I generated a human figure using the latest release of MakeHuman.  I exported it as OBJ, then Imported it into Poser Pro 2014.  I manually created material groups on the imported mesh.  Then I went into Setup Room and manually created a skeleton for the figure.  I ignored the eyeballs and eyebrows which are parent props for now.  

So, it is a pretty basic and simple rig and grouping (non-poseable fingers and toes, just a hand bone each for the hands, and a foot bone each for the feet.)

I do an autogroup after my bones have been created.  I exit Setup Room.  Poser does not complain.  And then I get this strange Heirarchy with a Setup Figure prop parented to the rig.

If I turn the mesh invisible, my figure is not viewable in normal Pose window.  If I return to the Setup room, I can clearly see the rig I manually created.

I do not understand what happened.  Could someone please comment on what I could have done wrong.  

Thanks in advance.

 

I think, and I could be wrong, but I think the eyes and eyebrows need to be part of the head or left out of the mesh completely and added later as props.

I agree.

 

You can have eyes in the mesh at rigging as long as they are their own groups and get bones. 

http://poser.smithmicro.com/tutorials/Characters_rigging.html

This tutorial walks you step by step through rigging a complete figure, with joint rotations etc.

I would suggest creating your own groups instead of letting the setup room do it for you.

 

~Shane

Thanks for tutorial link. I did read it before attempting to rig.  I created my own groups manually.  I then created the bones manually.  I did press the autogroup button after doing all that, so maybe that is the trouble.  I did not use a reference figure's rig.

then there's the issue. no need to press autogroups if you've already grouped the figure. That just creates duplicate groups and confuses poser.

you do have to make sure every group matches every bone name exactly the same. rHand is not the same as rhand. Bones have internal names and normal names. The internal name is what has to match the group name. The normal name can be anything you want pretty much, but it should make sense.

You also don't have to spawn individual props for each group. That's the old way of doing it. Not sure if it was ever actually necessary, but don't do it now regardless. Cause then you have to export them all together and then re-import, and sometimes Poser doesn't do that well, or won't weld even when you tell it to, plus there's some sort of issue where every time a model is exported and reimported it gets off-center by just a very small amount, but those amounts add up and can cause problems later, especially with morphing and symmetry.

Just create the groups and assign the right polys to each group and then close the grouping tool. Then draw the bones and align them to the mesh in the setup room, making sure to name them exactly the same as the group name. Don't exit the setup room before you're done or that can cause problems too. Has to all be done in one session.

 

~Shane

Excellent pointers.  I appreciate those.  I think it was the name matching which also caused my trouble.  Going back to sort it. Thanks again.

Oh I simply just GIVE UP.

It rigs but horribly so.

 

It is a simply rigged mesh with basic material groups.  How much more evil doing needs to be done to get this damn thing to work properly in Poser Pro 2014 ?!

Terminology may be confusing you here, material groups have no bearing on the rigging, they are only required for texturing and rendering. Ensure that you are creating body part groups.

If you select to auto group you will effectively delete all the work you did grouping the model and surrender that intricate task to Poser's tender mercies. In my opinion Poser does it with all the delicacy of a heavy weight boxer wearing gloves.

@PhilC - I agree with you about the Auto-Group feature.  So, the body grouping thing is probably what I need to learn.  Got that.  

My attempt was not entirely a dead loss.  I did manage to create a logical rig out of dem bones.  The rest is mayhem.

I'll be trying again, and will post results in this thread, more as a learning exercise. And to provide some comic relief to readers who happen to stray in here. 

If you have not seen them already this series of rigging tutorials may help:-
http://www.philc.net/rigging1.php

And these on joint parameters:-
http://www.philc.net/joint_parameters_1.php

Yes, the JP video was one of the first I watched on the subject.  I'll definitely be reviewing all the related video tutorials.  Thanks !