I have a question about the obj files. This may be very basic, but I still not very clear, so I ask help again. I knew that poser will smooth the sharp edges of the mesh, and to keep the sharp edges, there must be two edges being very close. This gave me an idea, if I don!|t have the two close edge, I will have a smooth edge, only smooth edges and nothing else. So I made a test. I used max to make a cylinder with 8 sides, and import into poser, I got the result in the picture. The no.1 cylinder is what I have. You can see the dark color near the bottom, it is not inverted normal, or two sided material. I don't give any material to it. And I go back in max, extrude the top and bottom with 0.1. This time, I got the result of no.2. The black color was gone. No.3 in the prop that comes with poser, I put it there as reference. I have the same black color on another obj and ask here before, Phil c and some other friends here giving me many help. I try and try, finally go to the question above. So, I need to add another edge to avoid the black color, even though I don!|t need to keep the sharp edge? It is very annoying that when there is top and bottom, I need to extrude the face. Can someone tell me what should I do?

Attached Link: http://www.uvmapper.com

I'm not sure I understand whether you want sharp edges or not. But the best thing you can do to improve any obj file, is run it through uv mapper. Did you import to Poser in obj format? I use max and this is what I do. Export from max as a 3ds file, import to poser and get the size right, export as an obj, then open the obj in uv mapper and use 'split vertices' to give me sharp sides. Then I re-export the obj WITHOUT normals (Poser ignores normals) to cut down the file size and open it in poser with all options off. This may seem a long way to do it, but it works for me, I've had nothing but trouble exporting obj from max. mac PS uv mapper is free. See link.

Just one other thing. Why all this talk of extruding? Are you using splines? Why don't you just use the cylinder object in max? mac

If you want rounded edges, bevel the ends gradually. A 90 degree edge can't smooth, no matter how hard Poser tries. It is, in fact, trying, which gives you black edges.

Sorry for my bad English and the confusing question. I used max to make some models and export as obj by the max to obj plugin, then import into poser. I dont care the edges sharp or not, I just dont want to have the black color as shown in no.1. The no.1 cylinder is a primitive cylinder I made from max, and I got the black color. So if poser cant smooth a 90degree edge, I need to use uvmapper to 'split vertices' to every model that I want to use in poser?

Instead of extruding the ends, have you tried just splitting the model into tube + end caps? in other words, separate the end caps so that they are disc-shaped groups disconnected from the body of the cylinder. The vertices on around the edge of each disc will just overlap those around the rim of the "tube", but they will be separate. I'm curious how that would look. -Adam

Attached Link: http://http://www.renderosity.com/~syyd/tuts/impexmax/impexmax.htm

OK. The image shows you what you need to do. The top left cylinder was made in max (8 sides) using the cylinder primitive. The top right is an extruded spline. Both were exported as obj files using the Habware plug-in, opened in Poser and rendered as they were. Below you can see the same 2 cylinders after uv mapping. I opened them in uv mapper, used 'split vertices', made a basic map, then imported them into poser and rendered. You can see the difference. I also did the same thing exporting from max as 3ds instead of obj and the results were identical. I just prefer to use 3ds, because I can control the size, but it makes no difference. Below is a link that shows you the exact settings to use when exporting an obj from max. Also, if you export an obj from poser you must uncheck all options on the export dialog box, (unless you're making a figure or morph), and if you re-import that obj, uncheck all options again. Hope this all helps. Any problems, let me know.

Thx! maclean, I think u just give me the answer, I can't just export from max and import poser, and get away from the black color.... I must do something in uvmapper before using in poser , right ?

Right. Anyway, UV Mapper is an essential program to have if you do anything at with objs or modelling. Max's own mapping is a pain. And UV Mapper can sort out all sorts of problems even with stuff you download, just by running the obj through it. Plus, it's free. mac