I am trying to turn several different objects into a figure in Poser 10.

It's a very simple figure where I do not want the objects to be welded together, nor do I need any weighting.  It's four pieces of a dangling earring that I want to articulate.

I have the four parts loaded, placed, and parented in order.  I have tried to go to the Hierarchy Editor with the top piece selected to click Create Figure- it will ask me for a figure name multiple times then not create a figure.

What is maddening is that I know I have done this successfully before (with a door), having read easy instructions to do it in someone else's thread on this forum.  That's the kind of thing I should have bookmarked, but apparently I didn't.

There are a lot of ways to get from a bunch of loose objects to a figure. Some require tools outside poser. This method is one of several all-Poser techniques. You can do this using the Hierarchy Editor. This technique doesn't create a conforming figure. That's quite a bit more involved.

First you'll want to create props with appropriate internal names in their geometry. This isn't strictly necessary but it is good habit to start with the right names.

1. Load an position the props where you want them in the scene.

2. Open the group tool and select the first prop.

3. Create a new polygon group for the prop give it the name that will be your prop's body part name (LeftEarring1).

4. Add all the polygons to the new group.

5. [Create Prop] (NOT Spawn Props)

6. Delete the original prop.

Save your scene. Now repeat steps 2-6 for all the props you want to make into the figure. Now you need to set the hierarchy of the figure.

7. Open the Hierarchy Editor

8. Drag and drop the parts so they are parented in the order your new figure will need.

9. (Optional) Check [ x ] Show Parameters on the Hierarchy Editor.

10. (Optional) drag and drop the rotation dials to set the bending order for each body part the top one in the list will become a twist dial.

Save your scene. Now it's time to create the figure

11. Select the "root" of your figure, the top object in the figure shown in Hierarchy.

12. [Create New Figure] on Hierarchy.

13. Give it a name and [OK]

14. Start a new scene.

15. In the library go to the figures category > New figures then load your new figure.

16. (Optional) Use the Joint Editor to adjust the center of rotation for each body part.

17. (Optional) Use the Joint Editor to setup weights maps.

18. (Optional) If you don't need bending like with a mechanical figure. Select the body of the figure and un-check "Bend" on the Properties tab.

19. Re-save the new figure to an appropriate folder in the Poser Library. (Resave the figure even if you didn't change anything.)

20. If Poser prompts for a location to store the .OBJ file choose "Geometries folder".

This thread needs to be bookmarked !

@nerd has provided real treasure for all Poser users who are rigging multi-part figures.  I feel that step 16 is important for rigging BJDs comprised of different parts,as I have done in the past (but not the weight mapping because BJD body parts are stiff).  Kudos !! 👍

I stickied it so it will stick around for a while.

Thank you for this info Now saved as A PDF in my file system for Poser.

Thank you so much, Nerd.

Thank you for the detailed reply with illustrations.  I have definitely bookmarked this one.

Let's take this one step further. How to cut-up a geometry so it will work in a Poser figure.

Before we even start there are some rules about the body parts in figures that you have to follow. This is probably the most fiddly part of making a figure.

#1 The only parts that can share a common border are parents and children.

#2 Sibling body parts (left collar and right collar) can not share a border.

#3 Grand parents can't share a border with grand children.

#4 A polygon can not be in multiple groups.

#5 Every polygon must be in a group.

#6 Polygon group must be contiguous. (no islands)

#7 Save at every step of the way. A lot of these steps can't be un-done.

This poor donkey came through support recently and I though it was a good example of how to make a Poser rig. The imported figure basically falls apart when posed. If you look at the groups it becomes obvious.

This particular import managed to break pretty much every rule. The "chest" borders 4 of it's grand parents. That 4-corners connection in the middle of the neck. That's 4 segments of the neck so that's never going to work.

OK so how should it be?

In some case you can fix the groups by adding and removing a few polygons in the setup room. Not this case it's just too scrambled up. So we'll need a group it manually.

Import the OBJ for the figure.

Open the group tool.

Delete all the groups.

Now click [New Group] and type the name of the first group. "hip" this will become the name of the body part.

Might as well learn Poser's weird body part naming conventions. There are several body parts with weird internal names. You can see this by looking at the internal names of any figure. And yes the "Shldr" and "foreArm" are really spelled that way.

Switch to wireframe view and use one of the side view cameras to select the hip polygons. Use the wire frame view because that allows you to select hidden and back facing polygons.

Be careful to completely surround any body parts what will be a child of the hip (legs and tail)

Now switch to a solid view so your polygon selections will not select the back facing polygons.

Now create the next group, This will be the first appendage. It can only border the hip, it's parent body part.

You're probably thinking you have to super careful so the first tail and hip parts don't over lap. Nope. Select way more for the first group of the tail than you  need

Now on the group tool check the "Show multigrouped faces". The over lap is really obvious now.

But you can't edit the faces in this view. No matter there's a super easy fix. Turn off "Show Multigrouped faces"

Click Remove > Group > hip

now the tail group is perfectly matched to the hip. If you choose "Show Multigrouped faces" now there should be nothing.

Now let's raise the complexity a notch. Let's introduce symmetry. The figure's limb groups should be symmetrical. Here's how to make left and right sides match.

Create a group for "thighs" this group will be temporary.

Add too much so the thighs group over laps the hip then Remove > Group > hip just like the tail.

Now you have both thighs in a group.

Create a new group for each thigh "lThigh" and "rThigh".

On the Group tool select Add > Group > thighs.

Switch to wire frame again and position the camera so you can clearly see the two legs.

Remove the polygons in the opposite leg. ([Ctrl] + Left Mouse will subtract polygons)

Repeat for the opposite leg.

Delete the temp group "Thighs"

Now work your way down each leg creating the appropriate groups, lShin/rShin and lFoot/rFoot.

Periodically you should check Show multigrouped faces to make sure you haven't accidentally double grouped facets.

When you get to the feet we can try an easier way to make symmetry.

Create the groups for both feet. In the left foot add the appropriate polygons.

Select the right foot.

Add > Group > lFoot

Modify > Mirror > +X to -X

Remove > Group > lFoot

Now you have two identical feet.

Use these techniques to group the rest of the figure.

When you think you're done look at both "Show multigrouped faces" and "Show non-grouped faces" Both of these should be completely empty.

If they're not go back and fix the groups so every face is in exactly one group.

Once you have all the body parts grouped, on the group tool choose [Spawn props]

Delete (or hide) the original geometry.

I colored the props so you can clearly see how I grouped this figure.

Now use the Hierarchy editor to sort the spawned props in the order they should be, Just like with the simple prop figure. There's just more parts.

Then [Create New Figure] just like the prop figure.The new figure will be in the Figures > New figures category of the library.

This time you will definitely need to adjust joint centers and weight maps.

Hopefully this will help somebody.