Hey Posimators, If I'm understanding the manual correctly, it looks like we might finally have some sort of ANIMATED TEXTURES in P5! In the material room there are these things called "nodes" which control the material shaders. One of the nodes is called the "movie node" which, and I quote, "allows you to add animations to materials." See page 325 of the manual. If I'm reading this correctly, it says will allow you to add an animated avi (or mpeg? quicktime? -- not sure) to a surface. There's even the ability to loop it. If this is what I think it, then it's a very BIG DEAL!! (Please correct me if I'm wrong!) This alone makes the new Firefly renderer well worth the money. I think there are lots of hidden SURPRISES like this in this new version of Poser. People who are trashing P5 (And the new renderer) so quickly drive me crazy. I think there's more here than meets the eye. We just don't know what we're doing yet. It's too new, too different from P4. By the way, I'm part of the "silent minority" of Poser animators who don't yet have a number. But I'm ten minutes into a forty-minute animated film using nothing but Poser, so I guess it's time I finally came out. --jjsemp

I saw that too, not quite sure what that would be useful for but obviously you do :) I've come to the conclusion that there will always be people who have problems with new software (two days and not a glitch for me)I suspect mac users will have smoother results, more consistant systems (Though I'd never give up my PC) with all the new dynamic features im guessing i'll have to try some animating myself.

well, the guy wandering around the city looking for the guy who ordered Poser just stumbled in the office today. I'm gonna load in a few. Aside from the manual, I thought I caught a thread back in the california dreaming days that alluded to animating materials so it wouldn't surprise me.

Animated textures can be cool - a character can turn from their normal skin tone to a vampire-Goth color. Hair should be able to change color. You can put a movie on a flat primative and have an animated background. You can also do wierd stuff. Bobasaur (7 of 12)

animated textures are useful. For example, with water you may just want to animate ripples rather than animating an actual "wavy watery mesh" which would be disgustingly huge. Or a tv screen. Or an animation of a guy turning into metal like in the matrix. Or someone turning red from embarrasment (sp?) heh, hi people. I know I haven't posted here in years. I wonder if anyone even remembers who I am grin SewerRat

How about a movie on a Drive In theater screen? milamber42, AIT (animator in training)

How about animating weird color changes of the eyes, or maybe the fingernails turn yellow as a bolt of yellow electricity shoots from them. Or the pattern on a body suit ala the movie Tron. Bruises or diseases appear on a skin. You could animate the chest texture so it looks like the skin is becoming transparent and a heart is beating within. Animate a talking magic mirror. You can also do wierd stuff. Bobasaur (I am 7 of 12)

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=230355&Start=1&Artist=xvcoffee&ByArtist=Yes

see link

I think P5 can do both. I'm experimenting with it on my other computer even as we speak - er, post. By the way, your secret technique looks interesting -- but if you intend on keeping it a secret I can't get too excited about it. I need solutions that I can actually use. --jjsemp

Attached Link: animated texture

It does both.

Attached Link: LINK

That's quite a clever workaround. (to doozy)