There is a default script that comes with P7, which will give you poly counts as well, so you don't have to export to another program.

Just click Scripts -> PrintInfo -> PrintGeomStats and then it'll calculate everything in the current scene. Just scroll down the list a bit for the "Victoria4 totals".

I'm not sure if that script works with earlier versions of Poser or if you can even find it anywhere, but it might be worth a shot.

NP at all and yes I know that feeling very well, lol.

I've had many of those moments concerning Poser stuff, so don't worry... it's not always the most intuitive way things work, so sometimes you just gotta figure things out one at a time.

Hmm, some hair only loads as the mesh (in the preview window) and won't show up textured and with transparency etc. until you actually render them.

So, changing the MAT files for a different color, won't make any difference in the preview window. Do they work when you render? Maybe I misunderstood your question.

I did see somewhere, how to make it so the textures would show instead of the mesh in the preview window as well (assuming this is your problem). I'll see if I can dig that out.

Very interesting and original item, thanks a lot :)

Yeah, that was the problem anyway, I got a site mail about it just now.

And it does make sense in a way to disallow the black censor bars I suppose. I just like that the thumbnail contained the entire image, but now I'll have to make them with just a head or an arm or something as well :)

I uploaded an image yesterday that seems to have been moved into this holding area.

It contained nudity and the thumb was the entire image reduced to thumb size with the naughty bits covered by a red box. I was under the impression this was ok? But, I guess I was wrong...

I think it's a bit odd that I haven't gotten any notification that it has been removed, I only found out after clicking my gallery and seeing it wasn't there. I don't seem to have the option of redoing the thumb either, as I can't edit or remove the image since it's not in my gallery... scratches head

I'm a bit puzzled why a box covering the naughty bits is not ok. What's the difference between clothing and a box?

Poser 7 is A LOT better at handling textures and texture memory. That is one thing that has vastly improved, at least for me.

I can offer some guidelines, but they are only my own personal opinion, as there is no "correct" configuration. The following is what I would look for if I was buying one personally:

(In the order you mentioned them):

1. Harddisk. Try and look for a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10. They're high quality, very durable and quite silent. They come in various sizes, depending on your wallet, but aren't much more expensive than other harddisks (Very important it's a 7200.10 and not 7200.9 for example, as it refers to a newer model with better construction).

2. RAM. Here you just want as much as possible, 2 or more GB would be excellent for Poser, although if you use Poser 7 it's not as important as with earlier versions. From what I know, there isn't really a lot of difference between the various manufacturers. Kingston are usually considered good quality. SDRAM is an older type (and currently being phased out afaik) than DDR and DDR2. You have to make sure that the RAM will fit the motherboard, as each type have a different number of pins (the socket is different). The specs for the motherboard will show what type of RAM you need though, so that shouldn't be a problem.

3. GFX CARD. Any modern gfx card will be capable of handling Poser np at all. Typically Nvidia based cards are known to be better compatible with OpenGL than ATI based cards, but I have no personal experience with that. This is where you can save some money IMO. Something like a GeForce 6600, GeForce 7600 or similar would be excellent. I would personally go for a PCI-E based card, as AGP cards are being phased out and most modern motherboards only support PCI-E gfx cards anyway.

4. CPU. Here it depends a bit if you're using Poser 7 or older as well, as Poser 7 supports dual core processors, but the older versions do not. So for instance, if you still use Poser 6 and buy a dual core processor, it would only be able to use one of its processors for rendering. If you want to make your machine as "future-proof" as possible, I'd suggest a dual core anyway though, as it's easier to upgrade your Poser version than it is the processor.

5. Motherboard. Perhaps someone else will be able to give you better advice on this one than I can, as I honestly don't know much about the various brands and models available. What you have to make sure is that you get one that supports the type of RAM, CPU and GFX CARD that you buy. If you're set on an Intel processor, then you'll have to look for Socket 775 motherboards.

6. DVD Burner. These are dirt cheap now, however you might want to consider an external USB 2.0 harddrive instead. I have one that cost about 125 US Dollars (I live in Europe, so I'm not sure of how the prices might be in Canada), but it holds 250 GB and you can bring that with you if you need to go somewhere instead of burning DVD's. It doesn't need any installation or any drivers or anything, you just plug the USB cable into a computer with a free USB slot and you can access it right away (this is only true if the computer has Windows 2000 / XP installed, but I assume most newer ones will).

7 and 8. You answered these already :) Apart from the above mentioned stuff, you might consider a sound card or just go with the onboard sound if that's not an issue for you.

1. Power Supply. A good quality power supply is not to be underestimated. Companies like Akasa make excellent quality power supplies and I'd personally look for a 400+ W power supply (although without getting too technical, it's not the wattage that is the most important, but I don't think it's necessary to worry about that). If you buy an Akasa 400W, that will do you nicely.

Good luck with it! It's a jungle out there, I hope you get something you will be happy with!

I see, thanks a bunch! I rarely use scripts, so I'll give that a shot.

Ahh great, thanks! Not just mine going berserk then :P

What's this compression?

Very clear and helpful, thanks!

That's great stuff, thanks a bunch and merry christmas!

As far as I know, TFT (thin-film-transistor) is just a type of LCD panel... so when you refer to a TFT, it's automatically also a LCD, but not the other way around... if that made any sense lol.

I think TFT is by far the most common type anyway, so most people that say LCD probably refer to the TFT type.

There is a free 30 day trial version of Photoshop available at Adobe's homepage and probably something similar for PSP I imagine.

You could download both and see which one you prefer before investing what is really a rather large amount in either (even if it's not your own money).

Personally I use Photoshop CS2, but that's mainly because I got it very cheap from a special student offer. I haven't tried PSP.

TFT's for me. It was a huge improvement to upgrade my (old and cheap CRT, admittedly) to even a budget TFT (Samsung SyncMaster 710T).

The image is A LOT sharper (I have DVI), making text much much easier to read. It also has a handy pivot function, so when working on some writing, I can rotate the screen 90 degrees and MS Word will automatically "tilt" the buttons and everything else, so it's like having the dimensions of a sheet of paper to work on. It's also very handy for reading pdf documents, as it will display one page at a time without having to scroll at all.

I also noticed I can work for much longer periods of time without straining my eyes as much, as the image doesn't flicker at all (constant backlight instead of flashing 50-60 times per second as on a CRT).

It all really depends on your needs, some people will benefit from a CRT and some from a TFT. This thread has been very informative though IMO, some good points for either side.