I have tried to do this, still can't get it right. I DL a smartprop from Renderosity - the Elven armband for the M4 character. It loaded onto his arm properly, but when I pose him, it doesn't work. I even changed the "set Parent" with the armband picked, and set it to left shoulder...then I posed.

Well, the armband posed, M4 did not.

I have red the tutroials and the youtube videos and it seems simple enough, but I Still can't get it to work.

A smartprop is supposed to automatically conform when added. You must pose the character, not the prop. If it doesn't work, I don't know why it doesn't or maybe there is some problem.

Again, you save me much frustration. I didn't realize the prp was chosen instead of M4.

Thanks again!

"Conforming" and "smart prop" don't really have anything to do with each other - "smart props" are not rigged, they are just props (no bones) that are made a child of a body part of a character figure.  Conforming items are rigged, with the same bones as the character they conform to.  I know you already had the info you were looking for, just thought I would pass this other info to you.

No, I appreciate all the education I can get. I may forget it until I use it several times, but I appreciate it!

Thankies.

Some of the above info is faulty, you can have a smart prop and click inhierit bends it's kind of a cross between smart props and conforming...I normally don't use this function but on some occasions it works quite well.

After you smart parent the prop make sure you have the figure selected when you click on a pose.

So I don't "conform" a smart prop....I just pick it for the character it was made for and it will happily follow that character as I pose him? (As long as I actually pose the character and not the prop...)

And you conform non-smart props to a parent (say a leg or arm or whatever makes sense?)

Basically yes but let me elaborate...

SmartProp 1- The creator has hard coded the prop to automatically smart parent itself to the figure. So you can pose the figure and apply the prop and it will automatically pop itself into position. Just make sure you have the figure selected when you apply the prop.
SmartProp 2- The creator has not hard coded the prop and you need to keep the figure in it's zero pose, apply the prop and smart parent it yourself...then pose the figure.

Conforming- You can have the figure in any pose, doesn't matter, bring the conforming item onto the stage, then conform it to the figure and it will pop onto the figure as it should. If you are working with P8 or P2010 you can just drag the conforming item from the library onto the figure and it will automatically conform for you.

"Conform" has a really specific meaning, it's not a gray area.  The same goes for "smart prop".  It's just a name, but if you want to get right answers when you ask questions then it's probably a good idea to use the correct terms.

One rule with Poser is that you must always look at what is selected, because poses will be applied to it most of the times, and sometimes materials too, etc. Rule: always be sure you have selected the right thing.

Sometimes, in some versions and computers, the reaction of Poser has some lag. If it's your case, wait 1 second before clicking again and apply a pose.