I've had that issue too, in 2014. I haven't seen it yet since the latest update but I haven't used it alot since then.

I have not been able to reproduce this problem, which makes it tricky to fix.

I realise that it is described as randomly manifesting, but if there was some way you could narrow down the situations in which it occurs then I will try again.

The fact that the Sync button does not help is an important clue, though. The Sync button should work, but only does its thing if it believes there is a valid scene file (remember that EZMat can be running even when a scene has been closed or before one has been loaded...). EZMat relies upon Poser to tell it when there is a valid scene file, so maybe there is a problem with that communication. If it doesn't think there is a valid scene file then that would also explain why there is no Figure/Actor recognised too.

I'm away from Poser until Tuesday so can't do anything practical until then. In the meantime, see if you can find out anything more about this issue. When I get back on Tuesday I'll build a special test version of EZMat that checks for the presence of a valid scene in a different way and also outputs some debugging information. If any of you would be willing to test it for me then drop me a pm and I'll send you a link to the test version. Do remember that I'm on UK time :-)

 By getting the plugins out of my Program Files and into a non-restricted folder, I have EZMat working.

It works fine in Firefly but Reality doesn't seem to recognize the shaders. Snow Machine works fine in FF but either doesn't show up in a Reality render or turns the entire surface white. LOL!! 

@MustangMike: are you referring to the EZMat addon itself, or to the EZMat plugins which do the various jobs? The first is more or less required in the Program Files environment, the latter are advised to be stored outside it.

As was stated deliberately in the User Guide, EZSkin and most EZMat routines rely heavily on node-constructions, usually plugged into the Alternate_Diffuse and/or _Specular slots, and are accessible only through the Advanced Interface route.

When you want to build shaders that have a decent change making it to external renderers and file formats (Octane, Reality/Lux, OBJ/MTL export, ...) limit yourself to the options from the Simple Interface only. The Poser material definitions are Firefly only, and are rarely supported by unbiased renderers at all.
One can craft shaders that work in both worlds though. And the good news from EZMat is, that you can make your own EZMat plugins that do the job for you (and others, eventually).

@Snarly : I really dislike the random behavior of things. But I did find a note in a D3D paper on Python plugins, stating that scripts which launch with the Poser program itself might need some delay(...) upfront. Otherwise they run the risk that Poser hasn't stabilised fully when scene references are called. Addon scripts (EZMat init) might be sensitive to this, while regular scripts (EZSkin) will not be. And timing details of exe stabilisation after launch depends on so many things, that it might explain the random appearance.
Just guessing anyway.

Ezmat is aware of the delay between being given the go ahead to build the UI and a valid scene being available. Having built the UI, it then waits and responds appropriately to the add-on API's sceneCreated and sceneDeleted calls, but I'm beginning to suspect a problem there. I'm going to to make the sync button override that behaviour by making separate checks for the presence of a scene and figure.

 aRtBee-Yeah, I know about the Plugins placement but forgot and was laughing at myself. :)

Lux likes the shaders built in Blender but I don't use that. I'll have to look at some of those shaders and see how they are structured to be recognized in Lux. Reality has the ANSEL database of shaders that work too. I "think" those are created within Reality.

well, I'm not really into Python, but D3D suggests (*) that scripts may fail when their start-up runs while Poser is not fully initialized yet, and suggests a specific delay(...) routine to handle that.
My suggestion is that any value currently used (say 1000 msec) might be (just) too small on some machines, in some situations, for whatever reason, giving the fail a random character. Then increasing the delay (or making it variable, or ...) might be a way out.

(*) the PDF is protected, I can't quote from it.  Just check out his site: d3d.sesseler.de in the Poser Tutorials section.

Be aware: I do know my way into programming but not into Python. I'm just thinking out loud, backed by 37 years coding experience, some reading, and some fantasy. I've seen this kind of timing issues in some of my own projects as well. But the cause might be entirely different, though.

If any of you would be willing to test it for me then drop me a pm and I'll send you a link to the test version.

I didn't get any takers and seeing as I cannot reproduce the problem on my own machine I've decided to put a fix for this on hold. I might look at it again on Thursday (when I'm next back home).

In many occasions I can solve the lack of materials in the comboBox doing any of the following:

• opening EZMAT in some other tab 
• opening and closing the EZmat and selecting other body parts
• opening and closing scene

Cool. Thanks for that info. I'll be in touch shorlty with a new version to test.

Snarly,

    I've finally had a chance to use this EZMAT tool and I just wanted to say you have done a wonderful thing.  Between BB's procedural shaders and your tool you have allowed me to turn out some very nice renders.  If they ever come up with a Nobel category for 3D rendering I'm nominating you. 

Snarly,

    I've finally had a chance to use this EZMAT tool and I just wanted to say you have done a wonderful thing.  Between BB's procedural shaders and your tool you have allowed me to turn out some very nice renders.  If they ever come up with a Nobel category for 3D rendering I'm nominating you. 

Add an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Grammy, shoot while were at Snarly should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of fame too!

Snarly the creator of fantastic "Knarly" stuff!

Having an issue with EzMat. After a reformat I decided to give it a shot (I was previously using EzSkin2). According  to the docs, I should be able to access a right click menu on the EzMat panel so I can import the figure definitions. I get nothing. I can get the font/docked/floating/etc. options, and I can get some unicode stuff if I right click in a text box, but I cannot get this supposed right click menu to import figure definitions.

I'm using PP2014 Game Dev SR5.2, and EzMat from RDNA version 1.2 build 0123.

Could any of my other scripts be causing this? Only other addon I have that's not default is the DSON Importer, but I have a whole slew of non-addon type scripts by Netherworks and Semidieu's Library Manager.

Having an issue with EzMat. After a reformat I decided to give it a shot (I was previously using EzSkin2). According  to the docs, I should be able to access a right click menu on the EzMat panel so I can import the figure definitions. I get nothing. I can get the font/docked/floating/etc. options, and I can get some unicode stuff if I right click in a text box, but I cannot get this supposed right click menu to import figure definitions.

I'm using PP2014 Game Dev SR5.2, and EzMat from RDNA version 1.2 build 0123.

Could any of my other scripts be causing this? Only other addon I have that's not default is the DSON Importer, but I have a whole slew of non-addon type scripts by Netherworks and Semidieu's Library Manager.

It looks like build 123 is indeed missing that menu, so it is not your fault. I don't know how the whole menu disappeared in that build, but I've put it back in build 124, which can be downloaded here:

http://snarlygribbly.org/3d/downloads/ezmat/ezmat124.zip

The zip contains only the addon file, so you will need to extract it and overwrite the existing 123 build file.

Please can you let me know if it is all working for you? If so, I'll upload the new build to RDNA for others to get.

That version seems to have done the trick. Thank you!

I can find EZMat v1.2 build 122 and http://snarlygribbly.org/3d/downloads/ezmat/ezmat124.zip but where is the123 build that 124 updates?

It's on RuntimeDNA in the store.

Possible simple workaround for figure sometimes not being recognized by EzMat ? Don't open Poser by double-clicking a PZ3.*

I'm still (EzMat 1.24, Poser 9) getting the problem of the selected figure not being recognized by EzMat (my post on 30 Oct on page 25 of this thread, and aldebaran40's post on 18 Jan on page 28 of this thread).

However, I've noticed that the problem now only seems to happen when I open Poser by double-clicking a PZ3 that takes a long time to load...

Whereas if I open Poser from the programs menu (i.e. loading the default scene) EzMat recognizes the figure....

...and if I then simply open the PZ3 that I was having problems with, then EzMat recognizes my figure.

So my guess is that aRtBee was on the right track with those comments about startup delay on page 28 of this thread... 

(Poser 9.0.3.23027, Windows 7, EZMat v1.24, several-year old Windows 7 laptop with 4GB RAM and 2.3GHz Intel i5 4-core)

*I vaguely recall that the Reality for Poser addon has a problem if you open Poser by double-clicking a PZ3 ? This could be a generic Poser add-on problem?

I just came across a new problem I've not seen before - the EzMat pane shows the selected figure/actor/material, but nothing else.

Resolved by simply closing Poser and reopening it from the program menu (as in the previous post), and then opening the PZ3 I was working with.(That's now the first thing I try whenever something odd happens with the EzMat UI)

(When I got the problem I think I'd already checked that EzMat was working (I may have used it to do stuff) and then did lots of partial renders, cancelling one of them. I checked EzMat again and the problem showed. I did 'File > New' and checked EzMat again - that's the screenshot)

(Poser 9, EzMat 1.24 again).

P.S. The fact that this "Sticky" thread disappeared from the sticky-list at the top of the Poser forum has been reported on the Community Center forum - "Un-Sticky Sticky Threads"

thanks for bringing back the Sticky. As Snarly has decided to move from Rendo to somewhere else, I'll try to step in sometimes.

When the EZMat panel only shows the main / header part and not the tabs part, it might pay off to right click on it, select the Set font size option, put something in (like 9 or so) and [ OK ]. I guess those python things need a kick on their but every now and then. Computers...

I haven't seen the 'empty selected figure/actor/material' problem since I started opening Poser from the programs, NOT by double-clicking a PZ3.

I haven't seen that 'only main/header parts showing' problem again,so I can't try your suggestion.

However, I have another problem.Occasionally EzMat (free) seems to forget about all its plugins, like so...

It seems to happen either during Poser shutdown or startup. I'll be using Poser + EzMat - usually I can happily shut Poser down, restart, and use EzMat. But occasionally when I restart the plugins have vanished. I can shutdown/restart and they'll never come back - I have to manually browse and select the folder again.Then it will work fine again for several shutdown/restart cycles, but inevitably it happens again at some point...

I had that issue every time I upgraded to a newer version, but hardly in between. Perhaps you can contact Snarly on this directly, he is on RDNA now.

Thanks - I've posted to snarly's new EzMat thread  . 

This plugins vanishing problem isn't just after upgrading. And it's no show-stopper as I can easily reselect the folder. Just a minor irritation...  :)

I tried to use EzSkin through EzMat for a Hiro 3 render.  The menu shows that the character isn't supported.

Do I have to download and install EZSkin 2? 

What are the steps to support characters?

I did put that in the User Guide (pag 5/6). EZMat does not replace EZSkin, but once loaded, most EZSkin functionality is available through EZMat as well. So, in order to make the EZSkin functions to work in EZMat, setup EZSkin (2) first.

I have EZSkin working, but every time I close and then re-open Poser (such as the next day), I have to reload all the figure support files and presets.  Is that how it's supposed to work?

That's a pain.

dear all,

I just happen to write the manuals some time ago, and I'm hardly using EZMat myself as its results hardly export well to Octane and alike.  I can't be of real help, sorry.

So, with any serious issues like the one above, please do yourself a favor and contact Snarly at RuntimeDNA. That's where he has moved to. he is not amongst us at Rendo anymore.

I have EZSkin working, but every time I close and then re-open Poser (such as the next day), I have to reload all the figure support files and presets.  Is that how it's supposed to work?

That's a pain.

Move the support files to another location outside Program Files. Then configure EZSkin to find them there. I have the strong suspicion the Windows UAC (user account control) is getting in the way. By moving the files the problem should go away

One additional thing.

EZMat and EZSkin use the same configuration files. So it is best no to mix them since the EZMat one will overwrite the EZSkin one on save. You can however export the EZSkin presets and import them in EZMat.

Best however is to set the presets and figure definitions in EZMat itself: Right Click on the EZSkin tab window and the import options appear

I'm using the "Backgrounds made Easy" prop from Daz, and EZ Mat. On the wall I've used the BBStripes plugin. You'll see in the center of the wall the stripes don't line up properly. This is because the wall consists of two material groups WallA and WallB and the polygons are set up unevenly to accommodate an optional window or door. I've gotten around this issue with other textures by offsetting the texture on one wall until they match. Works well with textures because I just adjust V offset in the 2D image node.

I can't figure out how to do that in either the plugin or materials window for BBStripes. Is there a node I can place after Diffuse color to skooch the pattern of WallA over to match WallB? Some other method?

Thanks.