The first step is to make sure every moving part is a separate piece.

Export them individually as obj format.

The next step is optional and may depend on how you built your mesh but it's something I always do and IMO, it's good practice to do so:

Load the obj files into something like UVMapper Pro and split the vertices.  This will help  to prevent the model from having the dirty half melted look of some models.

Assuming your model is built correctly you should have a nice clean looking model looking out at you now.  Your next step is to map it.  That is, if you need to.  If you need logos and text, or displacement/bump map details on your model you have no choice, it will need to be mapped.  Since you say it's a hifi system, I assume what you have is a set of (effectively) boxes.  So, Box mapping or Planar mapping will be your best (and simplest) options.

Once you've mapped your stuff, save them out again.  Needless to say, save the templates, too.

Next, you need to rig them for use in Poser.  There are several ways of doing this but the easiest by far is to do the following:

Import your pieces one at a time, ensuring all the import options are unchecked.  Actually, you can leave the "Put on floor" and "Centre" options if you like but make sure the "Percentage of figure size" is unchecked.

Chances are, your models will load into Poser at a huge scale.  Don't worry about it.  We'll deal with that now.

Assuming you have used one unit to represent one inch, scale the objects to 1.115%. As far as I know, most modelling apps use a similar scale; the scale size I use is from Wings.  If you used a different scale, adjust accordingly.

Position each of your component parts so they are correctly aligned with each other.

Save the whole thing as a PZ3, just in case anything goes horribly wrong at this stage.

Your next step is to open the Hierarchy Editor.  In there, you'll see a list of your imported objects.  If you have, for example, a CD tray which is attached to a CD player, drag and drop the CD tray (or whatever it's called) onto the CD player.  I specifically mean the words in the Hierarchy Editor here, not the objects in your workspace.  Repeat the process until everything is attached to whatever you have chosen to be the "main" or "body" part of your model.  You can attach parts to other parts, so that for example, a Speaker is connected to a cable which connects to an amplifier, and so forth.

When all that is done, select the main or body part and hit the button marked "Create New Figure"  Sometimes this is greyed out so you have to deselect and reselect your main part.  Anyhow, when it works, you'll get a dialog box asking for a name.  Call it something useful and hit OK.

New Poser.  Look in New figures, and there's your rigged thing, all ready to go.  Well, no it's not ready to go, but nearly.  Now we play with the Joint Editor.

Open the Joint Editor.  Select each body part in turn and on the Parameter Dials, click the Properties Tab.  Uncheck "Bend body part" for each of your body parts.  This is because you made a hard surface model, and as such, bits don't (or shouldn't) bend like rubber.

Right, now you can edit the joints properly.  The upper part of the Joint Editor is what we are interested in here.  You need to key in appropriate values for the X, Y and Z of each joint so that it moves correctly.  By and large, the default value is in the middle of each part, which ain't too much use if you have a door which hinges at the edge.  In any event, tweak the values so the place where each joint is located works properly.  Save your model! 

Once all your joints are set, you can go to the Parameter dials and rename them to something useful, set limits if you want and even disable them completely.  I generally don't bother; I credit people with enough sense to know how to move the parts properly.  :)

There are times when you may need to Translate a body part, rather than Rotate.  In which case, you can edit the CR2 directly or, if you ask markschum nicely, I'm sure he will provide his very useful UnhideTrans python script.

Assuming you've done all the above, you now have a working, posable model.  Problem is, the obj file is sitting in the New Figures folder, which ain't best practice.  You need to move the obj file to Geometries, preferably in a usefully named folder.  I always put mine in a folder called SamTherapy, for example.

Once you move your obj file, your CR2 can't find it, so you need to edit the CR2 and tell it where to look.  Dead easy.  Open the CR2 in Wordpad and do a Search and replace.  Chance any references to Runtime:libraries:Character:New Folder to Runtime:Geometries:My Folder or whatever.  There are two instances in the CR2, I believe.  Save the CR2.

  Now all you need to do is texture it, make a nice thumbnail for the Character folder, write your Readme, make a thumbnail for Freestuff, pack it into a zip and upload it.  Simples.

 

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