Thanks for that. Those were "Sketch Presets", not PSP effects. Sort of similar names. My drive probably needs defragging, but the last time I tried that, it corrupted everything and required total reformat, so I'm not going to do it again. Poser is the only app that's running slow, so I really don't think it's a general problem.

Good question. Wish somebody had asked and answered it when I was starting out. You'll find that speed depends heavily on your "junk-box" of pre-made objects and scenes, as well as your mental storehouse of tricks and techniques. When I build something of a scientific nature, I'll spend a few hours shaping some basic objects in Anim8or and Amorphium, then a few hours with Poser to assemble the basic shapes into something real, like a larynx or an oscilloscope, and perhaps add a human figure to help with the illustration. Then another few hours making textures in PSP (for instance, the graph face and knob labels for the oscilloscope.) So a fairly complex image may take a few days -- especially if the first try doesn't fit together right -- but if I can find some way to re-use parts of a previously made figure, the time may drop down to one hour. An animation, with several figures and props and a sequence or story, can easily take weeks or months. (I do these solely for personal enjoyment, though!)

The wireframe idea is a stroke of genius! That's how I'll do it. Tremendous thanks!!!!!

THANK YOU! "In preview mode" was the key phrase. In all the trial-and-error struggles to make something that didn't look like an M.C. Escher fantasy, I never tried rendering! I just assumed that an object that looked weird in the preview mode would be the same when rendered. On further observation, the rule seems to be: A closed object like a torus or a sphere shows OK in preview, but anything with open ends (curved tube, horn, etc) goes Escherisch in preview. Again, tremendous thanks.

Think first about what useful specialized knowledge you have, and then think about how to use Poser (or graphics in general) in connection with that knowledge. For example: My present project involves heavy use of Poser, but I started the project before I'd even heard of Poser! I got the contract (writing an interactive "textbook") because of my specialized knowledge of a subject, and then began using Poser to breathe life into the images and animations.

Here's an idea that might get you started, based on a trick I've used in animating water and air flow directly in Windows (with C++ programming.) Set up a river as a "conveyor belt" or "caterpillar tread" made of many thin rectangular segments, with only the top side of the "belt" visible. (The backward-moving return happens below the visible screen.) Use Python to alter the height of each segment, using sinusoidal and random values added together, and also to move the belt steadily forward.

When you choose "make movie", the dialog box gives you a choice between Current Display Settings Current Render Settings Current Sketch Settings. If you choose Render Settings before actually making the movie, your .AVI will include textures and everything. It will also take a VERY LONG TIME to generate, unless you have a supercomputer or something. Therefore, this choice should be saved for the last, after using the Display Settings repeatedly to get the motions set up properly. A halfway choice, good enough for some uses but probably not for yours: In the Document Display settings at lower left, click the rightmost globe for "texture shaded". This will make your non-rendered display include all textures, and in that case doing Make Movie with "Current Display Settings" will also include the textures; only the bump maps and shadows will be missing in the AVI.

Dacort's clothing pack for P4Fem has some very nice pants which can be adjusted to any degree of flare, boot-leg, etc.

Agreed. I've tried several alternatives, and Anim8or is the only one that worked for me. It's also more useful than some fairly expensive programs like Amorphium, when it comes to creating custom 3D shapes. Anim8or has a rather odd style of interface, but once you "catch the idea" it's remarkably easy. Be sure to download the tutorial on Poser morphs from the Anim8or site; just follow that, and you'll be morphing after an hour of learning time! (You'll also need UVMapper to convert the .OBJ files from Poser-style to Anim8or-style.)

I should have taken a closer look at PSP before even asking the question. PSP includes a "Scratches" effect that does the job beautifully.

Okay, I'll look there and see how it goes. Thanks!!! .....ockham

Farang, one very specific hint once you get used to using those keyframe graphs: Always mark the start and end of each single motion (like each bend of the elbow or each grasp of the hand) with a Spline Break on every parameter you changed. This will keep the interpolation from running forward and backward in time from the desired motion. There are a few cases where this will look too jerky, but using Spline Break universally is a good rule of thumb to start with. .... ockham