EC, I wouldn't defer to me on anything. My brain turned to mush years ago. ;)

UV Mapper (Pro or otherwise) isn't my specialty. I keep it around, but I'm a Zbrush-Modo-Poser Pipeline (with occasional stops in things like UVLayout Pro, Quixel, xNormal,Photoshop, D3D's tools, and the like) and I can barely keep up with those. Between Modo's new MeshFusion tools and all the cool stuff in ZB4R7 (and R6 and R5 and R4) I can't remember half the stuff I did with shareware tools. UV Mapper is really in my bucket of tools that I used to use.

To delete all materials (as far as I can recall) you have to re save the model with "Don't Export Materials" checked. This is where I usually get out Notepad++ and check for myself that the "usermtl" tags are gone...

The groups were never given proper names. I don't think I can do that in ZBrush - Googled but found no answer yet. I can rename the parts in Poser though, right?

IMHO You cannot rename the internal names of parts/group/materials easily in Poser. In particular, the group for a body part like "lForeArm" must match the internal bone name exactly. I'm pretty sure you can set the name on the dial, but the "internal name" is the name in the .obj file. That's why when you look at the properties for a body part, you see to fields called "Internal Name" and "Name". For your own sanity, I recommend you give groups meaningful names by renaming them after leaving Zbrush. (The ZB names are usually just numbered as Groupxxxxx where xxxxx is an internal number for ZBrush's purposes.)

This is something I do in Modo, but I'm pretty sure UV Mapper will let you rename the groups too. To do this in UV Mapper, use select by group (ctrl-G) and then use Tools -> Assign To -> Group. Type a meaningful name and UV Mapper will ask you if you want to create a new group. Do this for all your model's groups. You can set up you materials with the Tools -> Assign To -> Materials at the same time. By cleaning up the Zbruish model's names before rigging in Poser, you save yourself some pain in the long run.

If you're happy with the UV's, you can leave them as you have them in UV Mapper (and while your at it, generate a template for painting: File -> Save Template.)

HTH,

-K

I wouldn't recommend Modo just for grouping. Way too expensive these days. Modo is a fine design tool for SDS work and a handful of other things, but if you do not already have it, then it probably isn't a good starting point. Tony (above) recommends Blender--I'd give that a try (notes here: https://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/?thread_id=2888830). Wings and Silo are also well liked but I can't speak to the polygon tagging capabilities. I haven't used UVMapper Pro in a long time, but I think you can do you naming in it as well.

The main trick is that in general there are two kinds of polygon tagging going on in a poser .obj file. One kind of tag identifies which materials are used to color the polygons. The other kind of tag is used to identify which polygons stick to which bones. It is also vitally important that the bone tags get names so that the name of the bone is the same as the name of the group of polygons.

.obj files are fundamentally text files in their native format. You can edit them with Notepad++ (recommended, free.) Polygon groups are named by the "g" (for group) tag. The "usemtl" tag will identify the material or texture to be used. These tags can be manipulated by hand if needed. There are some tuts on .obj files on the web, but I'd consider this a last resort.

Cheers! -K

Nice model What EC said in terms of pipeline.

If you haven't done this before, I recommend Darkedge Design's videos on RDNA. I think they're currently on sale. They might give you some hints in places where you might get stuck.

I use Modo for model grouping after ZBrush, but if you don't already have it, there are other tools which are much less costly.

-K

I bought physical copy. Any idea how to get the update? The link to updates in Poser Pro 11 points to updates for PP2014. I haven't received any emails from Smithmicro either.

I think the download manager is the same. Get it here: http://my.smithmicro.com/poser-pro-2014-updates.html

(There may be a copy of the download manager on the disk that came with the physical shipment.)

After you have the download manager on your system, start it and enter your Serial Number. It should validate your number with SM's servers and you'll want to click on the update's tab.

HTH,

-K

Poser11 Content -> Runtime -> Textures -> Poser 11 -> Pauline

There should be a handful of files that end in "TEMPLATE" (all caps). Search for "Pauline-TorsoTEMPLATE" if you're having trouble locating the folder.

HTH,

-K

Also, why are they calling it poser pro 11 when the last version I have is PP 2014?

According to Poser's Product manager, it was two confusing to go with year numbers and version numbers and editions (like Game Developer). The decision was made to stick with version numbers. PP 2014 was the "Pro" version of Poser 10. The new version is 11 and is being offered in standard and Pro forms. The pro version contains most of the pipeline integration and content creation features. The comparison chart is here: http://my.smithmicro.com/poser-compare.html.

what are the main improvements of it this time

The single biggest thing is Physical Based Rendering (Superfly). There a lot of other smaller things: easy joint-center tracking in morphs (adaptive rigging), direct creation of inject files, control-handles (built-in support for "phantom bones"), Subdivision level morph targets, Autosave, etc. A fairly detailed list here: http://my.smithmicro.com/poser-whats-new.html

For Poser content, I work with Zbrush-Modo-Photoshop. Zilo is an excellent alternative to Modo for a lot of things. From a sculpting point of view, I have not really found something (that for me) gives me the organic workflow that replaces Zbrush. Zbrush has a good workflow with Poser Pro for creating morphs. Lots of good image editors are out there--I'm an old hand with Photoshop, so I stick with that. -K

If you have PoserPro (10 or 11) you can use Export Figure Mesh to GoZ. It will allow you to send the mesh with either part grouping or material polygrouping. If you're worried about accidentally modifying something you don't wan to modify, just hide the polygroups before Zbrushing. Be sure to unhide before using GoZ to send the morph back.

With this method, Poser and GoZ handshake to save you the effort of worrying about welding/grouping/exporting/importing/etc. It also allows you zbrush on a posed figure (not just the standard "T" position.)

(The other methods work great too, but I like that GoZ handles the import/export pipe for me.)

-K

Downloaded the starter stack without much difficulty.   Right now things are working best with one download thread at a time.

-K

A few ideas:

• Conside capsule zones instead of spheres as it will help you visualize your placement a little better and may give you the gradient of influence you're looking for.  (P8 and up)
• If you need to stay with spheres, just the display properties of your spheres to something more solid so you can better see how they're placed with respect to your mesh.   You may be having some issue with how the curve to the spheres are interacting and it will be easier to see your zones.  Just select the zone and go to Display -> Object Style  and try something like "hidden line".   
• Resort to multiple bones per piece that needs to curve.   This how I handle strings, ropes and long tails.   Check out easy-pose underground or philC's "All Tied Up."
• Resort to magnets including magnets parented to bones.
• Resort to weight-maps (P9 and up)

HTH,

-K

Quote - You know, I'm not a moderator, but I predict that with all the sniping going on in this thread that it's headed for a lockdown. Truthfully, I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has.

I'm rather suprised myself.    It's kind of devolved from fact-based arguing . . . to marketing-claim-based-arguing (there is a difference between information that is derrived of emperical observation and carefully selected elements that are "spun")... gradeschool name calling ("troll" ... "fanboy" ...etc.)

I think the opinions have been voiced.  From the DAZ side: V6 is the most successful launch ever.  From the Poser side: "DSON makes V6 a 'dud' in our eyes."

I'm sort of with the Poser folks... V6 with DSON is non-starter for me because DSON just doesn't work that well (for me and apparently others like AlfaSeeD)... I'm also with Connie that DAZ's business practices leave me cold, which definitely impacts my opinion.

I believe the market will ultimately sort it out.   Will Hivewire save the world?   Dunno. Time will tell wether they can produce a popular "next-gen" (e.g. weight-mapped) that vendors and users will support.   I'd like to see them succeed if only because some true competition in the figure market would be good thing.   (As it appears to have been for the app market.)

-K

Uncle LROG:  I will probably be doing some creature morphs (freebies.)   Need to see the mesh in PP2014 and Zbrush first....

-K

Quote - > Quote - So then, a sphere-rigged Dev rig would be needed for compatability for those making content in Poser, and then the item could be brought in and the WM rig added in Studio...

 

It would seem best, imho, to rig at the lowest common denominator and then take it into your software package of choice and WM it.  But that still seems like a lot of extra work just to support two versions of one figure.

Since both DS and PP2014 support weight map projection, it's probably pretty easy to export a non-weight-mapped version (or even something with default joint-centers) and then project the weight maps from the Dawn-DS or Dawn-PS model to get a running start at "native-izing" the weight maps.  

At least until someone writes a weight-map translator which can navigate the two systems (it would be imperfect due variations in weight-map interpretation of the apps, but closer than pure projection from the source figure.)

-K

Quote - Sooo, when will you guys have something for content makers interested in supporting her?

I'm real excited to see Connie interested.... I love her stuff!

-K