Hello, I'm interested in making models in 3DS Max, specifically room sets (living rooms, classrooms, etc) and then having them for use in Poser in the 3DS format. Can anyone give me tips on how to do certain things like getting the scaling just right for the Poser figures, and having all the textures available in Poser. Also I tried this once with a complex tavern scene and it seemed a lot of the walls and props were missing when it was converted. Any ideas on that one? Thanks for any assistance!

Te first thing to do is use the OBJ format, the texture coordinates are kept better that way; there are Habware plugins called obj2max and max2obj that allow you to import and export obj files. When using it, make sure that when you export obj's you have it set to have ten digit coordinates. Then import a poser figure to use for scale comparison, but when importing and exporting, import with a scale of 100 and export with a scale of .01, or everything will be too small to work with; the P4 dork, for example, is about .7 units tall. However, if exporting a posable figure, scale it before exporting, as the habware plugin doesn't scale things properly. As for some of the walls not showing, that could be caused by reversed polygons. They will show when rendering, but not when simply present in the scene with document display modes.

Thanks for the advice Valandar. One question though, why do I see so many models available in the 3DS format for use in Poser? Is there some advantage of using this format over OBJ ?

Only one major one - size. An obj is a text format, that can by hand-coded if need be, so it takes up a LOT more space than a similar amount of polygons and other information found in a .3ds file

I'll send you a FREE set of "Scale" props for Poser. cheers, dr geep ;=]

Isn't it true: Poser converts 3DS to OBJ for its own use? Taking it in as OBJ gives you control over the mesh without any intrepretation by Poser? It does keep the 3DS texturing, but the nominclature is so strange. For inorganic props, the smoothing function in Poser must be taken into account also. If you can model in OBJ, you probably should, if the prop is intended for Poser.

Thanks again guys, and geep, I sent you an email. :)

Props should be on their way to you. dg ;=]