Greetings,

I've recently started using Poser 9 and am also recently re-familiarizing myself with Blender, the latest version, 2.7.  The last time I dabbled in Blender was 2006 -- many, many moons ago.  My project is to take a posed Poser figure, James Casual, and to have him set in a simple scene where he is facing into a lighted doorway.  I like Poser's characters because of the subsurface scattering effect that allows light to be seen haloed in and around certain body parts (e.g. through fingers and ears) as well as on the skin surface in a realistic way.  I also like the relative ease of posability of the characters.  I figured I could create my scene of a lighted doorway in Blender and then import the James character into that scene and do any final adjustments once he's in the scene.

In my initial tests I ran into some problems and could definitely use some direction.  It seems I'm swimming in deeper waters than I'd anticipated.  I had hoped that exporting and importing of a character would be straight forward, but I fear I've been mistaken and I could use some hints as to how to get my character properly migrated and rendered in Blender.  Presently when I bring in the James Casual character as an .obj file he renders as a multifaceted gray model and he has no rigging at all.  When I bring him in as a .dae file he renders much more smoothly but is still a gray model.  He does have rigging, however, but it appears that the rigging and his body are not necessarily attached together.  I tried to move the character and his rigging stayed behind.  In both rendered instances there was no color or texture to the character.  I figure I must be failing to do something and/or am doing something incorrectly.  I suspect there are settings that I'm failing to set properly, and/or steps I'm missing altogether.

I've spent hours scouring through various blender/poser forums and have found little that details a step-by-step process of how to successfully get a Poser figure into Blender.  Such a tutorial may be out there, I just haven't stumbled across it in my googling.  I gather that it can be done, given some of the sites I've come acrross.  But these I have found to be rather dated, at least two plus years old, making me wonder if the solutions they offer are still valid.  For instance, I found sites that seem to suggest using Poser Tools 2 for Blender 2.5+, but I'm not sure if this still applies to Poser 2.7 since the last update to the Poser tools was in 2012 I believe.  I'd rather not spend a lot of time implementing a fix that may no longer be valid, or that might conflict with a newer version of Blender.

So, I'm wondering if anyone can either assist me or point me in the right direction regarding the following:

• Can Poser 9 characters be successfully imported into Blender 2.7, and be rigged/posable, and properly rendered with skin, color, and texture?
• Will the subsurface scattering feature of the Poser character still maintain this aspect when rendered in Blender?
• Once in Blender, what renderer would be most appropriate to my scene: Blender Render, Cycles Render, or perhaps even Yafaray?
• If it's not feasible to go from Poser to Blender, then is there a way to create a scene in Blender and export/import it into Poser? (I figured the Blender as the better rendering capacity of the two programs that's why I had hoped to finish in Blender vice Poser -- but if that doesn't work ....) Knowing the steps for this process would be helpful.
• If I'm trying to beat a square peg into a round hole, then I'd also appreciate any suggestions on how I might reasonably achieve my desired goal of getting a human character to be facing a doorway of light and have him washed in a stream of soft light beams where the light can be realistically seen passing through his skin, fingers, clothing, hair, etc.  What programs (free or reasonably inexpensive the better) might I consider?  I'm not looking for photorealism per se, but I'd like to have the scene look realistic enough with plenty of detail so as to look crisp (not pixelated) even at full screen on a 27" HD monitor.

Any relevant information and/or links to tutorials that you believe might be helpful will be greatly appreciated.  Until then, I'll continue scouring and experimenting and hoping I can figure things out.  Right now things are hit and miss, ... mostly miss.  Thus, I'm reaching out for some help to the Blender/Poser communities in order to stave off discouragement and frustration.  I'm looking forward to seeing successful progress and enjoying my 3D project again!  And the sooner the better.  : )  In the mean time I'll continue training myself on how to properly use these two programs.  

I find 3D art a great therapy and an exciting way to express my creative side.  Like playing a musical instrument, it's good medicine for my soul.  In reading some of the insights on this forum, I can tell that many of you feel the same way.

Thank you kindly and good Blending.

Very Respectfully,

Cpt. Buff

There is a script I made that uses the mcjTeleBlender framework to get a Scene to Blender from poser.  3doutlaw.com freebies.  You need the mcjTeleblender (google) setup as well.  Rigging does not come over, and it is geared to using Cycles.  I am subscribed if you want to go this way, and have issues with the script.  I use P9, so it should work for that...

Hello Capt_Buff

Here is the link for the scripts 3doutlaw is mentioning mcjTeleBlender they have proven to be the best current way for exporting a scene from DAZ to blender and with the use of 3doutlaw's script is makes them useable for Poser Scenes to be render with Blenders Cycles.

Wish you luck look forward to seeing your renders

Quote - There is a script I made that uses the mcjTeleBlender framework to get a Scene to Blender from poser.  3doutlaw.com freebies.  You need the mcjTeleblender (google) setup as well.  Rigging does not come over, and it is geared to using Cycles.  I am subscribed if you want to go this way, and have issues with the script.  I use P9, so it should work for that...

Greetings 3DOutlaw,

Thanks for responding to my post.  I went and checked out the website that you mentioned, that has the mcjTeleblender framework, but before I download it I needed to make sure that it will work with my system.  I'm running a MacBook with OS X 10.7 (Lion).  Will this framework and your script work with my setup, or do I need to be running in Windows?

Thanks a Heap,

Cpt. Buff

You'll have to ask Casual about compatibility, here in this thread.  They have discussed Mac compatibility somewhere in that thread:  LINK

Quote - You'll have to ask Casual about compatibility, here in this thread.  They have discussed Mac compatibility somewhere in that thread:  LINK

Greetings 3DOutlaw,

I sent an Email to Casual via the DAZ 3D Forum page, inquiring about Mac versions of his scripts.  Presently I'm awaiting a response.

In the meanwhile, I went ahead and checked out the linked page to Hype 3D and found the informaton JG provided in his article/tutorial to be somewhat helpful.  However, I had some difficulty translating things for Poser, since his article/tutorial is about DAZ to Blender on Mac. Also he uses an older versions of OS X and Blender, so there are a few fuzzy parts I'm not sure about.

In the process of trying to "Frankenstein" a method of using various scripts to accomplish a Poser to Blender export/import on Mac I did run into a snag right off the bat.  But perhaps it's not a snag, I'm unsure.

Cobbling your instructions for implementing your Poser Export to Cycles script with JG's instructions on getting Casual's teleblender scripts to work with Mac, I was able to get your script into Poser 9 on my Mac.  However, when I follow your instructions, written for Windows, on my Mac I get an error message.

Here's my workflow:

• In Poser 9 I posed my character and got my camera angle the way I wanted things rendered
• I then selected "Scripts" from the top menu bar in Poser 
• And I selected from the dropdown menu your script, which I'd renamed BlenderExport
• I got the following error message: File "/Applications/Poser 9/Runtime/Python/poserScripts/ScriptsMenu/BlenderExport.py", line 1

    <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"

    ^

SyntaxError: invalid syntax

When I checked the folder where the model should have been exported to I noticed that 14 new .jpg files had been created.  Each of these had to do with various skins/texture components of my James Casual character.

Presently I'm at a standstill.  I believe something has broken down in translation between the scripts initially intended for Windows and using them on a Mac.  

If you, or anyone else for that matter, has any insights as to what I might try or do next, I'm willing to try.  Like I said, I'm awaiting responses from Casual and from JG.  It kind of looks like what I'm wanting to accomplish, Poser figure rendered in Blender on a Mac is proving quite the conundrum.

Thanks in advance for any advice or pointers.  Until I hear from you I'll keep plugging away trying to figure this problem out, ... if it can be figured out.

Respectfully,

Cpt. Buff

This sounds odd, as it appears from the error that it failed on line 1.  That line shown looks like an HTML document, which leads me to believe you downloaded in some HTML form the script, instead of in text form as a python script. 

Attached is a picture of how the beginning of the file should look, when you download, name it whatever.py and open it in a text editor.

Quote - This sounds odd, as it appears from the error that it failed on line 1.  That line shown looks like an HTML document, which leads me to believe you downloaded in some HTML form the script, instead of in text form as a python script.  Attached is a picture of how the beginning of the file should look, when you download, name it whatever.py and open it in a text editor.

Greetings 3doutlaw,

Yep, it appears that I downloaded incorrectly.  What I did was just a straight download of the script from your website to my Dowload folder, and then renamed it "BlenderExport.py".  I didn't do the "Save Link As ..." that you indicated on your instruction page.  When I redownloaded the script as per your online instructions ("Dowload Linked File As ..." on a Mac) this resulted in a text file in my Download folder.  I just removed the .txt extension from the "BlenderExport.py.txt" file and relocated it to the appropriate spot in the Poser folder.

I then ran another export test in Poser and it seems to have worked, ... I think.  Here's my workflow:

• When my Poser scene was ready for export I selected "Scripts" from the top menu
• In the dropdown menu I selected "BlenderExport"
• A pop-up window appeared where I could rename the file and select where I wanted it saved to.  I chose to name the file "James Casual Outlaw Export", selected the James Casual folder for my Poser projects, and clicked "Save"
• A message window in Poser appeared with the following:  New Path: /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual Outlaw Export

New Filename: /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual Outlaw Export/James Casual Outlaw Export

/James Casual Outlaw Export

MJeans1TEX_Lores.jpg

MTshirt3TEX_Lores.jpg

James_Face_Color_Hair_Lores.jpg

James_Body_Lores.jpg

James_Mouth_Gum_Lores.jpg

James_Tongue_Lores.jpg

James_EyeLashTopTran.jpg

James_EyeLashBotTran.jpg

James_Eye_Inner_Green.jpg

James_Eye_Green.jpg

Nail_Hand_01_Lores.jpg

MCasShoe1TEX_Lores.jpg

James_Toenails_Lores.jpg

Ground Default Texture.tif

LocalDisplacement (x,y,z):

-0.469609051943

0.962997376919

-0.177586868405

OutpuRes (x,y):

640

480

Make Python File started.

-2.29018942451

0.866055639839

4.69634560776

84.9389801025

-0.0250195991248

-497.289001465

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "/Applications/Poser 9/Runtime/Python/poserScripts/ScriptsMenu/BlenderExport.py", line 275, in

    MakePythonFile(pyFile)

  File "/Applications/Poser 9/Runtime/Python/poserScripts/ScriptsMenu/BlenderExport.py", line 190, in MakePythonFile

    print bCamFoc

NameError: global name 'bCamFoc' is not defined

When I looked at my Poser project folder a new folder had been created named "James Casual Outlaw Export".  This looks great.  Inside it has all the same .jpg files as previously plus a ground texture .tif, and three associated files; .mtl, .obj, and .py.

I'm curious about the last line of the message that came in the pop-up window.  "NameError" doesn't sound good, but for all I know it could mean nothing.  Is this something I should be concerned with?

Anyway, it looks as if things are progressing.  Next step is to accurately import this file into Blender.  

Thanks so very much for your assistance thus far.  Hopefully this post will be of assistance to others as well.

Respectfully,

Cpt. Buff

P.S.  I've received a couple of correpsondences from Casual, so I'll read through those and will let you know how things turn out.

Yea, my bad.  In line 190, there is a "print bCamFoc", if you just put a # in front of that, save and try again.

So it would looke like "#print bCamFoc"

This is just commenting that out...I must have been playing with something prior to posting.

You are just a step away from a batch file into Blender  :)

I added the # on line 190 as you indicated and then relaunched Poser 9, found my scene, selected the BlenderExport script and a popup window gave me this information:

New Path: /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual Outlaw Export

New Filename: /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual Outlaw Export/James Casual Outlaw Export

/James Casual Outlaw Export

MJeans1TEX_Lores.jpg

MTshirt3TEX_Lores.jpg

James_Face_Color_Hair_Lores.jpg

James_Body_Lores.jpg

James_Mouth_Gum_Lores.jpg

James_Tongue_Lores.jpg

James_EyeLashTopTran.jpg

James_EyeLashBotTran.jpg

James_Eye_Inner_Green.jpg

James_Eye_Green.jpg

Nail_Hand_01_Lores.jpg

MCasShoe1TEX_Lores.jpg

James_Toenails_Lores.jpg

Ground Default Texture.tif

LocalDisplacement (x,y,z):

-0.469609051943

0.962997376919

-0.177586868405

OutpuRes (x,y):

640

480

Make Python File started.

-2.29018942451

0.866055639839

4.69634560776

84.9389801025

-0.0250195991248

-497.289001465

Make Python File completed.

Make Batch File started.

"C:/Program Files/Blender Foundation/Blender/blender.exe" -P "/Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual Outlaw Export/James Casual Outlaw Export.py"

Make Batch File completed.

About to run /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual Outlaw Export/James Casual Outlaw Export.bat

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "/Applications/Poser 9/Runtime/Python/poserScripts/ScriptsMenu/BlenderExport.py", line 284, in

    Popen(runBat, cwd=dst)

  File "/Applications/Poser 9/Poser 9.app/Contents/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 672, in init

    errread, errwrite)

  File "/Applications/Poser 9/Poser 9.app/Contents/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/subprocess.py", line 1201, in _execute_child

    raise child_exception

OSError: [Errno 13] Permission denied

It kind of looks like there's some kind of error given the last line that mentions "OSError", and I figure "Permission denied" is not a good sign either.  

FYI: Previous to the last correction by adding the # to the script line 190, when I examined the .py file in the exported James Casual Outlaw Export folder it read 0 bytes.  Now with this correction, the James Casual Outlaw Export.py file has 773 bytes.  That's improvement!

Also, when I followed JG's instructions of opening and running the script through Blender's Text Editor page I ran into a problem as you can see by the attached screenshot.  Although it doesn't show in the picture, when I clicked the "Run Script" button, I got an error message over the button as well as in the top menu bar to the right of the Cycles Render button that read: 

"Report: Error - Python script fail, look in the console for now ..."

As you can see in the screenshot the top line of the text in the console was also highlighted in pink, if this is significant.

Well, there you have the latest.  I think things are getting close and that's a good thing!  Again, thanks for your assistance.  If we succeed, I'll be sure to write down the steps of this process and post them for your consideration, correction, and beneficial use of anyone interested in Poser to Blender on a Mac.

Very Respectfully,

Cpt. Buff

Once you get the export, .py and .bat file, that is where my help runs out, as any failure after that is probably not related to my script (the script just runs the BAT file)  :(  My script was to just automate a very manual process in Poser, like Casual's script does in DS

The BAT file is just calling mcjTeleblender stuff, so anything after that is probably something Casual or the MAC/Blender folk may need to assist with.

If you find the .PY or BAT file is incorrect, let me know!  Good luck!

(that being said, in Windows, you can just double-click the BAT file, and it will run as well, perhaps the permission issue is Poser trying to run a BAT file)

Poser units are tiny-tiny-tiny, so this needs to be kept in mind when working in Blender on Poser objects.

For Poser -> Blender:
I generally pose my figure in Poser only... materials, lights and other stuff I do in Blender. I export using the Scripts->Utility->CollectSceneInventory script to an "Export" folder. I then export the figure (posed), cloth (dynamic, posed) and specific items I might wish to adjust as separate objs.

Before I import into Blender, within the Export folder I make the folllowing folders: OBJs, textures, Poser and renders. I move the textures into that folder, the OBJs into... well, you get the idea. Anything Poser-ish I move into that folder, to keep things neat. I copy this folder into my Blender/Projects folder and re-name it to whatever I called my scene. In Blender, I start a new .blend with a short name of the scene with a "01" at the end. I do versioning so I can go back in case I stuff something up. I'm currently working on the sailplane in the attached image, which I called "LillyMae01.blend" - to increment to a new version, there's a little [+] next to the name field. Nify... wish Poser had that.
Importing, I have these settings saved in a "Operator Preset" I call Poser01:

-unticked: NGons/Lines/Smooth Groups, Image Search
-selected: Keep Vert Order / PolyGroups
-the rest - leave as is

First thing I do when I bring the figure in is scale it up x10, so:

--select it
--[S]
-- type 10

After I've imported my figures, I set my lights and then set up my materials. Blender now has SSS for skin in Cycles ... I have that shader saved in another .blend.I Append the Node Tree (you can append all the nodes you need at one go) from this .blend - some may wish to Link, instead.

For each material zone, I click on "Use Nodes",  and replace the Diffuse_BSDF shader node with my shader set (group). You only have to do this once for each main group (Limbs/Torso/Face) which use the same shader set.
I'm sort of running out of time - have to go to work - but I'll have to go into a bit more detail on eyes, hair and lashes... let me know if you're interested.

I sure would like to hear more RobynsVeil I truly appreciate when someone shares their workflow that I can possibly adapt into my own. Especially one that is as detailed as what you so far have mentioned. I was playing around with the scripts last night myself just to get more fimilar with using them and ran into a few errors mostly seemed like steps I missed when following the details from mcjTeleBlender instruction. So any further insight from you and 3doutlaw is always greatly appreciated.

first point is SSS is nothing to do with a poser doll!

its about the render engine, poser only got it in a newer release(forgot which)

blender has it in both(BI and cycles) render engines but they need setting up in dif ways

if you want a fully rigged poser doll in blender its awkward and causes hair loss ;-)

for a static doll (already posed ) RV's way is maybe easiest

no offence to the plugin makers but blender gets so many updates its hard for them to keep up

if you need a poseable doll then look at makehuman it plays well with blender (most of the time) but you will need to make clothes for that doll

as with most things in life once you understand it all it gets a bit easier

Whatever floats your boat!  ;-)

For me, time is always critical, so a quick (semi-automated) import always leaves me more time to play with Cycles materials!  It's not failed me since 2.62 version.  :)

That being said, I use Windows, so manual import may work better for them.

I've been away from this Poser/Blender project for a few days (I kind of work on it sporadically as I can eek out chunks of time here and there) and I don't want you to think I've bailed on the project.  I'd really like to see this thing through if possible.  

To conitnue with 3doutlaw, I'd like to mention that I did make contact with Casual.  I had to personal message him via a DAZ Studio forum and he was kind enough to get back to me with two Emals.  I haven't tried his suggestion yet but I plan on doing so perhaps later on today.

I've copied and pasted the two Emails he wrote me so there will be a consolidated record of this Poser/Blender on a Mac project on one website:

First Email --------

Content:

. Mac OS X 10.7.5?...

i dont have experience with MACs

but i guess the main problem is that the .bat files dont work on a MAC?
but the .python scripts for blender are supposed to work on all platforms

i once described the way to do it here
http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/2877/P30/

note that subsurface scattering is available in Blender Cycles, but you'll
have to modify the existing material node-trees to get it - none of the
poser subsurface settings will be transfered through the scripts/obj file

here is the post about poser

Posted: 24 September 2012 09:02 PM [ # 43 ]

How to use mcjTeleblender’s kit of blender-python scripts to render a
Poser scene

In blender you can import an obj file, for example a Poser7 scene which was
exported as an obj/mtl file

but before rendering that scene using the wonderful Cycles engine you must
create special materials

which can be very tedious

that’s one of the main purpose of the whole mcjTeleblender kit

You still need to install the mcjBlendBot part of the kit from
mcjTeleblender’s web page.

Lets say i exported the default poser7 scene in my c:test folder under the
name poser7scene.obj

unfortunately poser was not nice enough to save the needed texture images

so i manually copy them from poser’s textures folders and paste them in
the c:test folder

i open notepad and type the following

import mcjBlendBot
mcjBlendBot.setGloss( 0.05, 0.15 )
mcjBlendBot.setImageSize( 1280, 720 )
mcjBlendBot.setCyclesSettings( "EXPERIMENTAL", "GPU", "CUDA", 1000 )
mcjBlendBot.setSmooth( True )
mcjBlendBot.setEdgeSplit( True )
mcjBlendBot.loadfix( "c:/test/poser7test.obj", "CYCLESMATS", "", True ) 
i save this as poser7test.py in the c:test folder

using Windows’s Start/Run or by running a batch file i do

"C:/Program Files/Blender Foundation/Blender/blender.exe" -P
"C:/test/poser7test.py" 
if all goes well, Blender will start, and just as ordered, it will run our
poser7test.py
script which, in turn, will load the scene poser7test.obj, and create for us
all the gazillions of special materials

We just have to add some lights, position the camera and render

Poser can use the alpha layer of a given image for transparent materials
like the corneas, eyelashes, hair etc
but Daz and my scripts expect standalone transparency maps, so you will have
to fix transparent materials.

if your PC is not equipped with an NVidia CUDA card (and recent drivers) but
instead uses an ATI/AMD card with OpenCL
then replace the line that reads

mcjBlendBot.setCyclesSettings( “EXPERIMENTAL”, “GPU”, “CUDA”,
1000 )

by

mcjBlendBot.setCyclesSettings( “EXPERIMENTAL”, “GPU”, “OPENCL”,
1000 )

if your video card supports neither, replace it with

mcjBlendBot.setCyclesSettings( “EXPERIMENTAL”, “CPU”, “OPENCL”,
1000 )

Second Email --------

Content:

Greetings Casual,

hello again

in the previous post i was saying 

you start Blender and the python file using a special command on a
PC-Windows

“C:/Program Files/Blender Foundation/Blender/blender.exe” -P
“C:/test/poser7test.py” 

if that's not available on a mac, you can start Blender

change one of the Blender panels for a Text Editor panel

then do a Text ./ Open Text block

open poser7test.py” 

click the Text Editor's "Run Script" button 

if all goes well poser7test.py will prepare Blender for Cycles and import
the .obj file you exported from poser -- in the example it was
c:/test/poser7test.obj

To RobynsVeil I'd like to say thanks for your input, even if you think it's "the long-winded way".  You can probably tell by my entries that I have a knack for cramming a couple of succint sentences down to a few paragraphs! : P

I think I'm going to attempt Casual's workflow and see how that goes.  It's geared toward Windows, so I'll have to do some conversion on the fly as I attempt it on my MacBook.  Afterward I think I'd also like to try your workflow. From the image you attached it looks like you definitely have had success with Poser and Blender (cool pic by the way!).  It may take me a while since I'm still a noob when it comes to both Poser and Blender, especially on a Mac, but I'm willing to give it a go.  So I'm definitely interested in any workflow details you are willing to impart.  Thanks ahead of time, and please remember, I'm kind of new to Poser, and am now only relearning Blender so I'm not all that familiar with 3D lingo yet.  But I'm learning.  Thanks!

To Lobo3433 thanks for monitoring this thread and testing out some of the advice.  I don't feel so alone in this now, especially with smomeone like yourself who is far more knowledgeable of Blender than I am.  Any successes or tips that you have I'd enjoy reading! Thanks.

To Heddheld thanks for your clarifications and helpful tips.  I'm already familiar with the hairloss issue.  It's a bummer in real life, which makes it particularly a bummer in 3D modeling--especially when it is totally avoidable!  : )

A couple of years ago I tried MakeHuman but found it to be a bit clunky and buggy on a Mac.  At the time I didn't have access to a PC nor a virtual machine for my Mac.  I run parallels now occasionally for a Windows specific program, but hadn't considered MakeHuman since I had purchased (at a great price no less) Poser 9.  Presently I like it and find it somewhat intuitive and user-friendly.  If I can keep my workflow to one platform that would be ideal.  But if MakeHuman has had some improvements on the Mac then I'm willing to give it a try again.  Would you have any knowledge in this regard?

As far as SSS I'm glad to know that this is something specific to the render engines of given programs.  I kind of figured as much.  The above attached image shows what Poser can do with SSS.  I'm hoping to achieve similar results with my finished project in Blender, ... that is if I can figure out how to get my model in Poser to play nice with Blender.  I'm hoping initially to have a static image set in a scene (as described earlier in this thread), however, I am hoping to have other similar images of the same model in the same scene based upon different poses, kind of a progressive sequence of images.   Thus having the ability to pose my character within Blender is desirable, vice having to switch back and forth between Poser and Blender.  And if I can get things running smoothly, I'm not opposed to trying a short animation project in Blender -- someday.  

Again, thanks to those of you who have volunteered your insights.  I really appreciate it.

Respectfully,

Cpt. Buff

P.S.  Would any of you know if Blender can achieve similar results as the example of the four hands in this Renderosity Link regarding Modo 601?  This is a really intriguing effect and the ability to adjust the degree of SSS in a model might be fun to play around with.  Thanks.

Quote - To Lobo3433 thanks for monitoring this thread and testing out some of the advice.  I don't feel so alone in this now, especially with smomeone like yourself who is far more knowledgeable of Blender than I am.  Any successes or tips that you have I'd enjoy reading! Thanks.

I tired the scripts last night just so I can attempt to follow along so if I came across anything I could add my input. Thank you for the compliment but everyone who has added to this post I have learned from myself. I still consider myself a novice amateur in 3D and in Blender but Blender has come so far in learning it that it is more and more becoming my choice modeler. Everyone RobynsVeil, heddheld and 3doutlaw are in my opinion some of the most knowledgable and most helpful in our community here. I am sure down the road once you have accomplished your wanted results with this project you will be able to help someone down the road also.

was no offence meant 3doutlaw

just seen so many nice scripts break on a blender update

(think "reddog" was doing really well at one but it got bust fixed bust again and he seems to have given up )

dont supose you have a P7 version of your script ? no worries if not ;-)

got my fav doll rigged in blender (real old one from P4 days lol )

just have to make a facial rig now but thats driving me potty

@OP makehuman is getting better all the time maybe try again ?

@Lobo think you helped me as much as I helped you mate, so many things to learn its hard to remember everything

Greetings All,

I've been back at it plugging away.

To 3doutlaw: I went ahead and tried Casual's process and got the same results as with JG's process, that being the "Report: Error" where the python script failed.  I think JG's and Casual's process are essentially the same thing only approached slightly differently.  So the fact that I got the same result is not a big surprise.

I considered what you mentioned about the .bat file.  I did a little googling to see if there's a way to convert or translate a .bat file to run on Mac OS X and the info is a bit sparce, not to mention a bit "techy" as some suggest rewriting the script using AppleScript or shell scripting (?), both of which I am clueless about and would have to spend some time learning the ins and outs of.

I went ahead and opened up the .bat file in my Parallels VM and it looks extremely simple.  Just one line.  I'm curious if it's not a relatively simple thing.  I'm considering reaching out to other Mac scripting users on other forums to see if they might have a clue.  As far as my just diving in and tackling it, ... well I feel a bit out of my depth right now, not to mention like I'm chasing rabbits.  All I was hoping to do was to have a decent model of a human character rendered on my Mac in a nice scene.  I've found myself spending an inordinate amount of time just trying to get two programs to play nice with one another on my Mac, and it's proving to be discouraging.

To RobynsVeil: After realizing that Casual's process was also a failure I began trying out your process.  However, I've run into some snags, no doubt because I'm a newbie.

You indicated to "pose my figure in Poser only".  I did that, and will leave the materials, lights and other stuff to do in Blender. You then said to "export using the Scripts->Utility->CollectSceneInventory script to an "Export" folder", and here's where I began to have a problem.  [Just to remind you, I'm running Poser 9 on my MacBook (OS X 10.7.5).]  

When I open up the CollectSceneInventory script I get a pop-up window.  It requires me to choose an option.  then it provides me with three choices to select from: 1) None, 2) List Files, and 3) Copy all to folder.  To be honest I didn't know which to choose.  I figured "Copy all to folder" made the most sense so I selected it and pressed OK.

Two pop-up windows appeared at that point.  The first was a message window that read: "

adding to fails:  Runtime/Libraries/Character/People/James/JamesCasual.obz

Done.

The second pop-up was the "Save" window giving me the option of where to save the file and what to name it.  I chose the folder I wanted then named the file "James Casual Robyns Veil Export" and clicked "Save".  Two other pop-up windows appeared:

The first was an error message that read, "Some files could not be located", and had an OK button to click out of it.  The second window was a message window with a lot of script:

adding to fails:  Runtime/Libraries/Character/People/James/JamesCasual.obz

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/textures/P6ClothingTextures/Male/MJeans1TEX_Lores.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export 

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/textures/P6ClothingTextures/Male/MTshirt3TEX_Lores.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Textures/Poser 6 Textures/James/James_Face_Color_Hair_Lores.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Textures/Poser 6 Textures/James/James_Body_Lores.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Textures/Poser 6 Textures/James/James_Mouth_Gum_Lores.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Textures/Poser 6 Textures/James/James_Tongue_Lores.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Textures/Poser 6 Textures/James/James_EyeLashTopTran.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Textures/Poser 6 Textures/James/James_EyeLashBotTran.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/textures/Poser 6 Textures/James/James_Eye_Inner_Green.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Textures/Poser 6 Textures/James/James_Eye_Green.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Textures/Poser 6 Textures/James/Nail_Hand_01_Lores.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/textures/P6ClothingTextures/Male/MCasShoe1TEX_Lores.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Textures/Poser 6 Textures/James/James_Toenails_Lores.jpg to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Textures/Ground Default Texture.tif to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Geometries/props/ground.obz to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Geometries/props/stairs.obz to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/geometries/lights/spotLite.obz to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/Geometries/Camera/Camera.obz to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

copy  /Users/Shared/Poser 9 Content/Runtime/libraries/character/People/James/JamesCasual.pmd to /Users/xxxxx/Projects/Poser/James Casual/James Casual RobynsVeil Export

!!!---------------!!!

Could not locate the following files:

Runtime/Libraries/Character/People/James/JamesCasual.obz

Done.

It's those first and last lines that concern me, but perhaps this is normal (?).  Please let me know what you think.

When I went the saved location I discovered that my chosen folder was filled with 20 new files. Most of them were .jpg, a few .obz, and one each of .tif, .pmd, .pz3.  So I figured perhaps this part of the process was working fine despite the apparent error messages.

After this I continued your instructions, thinking that perhaps everything was going fine, but again I ran into some snags. You indicated to "export the figure (posed), cloth (dynamic, posed) and specific items I might wish to adjust as separate objs."  I'm not sure I fully understand what you mean by this and could use some clarification.

In Poser I went to FileExportWavefront OBJ ... and the Export Range window popped up and I selected "single frame" and clicked OK.  Then the "Select Objects" window popped up presenting me with the various things in my Poser scene to export.  In my scene I only saw the  ground, some stairs, and my James figure.  I saw nothing indicating his clothing (cloth) or shoes whatsoever.  So I selected only my figure, deselected the ground and stairs and clicked OK.

Then the Export Options window popped up, and I was kind of stumped as to which options to select.  In this window there are seven options, one of which is ghosted out (presumably it is for multiple frame export).  The six options are:

1. Weld body part seams 

2. As Morph Target (no world transformations)

3. Include body part names in polygon groups

4. Use exact internal names except spaces [this is a sub-option to 3.]

5. Include figure names in polygon groups

6. Include existing groups in polygon groups

The boxes that are checked are for #s 1 and 3 and the others are unchecked.  I haven't a clue as to which ones need to be checked in the process you provided.  Just to test things out I used these two default checked items and clicked OK.  

A save window popped up and I saved the new file as James Casual Robyns Veil Export to my Poser project folder for this James character.

Proceeding with the instructions I went ahead and made the four new folders in this export folder: OBJs, Textures, Poser, and Renders.  I placed the .obj and .mtl files in the OBJs folder, the .pz3, .pmd, and .obz files in the Poser folder, and the .tif and .jpg files in the Textures folder.  I then copied this export folder and placed this copy into my Blender projects folder.

I then opened up Blender 2.7 and renamed the untitled.blend scene JamesRV01.blend.  Then I got stuck.  I am unsure where I do the unticking or selecting of the NGons/Lines/ PolyGroups, etc.  I'm doing some Google searching and will probably see if there's a tutorial on these settings.  Neither do I know how to create and save "Operator Presets" yet.  That's another thing I need to learn.  So my next step is to scour the web to see if I can learn what these things are and how to accomplish them before I can move on in the process.  If you have any hints or can point me to where I can learn about these things that would be greatly appreciated.  Until then, I'll be researching and studying.

This is where I am presently in RobynsVeil's process.  I must confess it's a very steep learning curve for this noob, but I'm plugging away at it.  I can hardly wait until I can get to the artistic side of working with Poser and Blender.  I kind of liken it to having to learn mining and metallurgy in order to forge a hammer and chisel so that I can finally chisel a sculpture out of stone.  Kind of takes the joy out of the artistic side of things.

To heddheld: I took your advice and checked out MakeHuman again, but I was/am a bit confused.  I have on my system MakeHuman 1.0 Alpha 6.0 (dated April 2, 2011), and when I checked the update I was informed that I had the most recent version.  (This is the buggy version I mentioned previously.  It just doesn't play well with my MacBook at all.)  So I went to the MakeHuman website and loaded the most recent version they have for Mac, MakeHuman 1.0.0. (dated March 12, 12014) and it seems to play much nicer on my Mac, … at least I can resize the UI and work with the program without it going all white screen on me.

Anyway, I'll have to play around with it to see if I can get the results I want.  I'm not looking forward to having to make all the clothing for my character, however.  That seems like another time consuming project I hadn't planned on.  It's what made Poser so appealing, it was kind of an out-of-the-box posable character that had clothes and shoes and hair.

I appreciate your insights to the potential problem of Poser plugins not working with future iterations of Blender.  That might present a problem if I ever upgrade Blender in the future.  I'd hate to go through all this work and then discover that it was for naught because a plugin no longer worked.  

It looks like no matter how I slice it, to get what I am hoping for in Blender it's going to take a lot more time and effort than I had initially anticipated, or practically have.

Thanks to each of you for your assistance thus far.  I appreciate it.

Respectfully (and a bit bummed),

Cpt. Buff

so did you open the exported doll in blender ?? did it have the clothes on ??

if you export with parented clothing it will come up on list under the part its parented to

comforming will have there own tick box (see pic ) the shorts are dynamic and under the hip on v4, the top is comforming so has its own tick mark, if your happy with everything in poser then export it all as one then just all the mats to sort out (ohnooooooo). I normaly export cloth and doll seperatly then I run a cloth sim in blender if I need to )

now as for the export options these are what I use others may differ

1. weld, I tick this in case I need to run the cloth sim

2. as morph target, dont tick UNLESS you plan on bouncing back an forth making morphs

3 use body part name, I tick makes it easy to set up poser mats (dont have to)

1. dont bother (unless your making cloth to use in poser again it depends on your method )

5 and 6 I tick again 'cos it makes life a bit easier in blender 

on import to blender there is options on bottom left toolbar, click keep vert order and tick polygroups

FYI an obz is just a zipped obj (stuffit?? should unzip it )

hope that helps

Indeed you are most accurate, "There is quite a bit of work to do", and I'm back at it, … for the moment that is.  Like I mentioned before, this is a project I am able to get to only sporadically.  But today I'm at it once again!  : )

I followed your workflow this time, vice that provided by RobynsVeil.  Thus, rather than using Poser's top menu bar: Scripts/Utility/CollectSceneInventory as RobynsVeil instructed, I simply used Poser's File/Export/Wavefront (.obj).  This gave me the window the "Select objects" to export window, similar to the screenshot you provided in your previous post. However, in my case there are no articles of clothing listed for the character, just body parts. (Which makes me curious as to how you were able to accomplish this.)   Unlike the screen shot you sent of the Poser "Select objects" to export window, (the one with the red circled 1 & 2 of "v4 shorts" & "top", my Poser export window has no shirt, pants, or shoes to select for my model, let alone tick mark.  So I'm unsure how "parented clothing" applies or what it actually means in my case.  

Continuing the process I deselected the ground and stairs prop from my Poser scene and just ensured that all the body parts of my character were selected, and pressed OK.  I then used the 6 "export options" you suggested, created a new export folder & file, which I titled "James Casual Heddheld Export", and then clicked Save.

Unlike the Poser Scripts export in RobynsVeil's instructions that created a folder with a variety of files, of which I delineated in a previous post, this present export has only two files; an .obj file  and a much smaller .mtl file.  There were no .jpg or other associated Poser  files exported.

In Blender I then went to the menu: File/Import/Wavefront (.obj), selected the James Casual Heddheld.obj file, and ticked the Keep Vert Order and Poly Groups in the bottom left options as you indicated, then I clicked "Import OBJ".

As you can see by the attached image I was able to open the Poser exported character in Blender.  And yes it does have clothes, or at least the shape of the mesh of clothes. 

I'm not sure what to do next.  I suspect that somehow textures have to be associated to my model in Blender.  Is that what the .mtl file is?  Do I import this as a Wavefront (.obj) file as well?  Also, the fact that this file is so small (only 2Kb) I can't imagine that this file holds all the texture images represented by the numerous .jpg files I got in RobynsVeil process.  But I could be wrong, perhaps this .mtl file is merely some kind of link to those various image files located somewhere else(?).

As far as "conforming" any clothing, I really don't know what this means, especially since no clothing was listed on my poser figure in the "Select objects" window.  I'm using a standard character provided within Poser 9, (on the Mac) named James Casual.  He comes fully clothed when loaded in poser.  I presume this clothing is directly associated with the model and conforms to his body as I pose him.  But I'm not sure on this association.  Perhaps there's a way to disassociate his clothing so when he is exported the clothing and the model are exported separately.  Perhaps you might be able to shed some light on this.  Was the character you used from Poser fully clothed or did you have to dress it when you created your Poser scene?

If I ever get this project to the point you are able to achieve I may have to "run a cloth sim in Blender".  I'm not sure what that means or entails at this point.  But I suspect it has to do with clothes that are imported separately from Poser into Blender; something I have not achieved as of yet, … I don't think.

Anyway, that's where things stand presently.  Kind of not much further than my very first attempts at importing a character from Poser into Blender.  I just have a multifaceted gray figure that has no textures/materials associated with it and is unposable.  The exact same situation I had at the outset.  So it looks at this point like I've learned a few methods that DON'T work, ... which I suppose is a good thing.  But it sure would be nice to figure out what DOES work.  

Any insights you or others might provide at this point will continue to be greatly appreciated.  Until then, I'll keep plugging away trying to figure out this very sticky wicket. The fact that you are able to get Poser to play with Blender is encouraging.  I just need to figure out what you are doing, because I'm unable at this point to replicate your success on a Mac.

Respectfully,

Cpt. Buff

this method will NOT get you a posable doll in blender!! you have to pose in poser then export, there is minor tweaks you can do in blender but its not easy so maybe for now if you need to change the pose back to poser and do it there

James casual has "built in" clothes so you are right on that bit , most dolls are not dressed and then you dress them with content you make or buy/freebies (is lots of freebies )

now about clothes there is 2 types in poser, conforming and dynamic, conforming have there own bones inside that "lock" onto the dolls and then they will move together (fingers crossed lol ) then there is dynamic which must be run as a cloth sim in posers cloth room, is lots of tuts so watch a couple and it should all make sense

once imported into blender look on left T panel and there is a smooth button click that and the multi faceted look will go away then its just a case of loading textures etc

 see pic for an idea of where you will find james tex (your path maybe different I've never been on a mac)

ps you picked a deep part of this pond to jump in ;-)

Here is a simple down and dirty way of automatically getting the textures on your imported poser model in blender - using poser model "James" as an example

Firstly collect all the poser textures relating to James into one folder.

Load James into a poser scene.
1- Click on the "Material" tab.
2- In the texture panel that is now on screen make sure that James is selected as the object and a BODY part is selected from the material list.
3- Click on the image in the "Diffuse Color" window
4- Click on the "browse" button and look at the file path at the top of the new window that opens.  
5- Navigate to that folder and copy all the textures into a new folder.  
For James that will be something similar to - Poser(Ver)>Runtime>Textures>Poser 6 Textures>James.

Do the same steps again to find the clothes textures.  At step 2 select a CLOTHING material from the list instead of a body part.  
The clothes will be in a texture folder Poser(Ver)>Runtime>Textures>P6 Clothing Textures>Male.

For the purpose of this example just copy all the clothing textures.  You can delete the unused textures later.

Make sure that you paste the clothing textures into the SAME folder as the body textures.

Follow the instructions that have already been given in the above posts regarding exporting the James model out of Poser.

Now here is the important part.  Make sure that you put the James.obj AND the James.mtl files into the SAME folder as the textures you collected.

Now when you import the James.obj file into Blender the textures will already be applied.  You must be using Blenders Internal renderer and not cycles for this to work. There will probably be issues with eyes and eyelashes that will have to be sorted out manually. 

The .mtl file contains the information on what textures are associated with the model.  So long as the textures are in the same folder as the .obj and .mtl files Blender will be able to find them and apply them.

This works in Windows, hopefully it will work the same way on a Mac.
 

heck I didn't know that (not used BI much! cycles is sooo much easier lol )

and I'm sure someone over at BA is making a script to convert BI mats to cycles

so this could be a much easier way then what I currently do ;-)

Thanks to both of you for your respective inputs into this ongoing project.  I am pleased to say that I was able to make a breakthrough this evening!  Using a piece of just about every contributor's advice in this thread I was able to finally get a James Casual Poser 9 character to render within Blender 2.7 on a Mac!

Above you will see my first successful render.  When all is said and done I will be sure to post a step by step workflow for others who may follow.  Tonight, however, I just wanted to share my results thus far.  As you can see the render is a bit crude, and the eyes are definitely hinky.  Not sure what's up with that, but both keppel and RobynsVeil mentioned that there might need to be manual adjustments.  I am definitely interested in any guidance in this regard, and about hair too.

In my next post I'll explain my process a bit more and the differences I encountered between the instructions provided by keppel based upon Windows, and how things panned out on a Mac.

Anyway, I believe I'm moving in the right direction.  If you open up the attached image you will notice that the render looks pixelated.  I wonder if that is due to James Casual being a low resolution character, or perhaps a result of the Blender renderer.  Any insights?  Also the lines of the model are not very smooth, e.g. his head looks like it was cut out with children's scissors (and I did hit the "smooth" button in Blender's Tools/Edit tab on the left panel). But perhaps when I get hair on the character those lines won't matter as much, or perhaps there's a way to fix this by changing the resolution in Blender (?).

Presently this project is more of a feasibility test, a dry run if you will, to work out the kinks  prior to diving in to a major project.  Thus far I've learned that Poser 9 to Blender 2.7 on a Mac is feasible.  Now I need to work on the quality of the character and then the quality of the render.  Once I am persuaded that these are satisfactory to my goals, then I can play with lighting, atmosphere, props, etc.  But for now, the first major hurdle has been overcome.

In closing this post I just want to say thanks again to each of you who have contributed.  I've learned several things that definitely do NOT work, but now I'm discovering things that DO, ... and that's sweet!  Kudos to each of you.

Until next time ...

Cpt. Buff

Quote - first point is SSS is nothing to do with a poser doll! its about the render engine, poser only got it in a newer release(forgot which)

Poser 2012, I believe. A true SSS shader for Blender has only recently been developed, to be fair to Poser, and it involves a lot of nodes. However, it produces very good results.  > Quote - if you want a fully rigged poser doll in blender its awkward and causes hair loss  

Quite so. Since Antonia is free and FOSS I'm in process of trying to create a rigged Blender version but yeah, not a trivial undertaking, particularly since I have so little free time these days. Until this gets a bit easier to do - or someone figures out how to quickly rig figure (Rigify isn't quite there, yet), the workflow will probably be "pose in Poser, render in Blender" for the next foreseeable future. > Quote - no offence to the plugin makers but blender gets so many updates its hard for them to keep up

To add to the complexity Blender has just gone to Python 3.4. A fair-few scripts will probably need to be updated for this new version in order to keep running in Blender. I'm edging towards retirement - which hopefully will give me more free time - but I'm not there yet, and by then (4-5 years from now) who knows what will be out there, things move so fast! :blink:

I just thought - why not try Collada to transition between the two?

So I posed a figure in Poser Pro 2014 and exported to Collada. Blender 2.7 imported it textures and all. Done in seconds. I couldn't believe how easy it was. Materials are of course another matter... and I would have to set up the lights and camera in Blender. I don't know if there was an improvement to Collada export in Poser 10/PP2014? I remember trying it once in the past and it wasn't this easy.

I haven't tried a more complex scene yet, but I am becoming really interested in using Cycles for rendering, so this deserves to be explored.

I came across this recently have not tested it yet since Daz Studio still confounds me but from what I have read this script has tools for importing a rigged genesis figure into Blender http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?321572-Khalibloo-Panel I know it is not Poser but if it can be done with a Genesis figure there has to be a similar way to do it with Poser. Maybe the info in the link can offer some ideas as well.

Here is a screencap from Blender, in Pose mode, with V3 exported from Poser. I exported her in the zero pose. The rigging comes across. Using the transform and rotate widget enables me to pose the figure in Blender. I expect one would need to fiddle with the weight mapping a bit in Blender, because there are some unexpected folds in the mesh, but this is much better than I expected. I am really surprised.

Apparently it makes a big difference whether you are using Poser Pro or not. Rigging and morph targets export via Collada if you are using Poser Pro 2014. Due to low expectations I had not kept up with this feature, but I was mistaken.

http://poser.smithmicro.com/collada.html

boo hoo

I only got P7 an I know collada dont work well from that

still I'm halfway round to rigging Step and Dina with rigify

just hate all the fiddly bits....... like fingers

Quote - Apparently it makes a big difference whether you are using Poser Pro or not. Rigging and morph targets export via Collada if you are using Poser Pro 2014. Due to low expectations I had not kept up with this feature, but I was mistaken.

http://poser.smithmicro.com/collada.html

I have Poser 10? Can I get a figure into blender in default pose with all Morph targets included?

That's the real issue for me. I can rig the figure myself, but loading all my morphs... I don't even know HOW I would do that.

If Collada export works fom Poser 10, I'll be SUCH a happy camper.

Greetings,

I am so grateful that others have chimed in on this interesting thread.  I've not had much time of late to work on this project, and it looks like it may be several more days before I can dedicate a good chunk of time to it.  However, I am pleased as punch for those of you who have added your tips and hints.  

I'm looking forward especially to RobynsVeil's tips on how to fix the vacant eyes and eyelashes of my figure, which didn't seem to make the transition from Poser to Blender.  Also I'm looking forward to considering NanetteTredoux's ideas regarding Collada.  

Presently, I'm only able to get off this brief note of thanks.  However, I am looking forward to getting back at this.  Especially if there's a possibility of a rigged figure from Poser to Blender on the horizon.

Respectfully,

Cpt. Buff

the morphs "shouldn't" be that hard to transfer

you can copy a shape key from one mesh to another

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Animation/Techs/Shape/Shape_Keys

look at transfer shape keys

must have the usual "same vertex count" but poser has that anyhow

BUT I cant see how to manage with the 100's of morphs vix has !! but maybe possible by linking or appending from a "base" blend

maybe the worst part of the whole deal is you cant share the final result

Quote - I thought I would try to export the rigging from Poser as well with Collada. I am sure the last time I tried this it didn't work.

Here is a screencap from Blender, in Pose mode, with V3 exported from Poser. I exported her in the zero pose. The rigging comes across. Using the transform and rotate widget enables me to pose the figure in Blender. I expect one would need to fiddle with the weight mapping a bit in Blender, because there are some unexpected folds in the mesh, but this is much better than I expected. I am really surprised.

Just curious, Annette, how you exported from Poser via Collada, i.e., which boxes you ticked. I tried doing an export from PP2014 to Blender 2.70 and all I got was the armature.

Also I selected the body and all its groups, and deselected lights and cameras when exporting.

I'm using Poser 10, but, correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't seems to be the right application.

As you can see, the COLLADA exporter isn't really as you've posted, some options are disabled, tested with many different figures with and without weight mapping.

Hello fanpaolo

I am wondering your using Poser 10 and I see that NanetteTredoux is using Poser Pro 2014 your version is because those options are not available in the standard Poser version. I checked I have Poser Pro 2012 and I have access to the same check boxes and they are not grayed out. I went looking on the Smithmicro site and there is a difference between export options in Poser Pro 2014 and Poser 10 some options are not the same might want to look at this information on their site so you can see the differences

http://poser.smithmicro.com/collada.html

Hope this helps

Thanks Lobo3433, probably I misread some posts... my bad.

So, I have to find another solution, Pro version isn't really a plausible option.

It's very strange that you can find a plugin to import almost any existing 3D format with rigging and so on, except Poser...

You can export from Poser in collada your version just wont export everything that is available. One of the obstacles with Poser and other 3D applications especially with the obj export option is that Poser uses a scale that is so very different than most 3D applications. Blender and Poser can work well together it is just that it takes a little extra effort to accomplish what you want and we fortunatily have a great group here in the Blender forum that will give you what ever help they can and you will learn allot from our members I know I have.

I know, I started using 3D software more than twenty years ago, always searching for better usability, performances and final results, year after year.

I was hoping an easy workflow to transfer Poser poseable figures into Blender, since I have many of them.
I already started to rig figures in Blender, exporting from Poser as object, I can't say it's easy, but it's doable, but for morphs it's really a different story.

The point is that I don't have much time to "waste" (excuse me for the term...) to have something similar at a Poser figure in Blender, I just need to fill some scenes I do for my job, nothing as a close-up, but it's better to have some versatility as I have in Poser.

At the moment I still don't like too much the way you have to pose a figure in Blender.

You can use the mcasualsdazscripts with some modifing for it to work with in Blender to render scenes below I included the link to his tutorial you will have to still do some tweaking in rendering with the combo of 3doutlaw script that is run with in Poser you might be able to achieve the results you want.

https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts3/teleblendforposer

Good Luck

Just in case you did have a desire to start in the Pro version set of Poser at not too horrendous an outlay, Purplus.net have Poser Pro 2012 for about $100. I know - a lot of money for just the export-to-Collada capability, but it's a thought, anyway.

Side note: PP2014 might be my last upgrade unless Smith-Micro come up with something more compelling than a fitting room for conforming cloth, which I never use anymore. For figures doing anything but standing, conforming cloth behaviour is ordinary, whereas dynamic cloth - if it's well-designed cloth - can be incredibly realistic. Be interested to see what the bright minds at SM are cooking up these days... caustics? better material management (something Blender needs critically, which I believe is being addressed in the Gooseberry Project)? or perhaps - be still, my beating heart! - improvements to the cloth sim room???

ETA: I should probably qualify the above statement with: "PP2014 might be my last upgrade unless Smith-Micro come up with something more compelling to me"... :biggrin:

I totally forgot that there is a current sale to upgrade from Poser 9 or 10 to the new game dev version which might be with in your price range if interested only issue is the sale ends tomorrow but they do run special like this often

http://www.renderosity.com/poser-game-dev-upgrade-sale-cms-17326