I wanted to make a prop that is like a tube (or pipe), but that had a morph dial that lengthened it in one direction.  (so that one end was fixed, and the tube stretched from that point)

Any pointers? 

(I found the Torus, Pipe, open cylinder, etc...but they all stretch in both directions when tweaking the scale)

Forgive me...I have a bad feeling this is a dumb/easy question, but I am not a creator, and am a new to Poser as a DS refugee :)

The simplest way I can think of in Poser is to attach a magnet to one end of the prop, move the magnet out to the desired length then spawn a morph from it. That should give you something along the lines of what you're looking for.

In "Properties" ... check "Display origin" ...

Then in "Parameters" ... change "OriginY" to 0.000 to place the origin (the green 3D crosshairs) on the Floor. (see image above)

Now you can change the yScale and the bottom of the prop will stay in a fixed location (unless you change yTran).

Holiday cheers, <---------------- ( or Merry Christmas if you prefer)
dr geep
;=]

Hi Paul ... don't cha just love those x-posts.

Thanks all!  That Origin thing did the trick!

The light seems a little more scattered than I expected, but I guess its OK.  I have not tried them with a figure.  Feel free to critique!  :)

Thanks again for the help!  Figured it'd be nice to see the "why" behind the question.

Actually, I refined it a little, and posted how I did it, since it morphs and moves so well!  I saw others making these, so I figured I would give it a try!

Make a morphable Light Emitter in Poser

Tubes. I so wanted to do this too, but for much smaller tubes, like tuBING. Oxygen and like that, for a hospital scene. I found the EasyPose Underground utility at DNA but at $65 seemed a bit dear for my simple purposes.

You should use the Misc->Rope prop, scale it down, and hit it with the Frosted glass shader.  It looks very similar to surgical tubing!  :)

Quote - You should use the Misc->Rope prop, scale it down, and hit it with the Frosted glass shader.  It looks very similar to surgical tubing!  :)

Aren't you clever!! Good idea, 3dOutlaw! Thanks for that!

It ain't much, but consider it my Christmas gift to you!  :)  Merry Christmas!  (...and if I forget to say it later, Have a Happy New Year!)

Sorry, I am back.  Found a glitch. 

The back of my combined prop (the lens) stretches and flattens now as I stretch the tube part.

Anyway to "fix" or "lock" the Y Scale of a parented prop, when scaling the parent?

Yes, use "Limits.

And, set the min and max to the same value.

Aha! 

...tried it but unfortunately, and though I can no longer change the dial (it is fixed and the limit prevents it), if I scale the Parent, it still stretches the parented prop.  (though the dial still reads 100%)

Seems the limit, just limits the dial, and not the actual object, if its parented.

Wonder if there is a setting for the dial that needs changing... like in PFE?

Gotta love PFE!!! ... I actually "fixed" this entire set (not going to name a name but it was of an interior with a fireplace and hearth and pictures and lamps on the wall) ... anyway, all of the dials for the furniture like tables and chair were hidden. I mean, the set came as an .exe so was obviously designed to be run in another program rather than Poser, but hiding translation dials was a bit over the top, I thought. :glare:

Quote - Tubes. I so wanted to do this too, but for much smaller tubes, like tuBING. Oxygen and like that, for a hospital scene. I found the EasyPose Underground utility at DNA but at $65 seemed a bit dear for my simple purposes.

Most Digital Creations has a couple of Easy Posing sets both include several posable props $5 a set when I bought them. On I use often it a "robotentacle". Change the color and scale, mess with the transparency, make the obligatory "probe" invisible, and you get the a nice corrugated tubing like you use for anesthesia machines and ventilators. They work very well.

Good suggestion, NIParticular! Thanks for that - I'll go have a look at AdamT's stuff again.