How do you guys go into making props for Poser? Do you use other 3D programs like Lightwave, Maya, or 3D Studio Max? Or do you make them in Poser with magnets and waves? Are there any tutorials on making props out there?

We make our props in another 3D program. Never made a prop in poser but I know some talented people do. Sharen

Ok, that's what I wanted to know. Thanks a whole bunch, Sharen.

There's a free modeling program called Anim8or that's pretty easy to use. May want to do a websearch for that if you don't already have a high-end program.

Attached Link: http://www.openfx.org

I use AC3D mostly (because it was made primarily for Linux), but there's an awesome free modelling and animation program out there called OpenFX (link above) - it's still got some small bugs in it for certain functions, but it works great, and lets you save your animations in a huge variety of formats. /P

I use Amapi 3D, - there is a free version which you can find a link to in the Amapi forum. Britt

I primarily use MilkShape and other freeware/shareware modelling tools, but I can recommend trueSpace as an inexpensive modeller/renderer/animation package.

I saw Anim8or the other day, but it seemed kinda weak. I don't know, maybe I'm just overreacting or something. But yeah, I have 3D Studio Max, and I could make props there, but the thing is, how then, do I export them to Poser? Do I need a plugin or something?

Nah - Poser can import from .3ds files (not .max, though... so be careful.) Wish I could afford a copy of Max for the house :/ /P

Oh, it can? I'll HAVE to try that! Yay! I can make my props, then! And yeah, Max is one helluva expensive program. I got mine as a graduation gift from my dad. That's better than a car!

If i had have a powerfull MAX-version i think i would import poser-scenes in MAX then reversed, but have only a old MAX1.2-version. But anyway, you should take a look at the listet sites below. There where a lot of MAX-Plugins. One is called "MAX2OBJ", this is the one you need to export Max-files as Wavefront-objects which can be used as props in Poser. MAX3-Plugins MAX4-Plugins And the direct DL-Link for MAX2OBJ is: MAX2OBJ Hope this helps. SHARKEY

Penguinisto, have you tried gmax yet? It essentially has the same interface as 3DS Max, and is much more affordable.

The only catch is that it uses a proprietary save format, with limited export plugins (currently, Quake 3 only). But you can use MilkShape or LithUnwrap to convert from Q3 to .3ds or .obj format.

Thanks for the links, Robert. They're helpful enough. Now, another question: if I import a Poser model (let's say Victoria) into 3D Studio, will it be imported as a mesh only? Or will it be imported as a mesh WITH the skeleton?

It imports as a splittet mesh by groups with assigned materials. You can't pose it in MAX. This had to be done in Poser and then the figure has to be exported from Poser as object and then imported into MAX. What i know had Poser-ProPack a plugin especially for this.

LD - I forgot about Milkshape's little plugin for .gmax files!~ Argh! I was playing w/ gmax Friday, but I uninstalled it because I didn't feel like paying a ton of cash for the exportable version! But yeah, from what little I've seen, gmax is nice! I've got Milkshape, just not the .gmax plugin for it (I use Milkshape for Unreal Tournament stuff.) Glad I kept the install proggy, but I'm still leary of the spyware aspect of gmax... (the cookie requirement thing) /P