Okay, I've had VUE3 since Christmas but have had little more than time to peruse it a couple of times until today! Wonderful little program, I must say! Before I spend a lot of time figuring it out for myself and looking up reference, I'd like a word or two about how one applies a Poser 4 texture map to a figure once it is in VUE3. It seems I saw a thread or two about this somewhere sometime back, but can't recall exactly where, and after about two hours of just fooling with it, doing some of those snappy little tutorials in the manual (nice one) I didn't see how that was done. So: How many steps, i.e., does one save the map separately and bring it into VUE3 or merely apply it in Poser 4 (or 3) and export as OBJ and/or 3DS? If the former, where in VUE3 would one accomplish this, i.e., bring in the map? I couldn't seem to see where that was done in the materials editor (proper name for it?) but it IS 3:58 a.m., which wouldn't necessary be why I missed it. (My wife thinks the latin for this is probably something like assus dumbicus.) Of course, between finally putting together a website, this program, and some previously rather pressing personal problems, the old brain might be overworked. Thanks in advance.

This is the way to do it. I copied the explanation Greg Hess gave me last year and it works fine : Step by Step, this is how I do it: 1. Load Poser 3.1 - pose, bend accessorize and save. 2. Un-parent any separate OBJ - like hair, or boots, or dresses - that is not part of the bitmap texture. 3. Select Export - OBJ from Poser. Do NOT select "separate parts" on the export dialog box. 4. Exit Poser - Run Vue2 5. Load scene, or new scene. 6. Objects - Import - follow dialog box to OBJ to import. 7. Each Separate UV Mapped object is listed under file import name. The main group may have other sub-groups. the mapping should be applied to the parent object. For example: + Import File When clicking on the +, you may get something like this: - Import File +-figureHair +-prop.3ds_1 ++Figure 1 This indicates you have 3 separate UV mappable areas. A flipped UV map from the Poser 3RuntimeTexturesPoser 3 Textures director. Just make sure you flip them first. You can also edit the UV Map templates to create UV Maps for any of the "filters" in the material editor. When you apply the "biz woman texture.jpg" , apply it to the +Figure1 in the example above. Then a different texture for the hair, and one for the Prop - or multiple props as the case might be. good luck ! Guitta

Load the poser map file which is in *tif format into your paint program and save it as *.jpg before you import it in VUE. Some Poser versions don't need you flip the file. Just try if yes or not. Guitta

I'm off to try this out but I'll have to re-install Poser 3. Also, does this set of procedures remain the same (more or less) for VUE3 and Poser 4? Thanks again. Larry

I think, it must be the same for Poser 4. If not, try to post your question at Vue d'Esprit official Forum at http://www.artomania.de/cgi-bin/UltraBoard.pl here are some specialists POSER -> VUE Guitta

Does everyone realize that if you export from Poser 4 into Vue 3 as a 3DS file you don't have to flip the textures or even apply them manually? All you have to do is copy the textures to the same folder as the exported file, then import into Vue 3. Make sure, however, that the textures are using DOS compatible names. (8 characters or less, no spaces, no symbols or punctuation) For some strange reason Vue's 3DS importer truncates long file names and won't find the file unless it exactly matches the truncated form. Also, Vue's 3DS importer doesn't seem to like TIF files. IF you're using JPG, you're fine, If you're using TIF you're going to need to convert the files to TGA before you do the import. SMT

Hey smallspace, Thanks for the heads up here. I have a question or two I don't yet know the answer to: SO I export out of Poser 4 as a 3DS object. Does it make any difference if in Poser 4 I have loaded AND applied the texture I am going to use on, say, the Poser 4 nude male? Or should I just pose my figure, sans texture, then export as 3DS and copy whatever texture over to the same folder as the 3DS? I think this latter must be correct, just guessing though. When I export the 3DS object to the folder I'll use, I then make sure I copy my texture, say MALETEX.JPG, has a DOS compatible name, to that same folder if I understand correctly. This would mean that I couldn't or shouldn't have another texture in that same folder -- right? AND, exactly WHERE AND HOW IN VUE 3 would I load and manipulate this map? If I needed to, that is? Like in Bryce 3 you can load the texture map and -- HA! -- VIEW it! From long experience, I know I can overlook the obvious with ease, so what menu item would I select in VUE 3 and what options would that menu item offer me when selected with regard to manipulating the texture map imported from Poser 4, if any? I'm sure this is kindergarten stuff, but hey..... Thanks VERY much again! Larry

Guitta, smallspace, et al, it finally did come to me! Like in double clicking on that little texture thumbnail! That is the one step I was missing! Persistence is a wonderful thing, but instant enlightment can be just as good. Or so I've heard. THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK! I would try to blame it on too much warm California sun, but that's certainly not the case lately! Thanks again! If you ever need any verbs conjugated or your dog fed, gimme a holler. Larry

Larry, One of the nicer functions of Vue is that you have a little icon on the top tool bar that allows you to see a summary of all the materials used in the scene as little thumbnails. If you double click on any one it will open the editor for that material. This is the way to edit a material on an object that has more than one material assigned to it, such as most of the "Solid Growth" vegetation. SMT

SMT, Yes, you're so right! I'm discovering practically by the minute how much I like VUE. Like I said before, I was missing that one little step. It seems, in conjunction with Imagine, Organica, Poser, et al that VUE will help me turn some of my drawings into 3D! Gonna have a lot of fun!

Larry, maybe you will find some tricks or answers to your questions in having a look at may tutorials for beginners : http://start.at/arte Guitta

Let everyone remember that most of the Poser figures do not have 3d Studio compliant texture mapping. This comes as a result of the "Splitting" of the front and back faces. You may have noticed the distortion of the texture map about the sides if a figure exported to 3ds. I will be posting a tutorial on how to make the poser figures 3ds compliant when my Poser->3dsMax animation plugin becomes available (see 3d animators forum). Konan

Konan, Thank you. I do not have 3dsMax but I do have Poser 4 and am totally interested in having Poser figures in VUE 3. Since I figured out -- HAH! -- er, REALIZED how to get the maps themselves into VUE 3, I've been just experimenting with different texture maps. Some of the details are becoming more apparent. All in all, NICE program, VUE3 that is. Larry

I posted an explanation (of sorts) for applying P4 texmaps in Vue without flipping them beforehand awhile back. In the Material Editor select the texmap, then Mirror Y, then Offset Y by the height of the texmap. It's that easy! You can look for the original post if you want, but that's the general gist of it. (And I've long since forgotten what the post was titled :) )

BTW, Smallspace: Do you have to have the texmap in the same folder as the 3ds for Vue to map it correctly? I've been pulling my texmaps directly out of the Poser4 texture directories (which are on another drive) and I think I have to flip them even for 3ds. If I put several JPGs in the folder with the 3DS will I be able to swap them w/o the flip?