I find it's a really excellent tool for keeping poser stuff organised and just seeing what you actually have in all those directories. It's much easier than just using the Poser libraries interface. I also like the way I can use it to send a cr2 or other poser file to my text editor for a little hacking session. And the ability to quickly and easily paste in thumbnails is a real bonus. I keep P3DO right at the top of my list of Poser utilities because it's the one I use most. Yarp does a very proffessional job on it and it's free. I love it.

There are a few ways but the easiest I know is with Yarp's P3DO Explorer from the free stuff. You can just make the new thumb in whatever graphics program then paste it into the pose in P3DO. If you want transparency then rsr converter (also in the free stuff) is the way to go.

The one closest to the chest should be a regular (no curve) joint.

Could you have done anything with the group editor? New groups will do it.

I would say that external geometry has all the advantages. Every time a user saves a pz3, the whole cr2 gets saved inside it. If a user saves a few pz3s containing your figure then external geometry will save them some hard drive space since they dont wind up saving the geometry each time. If you have external geometry, not only can you distribute updated cr2s but your users can distribute modified cr2s without distributing your geometry. Because the geometry isnt included, nobody that doesnt own the original file will be able to use the new cr2. Your work is protected but your figure gets extra versatility without you having to do the work yourself. The success of figures like Victoria 1 and Michael was based on that idea. Victoria 2 is a different matter (since she is really just a morph bearing cr2 for Victoria 1). If the geometry is external, the user can also distribute a whole pz3 including your figure, whish is rare but sometimes useful. You can easily remap the geometry if its external, and you can distribute the remap with uvs files or pcf files (created with UV Mapper or Objaction mover) It is true that a geometry bearing cr2 is smaller than a suite of cr2,obj and rsr. But that space saving disappears the first time the cr2 gets saved in a pz3 or the first time a user saves a second copy of the cr2 to their library. PHI builder is free and IMHO its the best PHI editing software around. Check it out. You should be able to find it with a search engine. Steer clear of PHI Factory. Ive never been able to get it to work.

You could also have a corrupted rsr resource file. Look in the folder where Vicky's obj is located. You'll find a file with the same name as the obj but the extension "rsr". Delete it. Poser will make a new one next time you try to use the figure.

I'm pretty sure there are some tutorials in the tutorial section. The Poser manual covers how to do it also.

Excellent! Thanks. I'll check that out.

Changing the tack a little, what's the url for the posertech yahoo group? I should really get involved in that some time soon.

The new feature was supposed to be up at Yarp's site on Saturday but I don't think it's up yet. Give it a few days. I don't think he plans to post this particular update to the Rendo freestuff - just at his site.

The long conform curls come with poser and they're in the Cothing-Female category (from memory). They work with P4, not Vicky. DAZ sells a vicky version for about $10 I think. And there are some transmaps around to make them look a little less plastic. Not worth the bother IMHO. As for the thumbs, Yarp's P3DO explorere is about to get an update that will allow bulk conversion of png to rsr so you can make all those pro pack thumbs show up in one go. The program is in the free stuff but you'll find the update at his site (SENO software) when it's done.

Mine is 1.52. Where can I get 1.51? It that the version in the Utilities section? I can't remember where I got mine.

I find anything edited with cr2 editor causes Poser to crash, so I do all my hacking in a text editor. Mock, we're all assuming you built your figure using a PHI file. If you did it with the hierarchy editor, you'll have trouble edity the geometry.

I don't have the Vicky catsuit on this computer to check whether those feet parts are "phantom" body parts or whether they actually have geometry. Jim's suggestion will separate the geometry (assuming they do have geometry) at the joint allowing you to do your morphs without interference from the feet. To actually stop those body parts conforming you can open the cr2 in a text editor and do a find replace. Find lFoot: and replace with FootLeft: Find rFoot: and replace with FootRight: The colons are important - don't do the find-replace without them or you could make the cr2 have problems. You can use anything you like instead of FootLeft and FootRight. You just need to stop them saying lFoot and rFoot. Sometimes Poser decides to make the renamed body parts conform anyway just because they're in the right part of the hierarchy so it might not work. That was probably completely useless information since I can't see how having the feet conform messes up your shin morph anyway.

No easier way. Import is the only thing you can do. The result depends a great deal on the original 3ds model. Get to know the import options in the import dialogue. They can help but really if the original wasnt made with Poser in mind then often you just wont get good results.