[cross posted at RDNA]

Here's the headline on the new Control Props feature in Poser 11

"You can design Control Props that can be used as body handles, user controls for a jaw, cheeks or other rigged areas, or any a remote control to handle any body part. You can use this to design visual aids for users. Control Props can also be used to handle just about any other actor in the scene, such as cameras, lights and other props. Lot of creative uses here."

It was shown in the demo yesterday.

1. is this feature "Pauline only"?
2. specifically, can you place the controls on V4 for direct manipulation?

While supposedly no improvements were made for animation, this feature, along with custom control panels, would convince me to upgrade. They do constitute significant advances in the feasibility of Poser for animation, especially facial expression and lip sync.

::::: Opera :::::

"Control Props can also be used to handle just about any other actor in the scene, such as cameras, lights and other props. Lot of creative uses here."

"Prop..." Do you load in a primitive, then parent it to, for instance, Lower Jaw? Then turn the prop into a control?

I would be very interested in seeing further into the control prop menu interface if anyone feels up to it...

What does it do in relation to figure actors, create a child bone grouped with a selected geometry and parent in the hierarchy? Can it be any old object, is there a browser, or is it from a preset selection menu?

operaguy posted at 5:11PM Thu, 19 November 2015 - #4239599

"Prop..." Do you load in a primitive, then parent it to, for instance, Lower Jaw? Then turn the prop into a control?

Yes. You can also spawn a prop with the grouping tool - select a cluster of polygons in the chin, or just one polygon even if that's all you need - spawn a prop from that selection, then convert it to a control prop for the lower jaw. You can also set the display so that it is an outline or transparent, whatever you prefer.

EldritchCellar posted at 5:24PM Thu, 19 November 2015 - #4239602

What does it do in relation to figure actors, create a child bone grouped with a selected geometry and parent in the hierarchy? Can it be any old object, is there a browser, or is it from a preset selection menu?

You get a menu that lists every item in the scene, including whatever body parts to figures that are present. Select whichever item you need it to control and press OK. It doesn't create a new bone. It's listed as the last item in thefigure hierarchy when you set it to control the body.

That's awesome. I imagine it's written into the .cr2 when saved to the library? It's those kinda things that Poser keeps adding that makes it such a creative tool. Thanks for the info.

Yes it's in the cr2. Any figure can have control props added. You can create your own facial bones and then spawn control props to control those bones. You can also create a separate parameters pallet and add the facial rigging to that new pallet and save the pallet with the figure in the library.

Sounds like a variation on the morph and movement control graphical interface like you see on 3ds and Maya rigs... sorta. I was wondering when something similar would come to Poser. Nerd really has got the ball rolling on some nifty stuff.

So, what mechanism do these "Control Props" use for their... control? Bones? Magnets? Some sort of customized deformer? AND, can that deformer be edited or can one change its effect curve/limits/whatever in something like the Joint Editor?

/interested

Morkonan posted at 9:56PM Fri, 20 November 2015 - #4239664

So, what mechanism do these "Control Props" use for their... control? Bones? Magnets? Some sort of customized deformer? AND, can that deformer be edited or can one change its effect curve/limits/whatever in something like the Joint Editor?

/interested

They appear in the cr2 as 'controlHandleProp'

for example: controlHandleProp rMouthCorner_control:1 followed by a string of vert info. They seem to behave pretty much the same as the controlProp that you see at the start of every figure's cr2, only they are contained at the end of each actor they control in the hierarchy. They don't show up in the setup room and don't appear to have any effect on weightmaps or morphs or any translation dials. The bones they control are responsible for all that.

I haven't explored the cr2 enough to really give much more info than that. I'm sure someone else who knows much more about cr2's can answer it.

I experimented with them. They are like the handles on skirts and such. If you create a control prop for (parented to) the hand, for example, "moving" it around simply changes the dials for the hand -- kind of like a puppeteer's string. But it's really no different from dialing numbers into the actor itself. (But a whole lot easier to select in certain circumstances because you can place the control prop wherever you like -- say, 20 feet above the figure's head -- and it (the prop) doesn't actual change position in the preview.)

There may well be a lot more to it that I don't know about. But that's how it works if you just parent to an existing body part.

Basically yes. They aren't super complicated and have technically been possible to create for quite a while, just made easier now via the object menu. They are best suited for using on bones that do not have their own geometry groups - such as those in Pauline's facial rig. Handles, pretty much says it all.

Q- Is there a way to assign both eyes to a single control Prop? For example, if I create a sphere, then make it a control handle, the window pops up and asks, "Select Object to control:" but I can only select one object, i.e, left eye or right eye but not both.

Chanc, what are you trying to accomplish? And what version of poser? If you are trying to use a prop to have both eyes move and follow the prop as you move it, the fastest way is to select each eye , go to the Object menu and Point At ... (your prop).