Sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum. Maybe 3D apps would have been better, but I decided the applicability to Poser was more important. I've seen several questions in here about using Poser and trueSpace. I was just able to create a Poser morph target using trueSpace. I've been trying out a program called 3D Exploration, and the program's author has been quite responsive and helpful. He added two minor features that helped with the morph target work: A way to disable automatic centering of converted objects, and a way to more easily do reversible scaling (make it bigger for convenient trueSpace manipulation, then shrink it back to exactly the correct scale for Poser). He even made one of the change before I'd even bought the program! I thought that was awfully good service for a $40 program. I've also found the browsing features handy for searching through all the object file goodies I've downloaded over the years. Jude

I use Truespace and have never got it to work with morphs for Poser, I'd be very interested to hear more details Jude. PhilC pcooke@mis.net

PhilC, would I be correct in thinking you use trueSpace for making your conforming clothes for Poser? I recently bought tS3 and have been learning how to use it the last several days when time permits. So far I like what I see. What version of tS do you have? Larry F

Yes I have TS 4 . I found it suited me. I liked the way the views are arranged so that I can clearly see what I am working on. Everything up to my Robe figure was created in version 2

PhilC, thanks for that. In a bit I'm going to try my hand at making some conforming clothes. Will probably want to pick your brain a time or two. Very impressed with what you have done and do. Larry F

Hey Phil, I've been using Polytrans to go back and forth between Poser 4 and TS 4. What I've found is this: TS can be used with little problem it make morph targets for every part of the body except the head. I think it's because the head is really a compound piece consisting of head, inner mouth, tounge, and teeth. What I think is happening when the head is converted to COB format, is that the common vertexes where these different parts join are being doubled. This results in additional vertexes and an unusable morph target.

Polytrans? wassat? :)

You've never heard of Polytrans? I thought everyone had. Sorry! It's pretty much the top universal 3D format translator from a company called, "Okino Softeare". Converts almost everything into everything else. Does batch conversion. Converts bitmap textures to the right format for the model. Gives you great options for breaking a model apart. The guy who wrote it does his own support and is very responsive. Go to http://www.okino.com/ The retail's about $400, but I've seen it cheaper. SMT

Ahhh muchos gratios .... err lend me $400? :))

"Okino softEARe" that's funny! :-) Should be "SoftWARE". SMT

Hi PhilC, I got the program from http://www.xdsoft.com/ It's trialware, and I think it's fully functional even when unregistered. It just has a nag screen that comes up every time you do a save. It doesn't look like a program for converting object formats. The UI is more oriented toward browsing. It has a rather fast draft-quality render, and will even make thumbnails from a set of object files. When you have an object file selected, you get a display with info about the object and a quick rendering. You can do a File -> Save, and that gets you to the dialog that allows you to select the desired output format, and also some options. The things that usually screw up a morph target are unwanted changes in position and scale. When trueSpace imports a .OBJ file, the default operation is to scale it to a convenient size and move it to the center of the workspace. Either spells disaster for a morph target. If you turn them off, the imported object from Poser is too small for conventient manipulation. You can scale it up, but this must be done carefully because you need to scale it back down by exactly the same amount going back to Poser. BUT - trueSpace doesn't export .OBJ, and Poser doesn't read .COB That's where 3D Exploration came in. It reads and writes both .COB and .OBJ (and a bunch more). I also has a "transform" dialog when you save that allows scaling, rotations, position shift, and shear to be done. One of the new things the author added was two more ways to specify the scaling amount. It used to have a percentage, and he added "multiply by" and "divide by". I usually use a multiply factor between 10 and 20 going from Poser to trueSpace, and I divide by the same amount going back. The other new option was a checkbox to enable/disable automatic centering of the object during conversion. Be sure to disable wheb converting morph targets. Jude More info at jude@sprynet.com

Thanks Jude, I appreciate that. I've just down loaded it now.