I have been looking for a 3D globe map for a while, but since it's for a low-priority project, I haven't spent much time on it. I do have a few observations, though: - You might look at the Great Globe Gallery, at http://main.amu.edu.pl/~zbzw/glob/glob1.htm Most of their links (all I've found so far) are of 2D representations of globes, but they have about a zillion links, so there might be in there somewhere. - The globe you need may be in VRML, rather than a more mainstream format, because I've seen VRML-based globe applications before. There are several conversion programs that can convert VRML to OBJ or 3DS or whatever. - If you do a search in Google for "3D globe earth", you will find a ton of applications that do things with globes: display weather on them, display time zones on them, display nuclear test sites on them, all sorts of stuff. If all these people are making globe-based applications, somebody must have globe maps. You might try sending off some emails to these companies, asking them if they made their own maps, and if not, where they got them. (They might be more helpful if you emphasize that you are using the map to make a 3D logo, not to build an application that competes with theirs.) If you find a good source for globe maps, whether free or paid, please post the link info here, for the rest of us who are looking for globes. Thanks, and good luck! Lynn Grant Castle Development Group

Yeah, I do that stupid thing all the time. Not usually on important stuff...usually it's when I'm playing with things to set up a new scene. I don't want to save it, because I'm not sure I really want to do the scene that way...but I still spend 20 minutes getting the pose and everything right...then I go to delete one of the props, and accidentally delete the main character. Of course, saving into a temporary file would be good, but then I get a ton of temporary files lying around that I don't remember what they are. Sometimes you can't win for losing :-)

Thanks, Judith...I'll check it out tonight when I get home. Lynn

Judith... Oh...I though you were asking about Poser export limitations. (Guess I didn't read the title of the thread...oops!). I'll have to look into Compose...I'm not familiar with it, and I like learning about new tools almost as much as I like getting new models. BTW...You could also have used UVMapper Pro to split it up: bring in the file, delete the parts you don't want in the first group, save it, bring in the original again, delete the parts you don't want in the second group, save it. (UV Mapper Classic doesn't appear to have a delete, by the way.) Glad you got the problem resolved. Lynn

Here's what I would recommend: 1) Get the shareware 3DWin4 program. It is available for about $38 (USD) at http://www.stmuc.com/thbaier/ . It will convert 3DS to OBJ files. (It will also let you rescale, rotate, translate...you'll probably need a -90 rotation on the X axis, by the way, because of the different way 3DS and OBJ files point their axies.) 2) Get UV Mapper Pro. It is available for $49 (USD) from http://www.uvmapper.com . Bring up your new OBJ file in UV Mapper Pro, select the parts you don't want, and delete them with the delete key. (BTW, the older, free, UV Mapper Classic does not have this feature.) Save the file, being sure to un-check the "export normals" box. 3DWin4 insists on adding normals to your file. You don't need them for Poser, and it will make your file twice as large. If you do this, you can get your file the way you want it, have two very handy tools, and don't have to spend the money for Deep Exploration. BTW, Deep Exploration is a very good product, even though it is kind of expensive to buy. I use it all the time, for splitting up OBJ files (it is easier to do it in Deep Exploration than the method I outlined), for previewing files, especially seening how texture changes will affect models, since it has full support for texture and bump mapping and materials characteristics. Hope this helps, Lynn Grant, Castle Development Group

I have found that on large files, Poser gets confused when exporting the OBJ. I don't know at what particular size this happens...just with big files. When exporting large OBJs, I usually chop them out of the CR2 or PP2 with a text editor, so I know Poser won't corrupt them. This is ugly work, especially if you're not accustomed to grubbing around inside of CR2 and PP2 files. You might be able to enlist the aid of a friend in chopping up your files. lynn

My thoughts on the Poser gallery.... I don't really like rankings, I don't like trying to figure out if something is an 8.7 or a 9.2, so I seldom give them. If I give a ranking, it is usually a 10, and that's only if the it really takes my breath away. Another reason for not giving rankings is that I frequently find myself commenting on works by some of the artists that we collaborate with. They usually get good comments, because we like their style; that's why we collaborate with them. To avoid giving anyone the impression that I am inflating their rankings to somehow help promote our products, I avoid all rankings, except in exceptional cases. I also always follow my name with my Castle Development Group affiliation. Someone may decide that I'm biased because this is one of the artists I work with, and decide to ignore my comment. That's fine. But at least they won't think I'm trying to mislead them. Integrity is very important in this (and all) business. Lynn Grant, Castle Development Group

Kate... In Win2K, at least, you can right-click on the folder name in Windows Explorer, select "properties", and it will tell you the size of the folder and its subfolders. Hope this helps. Lynn

4.3 gig here

You can get it directly from Curious Labs: www.curiouslabs.com If you are looking for a lower price, you can scounge up a copy of the February 2002 "Computer Arts" magazine...they had a free copy of Poser 3 on their cover CD. You can upgrade from that version to Poser 4 at the Curious Labs website, for quite a discount. lynn

The Dwarf Mines were my first introduction to Trans-Pond, and to judith and chrisjol. Like all their products, they are well-modeled (by chris) and beautifully textured (by judith), and they come with cameras and lights, so you can use them right out of the box (so to speak), without having to wander around the landscape of the model, trying to get your bearings, or spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to light a model you're not yet familiar with. As you can tell, I really like their work. Lynn Grant Castle Development Group

Pamola said: "The simplest way to clear up the matter with regard to our error, is to say that IT IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE FOR AN ARTIST CREATING ORIGINAL GEOMETRY(MESH), TO MIX AND MATCH BODY PARTS WITH ANOTHER ARTIST'S ORIGINAL GEOMETRY(MESH)." Even that's not an absolute. You can always negotiate with the author of the other mesh for permission to use it. How you split the revenues between the two authors is not germane, but the communication is essential. In most cases, crediting the author of the other mesh somewhere would also be good from the artistic integrity standpoint (not claiming as your work something that isn't), and also to keep people who discover the other mesh in your product from thinking you stole it. Perhaps just a line in the readme that said, "We've always thought Posette had the most beautiful hands imaginable, and rather than try to improve on perfection, we have received kind permission from DAZ/Curious Labs to use them on this character," would reassure people that everything was on the up and up, and would let the author of the beautiful hands get credit for his work. I get the feeling reading the forums that a lot of merchants are afraid to approach other merchants for permission to use their works, fearing that their request will be rejected without consideration. At CastleDev, we have been involved in many collaborative projects with other merchants, and so far, have found our inquires to be well and politely received. Lynn Grant Castle Development Group

KISS (the KIsekae Set System) might be kind of limited for storytelling. It is kind of like the Colorforms toys that were around when I was a kid, where there were people printed on a cardboard background, and clothes made of a flat, clingly plastic that could be stuck on the people to dress them. A typical KISS set consists of a 2D image of a girl, with several layers (cels) on top of it, with a piece of clothing on each layer. By sliding the layers back and forth, you can dress the girl. The layers on top hide the layers below, so underwear would be on a layer below outerwear. By splitting a piece of clothing into two layers, it is possible to see the front and the front part of the back when it is off the model, then when it is slid on the model the back part is hidden. It is possible to have clothes snap into place when they are moved towards the model. FKISS (French KISS) adds a bunch of special effects...sound effects can be triggered when spots on the board are clicked, timers can trigger blinking and such, parts can move by themselves. There is a built-in scripting language that controls what goes on in the scene. The cels can be made in Photoshop. There is a plug-in available that saves images in the .CEL format used by KISS. I ran into a guy on the 'net the other day who was using Poser to make renders of characters, that he then turned into KISS cels in Photoshop. KISS is a very interesting package. I'm not sure how you'd use if for storytelling, especially since I don't know of any external interface between the scripts and C or VB or any other programming language. Lynn Grant Castle Development Group

Phantast...True given a choice of only RSR and only PNG, RSR is definitely the way to go, especially since I have heard that the percentage of Poser users with Pro Pack is about 10 percent. But if you ever issue updates to your products, Pro Pack won't use the updated RSR, because it already has a PNG. That's why we send out both, even though it takes up more file space.

aleks... Here's what the PNG home site says about animation: "One GIF feature that PNG does not try to reproduce is multiple-image support, especially animations; PNG was and is intended to be a single-image format only. (A very PNG-like extension format called MNG was finalized in mid-1999 and is beginning to be supported by various applications, but MNGs and PNGs will have different file extensions and different purposes.)" So I guess we're out of luck there. Lynn Grant Castle Development Group