I'm wondering why some people use so many lights (turned off) when making light files? Is there a purpose for this and if so, what is it? Another thing I can't figure out is some of these lights won't go away when you try to switch to a different set. You get the new set plus the turned off lights from the previous set (why won't they go away?). Which brings up my last question...Is there some easy way to make these pesky lights go away or is deleting them manually the only way? I'm not critizing the creators of these sets, but would just like to know what the purpose is.

There is no automatic way to remove ANYTHING in Poser. Not lights, not props, not figures, not anything. Anything you want to remove must be removed manually. The feature simply does not exist in Poser.

its a poser bug - as you load newer light sets, if the lights have different names, instead of replacing the old lights it will create new lights and turn the old ones off. it also may transfer targetting information from the old set to the new set, thereby messing up your presets. as for some people 'using' so many lights in commercial or freestuff light sets - oftentimes they just do not delete all of these junk lights from the scene. other times, the lights are actually on, just at a very low intensity. for example, in my proluma light set, i have 24+ lights in the global illumination presets, and they all look 'off'. theyre not, though - theyre set at a very low intensity. as for deleting all lights in a scene - there really is no way to do it easily in poser standard. in propack, you can write a quick python script that will delete all the lights in a scene for you, or even change their intensities, orientation, etc. there are some of these in freestuff, i believe - so if you have propack then grab em. if you DONT have propack, get it ;) its really superior - and the renderer is improved as well, which isnt even in its documented features. i can usually spot wether a render is propack or standard - and if you render the same scene in each program, you will see a large difference. also the split viewports, max/lw plugins, little tweaks and python scripting make it well worth it. cheers, -gabriel

I think Propack has a python script, but I can't remember who's it is

crossposted..... sorry BH

ill forgive ya, judith.. this time... the next time, ill have to punish ya ;)

Whew, thanks. I was worried. ;) Your post had much more valuable info in it anyway. I've got Propack on my list.... just no money left at the end of the bills. One of these days though!

Poser originated how long ago? A decade? And when did we seriously start using multiple banks of lights? Last year? It might not have occured to the designers that we'd try to replicate the scattered effect of outdoor lighting by packing a dome wall-to-wall with low-level lights. Those guys are pretty darned smart, but we outnumber them. (How many members in this forum? Many of whom are conspiring to outdo each other as inventor of the year?) And given body-handles, ERCs, MAT poses, and global lighting in the last year alone, the crew at CuriousLabs is probably trying to get P5 out BEFORE we come up with something else to confuse the program. If I came up with a way to make a train on a robe or gown flow downstairs behind a lady... do you think I'd wait for the upgrade to see if it was compatible? Right. Un-huh. I'd be showing it off before the pixels were fully dried and set. Then dodge the complaints. Priorities. ;^) I think we are making our own problems while we are just trying to be helpful. Carolly

"CuriousLabs is probably trying to get P5 out BEFORE we come up with something else to confuse the program." Too late, EMC conforming. A figure that looks and follows like a conformed figure, but remains poseable. That way you can tweak the pose of the conformed item with out parts flying off. I haven't documented how it works, but it's based on EMC. The Nerd Curls use it to retain Posability and still conform.

The Python scripts are Reset Light and Clean Up Lights and are from Laurent Alquier. They are available in Freestuff and really worth the download - but only usable for ProPack owners.

Thanks for the input everybody...I guess I either delete them manually or upgrade to propack. In any case, I now know the answer to all my less than brilliant questions. :-)

::chuckle wryly:: at Nerd. "Nerd Curls", huh? Dare I slip past your website again? Being able to tweak the pose would be very handy for decorative manes and tails, among other things. Carolly

~g~ erc is also what Ajax uses for the "Easy Pose" he has a full tutorial on thralldom for making props with it. as for lights, I use Vue to render, as at most two lights needed, the main sun/moon light and a point light or two for effects..light glowing streetlights. instead of playing around with huge quantities of lights in poser, work with terrain generators to render, they usually have a lot better rendering engine, as terrains are extremely complex objects, the lighting needs to be global, so it is set up that way. just wish terragen was up to importing obj's ect...there is the best renderer I have seen. Stormrage has looked at it and agrees, best rendering engine out there. cull's backfaces of objects, since they won't be visible or affect the scene, and renders from horizon towards the camera.