This is my first time using EZSkin, and have no clue why I get this error when I click on 'APPLY'. Also, I had to select 'DAZ Gen 4' since I could not find Victoria 4 in the list. Gen 4 does refer to V4, right? If not then Victoria 4 is the only figure I could not find on the Figure Definition list.

Yes, Gen 4 figures are Victoria 4, Michael 4 and their derivatives like Aiko. Thier UV maps were "unified enough" that they often get lumped together in things.

There are a couple of import processes you need to do to get things going...there is an "instructions" text file in the EZSkin zip. Read that file, then the actual import commands are in that top-left purple square button in the interface that kind of looks like a file list.

I just grabbed EZSkin3 yesterday and have used it fine so it's not the program itself giving you trouble.

There is a full PDF userguide for EZSkin3 in the zip. I recommend reading and following the setup outlined there including where to put the files.

Thanks both, but I did read the instructions

I'm wondering if it has something to do with Windows and that damned UAC thing. The instructions said to put it in the same Runtime Scripts folder destination that was installed along with Poser itself. Unfortunately, that is in the UAC area of Windows, and it's a problem that stopped the DAZ Install Manager from working the other day, so it might be stopping this from working as well.

I'll reinstall, but I'm pretty sure I followed the instructions correctly. If it doesn't work next time, I'll just have to see if it works by installing the script to a Runtime that is not located in the UAC area of Windows.

BTW, can't help but notice that the error shows drive E: even though I don't have an E: designated drive. I have two SSDs in this machine, designated as drive C: and drive D: so it seems strange how it's managing to throw-up an error like that anyway!

I still don't understand why you are installing Poser content to UAC area directories when several people recommended based on numerous experiences not to do that. If you don't do that one thing, the chances of errors are nearly nonexistent.

Well I don't normally give up easily, but in this case I have no choice in the matter. I've followed the instructions precisely three times now, and it simply will not work!

Are there any other ways to have the changes I make to a shader be applied across the other skin material zones? See I only wanted to use EZSkin for that ability, I'm not really interested in the shader part of things as I know how to get good skin anyway. It's just a pain in the bloody backside to have to keep copying mats between Head, Neck, Torso, Limbs and god knows what else. It has got to be one of the most labourous things a Poser user has to do, and I'm amazed Poser got past Poser 5 without them implementing something to make it automatically sync material edits across all skin zones of the figure.

I'm on Poser 10 here for crying out loud, and it still doesn't do that!!!

[FOAMS AT THE FREAKIN' MOUTH]

Sorry Rhia, missed your post. I'm not doing it in the UAC area now, unless the Desktop is classed as UAC area as well. I'll give it one last try, but I need to know how, when I use a Runtime located on my Desktop, does Poser know to look there for the plugins and not the usual place?

That really is the only other thing I can imagine would have any influence over the installation.

I made VSS (long ago) to be a tool to automatically copy mats between Head, Neck, Torso, Limbs, and god knows what else. (But keep the image textures as is!)

I offered a skin shader with it as well but that was never the point. I haven't touched it in years, but if you want it:

VSS Home Page

The second download link on that page is a document explaining most things.

EZSkin 3 PDF Instructions specifically states that although scripts prefer to be placed in the main Poser runtime, EZSkin 3, in particular, can be run just about anywhere. I recently set up a 'new' computer with a fresh Poser 11 install and EZSkin 3 directly within the main runtime. Running the script several times has not triggered any errors on my system. Windows 10 is the OS. Now, I noticed a mention of Poser 10 using EZSkin 3; wasn't EZSkin 3 developed for Poser 2014? If using Poser 10, shouldn't you be using the original EZSkin script, not the latest iteration?

As for Poser searching for scripts located in other runtimes, you should use the run script feature under Files, not from the Contextual menu under scripts.

@Bagginsbill - Ted, you're a bloody life saver! Funny enough I was only on your site a few days back to download some of your stuff. Picked up EZMat, EZDome and BB_Ocean, all just waiting to be installed. I hadn't checked out VSS, or if I did I must have got distracted. I'll get it downloaded along with that HDRI maker for making HDR maps inside Poser. I did try that HDRI maker probe thing last time I had Poser installed, but didn't get very far with it no doubt due to me doing something wrong, then got distracted by Blender, so never got around to making use of it.

I'll have to binge-download everything on your site and make damn sure I learn it all this time, especially since I'm in Firefly Worship mode right now, though I have to say, BB_Anamorphic is sorely missing for Firefly, kinda like a great big void of awesomeness that should be there, but isn't!

@hborre - You might have hit the nail on the head right there, cause yep, I'm using Poser 10. I just assumed that EZSkin 3 was the latest and was updated so that it would also work with the newer versions of Poser. I'll give EZSkin 2 a try then, cause even with BB's material sync thing, EZSkin would still come in handy for seeing what sort of node setups it creates for the skin. Same with that PBR-Emulator thing I mentioned in the other thread, I intend to see what I can learn from the node setups it creates.

EZSkin 3 IS the latest but Poser 10 is NOT the latest Poser version. EZSkin3 was done when Superfly was implemented.

Yes I know

Hey Ted, no wonder I never knew about VSS, I cannot find it on your main site, so how come you didn't add it there with the rest of your stuff?

My apologies for mixing things up in my previous post. For some reason I keep getting your plugin names mixed-up with the stuff Snarly produces. There's a whole bunch of stuff on your site I need to download and play with, all of it in fact, cause for some reason, much as I love it, Firefly is something that often has me scratchig my head over the simplest things, stuff I really shouldn't need to be scratching my head over, and wouldn't be in other renderers - something I need to grasp.

Anyway, just got VSS downloaded and I have to say, the first page of the VSS PDF user guide is looking very promising, and has encouraged me to read further

Sigh, dunno what I'm doing wrong here, this is the third thing I've had problems installing that I never would have with Windows 7. I tell ya, just about had enough of this Windows 10 garbage. I followed the steps stated below, installing to a Runtime placed on the Desktop so that I don't get UAC problems.

• 1. Load a figure << DONE AND IT WORKED!
• 1. Load some mats on it as you always do - mat pose, whatever. Doesn't matter if they're crap shaders - just get the image maps in there in the right places. VSS will blow the shaders away! <<< DONE AND IT WORKED!
• 1. Load a VSS control prop. <<< DONE AND IT WORKED!
• 1. Run vssMainButtons.py to load up your python buttons. <<< DONE ...

... but I don't see any buttons, where are the buttons?

@Retrowave Tried this script? Lots of python scripts doesn't work in the new Rendo version since the build number sequence is changed.

AVFix

Cheers, Ghostman, but I'm on Poser 10 so it can't be that!

Retrowave posted at 7:44PM Sun, 08 March 2020 - #4382909

Cheers, Ghostman, but I'm on Poser 10 so it can't be that!

Ah ok. Thought you was. Besides. I've never had any problems my self installing stuff in the poser program folder. UAC is only something MS have for people that doesn't know how to operate. ;)

Yeah but you can't turn the damn thing off. I used Windows 7 for well over a decade, and never once failed to be able to install something and I had the slider set to minimum on that as well. I don't have any doubt at all that the problems I'm having are down to those unaccountable establishment tossers at Microsoft.

Retrowave posted at 3:16PM Sun, 08 March 2020 - #4382885

... but I don't see any buttons, where are the buttons?

menu Window/Python Scripts

These buttons were all we had back in 2008

Ah man, I see them now, cheers Ted!!!

Right, I'm off to have some fun with this, and actually, I think I might have already confirmed something vital even before starting, just through reading the opening pages of that manual. I used to think that Firefly was cursed with what I call the plastic look. But then again when I see it in the hands of people like yourself it loses that look. Raydream Studio (Now Carrara) also seemed to suffer from it unless it was is capable hands. I'm pretty sure now more than ever, that it has something to do with Fresnel. It's as if there is a calculation not getting done unless the user specifically 'nodes' it in.

Whatever it is, Bryce does it automatically, but Carrara/RDS and Firefly seem to handle it differently.

I've been tempted to ask you about it quite a few times now, but held back cause I was so bloody determined to work it out. But definitely, reading the description of Fresnel in that user guide made me think the same again, it must have something to do with Fresnel. Anyway, off to have some fun now, much appreciated!

Good luck. Soon you will realize that VSS will need tweaking when you begin changing figures and props with different material zones not available in VSS setup. It has been several years since I used VSS, it's fun and frustrating at the same time.

Retrowave posted at 9:05PM Sun, 08 March 2020 - #4382796

Thanks both, but I did read the instructions

I'm wondering if it has something to do with Windows and that damned UAC thing. The instructions said to put it in the same Runtime Scripts folder destination that was installed along with Poser itself. Unfortunately, that is in the UAC area of Windows, and it's a problem that stopped the DAZ Install Manager from working the other day, so it might be stopping this from working as well.

I'll reinstall, but I'm pretty sure I followed the instructions correctly. If it doesn't work next time, I'll just have to see if it works by installing the script to a Runtime that is not located in the UAC area of Windows.

EZSkin 3 is not designed to run in Poser 10 - you need EZSkin 2 for that. The 'RendererRootNode' function didn't exist in Poser 10, which is why you are getting the error. BB's VSS is a great tool, or you can use my MATHelper (see bottom left panel of the attached screen shot).

@All - Well I've got a whole bunch of positive stuff to say for a change

First of all, I've been using VSS and good god, lol, look a the bloody nodes on that! Haven't a clue why a lot of what it is doing, is doing what it's doing (due to it being math stuff), but I have been able to decode some of what is going on and will do what I can to figure out some of the math stuff though swapping the math with images etc (some might be surprised what sort of understanding such basic experimentation practice can reveal). I'm a bit confised as to the sych thing though. If I select the prop, there is no material stuff to edit. If I select the skin of V4, all of the nodes show up, I edit them, click synchronize and the whole figure just goes back to how it was before I edited it. One other thing I'm unsure about is how to make the VSS buttons stick to that button pallette so that they are always there. Is that even possible?

@hborre - Cheers, I think I'm gonna need it

@Snarly - Thanks for posting that, it is absolutely EXACTLY the sort of tool I wanted, I mean llterally spot-on! I hadn't gotten around to trying EZSkin 2 since I started looking into VSS, but now I know the problem I will get it downloaded so that I can take a butchers at your node setups as well - hehe! Just one problem though, you are suffering from the same illness as Ted, it's a common illness among Poser tool creators and is called "It exists but is not listed on my main website" syndrome!

I did notice, however, that you left a message there saying to ask for any other stuff needing to be uploaded. So here's sending some friendly snarly noises at you, asking you to upload MATHelper so that I can download it!

SnarrlllghghgrahahahagehheMATHelperrrghghgghgrrrahDownloadgrrricah

I did notice, however, that you left a message there saying to ask for any other stuff needing to be uploaded. So here's sending some friendly snarly noises at you, asking you to upload MATHelper so that I can download it!

I can (and shall) upload MATHelper when I get home tonight. This reason it's not there at the moment is because I incorporated all of its functionality into the more powerful EZMat, which I think you already have?

Thanks very much, Snarly, it's very much appreciated. I did download EZMat, but haven't installed it yet due to playing with VSS. I will of course do so but looking at the folder structure it looks like a material generator as well. I think at this point, I had better explain something so that hopefully neither yourself or Ted think I'm on drugs.

There are two aspects to me wanting the specific things I am wanting. One aspect is to simply learn from the node structures, and the other is to make life easier through having a way to synch any node network I come up with, across all skin zones of the figure. This is why I have interest in VSS and EZMat, but no interest in using them in the way they were designed to be used. That's why MATHelper is spot-on, cause from the screenshots it appears to be purely a tool for synchronising and managing materials and material zones. The end goal, is that I learn whatever I can from your's and Ted's skin nodes, so that once I have that knowledge, I can just build my own node networks and use MATHelper to synch them across the figure to make life easier.

That's the best way I can describe it. My apologies though, to those who have been reading this thread. I can imagine it all seems a bit chaotic. Unfortunately, I never did keep up with what was going on with any of these tools in the past, which is why I'm so bloody clueless about them today. The only exposure I had to Poser Python scripts were the built in ones, which of course always worked cause they were already installed, so I never had to deal with any of the peculiarities of third party install until now.

Anyway, I hope that explains some of the scatter-brained craziness you must all be seeing from me

There is an extensive forum discussion on VSS posted years ago when BB introduced it. There might have been a similar one at RDNA but that is entirely gone now.

@ Snarly: Will EZMat and MATHelper work with the current Poser 11? I was contemplating installing EZMat but there maybe scripts in there that no longer work with Superfly.

Aye, and it makes me wonder if they even gave him a chance to back it all up before removing it. I've been reading some of the links on here provided on the VSS webpage, so not all is lost regards VSS, but I remember what you mean, he had his very own forum space on there.

MATHelper has been uploaded…

hborre posted at 6:31PM Mon, 09 March 2020 - #4382993

There is an extensive forum discussion on VSS posted years ago when BB introduced it. There might have been a similar one at RDNA but that is entirely gone now.

@ Snarly: Will EZMat and MATHelper work with the current Poser 11? I was contemplating installing EZMat but there maybe scripts in there that no longer work with Superfly.

They do work, but I wouldn't recommend using them. I still use them, but I know how to do so safely.

They only work with Firefly shaders. They are liable to delete Superfly shaders without warning, if they are connected to a Cycles root node (it thinks they are orphans) They assume that there is a PoserSurface node and that it is the first node in the shader tree.

If you can work within those constraints then the scripts may still be useful. Otherwise, steer clear of them :)

I've been working on some new P11 scripts, and P11 versions of old scripts, but as I no longer have sufficient time to support them it's unlikely that they will be released. However, we'll see what the future holds.

Thanks a lot, Snarly, but which directory should I put the .py file into, and which directory for the .pyc file?

Retrowave posted at 7:48PM Mon, 09 March 2020 - #4383023

Thanks a lot, Snarly, but which directory should I put the .py file into, and which directory for the .pyc file?

Anywhere you like - it will run from any location. If you put it into the main scriptsMenu folder (Poser Software\Poser 11\Runtime\Python\poserScripts\ScriptsMenu)it will appear in the Poser menu which will make life easier, but it isn't necessary to do so. You only need the .pyc OR the .py - the .py is just the source code for the compiled .pyc

Cheers mate, I even learnt a bit about Python files in that reply

I thought I posted here, but apparently not.  Odd.

At any rate, I apologize (again) for reviving this dead topic, in the hope that someone can help me.

I don't want to bother SnarlyGribbly if I can avoid it.  He's earned his retirement.  But I cannot get EZ Skin3 to work for me in Poser 11 OR Poser 12 .  I thought I understood how to install it, and I've tried several different locations for the supplemental folders in case that was somehow a problem.  (I created the Custom Engines folder on my L: drive, where the vast majority of my Poser content lives in various runtimes.)

My symptoms are decidedly uninformative:  I open the Scripts Menu, click on EZ Skin3, and the menu disappears.  That's it.  No error messages, no popups, no buttons appear in the Python window when I open it.  I am using the current versions of Poser 11 and Poser 12, and I use the "more than famous" Windows 10, also kept up to date.

I got both P11 and 12 and wonder the same thing.  I haven’t tried the EZSkin 3.+ on version 12.

The script must reside in the main Poser runtime otherwise it will not run properly.  Also, the P11 EZSkin will not run in P12.  This is the location to download the latest versions of Snarly's scripts that have been modified to run in P12.  https://cobrablade.net/snarlygribbly/poser.html

Thalek posted at 12:33 AM Sun, 12 June 2022 - #4439878

I thought I posted here, but apparently not.  Odd.

At any rate, I apologize (again) for reviving this dead topic, in the hope that someone can help me.

I don't want to bother SnarlyGribbly if I can avoid it.  He's earned his retirement.  But I cannot get EZ Skin3 to work for me in Poser 11 OR Poser 12 .  I thought I understood how to install it, and I've tried several different locations for the supplemental folders in case that was somehow a problem.  (I created the Custom Engines folder on my L: drive, where the vast majority of my Poser content lives in various runtimes.)

My symptoms are decidedly uninformative:  I open the Scripts Menu, click on EZ Skin3, and the menu disappears.  That's it.  No error messages, no popups, no buttons appear in the Python window when I open it.  I am using the current versions of Poser 11 and Poser 12, and I use the "more than famous" Windows 10, also kept up to date.

When it comes to EZSkin: P11's version is the original, as delivered by SnarlyGribbly. As mentionned by hboore, there's over there  an updated version for P12, maintained by me. It's plain Python3 source code, and you may drop it wherever you want, just not in the same directory as the P11's version.

Then, launch it and explain to EZSkin3 where you put the remaining plugins etc...
In my case, Poser12 is on its own drive: P:\Poser.... and the... "rest" of EZSkin3 is elsewhere:

My P11's version of EZSkin3 is near P12's version:

I'm taking this step by step.  So, first, I cleared out all EZ Skin3 installations.  Then I installed the Poser 11 version (good thing to point out that the Poser 11 and Poser 12 versions don't interchange).

Then I ran it from the scripts menu.  Well, I tried.  Same result.  So I tried to manually run the script from the Poser Files menu instead.  THAT worked.  At that point, I specified Custom Engines, imported legacy definitions and presets.  Shut everything down again.  Loaded P11 again, and tried to run EZ Skin from the Scripts Menu.  No go.

On a hunch, I ran P11 from the Start Menu instead of the Task Bar.  That was actually worse: it loudly declaimed "

Failed to load URL http://127.0.0.1:11530/nonVirtualAssets/ContentLibrary-1.9.11/release-1.9.11/ContentLibrary/ContentLibrary.html with error (-401)."

Summary:  I can only run EZSkin3 manually.  I am now going to install the P12 version and try the same experiments.

In process on the Poser 12 installation.  It should be noted that the installation text file still refers to moving the contents of  the  'Custom shaders' folder into the Custom Engines folder; I think it is actually referring to the 'Engines' folder in the zip file.

To my pleased surprise, 3.1 DOES run from Scripts Menu in P12.  No idea what I did wrong the first time.  Did the same things: imported the definitions and presets.  I'm now going to delete the .pyc file and install the updated files from the latest P12 update and see how that goes.

And the newest version also works from the Scripts Menu.  I'm probably not the first person to report that none of the EZSkin 3 versions respond to the close window; one has to click on the close icon within the app itself instead.

I want to thank you for your help. It appears that as I get older, I confuse a bit more easily, and this one (especially the peculiar behavior of the Poser 11 version) was confusing to start with.

[sigh]  And if I'd taken the opportunity to read the manual, I would have known about the Close button being disabled . . . .

I don't know if it has any influences buton my PC, both Poser versions share partially the same Python scripts toolbox, but of course with dedicated parts. And my part of the Python Scripts toolbox is not launched from one of Poser's content runtime but from another which is shared, too (Sasha-16's runtime, in fact)

Your guess is probably better than mine.  I have no idea why one would work and one wouldn't, especially as I can launch other scripts from the P11 Script Menu.  I was just grateful to learn that there was a workaround, if needed.