Hello. I have a couple of problems with Blender once again..  I am hoping to have your input on those. :) Thousand thanks..

Ok first one. I don't know what's going on. I can't rotate or scale my model in object mode any more. I can do that in edit mode or by numeric input ( if that is the correct phrase) but not in object mode. Before you ask me.. yes.. I have locked the model in the "n" menu. And yes I have unlocked rotating in the three directions. (I am using XYZ euler which I believe to be default) Actually after unlocking the padlocks rotating is still not working. For verification I unlocked moving and scaling and if moving works scaling doesn't work either.

Ok here's my second issue. Actually this issue is twofold. I have been using the painting mode and saving my work in the image menu of the uv/image editor. Then I wanted to iterate and saved my image  as cave2.jpg and cave3.jpg .

things seemed to be working fine until I started exporting my cave  object to poser. I had used the baking tool to make a normal map of my cave. When I exported to poser I realized my cave was using the normal map as diffuse texture. this got me worried as I thought my diffuse texture had been overwritten but fortunately it wasnt the case. I have no idea why my cave was using the normal map as its diffuse map. I went to the material properties tab and  it says my material is using cave.jpg. So I thought ok I am going to change it to cave3.jpg since it's the latest version of my diffuse map . I click on open and choose it but it doesnt change the file its still cave.jpg. and it still exports the cave with the normal map as its diffuse map even though the normal map is called cave_normal.jpg. I tried changing in the texture tab. and in the image menu of the uv/image editor I still cant manage to get  cave3.jpg into the scene. I am going to try to use the node editor now. But I am curious to what's going on and if anyone's input could help understand how to fix this.

To be precise I have several material zones ( nine)  so that parts of the cave can be made invisible for camera placement. They all share the same uv mapping and diffuse maps. ( And unfortunately normal map too!) I can update the materials in poser but I want to have the control over what's going on in Blender..

Thanks for your help guys...

Update: I tried using the nodes. I couldnt call new texture either by clicking the open icon. That is to say when making a new texture image node and clicking on open then choosing the file cave3.jpg I was  still getting cave1.jpg on the node. Then I tried typing "3" in the texture name to replace and it worked. I managed to change my material to the new texture. cave3.jpg even showed up in the uv/image editor.... All was working fine! except...

When I importing to poser I was still getting the normal maps as diffuse map instead of cave3.jpg. I went and opened the mtl file and the material in it is still the normal texture. After deleting mtl several time I was still getting normal map for my materials in mtl file. The problem was coming from Blender. I shifted to blender internal render mode and cave3 and after a while I realized the texture in the texture modifier tab was set to be the normal map. under the image rollout menu in texture modifier tab, the image set as old cave.jpg and under the source: header it was set as the normal map.

So I guess I have figured  out now where was my problem was coming from. But to be honest I have no clue what's going in that programme. if the interface was less confusing I would get a clear picture of what I am doing.

I feel your pain. Even after all these years of using Blender, the material system still confuses the hell out of me.  

I'm much of a noob at Blender myself. So it might take some looking at the file to see what's going on. (And what they usually do at other Blender forums, provided you can share the file.)

However, you don't need to do a whole lot to make a mesh hidden from the camera. The Blender camera has a clipping values you can adjust. Select the active camera and go through its properties. Anything outside the bounds of the inner and outer clipping distance is hidden. Great for seeing through walls or any other nearby object that can get in the way.

Not sure if that helps, but it's something to be aware of.

Rotation problem - on your tool menu where it says Object Mode.  To the right of that about 3 icons over is one that looks like a double arrow with three dots over it.  If that is lit (highlighted in orange) try clicking it off.   This turns on the "Manipulate Center Points" feature which is handy in certain situations but if it is on you will not be able to rotate an object in Object Mode but you will still be able to do so in Edit Mode.  I'm guessing this may be your problem.

Materials problem - I've often had trouble with exporting Obj to Poser and getting it to read the materials correctly.  Generally Poser only seems to pick up whatever material was listed first.  If that happens to be your Normal Map then Poser will apply it as a Diffuse.  The problem isn't Blender, its Poser. 

hehe right on. that icon was my problem. Muchos thanks again :)

As for the material problem. it got resolved when I cleaned up the maps in internal render mode.