because of slope anomalies that can be the result.

Anyway...

I don't remember the details but I recall reading that the entire material system was developed by another company, and either the system or the company was purchased by Curious Labs. Then the sytem was plugged into Poser, pretty much as is. As it was a completely separate drop-in module, I assume there was no reason to go through the code and change it to PNU. It was left as-is.

Hmmm...  I wonder where this 1/1000 of a PNU idea came from.  :O)

Edit: oh, never mind, I think I might be hanging off the ceiling again.

Quote - I seem to remember from an old bagginsbill post that bump/displacement is the only case where the library file stores the value in inches. All other poser distance values, in props, figures etc. are PNU. I don't have the patience to go searching for the thread right now though. :)

Wait.. I read this as if you're saying there is NO auto conversion when it comes to bump/displacement maps?! O.o In that case any materials I make and share will have only minuscule effect on a system set to inches since I'm using metric...

Is this correct or is it just my display showing me centimetres when it really means inches and operates with inches behind the scenes?

IsaoShi:

I based that on what I had been told. grin

Later, I examined the values closely and found the difference. I should not have put .0969 there (which is 1/10.32). It should be .1.

Quote - > Quote - I seem to remember from an old bagginsbill post that bump/displacement is the only case where the library file stores the value in inches. All other poser distance values, in props, figures etc. are PNU. I don't have the patience to go searching for the thread right now though. :)

Wait.. I read this as if you're saying there is NO auto conversion when it comes to bump/displacement maps?! O.o In that case any materials I make and share will have only minuscule effect on a system set to inches since I'm using metric...

Is this correct or is it just my display showing me centimetres when it really means inches and operates with inches behind the scenes?

We're confusing things by saying there is no auto conversion. In one sense, there isn't. In another sense, there is.

When you save a material, the bump or displacement value is stored in the file in inches. Doesn't matter what your PDU is or my PDU, all values are stored in the file as inches. So there is no ambiguity when somebody reads the file into Poser. Poser always interprets the stored value as inches.

Regardless of what you seem to be typing, the stored value is inches.

When you look at it in the GUI or you edit it with the little edit box, your PDU will be taken into account.

If your PDU is centimeters, and you type 2.54, the value in the file is 1.00.