fretshredder, a person after my own heart! A guitar player, programmer, 3D CGer with a very nice system. I'm afraid to ask what kind of guitar equipment you possess. :0) Mine is a comparatively quaint: P4 2.54GHz 1 GB PC2100 DDR RAM (working on 2 GB as we speak!) 190 GB HDD GeForce4 TI 4600 + GeForce4 MX 420 video cards Windows XP Pro, SP 1 Poser 5 SR1 runs rather nicely, but I don't push its limits (cloth room, hair room). Rendering does bury the needle on the CPU, which is a shame since LW and C4D don't. Poser 5 doesnot like StarDock's WindowBlinds (latest version). When I run P5 with 'blinds loaded, some of the 'accessory' windows are opened and not closable (Walk Designer, Python, Joint Parameters, varies). Poser 5 is the only application so far that has problems with this. BYS

Attached Link: http://java.sun.com/api/index.html

Although I haven't done any extensive Perl coding, a friend of mine has and it seemed to involved some unimaginable syntax to pattern search and break strings apart. It was so daunting that it required both of us (I've been programming for 15 years) to decipher it. Maybe he was using a strange variation or API? What's so weird about Java. Okay, it doesn't compile into super-speedy code (but it can be if you dump system independence), but the workflow is amazing and the bytecode is still acceptably fast. I coded an entire 2D-3D application is a couple months - which is unheard of in C, C++, BASIC, Assembler. Python might be as close as it gets - and Python is very similar, at least in ideology, to Java. Java has a full (total, complete, more extensive in some areas than Windows) GUI interface (Swing), file handling, browser API, networking protocol APIs, wireless API, XML API, Mail API, Client-Server APIs, embedded systems APIs, telephony APIs, math APIs, graphics APIs, 3D graphics API, and on and on and on and on (there are so many APIs that cover so many areas that it would take several pages to list them - go to the link to see a limited number of available APIs). I doubt very much that Perl has that level of support. Java isn't just for toaster ovens anymore! ;0) As for Poser syntactical (semantic has to do with meaning in languages, not structure) inconsistencies, you have to build the general parser on the premise that there are hierarchical blocks of data separated by {}s and each line supposedly delimited by a CR or CR-LF. Then you must handle particular deviations from this premise. I have encounter many deviations in my research on the Poser file format. Even the most "official" (hmmm) documentation doesn't cover some of these oddities. If you'd like, I can send you the C++ classes into which my code parses the Poser files to get an idea about how I handled them and the structure. Then, if you can make sense of that :), I could send the methods (functions) which do the parsing. One thing to mention is that I abandoned any notion of recursive parsing due to the non-repetitive nature of hierarchy (you won't find a material node at the root level), being better to handle each 'type' of section as a class with subsections being classes pointed to by it (and so on). BYS

One more thought. Parsing Poser files is relatively easy. It's deciphering what it all means that can lead one to the sanitarium. Much of it is undocumented, some of it has no known use, other stuff is for Poser use only, and alot of it is needless repetition (check out Poser 5 material channels). Value ranges (especially for material properties) vary indiscriminately and do not necessarily match those shown inside of Poser (0-100% in Poser could be 0-1, 0-100, -10000-10000 in the file - who knows; only CL in some instances). Not saying that it's impossible, just extremely, frustratingly mind-numbing at times. ;0) BYS

Attached Link: http://www.kuroyumes-developmentzone.com/cr2_ufilespec.html

IMHO, Java would be a better approach. Still platform independent and just about everyone already has a JRE installed for running Java through browsers. For most, Perl is only available from the browser and the only people who have an independent environment are running web servers. I agree with Crescent, Perl is powerful but it has some syntax that makes one wince - just look at how it handles and parses strings!! Personally, I would only use it for web scripting. :) BTW, don't you just love the inconsistencies in the Poser file format. Yes, useCustomMaterial is 0 when there is none and non-0 when there is one defined. Sometimes it's 1, other times it's 32 or some other value - seems to be arbitrary. Have you looked at the info at the link? Also, I have a fully working parser that handles PZ3 and CR2 files written in C++ (fully OOP'd). Handles just about everything that could be found and can skip unused sections - either single lines or areas enclosed by {}. BYS

What version of Poser are you using? That last method worked for me in both Poser 4 PP and Poser 5. I parented the camera to P4 Boy's Left Hand and it was restored after that. It may end up at the bottom of the hierarchy list. If that didn't work, then something is not right. Camera must be the selected object (the one shown in the Parameter panel). To verify that it has indeed been moved to Universe, open the Hierarchy Editor and check "Show Cameras". It should be at the same level as the other cameras, even if not grouped with them. If not, tell me exactly how you are trying to do it. BYS

Forget that. Hierarchy Editor won't let you drop it onto the Universe (? - CL, wake up). Make sure that Main Camera is the selected object. Select Object->Change Parent... from the menus and click on Universe, click OK. That'll put it where it should be. BYS

Bring up the Hierarchy Editor, find the main camera, and drag/drop it at the same level as the other cameras. Make sure that "Show Cameras" is checked at the top of the H.E. BYS

I couldn't find any way to run them as 2 monitors after running through most of the options several times. Maybe XP's DualView is different than Win2K's. How do you go about switching from 2 monitors and 1 long monitor in your setup? BYS

The only way to reliably size across two monitors, at least for NVidia, is to put both monitors on a single dual-head card. nView should combine the monitors into one monitor in the Settings tab. If you get two monitors there, Poser (and any other app) will not remain stretched across when reopened, but will default to one monitor with all child windows on it as well. Why one long or two separate monitors show up is beyond me. Under Win2000 Pro, I always had two separate monitors even though on a single card. Now, under WinXP Pro, they are combined into one long monitor. The disadvantages of one long monitor are: * The maximum resolution and refresh rate are determined by the lesser monitor. If you use two monitors, make them the same type or model. In my case, I don't have desk space for two 21" monitors, so I must use a 21" and a 17". * Everything "stretches" when maximized. For instance, full-screen DVD playback will be stretched across both - with the annoying split detracting from viewing. Dialogs and splash screens will appear right in the middle, where they should, thereby being split across monitors. The advantages are: * You get OpenGL/DirectX support on both monitors. No more need to crowd your 3D programs onto one for any reason. With two separate monitors in Display Settings, the second monitor does not receive this support. * More display realestate - always good. BYS

Read the "Info" section. Impressive. Hate the fact that it doesn't support Win2000 or XP. I'm a Pro person myself, but do have access (by way of MSDN sub) to any and all Windows versions. Will have to check it out on a test system. ;) Scrimping for Maya academic? You haven't scrimped until you scrimp for Maya Complete Full. I may have to donate a guitar to an eBay auction, especially with my dogs aiding in spending every last bit of money that I don't have to spend. One broke his femur less than four months ago (costing $3500) and has just got mauled during play - no idea what happened (costing $1500). I estimate that my dogs have cost me about $6000 this year already. Literally killing me. Say bye-bye to Maya Complete... Anybody want two dogs? ;0) BYS

Price isn't too bad for Win4Lin. Is this analogous to Windows emulation on the Mac (damned name escapes me right when I need it)? Is there a list of applications that are known to be stable running under it? (I'm checking the site, so may just stumble on it before a reply ;) ). Haven't heard of Win4Lin before. Know all about WinE (and its derivatives). I mean, ooooh, it can now run Word. Wow... Okay, it's open source, but the darn thing has been around forever. Win4Lin, on the other hand, sounds interesting. The electricity cost thing has me scared - as well as having to scrounge up a bunch of machines. These would have to be systems that only run when large animation render are needed. Cool stuff.. BYS

Does Poser run on Linux? ;) Beowolf appears to be a Linux-only clusterer. If it's supported under FreeBSD, you might get it to work on a Mac (OSX), but then you'll need all Mac computers with OSX. That'd be expensive as well, if it even worked. In the long run, if you are determined to do this yourself, an alternative would be to have Poser on a bunch of networked Mac/Windows machines (although this isn't exactly legal). Then you copy the PZ3 file to all of the machines and set each one to render a "block" of frames as images. Gather the image frames all back to the master machine and create the animation from there. That's the least expensive solution that I can think of if you already have several machines. BYS

HP netservers start at $12000! I was just there looking. For that money, I could build 10 2GHz P4 machines (fully stocked). That is why Beowolf is called the "poor man's cluster." All of the commercial clusters are geared towards business clients, not consumers. If you have the money and 3D CG is your profession, than commercial clusters would be the best and most reliable bet. But when you have to chose between a new car and a cluster, well, most of us have to side on necessity. ;0) BYS

In almost every instance, when discussing "network rendering", one is limited to animation frame renders, the frames being divied up between machines by the net render server. Single image renders can only be done on the system doing the render. Someone above mentioned Bryce having an app that'll render an image on a network, but without clarification, this could still be limited to frame renders - let's see. Still, it would be better if the support were general and not app specific. Software support is a bugger, isn't it! Wish there was a way to wedge a driver or app between the OS and the application so that as the process instructions are sent to the CPU, they would be 'interactively' routed to and from a cluster - sort of like a packet system. Nothing like this on a Windows PC, unless you go the expensive Windows server route. I agree about the hardware limitations causing the bottom-line to be the best speed. Unlike most animation frame renders, calculations sent out to a cluster can be interdependent. Therefore, one machine (the fastest, let's say) can be waiting on data from another machine (the slowest), dragging the entire cluster speed down to the mercy of the slowest machine. BYS

Attached Link: http://www.beowulf.org/

What you're really asking for, d4500, is an OS and software that are written to support multiprocessors. They exist, but mainly for simulation work using very expensive multiprocessing computers (like Cray). The software running on these is tailor-made using coding techniques and compilers that understand how to manage code running over multiple processors. Dual processor support is nice, but, as you said, requires OS support as well as application support to be of any use. Actually, 2000/XP Pro are capable of multiprocessor support (more than just 2). Not certain what the limit is - might be 4 or 16 (?). Still, find me a standard PC motherboard that has 4 or 16 processor slots and we can call it the "Holy Grail". I'd love to be able to pool together the power of a dozen computers - I have two desktops and a laptop of my own, plus another seven or eight are being used by the admin as servers, etc. It'd be nice to increase from 2.5GHz to 10GHz or so. The program on Linux lets you set up a machine "cluster". It is called Beowolf - see attached link. The downside is the usual one - how many mainstream apps does Linux run? BYS