So yeah considering this place sells models to be added to poser 11 I have to ask how exactly that works. All the instructions I can find online are from before Poser 11. I've tried adding some myself, using some of the free stuff here, with no luck. So I'd like to know how to add stuff, before I go and buy models.

On a similar note what about adding stuff from another program, is there a list of programs that are compatible with Poser 11, I'm aware Maya and to some extent DAZ3D is but I think my question is more how hard is it to add things from those programs to Poser, is it the same as adding something for Poser or is there some work involved to make them compatible. The reason I ask is on the DAZ3D store I found a good city set I like but it's for a program called Carrara, so I'm wondering if I could possible just add that to poser or would it require the actual program Carrara to make it work.

I don't want to come off as a jackass, which sometimes does happen. But...

Google is your friend. And the manual does cover how to add content.

Do a little leg work. Don't expect everyone to do the work for you...

There is basically no difference between older versions and Poser 11, content installation is just about the same. However, you didn't elaborate how your Poser app was installed and where did you install your content that didn't take. Unfortunately, although free content passes the minimum requirements to be available in Rendo, the compressed folder hierarchy may not conform to the actual library structure that exists in Poser. A properly constructed compressed file should contain a primary folder entitled 'runtime'. If such a folder doesn't exist, then attempting to decompress the file directly into Poser becomes a sure disaster unless you are familiar with the Library folder structure. But to help you with the problem, you should answer the two questions proposed to you.

To answer your second part, no, not all program can share content with each other. DAZ 3D and Poser can share content but there has been a widening divergence in recent years. There are importers and exporters but given the prohibitive cost of some other apps would you spend serious money to work with a lower end program?

I usually download and unzip the archive into a temporary folder. I inspect the folder structure of the unzipped archive and if it corresponds to the standard Poser runtime structure, I simply copy it into my Poser content runtime. I usually create external runtimes so that my content does not mess up the main runtime of the Poser software. If the folder structure does not correspond, I move and/or create the missing folders before copying the unzipped runtime archive over to my content runtime. The Poser file structure is:

Runtime

-- Geometries

-- Libraries

---- Camera, Character, Face, Hair, Hand Light, Materials,Pose,Props, Scene (these are all same level sub-folders under Libraries)

-- Textures

If there is no file structure, you can infer the folder from the file extension:

Camera = cmz

Character = crz (sometimes with an accompanying obz and pmd formats)

Face= fcz

Hair = hrz

Hand = hdz

Light = ltz

Materials = mcz

Pose = p2z

Props = ppz (sometimes with accompanying obz and pmd formats)

Scene = pzz

The Libraries folders folder-name spellings are critical and Poser must have them spelled exactly as mentioned, otherwise, it will not read the content.

You may find texture files inside the sub-folders, which are readable by Poser 11 (was not the case for earlier versions of Poser).

Hope this helps a little.

Wrong forum? Translation Error? SPAM? I'm not seeing the relevance or recognising any meaning here beyond English words and apparently english syntactic elements. I'm certainly not tempted to click the link.

Looks like a spam bot, really.

Yeah, definitely a spambot, I'm reporting.

Afrodite-Ohki posted at 3:08PM Sun, 04 August 2019 - #4358707

Yeah, definitely a spambot, I'm reporting.

Yup - the URL mimics a legit site (the real site doesn't have the dash in it), so don't click on it, kiddies!

Actually Google had this as the top link, so I don't kkow how "friendly" google was on this matter. Second, Poser is one of the least obvious and most convoluted applications for adding content that I've run across. :) Thanks Infinity 10 for a useful answer.

rokket posted at 9:35AM Thu, 31 October 2019 - #4342486

I don't want to come off as a jackass, which sometimes does happen. But...

Google is your friend. And the manual does cover how to add content.

Do a little leg work. Don't expect everyone to do the work for you...

splinetime posted at 4:11PM Thu, 31 October 2019 - #4368773

Actually Google had this as the top link, so I don't kkow how "friendly" google was on this matter. Second, Poser is one of the least obvious and most convoluted applications for adding content that I've run across. :) Thanks Infinity 10 for a useful answer.

No, it's not. I've been adding stuff to Poser 's libraries since version 2. If you can read and comprehend, then you can add stuff to Poser.

I agree. Simply extract the zip file that contains the model to a file called runtime and you're done. Even I figured it out without help!!

Not that I have a horse in this race, but what's with the piling on because someone couldn't figure it out. The fact that anyone else could/couldn't/did/didn't something is immaterial. Just answer the damn question and move on.

cabled posted at 5:28AM Fri, 01 November 2019 - #4368841

Not that I have a horse in this race, but what's with the piling on because someone couldn't figure it out. The fact that anyone else could/couldn't/did/didn't something is immaterial. Just answer the damn question and move on.

I didn't pile on. Wasn't even going to post until he called Poser "the least obvious and most convoluted applications for adding content" that he's ever run across. I disagreed. I've been doing since before there was formally a DAZ store, and doing it mostly by hand. All you have to do is drop the file in the correct folder. What's convoluted about that?

Just an observation for those few of us who are Mac users. Unzipping a file to an existing folder in Mac all delete all the existing content and overwrite it with the content contained in the zip file, but you do get a warning to that effect when you try it. Not sure if this is relevant cos this thread seems to have been dormant for some time...

Another Mac user here; one of the problems with DAZ downloads, even if they're labelled for Poser and manually downloaded, is that the folder structure of the zip file places the 'runtime' folder inside a 'content' folder, which is a DS setup and Poser may not recognise it when using the 'install from zip file' option. The easiest workaround is to go into the downloaded and decompressed 'content' folder, compress the 'runtime' folder inside, then install this new zip within Poser. To go back to the original post: Carrara content can't be imported into Poser AFAIK. You need a copy of Carrara and then you can (theoretically at least) import your Poser content into it.

ajsavill posted at 6:32PM Sat, 14 March 2020 - #4383535

Another Mac user here; one of the problems with DAZ downloads, even if they're labelled for Poser and manually downloaded, is that the folder structure of the zip file places the 'runtime' folder inside a 'content' folder, which is a DS setup and Poser may not recognise it when using the 'install from zip file' option. The easiest workaround is to go into the downloaded and decompressed 'content' folder, compress the 'runtime' folder inside, then install this new zip within Poser. To go back to the original post: Carrara content can't be imported into Poser AFAIK. You need a copy of Carrara and then you can (theoretically at least) import your Poser content into it.

The confusion with Carrara is that Poser files will generally work in Carrara but the reverse is not normally true, not without some conversion anyway. If you are new or returning to Poser I can understand that the difficulty if you are trying to use an install manager to install content. Installing manually is easy once you know the process. As already stated the runtime is the key, unzip or decompress and move the runtime to where you want it to live. If it is a new Runtime launch Poser and then add it to the library. A little difficult if you are new to the process but hardly convoluted.

It should be noted that this is seen as an issue and one Rendo state they are working to improve on in up new releases of Poser.

As a new Poser user (and Mac user) I have to agree that the process of installing content in Poser is um, an obstacle to the success of the program.

They've actually made it easier. You can log into Renderosity from inside Poser, and install your purchases automatically. Just click on the Purchases tab in the library.

Personally, I don't like doing it that way, but it is easy. The items will appear in the Purchases runtime.

randym77 posted at 7:22AM Fri, 11 September 2020 - #4399200

They've actually made it easier. You can log into Renderosity from inside Poser, and install your purchases automatically. Just click on the Purchases tab in the library.

Personally, I don't like doing it that way, but it is easy. The items will appear in the Purchases runtime.

I use that as a quick way to install purchases so I can use them before I have time to sort them, but that doesn't help with free stuff, which can be a mess when it comes to organization, or things gotten at other sites.

Thanks, I'm definitely going to try that method. Now let's make it even easier...

Rendo should pick ONE way of installing purchased content, and then discussion of other methods should end. New users are getting confused because threads on this topic go all over the place. I just started a thread on this topic myself, and it went all over the place. There's this, there's that, there's something else, let's do it the hard way, or this easy way, or some other easy way, and you need to remember this, and don't forget to do that, put this in to here and that in to there, or something else, and runtime this and runtime that etc etc. Yada, yada, yada etc.

The problem is not users. It's muddle mindedness on the part of the developers. Muddle is not a smart way to run a content store because the more folks are confused the more likely they are to quietly vanish, taking their money with them, never to be seen again. Here's an example...

I tried DAZ for 3-4 months awhile back. It's free, so it seemed the sensible place to start at the time. And then I learned DAZ software is worth what you've paid for it. And then I tried to make a purchase. The resulting file structure interface FUBAR was such a confusing mess that I threw in the towel and vanished, never to return. Last purchase from the Daz store.

That's the price Rendo will pay for install muddle. Typoholic crackpots like me will make loud honking sounds on the forum. :-) But most confused people will just quietly vanish. Rendo won't even know they are confused and vanishing, because the vanishing users won't bother to tell anyone.

Example Of The Right Way: Look at the installer that one uses to install Poser on your computer. It doesn't come with 32 options. It doesn't really need to be explained. You click the install button and the software is put where it needs to be.

The goal here should not be to educate and lecture users on how to do it the hard way. The goal should be for installing content to be as simple as installing the software, so that no one needs to be educated or lectured.

The business model of Rendo is to sell content. Thus, the point should be to make it as clear, simple and easy as possible for customers to do what Rendo wants them to do. If anyone has to start a thread asking how to buy from Rendo, the interface is failing and needs upgrading.

Install From Zip File is your friend from the File menu, and you can choose which of your runtimes you install. I am not sure how much easier you can make it from that, IF you purchase from here or Hivewire, because everything here is zipped to standard. DAZ purchases require manual install because their structure includes an additional 'Content'; folder.

It is really that simple.

FREE STUFF: The solution for free stuff is one of the following:

1. Rendo staff should inspect and approve all free stuff before it goes in the store.

2. Or, if that's not realistic, the free stuff should be shared elsewhere with the appropriate disclaimers.

Putting free stuff which may be junk in the same store with the professionally constructed assets is not wise. Customers should have confidence that anything they download from this site will work in Poser.

If Rendo wishes to facilitate the sharing of free stuff, ok, no problem. But do it on another site with a name such as FreePoserContent.com. And then put a "use at your own risk" disclaimer at the top of every page.

You write, "Install From Zip File is your friend from the File menu, and you can choose which of your runtimes you install. It is really that simple."

Apologies, but no, it's not really that simple.

What is a runtime? Which runtime should the user choose? Why should they choose that runtime? Where is that runtime? Etc etc.

The problem here is a very common one. The more someone knows about something, the less qualified they are to understand the newbie experience. As example, to you "runtime" is beyond obvious. To me, after reading that word 47 times, I still don't get what it is, where it is, why it is etc.

I'm just an example. I don't matter, as I'm just one person. What matters is the larger picture. Prospects should not have to understand "runtime" in order to buy from Rendo. We all have a stake in Rendo succeeding, and the simpler the ordering process is, the more likely they are to succeed.

Failing that, what could happen is that Poser gets sold yet again, and then who knows what happens. I would gently remind users that our use of Poser depends entirely on there being a reliable company running the "call home" license checker server.

BabaBozo posted at 7:53AM Fri, 11 September 2020 - #4399205

Thanks, I'm definitely going to try that method. Now let's make it even easier...

Rendo should pick ONE way of installing purchased content, and then discussion of other methods should end.

NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE. That would not work for me.

Like many long time users, I keep multiple runtimes. Having Poser automatically install stuff wouldn't work.

That's my beef with DAZ's download manager, too. You can specify any default directory you want, but only one.

I would prefer Poser to be friendly to newcomers and veterans alike. Just like there's the simple material room, and the advanced material room. The user gets to choose.

It's easy for Poser to remain friendly to long time users. They can just keep on doing what they already know how to do. My point was just that we shouldn't be trying to teach brand new users the long time user methods right off the bat.

BabaBozo posted at 7:58AM Fri, 11 September 2020 - #4399208

What is a runtime? Which runtime should the user choose? Why should they choose that runtime? Where is that runtime? Etc etc.

If you're going to use Poser, there is going to be a learning curve. Probably more of one than DAZ Studio.

Poser comes with three runtimes (which are basically "folders" in your libary). There's Poser 11 Content, which contains all the content that comes with Poser. There's Downloads, which was meant for other stuff you might buy or download for free. And now there's Purchases, where Poser automatically installs Renderosity purchases, if you choose to use Poser's download manager.

You do not need to use more than one runtime, but many of us choose to use more than one. I have about 50. You can attach and detach the runtimes you create, which, for me at least, makes it easier to find things. How you organize your runtime(s) is personal, and everyone does it differently. I have runtimes devoted to different figures (Vicky 1/2, Vicky 3, Vicky 4, La Femme, etc), different themes (SF, fantasy, horror, contemporary, holidays, toon, sports, nature, political, etc.). I also have a "Hair" runtime (because hair is easily used with any figure) and a "Lights and Materials" runtime (because those can be used for scene). I have runtimes devoted to baseball and to Star Trek, because I do a lot of renders on those subjects.

Taking away the ability to use multiple runtimes would severely cripple Poser for me.

I have been where you are, with a much less advanced version of the program when I started and no one bothered to even help me. I read the manual which explains runtime structure and how to install content and followed that, often actually manually placing things until I understood what was what. The manual literally answers ' what is a runtime' and ' what is under it in all of those folders'.

I dont want to sound snarky or unhelpful, but looking in an already supplied manual is the first step.

BabaBozo posted at 8:10AM Fri, 11 September 2020 - #4399210

It's easy for Poser to remain friendly to long time users. They can just keep on doing what they already know how to do. My point was just that we shouldn't be trying to teach brand new users the long time user methods right off the bat.

Maybe so, but keep in mind...many people here have been using Poser for over 20 years. The download manager is brand new, and I suspect many here don't know about it, don't use it, or just didn't remember it. I had never used it until the other day, when I tried it in order to help someone else who was having a problem with it. I had no need of it; installing from zip files works much better for me. Not to mention, zips are options at all the Poser stores. DAZ's installer only works on DAZ products, Poser's installer only works at Renderosity, but install from zip works with DAZ, Renderosity, ShareCG, Hivewire, and a bunch of other Poser stores out there. It's worth learning how to do it.

Sorry. Install from Zip does NOT work with DAZ as I said above. DAZ files are Zips but they contain, as I said above, an additional 'Content' folder that results in not being able to even see the content in Poser unless you manually move the subfolders. For DAZ files, use your File Manager to manually unzip and move folders to your Runtime from any DAZ purchase. For anything else, it works perfectly, as long as you have at least one Runtime to install to, To learn how to have Runtimes or what they are and how the files are structured under them, please read the manual that comes with the software. If you ask how to add a runtime to your library, also please find it in the manual. I am at work computer so can't copy and paste right now from the manual directly but maybe someone else is in the position to do so.

Rhia474 posted at 9:12AM Fri, 11 September 2020 - #4399219

Sorry. Install from Zip does NOT work with DAZ as I said above. DAZ files are Zips but they contain, as I said above, an additional 'Content' folder that results in not being able to even see the content in Poser unless you manually move the subfolders.

Sorry, that may have been the wrong phrase. I'm a Windows user, and what I mean is that you can install from DAZ zip files just like any others.

I install from zip files all the time with DAZ products. Yes, there's a content folder, but just click on it, and there's a runtime folder. Extract that, and it works exactly as it does here at Renderosity.

Maybe it's different with Macs?

Randy writes, "If you're going to use Poser, there is going to be a learning curve."

Agreed. And that's why I'm spending many hours viewing the many excellent video tutorials available. Very helpful!

I'm attempting to ask a larger question, which I'm pretty sure will not be addressed in the manual. The question is not just about me, but about all users of Poser, and all users of the Rendo store, currently and in the future. That question is...

QUESTION: Should shoppers in the Rendo store have to climb a learning curve in order to do what Rendo wants them to do, ie. buy products?

Apologies, but I've been working online for 25 years, and wrote my own software for 10 years, and so my brain is incurably afflicted with an obsessively interest in such nerdy questions. I should probably seek help, or take a pill or something. :-) Hey, I'm supposed to be retired and freed from such obsessions, what happened to that???! :-)

BabaBozo posted at 9:19AM Fri, 11 September 2020 - #4399223

Randy writes, "If you're going to use Poser, there is going to be a learning curve."

Agreed. And that's why I'm spending many hours viewing the many excellent video tutorials available. Very helpful!

I'm attempting to ask a larger question, which I'm pretty sure will not be addressed in the manual. The question is not just about me, but about all users of Poser, and all users of the Rendo store, currently and in the future. That question is...

QUESTION: Should shoppers in the Rendo store have to climb a learning curve in order to do what Rendo wants them to do, ie. buy products?

They don't have to, as I explained to you.

But we here are just ordinary Poser users. We are not Renderosity employees. As you can see from this discussion, we don't agree on everything (or even anything!). You can't expect everyone who posts here to toe some kind of party line. Even before the new download manager, people disagreed on how to install downloaded products. And they said so. They will continue to say so.

Randy, people disagree on how to install products because the install products situation is a muddle. Again, please observe how we're not having big debates on how to install Poser software, because that is not a muddle.

Anyway, it is what it is, and if it's been a muddle for 20 years, then it's likely to remain a muddle for awhile longer.

Oh, there are discussions about how to install Poser software, too. Where, preferences, that sort of thing. They did an automatic update at one point, which people weren't happy about.

Also note...this is a zombie thread. It was started in 2018, before Renderosity owned Poser, and before the download manager even existed.

Having multiple options is not a muddle. Clearly explained file structure and basic definitions is not a muddle.

It is different from some other programs. But it is not rocket science, just a different way.

Ok then, so some number of people will get confused by the product installation situation, bail on Poser and Rendo, and spend their money elsewhere. If everyone is comfortable with that, I can be too. It's not my business after all, and my interest in such things is just an old habit I'd be happy to be done with. No worries, on with the show! :-)

If people like that cannot understand that that file structure, and integral part of the program, predates Renderosity owning Poser and get angry at the company for something that can be learned by reading the actual manual... shrugs Several people here tried to explain, help and/or post great info. None of these are employed by this company, several are quite vocal about disagreeing with this or that Rendo is doing. There is no conspiracy or a desire to thwart, only a desire to help. But you can't help those who demand either instant satisfaction or who insist on doing things only their way.

Tl;dr : I am too old for this. Enjoy your life.

Rhia, thanks for your rant. I like to do that too obviously. Regrettably, it seems I have not written clearly enough for you to have an understanding of what I've been trying to say. Bad interface on my part!

For the record, I've said nothing about anybody being mad at anybody. I'm certainly not mad at Rendo or anybody else. Nor did I say anything about a conspiracy or a desire to thwart etc. Sorry, I think you got a bit carried away there.

What I did say, as a matter of general business philosophy, is that people are more likely to buy stuff when they aren't confused. People are more likely to buy stuff if they don't have to read a 1,000 page manual first. The simpler the transaction is, the more likely it is that there will be a sale.

If nobody is interested in business philosophy, ok, no problem. Really, I don't mind. I'm more interested in it than I wish I was at this point.

Chuckle.

Anybody ever see 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'?

Anyway, if you have... there's this scene, IIRC, where Randle McMurphy gets all of the "patients" riled up in the day room/rec room of the hospital. There's this one patient, virtually catatonic, who rouses from his stupor to repeat "I'm tired and it's a lot of Baloney!"

Yup

https://youtu.be/wpYA3GMlKsA

{Cough} Having a Procrustean 'One Install Type For All' system would NOT suit me.

A Poser user since P_3, albeit with a time-out from 7~9, I've a near-terabyte of 'fun stuff' on E:, safely off-line.

Any too-rigid system hoards trouble for the future. Remember self-installing EXE models ? Some could be un-zipped, others would only un-pack where-ever they pleased. I've even had to craft fake 'prior-brand' Poser run-times to extract a few...

Besides my zoo of 'legacy' Poser freebies, many still needing re-work, eg from flat heap to 'proper' run-time trees, I've a zillion 3DS and OBJ±MTL meshes, many, many FBX models and figures, plus a big cast of PMD/PMX, XPS and X pending conversion. And, yes, even some modern DS models-- I'm happy to buy 'interesting' items then 'rip' their mesh with eg $$ DSF Toolkit...

I have a 'sparse' core run-time. For whatever project I'm doing, I routinely load and un-load external run-times via the library. Even 11.3's bundled 'Dawn & Dusk', recently located and un-packed, live in 'external library'. Takes 'Special Pleading' to be allowed onto my C: drive...

Basically, I DO NOT want my imports tied to Poser. May seem an odd way of going about things, but I fell into Poser as a way to put 'better' figures in Medieval-ish architectural sets. Originally, I used 'Classic' FloorPlan 3D plus TurboCAD, exchanged sets and props via 3DS. Perforce, figures were super-low-poly 3DS 'statues'. Re-creating rooms in Poser_4 (with 'Big Memory' fix), I could use chunks of my sprawling caravanserai set, the same props and textures plus, now, period-clad & plausibly posed, Posette & Co. Yeah !!

FWIW, 'Classic' FP died when it could not be economically re-compiled to x64, and TC still cannot grok OBJ+MTL. Happily, PoserPro x64 plus my 32 GB RAM can hold much bigger sets than any P_x32, and I think I've found an OBJ+MTL-friendly CAD to replace TC...

Hmm: what will P_12's promised FBX I/O update bring ? PPro_11 seems happy with FBX versions up to v6.1. The now-common v7.4 / v7.5 cause problems ranging from broken 'trees' to 'SPLAT'. IIRC, v7.6 is now 'In The Wild', and sufficiently different for many FBX utilities / plug-ins to report such files as 'corrupted'...

[ Sorry for waffle: I woke to e-mail advising that Azn was delivering between 09:15 and 11:15. Now 17:15+, and 'Still Arriving Today'. {Sulk...} ]