Hi

I’ve used Poser for a long time but I pretty much worked with texture maps and used models the way they came, making only those changes that I could do in Poser, to the figures themselves.

Now I’m really looking at morphs and how to use them for the first time.

I have BlackSmith 3D suite, and have used it for painting 3D objects etc, for quite a while, I know how that process works.

Now I’m trying to morph the Poser Dog into a Scottish Deerhound.

To this point I’ve modified a few things just to go through the process and see how it works, and I’m getting the hang of it a little.

I’ve changed the body shape to a more Greyhound like shape etc.

The problem is that I don’t know what to do with it after I create it.

Blacksmith doesn’t have a forum, and I have looked at the tutorials and manual, and I just can’t seem to find anything that goes beyond the instructions on how to do the morphing itself.

I can export it as a Morph Set, whatever that means but the option to export it as a Cr2 file is grayed out.

If anyone is familiar with Blacksmith can you explain or point me to something that goes through the whole process from the stand point of saving the morph in a form that Poser can use?

Obviously I’m missing something I just don’t know what?

Thanks for the help

Mike

Ps. I have Morph Manager on my computer.

Blacksmith used to have a forum here but it was mostly dead :)

In the case of your hound, export the morph as a new CR2 (in the export options) - it'll ask you where the original CR2 and obj is, and once you've told it, it'll make you a new figure :)

Unjless you plan to sell your morph, this is the easiest way to do it :) 

Hi Trekkiegrrrl

The Problem is that when I click on Export, the option to export a CR2 File and MDR Injection file are greyed out. All the others are active. 

I have no idea what a MDR file is, but I do understand about CR2 files.

I must be skipping something; I did save the project as a .blacksmith3D file after that I'm stuck.

There must be something I have to do to make CR2 an option but I don't know what.

Mike

Don't know how I messed up the type like this but I can't seem to get it back to normal.

Quote - The problem is that I don’t know what to do with it after I create it... If anyone is familiar with Blacksmith can you explain or point me to something that goes through the whole process from the stand point of saving the morph in a form that Poser can use?

I don't know anything about Blacksmith, but some points are common to any modelling application. To use it for morphs in Poser, the file you export from your modelling app needs to be in WaveFront OBJ format (.obj). If you morphed the full body mesh, rather than just importing and exporting individual actor groups, then the exported mesh needs to have preserved the grouping. Also the winding order and vertex count need to be the same as in the original obj file. Assuming that is all correct, there are a number of ways you could proceed.

1). In Poser you can load the individual actor groups one at a time into each actor as 'morph targets'. To do this you need a separate obj file for each actor. Your modeloling app may be able to export individual groups. If not, import the full body obj into Poser, and use the Grouping Tool to 'Spawn Props', you can then export each prop from Poser as an individual obj (File > Export > WaveFront OBJ). Once you have an obj for each actor, you can select part of the dog figure, and from the Object menu do 'Load Morph Target' to load the corresponding obj as a morph for that actor.

2). Another way to proceed would be to use "Pozers Little Helper" to create an INJ file directly from the morphed full body obj. To use the INJ file you would need to edit the dog's cr2 to add PBMCC channels for the file to be injected into.

3). Or, don't bother with making morphs. Edit a copy of the dog's cr2 file to use the morphed full body obj you made. There are two lines in the cr2 that start with 'figureResFile', the rest of the line is the path to the obj file the cr2 will use. Just edit the lines to point to your own obj file. However, because of copyright restrictions, this method would not be any use if you wanted to distribute the final result.

Which ever method you use, if the proportions of the morphed dog differ a lot from the original, the joints in the cr2 may need adjusting to accommodate the new proportions.

Ok

Exporting as a .obj file is an available option.

I'll give that a try.

Mike

 Hi 

That worked in a way.

It imported the dog object into Poser but now it's a ridged figure and I need to end up with something that I can animate, since this is to go in one of my Lucy movies.

I'm afraid I didn't understand most of what you posted so I'll have to research all that stuff.

I remember using morphs that I downloaded back in Poser 4 to change character proportions.

Maybe that's what I have to do, but I’m not sure how to change the parts and save them individually so that they can be applied in Poser.

I’d like to be able to just create a new .CR2 file for the whole character in one piece and them import it into Poser as a new figure.

I’ll work on this some more tomorrow.

Thanks for the help.

Mike

Do you have the full version of Blacksmith3D Suite? Unless you've bought the whole thing, only the paint option is able to save stuff.

B3D is THE best proggie for doing Poser morphs :) I love it and I've used it for years (although not much latey, i've been on an extended hiatus, Poser-wise) So I may be able to at least answer some of your B3D questions ;)

Quote - That worked in a way.

It imported the dog object into Poser but now it's a ridged figure and I need to end up with something that I can animate, since this is to go in one of my Lucy movies.

OK, step by step.

1). Import the "dog object" into Poser. All the import options should be deselected.

2). With the "dog object" selected, open the Group Editor. Press the 'Spawn Props' button. Close the Group editor.

3). Do; File > Export > Wavefront OBJ > OK, clear the "X" next to 'UNIVERSE', put an "X" in the box next to 'head', press 'OK'. You will be presented with a file save box, create a folder anywhere on your HDD named "ScottishDeerhound", save the file to that folder as "head.obj". In the Export Options, select only 'Include existing groups...' and 'As Morph Target...'.

4). Start a new Poser scene. Load the Poser Dog figure and select its head. From the Object menu, select 'Load Morph Target'. Click the button with "..." and browse to and select the 'head.obj' that you saved in the last step, click the 'Open' button. In the 'Label:' filed type in "ScottishDeerhound", click 'OK'.

5). In the Parameters Palette for the head, you should now have a dial named "ScottishDeerhound", set the dial to a value of '1.0'. If all went well the dog's head should now be morphed into the head of a Scottish Deerhound.

6). Repeat steps 1 through 5 for all the other actors. When you have done that, you can go the the Figure menu and 'Create Full Body Morph, name it "ScottishDeerhound".

The work flow above is not the optimum, but was used for ease of explanation.

My last post covered how to do it by adding morph targets to the Poser Dog figure. The advantage of doing it that way is that you can vary the strength of the morph, and if you make morphs for other breeds, you would be able to combine them, making cross-breeds. You would also need to arive at that point if you wanted to distribute the morphs.

But if that all sounds like too much work, you could replace the original geometry in the Poser dog, without using morph targets. You could do it like this.

In your Poser runtime structure, create a folder named "MikeMoss" under the 'Geometries' folder. In the MikeMoss folder create another folder named "ScottishDeerhound", in this folder place your "dog object", let's assume it is named "Deerhound.obj". The path to the file should look like this:

RuntimeGeometriesMikeMossScottishDeerhoundDeerhound.obj

In a text editor, open the Poser 'Dog.cr2', you will probably find file that in the path:

RuntimelibrariesCharacterAnimalsDog.cr2

Save the file back to the same location with a new name, "Deerhound.cr2" (you can use any name you like here).

In your text editor do a Search & Replace operation. The Search string should be:

figureResFile :Runtime:Geometries:dogHi:dogHiP3.obj

For the Replace string use:

:Runtime:Geometries:MikeMoss:ScottishDeerhound:Deerhound.obj

There will be two instances of the search string, you need to replace both of them. Now save the file.

Restart Poser, then look under the 'Animals' section of the Figures palette, you should see your Deerhound listed there. Load it and check that it is working correctly. Like I said in a previous post, if the proportions of the morphed dog differ a lot from the original, the joints in the cr2 may need adjusting to accommodate the new proportions.

Hi

To TrekiGrrrl

1 I do have the complete version of Blacksmith 3D, I had used the Paint part for a long time, and I got an e-mail offering the complete package at a really, really low one time price so I bought it.

That's kind of why I know how paint works but not the Morph part. I'm just getting started with that.

To: Lesbentley

Tomorrow I will sit down with side by side Windows of you post Poser and Blacksmith and go through the whole thing step by step.

As I said I've used Poser for a long time and do a lot of animations with it.

I've never gotten into the morphing stuff, so I know kind of what you are talking about, but I will have to do it one step at a time.

If I can get the shape right I'll take close up photos of my Deerhounds coat and use it to paint the model. He will then become Lucy's dog in the videos.

I'll come back after I've gone through it all both ways.

Thanks for the help.

Mike

Ps: Just to be clear, I'm using Poser 6.

No problem. I too use P6.

I notice a glitch in my last post where the slashes were missing from a couple of path statements. Those paths should have looked like as in the above graphic.

Nice to see TG sneeking back into the forums.

Hi

I'm working on it.

I imported the Deerhound Obj into Poser, and selected it.

Opened Group Editor, took me 15 minutes to fine that.  I kept looking at the top of the screen for it.

Then I clicked "Spawn Props".

Then I went to file, Export Wavefront Objects.

Unclicked Universe and clicked head.

It will let me unselect the default options Weld Body Parts at Seams and Include Figure Names in Polygon Groups but it won't let me select Include Existing Groups in Polygon Groups.  It won't let me select anything that isn't already selected.

So I saved it anyway.

I completed the process and the Deerhound Head option appeared on the Parameter Dial.

I think it worked.

Now a question.

A lot of what I need to do can be done in Poser.

Can I do the changes in Proportion i.e., make the legs and body longer, the tail thinner, the head smaller, etc. Then Save it as Poser Deerhound in Poser Figures.

Then export that as a Wavefront Obj. and open it in Blacksmith.  So that what I'm Working on there is allready close to what I need?

then make the changes I need to there, i.e. change the shape of the body to a more Greyhound like shape and move the tail position a little etc. and then bring it back into poser.

Open my Deerhound Figure, that I added to the Poser Figures Menu and then apply the morphs?

This would be easier then trying to reshape the body and then change the other stuff afterwards. The Main thing I can't do in Poser is change the shape of the body.

Thanks again for the help.

I think I'm getting the idea at least.

Mike

I will go throung the 2nd process you outlined next time.

Yes you can save an"almost done" figure in Poser and work from that in Blacksmith :) 

Note that if you do something like making the legs longer, you should let Blacksmith create a new CR2 as the original joint parameters will likely be messed up :)

Waves at Steve Jax.. slowly. Very slowly edging myself back into Poser 

Hi 

If I add it to the Poser Figures Menu, that creats a CR2 file for the new Deerhound figure.

Am I right about that?

That's what I'm trying to do right now.

Mike

Yes :)

Oh and sorry for the late reply. It's my summer hols right now. Meaning I have time for Poser (for a change) but also that I'm doing stuff with my family and that sometimes keeps me away from forums ;) 

Hi

Thanks for the reply.

I'm working on it and have had some success.

It worked once.

But most of the time when I go through the whole process and create the morph target, I can import the morph target into Poser as a separate piece but...

When I load the morph target to the figure, the morph dial appears in the parameter dials menu, but the figure still doesn't change.

If I move the morph dial the part fractures into a zillion pieces.

Anyone have any idea what I'm doing wrong, there are several options when exporting the morph from Blacksmith and since I didn't keep notes I'm no sure what I did to the one that worked.

I'm going to start he whole process over from scratch and try again.  This time I will keep track of what selections I make.

I really want to get this figured out.

Thanks again for the help.

Mike

Hi Again.

Ok I think I have it working.

It all had to do with what options I clicked when I exported it from Blacksmith.

I was selecting an option that has a notation that said "for Morph Targets".  This sounded logical.

When I didn't do that it worked.

I got the morph into Poser, the dial works and it all fits.

I will go through the whole process once more and write it down so that I don't forget what I did (I'm 73, so that can be a factor, LOL).

I think that I will E-Mail the Blacksmith site and tell them that they should add some information on exporting the morphs out of Blacksmith once you have done it.

I searched everyplace I could think of and didn't fine anything that described what happens after you finish doing the morph.

Thanks again for the help.

Mike