Folks:

Diogenes (the artist formerly [and still] known as Phantom3D) has started a forum, V4 Weight map development discussion, at PoserPlace.Phantom3D. The purpose of the discussion is to share ideas and critical analysis of the project to re-rig and weight-map V4 and other figures for use in Poser 9 and Poser Pro 2012. The intention is to "retrofit" popular figures to take advantage of the many new (and some old but ignored) features of Poser.

Any and all people who can focus on these objectives, and not introduce or pursue distractions and discussions about subjects (i.e. D/S) and figures (i.e. Genesis) are welcome to come and join in. People and posts that violate this Term of Service will be banished to the Dungeons where the subject can be thrashed out without distracting from the intended discussion(s).

Contibuting ideas, critical analysis, subject focused questions, encouragment, and appreciation are welcome posts. The objective is to focus on sucessful rigging and distibution of the work.

Thanks,

LMK

That's cool. I wish that moderators would do what is necessary to keep this from having to be done. Keeping a discussion on-topic is respectful of other readers who are struggling to understand and follow. Letting dumb-asses bring their random agendas is disrespectful, and if I were a mod I would move those posts, just as you say. Why can't they do that here? Oh well.

I sympathize with the need discussing this issues in a forum where trolls are kept under control but why not on RuntimeDNA?

Quote - I sympathize with the need discussing this issues in a forum where trolls are kept under control but why not on RuntimeDNA?

constant digression into bickering about daz/genesis which I cant do anything about. If a project is under way it should stay on the topic of the project. Plus if it is open to the public to watch the progress the fighting and trolling looks bad and sours peoples feelings toward it. 

That's cool Diogenes. Do you intend to weight map all the figures in Poserdom? Just kidding...lol. You did such a nice job on Antonia I figured if anyone should do it, should be you. Good luck :).

Laurie

There will undoubtedly be discussion on every open forum, because people are very interested in the prospect of weigh-mapping well-loved figures for better performance. But, some people are very passionate about what they want, and the discord is a distraction from the focus needed to do the very best job possible.

Every one is welcome to contribute at PoserPlace, on topic. Discussions that are not on topic can be carried on at the Renderosity, RDNA, and PoserAddicts forums. Folks will be kept abreast of developements on these forums, if they are not interested in a focused project.

lmk

I'll behave lkendall, promise...lol ;).

Laurie

I love how Mike reserved a subforum for trolls. Heehee.

The same folks who will be participating in your forum would be participating here.

the initial post has to lay out the purpose... the aims.

Tons and tons of people want to know weight mapping tech.

this is where everyone's at - why not discuss it here and get the most feedback and impact?

We can usher out the trolls

This is from the welcome post visible at the top of every forum.

"Welcome to Poser Place forums.

I started this site to promote the use and development of figures and content for Poser. Figures and content that support Poser fully and use all of its resources to be the best they can be for use in Poser.

And finally to provide a welcome home for Poser and its users. Since Content Paradise closed its forums, there has not been a true home for Poser. So I hope to build a home here for Poser, a place where you can talk about Poser and not need fear of attack or reprisals. A true home and a base for a Poser revival. I will have the galleries up and running soon. Hope to see lots of Poser renders.

Thank you for stopping in and sharing your time with us.

Cheers,
Mike."

Rendo, RDNA, others have many other concerns to worry about. I dont and can concentrate on the goals for the site.

Hm. I'd love to pop over, but it says it's unavailable at the moment. :)

Quote - Hm. I'd love to pop over, but it says it's unavailable at the moment. :)

Sorry I had it down for a bit updating the board software. Up now.

Done with the knees and elboes, now on to the fingers.

Don't forget her toes........... ;P

The end of the Poser shovel foot is in sight.......modern dance poses and animations hopefully where the figure doesn't look she's dancing in combat boots....

Bliss..... 

V4 WM is progressing. Diogenes has reached the place where decisions about rigging had to be made. In order to make sure that the facial morphs already available for V4 would work with V4 WM, the consensus in the forum at PoserPlace is to rig the V4 jaw without WMs, which would not have provided any advantage anyway.

Thus, in some aspects V4 WM will be an hybrid figure. As more details emerge, I will post at Renderosity to keep interested parties informed.

lmk

They are coming!  ;)

Nice!  I signed up today.

I hope I didn't add to any bickering here or anywhere but I just have a hard time sitting while people rattle on and on about what can't be done when I know it can.

Oh, sorry.  Netherworks nods knowlingly :)

Netherworks:

Apparently, we have been expected (not by the moderators here at Renderosity) to quietly accept that nothing can change, or that only a few busnesses (one really) get(s) to dictate how things will change for Poser users.

Now there seems to be a lot of anxiety among those most closely wedded to one source of content. As if they realize that the Poser community is too large a market to lose. And, we are told that it is the responsibility of SM and the Poser community to provide a Poser market for that companies products. There seems to be a campaign to create discontent among Poser users and to recruite us to demand that SM provide full compatabilitey for these non-Poser-empowered products.

We are glad to see you at PoserPlace, which is a can-do not can't-do forum. Note: not meant to replace RDNA and Renderosity, but to provide a place for discussion without distractions.

lmk

A script is now available to share weight-maps (and animatable origins) legally through a proxy CR2. Our most profound thanks to Cage, Python Maestro.  :)

LMK

Ok, so we need a "donor figure" for the script to copy, and somehow, the magnets on the current V4 will have to be replaced?  Am I understanding this correctly?

It seems to me that if someone is going to go through all this work, they DESERVE some compensation for their time and effort.  I know this may run afoul of policies at DAZ, but perhaps a way to donate to the team who develops a weight-mapped V4 (and M4???) would be in order?

Am I out of line here?

V4's magnets are easily removed if you have D3D's free multi-delete script.

Choose the 'deformers' option on the left and it'll show all the mags attached to V4. Select all these and 'delete'. Simple, quick, no hassle.

Now all we need is a donor CR2...

The rig for V4.2 has too many flaws, which use magnets and other correction methods to compensate. It was easier in the end to do a whole new and original rig. The same is true for the weight-maps. In order to have the best control over how the joints bend, most of the work needs to be done by hand.

Converting a figure that is already rigged, at best creates a rig that bends as well as the original, but no better. In this case a converted figure would bend as poorly as V4 or likely worse. Magnets, and other compensation techniques cannot be converted to weight maps by present known methods. Without those, a converted V4 would be even worse than the original. Why bother?

Diogenes is a sculptor with a good knowledge of anatomy, and an excellent eye for proportion. You can see some of how well V4 WM can bend in this thread.

lmk

In the case of V4, Diogenes would use his weight-mapped .cr2 as the "donor" when running the script.  Then his efforts would be converted to the weight map injection pose format which has been accepted by Daz for the purposes of distribution.  This pose would contain only the joint information which Diogenes has set up.  The weight injection pose would be distributed along with a "hot loader" .cr2, which is the proxy lkendall mentions, containing only readScript references to the original (unmodified) target .cr2 and the weight injection pose.

The script is intended to be used by the individual creating the weight injection distribution and isn't needed by the end users who will apply the pose.  It's a tool for developers.  :laugh:

What Cage said.  :)

lmk

For those who are interested, please reference this post at RDNA to see the progress of Diogenes/Phantom3D in rerigging/weight-mapping V4. Or refer to this thread at PoserPlace. As one can plainly see, the work at making V4 fully fucntional in Poser 9 and Poser Pro 2012 is progressing nicely.

Actually, considering the flaws in the mesh it will be as fully functional as V4 can possibly get. Better figures are to follow.

lmk