Okay this is probably a dumb question but...

You know how you can see through models in preview? Like sort of? I'm trying to fit a very close OBJ to a model for a piece of dynamic clothing and all I can see is the back of the clothes! This appears to be the factory default. The OBJ is there, when I rotate the camera I can see more geometry, but there's some kind of preview mode on by default that's making this very difficult. The problem is I don't even know what one would call that, so I don't know how to look for ways of turning it off.

Thanks

Sounds like you may have been playing with hither and yon on the camera. Reset the camera and see if it doesn't go away for ya ;). I'm gonna assume you have Poser 8 or 2012. Make sure the camera you're using is in the properties panel (selected). Then go to Edit/Restore/Camera. Actually, I'm not even sure you need to have the camera selected ;).

Laurie

It could be the normals are facing the wrong way, but I have no idea how to fix that in Poser.

Nah, definitely hither and yon. Like the objects are being clipped by the camera. Backfacing polys look black or moire for the most part. Warrior..you can try playing with hither and yon dial if you want rather than restoring the camera if you're afraid to lose your camera settings. Just keep turning the dial until your objects show correctly :)

The dead giveaway was when the OP said if they turn the objects the faces are all there.

Laurie

I disagree Laurie - inside-out props or figures seem to create new polygons as you turn them - it's very confusing. I think it's reversed normals.

a screengrab would tell us more.

Here is a screen grab from the preview window in PP2012. Two Poser spheres, one is as usual, the other is inside-out.

Which is the one with reversed normals?

Quote - It could be the normals are facing the wrong way, but I have no idea how to fix that in Poser.

You can flip normals with the Grouping tool.

totally useless.

you are not having the issue Baggins. so showing us that tells us nothing of the OP's problem. can we hear from them and see what they are seeing please?

well, I guess we'll know what it was when the OP tells us...lol.

Laurie

Go to the materials room and make sure transparency is set to 0.

If you have a skirt and you rotate it with transparency on you will go mad.

The only time you can "sort of" see through objects in the preview is if transparency is set to something other than 0, otherwise they are opaque.

The fact that you are trying to model " a close fitting garment" leads me to believe that you are trying to see through the garment (by setting the garment to slight transparency) to judge how close a fit it is. Model your garment on a totally opaque black model with no hair or anything that is transparent.

Hi, thanks for commenting back, I'm at work now so I can't quite show you the issue, I'll have to post it once I get home tonight. I'm thinking reversed normals might be the issue because if I do a full render, it comes out all black and velvety instead of the usual default plastic look of renders. I guess I'll try reversing the normals (one I figure out how) before and let you know if that solved it, for that matter.

If the problem is reversed normals, and its sounds most likely that it is, the solution is to select the "Flip Normals" option in the OBJ import dialog.

Sounds like reversed normals.  Post a before render and an after.  That'll help.

Quote - If the problem is reversed normals, and its sounds most likely that it is, the solution is to select the "Flip Normals" option in the OBJ import dialog.

It sounds like it now that I know the rendered objects were black ;).

Laurie

Heheh.

OP:

Quote - all I can see is the back of the clothes

None of the other words or speculations mattered. That's reversed normals - nothing else fits.

Quote - The only time you can "sort of" see through objects in the preview is if transparency is set to something other than 0, otherwise they are opaque.

And this statement, while given with convincing conviction, is not only incorrect about being the only way to see through something, but also ignored the OP evidence stating the back of the clothing was all that could be seen. That means something was not transparent and only in the back. If a polygon is opaque if and only if turned away from the camera - there is only one way that happens and it isn't transparency.

Back-facing polygons are invisible, whether transparent or opaque, in preview. Well - until you get Poser 9 or Poser Pro 2012. That is now a configurable feature.

Quote - Back-facing polygons are invisible, whether transparent or opaque, in preview. Well - until you get Poser 9 or Poser Pro 2012. That is now a configurable feature.

You can flip normals for real in Poser 9/2012 other than on import??

Laurie

Quote - > Quote - Back-facing polygons are invisible, whether transparent or opaque, in preview. Well - until you get Poser 9 or Poser Pro 2012. That is now a configurable feature.

You can flip normals for real in Poser 9/2012 other than on import??

Laurie

That's not what I meant. I meant the preview making back-facing polygons invisible is no longer mandatory. You can prevent that, so that all polygons are visible even if they are facing the wrong way. It's like "Normals Forward" for preview. But it is a preview rendering option, not a per-actor or per-material option.

The polygons in the back now face the camera and can be lit and seen. Many of the polygons in the front have disappeared. There are still some visible but they were actually facing the skin, not the camera, before I flipped them. (In other words, the hem, button area and collar have double-sided polygons.)

I suspect this is similar to what the OP saw.

In no way can I get the preview to show what a render does. With the shirt material set for "Normals Forward" enabled, it doesn't matter which way they face when rendered with Firefly. This render shows the result.

But with preview render, there are always either transparent or black areas.

We can also try amending the element display style to hidden line removal or whatever it's called.

looks at 25 posts Wow, maybe I shouldn't have used the phrase 'simple'. Though it turned out it was in fact the normals. I apologize for wasting everyone's time, never had that happen before, though I suppose this mesh is rather complex. Sorry for taking so long to respond back, when I said 'after work' I should have mentioned it's a 14 hour day for me.

It's far too ugly to post though, it did work. Bill's pics pretty much sum it up.

thanks so much guys, you're wonderful.

Yay.