I guess maybe what is needed perhaps for Poser cloud rendering, over limited bandwidth, using queue manager is a little software render helper agent to sit on your rendering machine, along with a web server (Apache or IIS) running a web service.

A python script in Poser, on your workstation could upload the render job as a temporary .pz3 with an additional XML file, containing the render settings, uploading it over http protocol, to the web service, that would accept those files, and then place them in a monitored directory... or at least in some way, handing them over to the render helper agent, which would in turn talk to Queue Manager.... instead of Poser, directly... if you catch my drift.

That latter bit, talking to Queue Manager, is where it probably gets trickier I suppose... and there's perhaps asynchronous event handling needed in there too I guess, more than likely... to keep the originating instance of Poser updated as to progress.

This render agent idea is maybe getting a bit convoluted... if it wasn't nonsense to begin with.

Of course if either Queue Manager or indeed FFRender itself had a python api, that could cut out at least one of those hypothetical software middle men... I don't know, maybe they do???

:-o

Is it telling that when you said 20 years ago, I initially thought 1982... before realising that was now 30 years ago!

Actually, I'm not that old... it's just that I seem to have misplaced 10 years somewhere ;-)

I'd be lucky to get 2Mbps upload on my domestic broadband here :-(

But they are in the process of rolling out fibre optic though... :-)

The suggestion of also running your workstation in the cloud and just remoting to that is a good one though!

The limitation there, if there is one, will maybe be graphics presentation to your local PC... although I'm not that up to speed on that subject. I only use remote desktop stuff in my day job for low graphics requirements business apps... not any programs that actually need good end user display quality.

Ah, I see - I guess probably copper... but cable TV type coax rather than telephone wire, so yeah you'll potentially get up to 20Mbps upload, from what I know ;-)

Well done getting so far already ;-)

Sounds like the bandwidth is going to be your next big challenge though!

20 Mbps upload sounds pretty reasonable though by most standards... if that is actually what you're getting.

What country are you in / what type of internet connection are you on? e.g. DSL over copper phone lines, leased line or fibre-optic?

That's rather exciting ;-)

Almost time to get the TV out the garage...
 

Jellybaby anyone?

He he... not sure that blindly stumbling over the solution when I got the same thing before qualifies me as being any smarter ;-)

I've no idea why it would work one way but not the other... its weird. I think maybe dragging a file over an app on mac is basically the same deal as doing right-click and "open with" though... it must be this part that has a bug.

Sorry... I'd somehow missed the posts in which you mentioned you'd already tried stuffit.

For info, the file that you had an issue with here, I get the same issue on my mac... that is a .cpgz file being created when I double-click on the downloaded zip.

I also, for this one, get a .cpgz loop happening when I do right-click and "open with" Stuffit expander. So apparently same as you got entirely.

However, strangely, when I open Stuffit Expander from Applications, then select File->Expand, browse to the zip file and then browse to my Poser Pro 2012 Content folder, the contents are correctly expanded into my main runtime.

Anyway, nice looking character morph ;-)

"Stuffit Expander" it's called... gives you the option of where you want to place the extracted files and does folder merge... so can merge the contents into your runtime, it that's appropriate...

http://www.stuffit.com/mac-expander.html

I had this same issue recently, can't remember what product it was with... or if it was paid or freebie.

I'm on a mac. The built in archive utitlity was just taking me into this same unending loop. Seems to be a bug...

I ended up solving the issue using the free version of Smith Micro's "Stuffit" program to unarchive the zip.

;-)

Quote - > Quote - Also, when I have no lights, or minimal lights my OpenGL preview is either entirely black or very dark... respectively.

Is this normal? Or am I just being a big newbie and missing something?

Just for preview, use an infinite light and change the diffuse_color and specular_color chip to black.  That will give you plenty of preview lighting and will not render.

Aha - I see! thanks ;-)

Asking your network guy sounds like a plan ;-)

I have some experience setting up PPTP client VPNs powered by Microsoft Threat Management Gateway (formerly ISA Server) and also site to site tunnels using Cisco devices.

Both have required mutiple inbound and outbound rules of one sort or another, to be manually added... and various out of the box parameters to be tweaked... in order to allow various different network services to work properly.

Obviously you have to be very careful, if adding firewall rules, that you don't accidentally open up your internal network to intruders...

Amazing stuff! Some real magic there Bagginsbill...

So adding specular lights, as opposed to no lights, sounds much quicker to do than going through and adding / tweaking nodes?

Would there be any noticeable benefit to doing the latter over the former?

Also, when I have no lights, or minimal lights my OpenGL preview is either entirely black or very dark... respectively.

Is this normal? Or am I just being a big newbie and missing something?

Oops! Sorry... my bad... I meant ip broadcast... as BB says. all important of course.

I will perhaps blame the type-ahead on my iphone for the erroneous insertion of "tcp" there ;-)

I started looking at Poser and various modelling apps as tools for making games sprites and environments... because I was learning some games development for Apple IOS (iphone / ipad) and, parallel to that Microsoft XNA.

But I didn't get very far with that before just getting hooked on Poser as a creative medium in itself ;-)

Now I guess I'm focusing on (slowly) learning to model well... and learning how to make stuff look as good as I can within Poser.

But if we're talking about uploading ourselves into cyberspace, that 360 degree scanner gizmo that Lee Perry Smith and Dimensional Imaging are using looks like the ticket...

...just needs an upgrade to capture the old brainwaves too ;-)

Might be a cheaper and more readily available option than a ticket into actual outer space...

That's awesome! Thanks very much Seachnasaigh :-)

I was getting nowhere fast trying to work out how to make a shader for this last night.

My old mac doesn't help. It takes so long to do each test render. Maybe it's time to ebay some old toys to raise some funds for a new comp :-)

I'll try your wake prop out later and see how I get on...