Quote - why don't you group it in wings (as materials, poser doesn't recognize the groups created in wings by select/new group, even though mysteriously the g line is present in the file created by wings) and then run the obj through uvmapper to adjust the materials or groups by the assign commands, save back out. Although I'm not certain this will work on a non-mapped .obj as I've only ever done this on UV'd things. Many times the groups you assign via materials in wings to do the rigging in the end don't necessarily correspond to the final material regions you want on the figure so it's necessary to do file editing or adjustments with UVmapper. The only reason I say this is because you mentioned using the grouping tool to establish your groups and then heading back into wings, sounds like a nightmare. don't use the auto-grouping for something like this, you want the ability to decisively assign your groups for predictable, precise results.

...not sure my comments apply to what you're trying to do but I figured I would comment as I saw it...

Actually, what I said was I just went back into wings with the original .obj file and attempted to assign groups that way, but the model is too detailed and assigning new materials became the nightmare.

I am going to attempt it one more time by just assigning the whole thing to one group: chest, and see what happens. It's supposed to be a rigid surface, so I don't want it to bend. I don't want the shoulder group to move with her shoulders, etc. I tried it by just doing the smart prop route, but that has limitations too.

I will figure it out. I will revisit a couple tutorials and see where I am going wrong.

If I had a nickle for ever time a woman told me to get lost, I could buy Manhattan.