Hi all!
I'm having some trouble with custom morphs inside Poser, the ones done with Poser's Morphing Tool, and I'm wondering if other people are also having these same problems:

Here are the problems I'm facing:

1. I morph a figure using the Morphing Tool (cross body parts), and sometimes (most of the times) when I save the morph using the "Save a copy as..." button, it changes a bit from what it was. If I just leave it unsaved (it'll stay nammed as Custom Morph), it stays there just fine. I can render my scene, save it, open it again, and the morph will stay perfect the way I made it until I save it using the "Save a copy as..." button.

2. I found no way to edit a morph that I saved using the "Save a copy as..." button. So, once I saved it, I can't edit it.

3. I found no easy way to delete a full body morph. I have to go body part by body part and delete them one by one. So when I use the Morphing Tool to create a full body morph, I better like my morph because otherwise I have to remove it from every single body parts, even the ones I haven't touch with the Morphing Tool.

4. Setting Poser to save morphs as a separate file is the same as asking someone to, at a random time, give you a kick right in the nuts. Does this feature only malfunctions with me or is it a known issue with Poser?

Are these problems familiar?

saving external binary morphs is a known problem , some people find it worse than others.

Does the same thing happen if you zero all the morphs other than Custom Morph, then create a new morph target which embeds the Custom Morph?

Quote - Does the same thing happen if you zero all the morphs other than Custom Morph, then create a new morph target which embeds the Custom Morph?

You mean exporting the morphed body parts and re-importing them as morph targets?

Quote - You mean exporting the morphed body parts and re-importing them as morph targets?

I would try using the "Spawn Morph Target" or "Load Morph Target" option from the "Object" menu.  I've always spawned a new morph, when using the Morph Tool.  I've never tried the "Save a copy as..." option.

I'm not sure that will help, if your problem is due to using binary morphs.  I've never tried those.  But if the binary morphs aren't the bug, possibly the "Save copy" feature is.  The Morph Tool's symmetry feature is still buggy.  Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if the copying feature were bugged, too.  :unsure:

Thanks for the help. I'll try that. What I do, though, is this: I morph using the morphing tool, and then when I'm done, I just save my scene, open the PZ3 file in a good text editor (Notepad++), and replace "Custom_Morph" with the name of the morph I want. Thats all. Same as "Save Morph As" but without any bugs. Crazy huh? But it works like a charm.

To edit the morph again in the future, I do the same but in reverse: I replace on Notepad++ whatever morph I want to edit to Custom_Morph. Just be careful with scenes that have multiple characters. Make sure they don't share same name morphs and that only one of them has a "Custom_Morph" at a time.

Quote - Crazy huh? But it works like a charm.

What's crazy is that Poser still carries around so many bugs like this, which never seem to get fixed.  :lol:  Glad you have a solution, though.  :laugh:

I'm trying the Spawn Morph Target, but when I set its dial to 1.000, the body parts is like, overmorphed or something. Its all distorced, even though I've cleared the custom morph already. Do I have to do this on a zeroed figure?

Quote - I'm trying the Spawn Morph Target, but when I set its dial to 1.000, the body parts is like, overmorphed or something. Its all distorced, even though I've cleared the custom morph already. Do I have to do this on a zeroed figure?

Spawn Morph Target will create a morph which contains deformations from any morphs or deformers which are active on a body part when the command is run.  This can include FBM or JCM morphs.  If you're trying to use the process on an actor with joint controlled morphs, the figure (or at least the actor itself) should probably be zeroed.

A benefit of using your file-editing process would be that this sort of problem won't crop up.

One of many tools that Poser could really use is any kind of option to restrict what deformations contribute to a spawned morph target, IMO.

Yeah... so thats what happened. The "Save a copy as" feature would be great if it worked, but as it doesn't, the file replace thing will do the job. The cross body part tool is really a great feature. Specially the Smooth tool. Not even 3D Studio Max has something like that. I sometimes export OBJs from Max to Poser just to smooth it and then export back to Max.

The Smooth tool is fantastic.  :woot:  I just wish it would only create the blank Custom Morph slot on only the affected body parts, when the tool is used.  I don't like having junk morph slots in a figure, just because I smoothed one actor.  :lol:

But, hey.  At least it's mostly working.  :laugh:

By the way, what do you do to delete full body morphs? Imagine you smoothed a figure and created a morph, and now you want to delete it. Do you go thru all body parts and delete the morph 1 by 1?

Either that, or use MorphManager or similar program to do it :) PoserFileEditor here in the MP will do it as well (along with LOTS of other neat things) MorphManager is free - problem is where to find it these days L (Last I think I found it at Netherworks) 

MorphManager can be had from EnglishBob...

www.morphography.uk.vu/dlutility.htm

Quote - MorphManager can be had from EnglishBob...

www.morphography.uk.vu/dlutility.htm

Oh "L"!!  I just realised I dropped the last  'L' from the URL when I pasted:

www.morphography.uk.vu/dlutility.html

Switch off IK and zero the figure (with the joint editor) solves a lot of morphing problems, also be sure you have a completly unmorphed or undialed character, before you star maing your morphs.

best regards,

Bopper.

Ahhh, I hate the smell of burnt patatoes in the evening!!!