...I believe there has been some sort of misunderstanding. I'm not looking for a 3D modeling application; I have one it is Maya 7 and while I'm far from a pro I am advanced enough to be able to create props which I would like to eventually distribute for Poser and DAZ Studio users. My question here, which has been answered was does DAZ Studio have tools built in or available as a plug-in that make it possible to add flexible joints or bones to a model. Stuff like hinges. I suspected that there wasn't and much to my chagrins I was correct. Thus I will have to use Poser, an application I'm not very fond of to assemble the possible parts of my props which were constructed in Maya so I can make them usable to users of Poser and Daz Studio. Once again I thank those who read my inquiry and answered accordingly. To all others I am happy to see your enthusiasm to assist even if your efforts have been a wee bit off the mark. * * * P.S. I have actually tried using Bryce and Carrara, it was around the same time I was introduced to Poser and unless things have changed radically the same issues I had with the bubbly space wasting user interface of Poser I had with them. Blame Adobe for conditioning me to expect every visible tool and palette to fit neatly together.

...It is as I was afraid it is. Looks like I'll be installing my copy of Poser 5 on my new(ish) Mac.

As it is, I've used Poser in the past, I've just always loathed the user interface and found it for me extremely unintuitive to use which is so frustrating when I look around and see so many other artists creating such beautiful art with it.

DAZ on the other hand I've found more inviting, still a little frustrating at times but still as said more inviting.

Anyhow, since DAZ as of this point has no joint or bone editor it looks like I'll just have to just bite my lip and use Maya to design my props, Poser to reconstruct them, and DAZ to utilize them in scenes. Eventually I hope to just do everything in Maya for my own art but still be able to distribute props for Poser and DAZ users. Until then, it will be just one educational step after another.

Thank you again jroulin and bcoleman for your assistance in answering my inquiry.

Message edited on: 01/22/2006 17:00

Message edited on: 01/22/2006 17:00

...I ended up playing around (Randomly clicking stuff and repeatedly importing a simple model) and found that extracting the faces on polygon objects worked at keeping the hard edges. Kind of a crude solution but if it works, why knock it. Meanwhile, I'm gonna play around with UVMapper as well, I didn't realize that there was a version for OS X (Now if "they" would only update the Poser Macconverter I'd be a happy camper). Thanks again...

...The thing is, I've read the forums and the various solutions and have followed the steps which should technically work- The thing is it hasn't. I simply keep getting lock ups and crashes during the import process to Maya, and I wanted to know if anyone else has ever had this particular problem. I've used other 3D applications with poser and was able to juggle OBJ files pretty well with out any unpredictable hiccups, but this is a little surprising and has left me befuddled. As for the question my methodology it's not that far fetched if you reread my initial post and see that I'm not just concerned with scale but scale and proportion together (Particularly proportion). All I wanted to do was use the poser figure as a reference model to make sure that my furniture was proportioned properly for the basic human form. Like I originally said, it's nothing complicated, I just wanted to know if anyone else had such an extreme hiccup when trying to juggle OBJ files between Poser 5 and Maya 5.

...I have to agree. Personally, as I mentioned, due to using both I have found have elements I really like and miss when using the other. Thus I say that if I had my dithers, both companies Apple and Windows would work harmoniously together to provide computer users everywhere with an operating system that is complete, full featured and stable from the get go. But alas this is not the world we live and instead we are stuck with what you have observed, childish games of my OS can beat up your OS anyday. Very frustraiting I have to agree.

...It's not false pride (Perhaps misdirected since yes, the stability of OS X is less so Apple's doing as it is their embracing Unix as a their OS's base), I've been using OS X at home for over year and have been very happy with it's stability unlike XP Pro which I also been using for a year at the office and have had nothing but frustrating problems (Critical updates, bugs, holes, and crashes) with on nearly a weekly basis disrupting my productivity (Insert sad growl). Now I'm not here to attack XP pro or windows in any way, I'm also not here to promote OS X, but I am here to voice my opinion and that is I am both happy and proud of the performance of one over the other at this time. I use both, I feel that both have their merits, I believe both have their faults, it's just I feel that currently XP Pros faults outweigh it's benefits when compared to OS X. Thing may change, but until they do I will continue to express my self and my pleasure with the OS that isn't causing me the most problems honestly and openly accepting full well that others opinions may very- All I ask in the mean time is for individuals not to attack me and call me names like "arrogant" (That's just childish and rude).

...I'm strictly an OS X user now, and proud of it- been using and abusing it for a year plus and have yet to suffer from a single crash or lock up. As for the Poser Utilities, if all I need to do is convert the previews, then I can learn to live without OS X converters. I was under the impression that the PC to Mac converters dealt with functionality. Thanks for the insight.

...Took them long enough. You know, I wrote them and they never responded. I visited their site looking for current info and never got any. It is in my humble opinion a poor way to run a business, or anything (be it community, family, or circle of friends) for that matter because without proper communications with those who believe and support it won't take long for feelings of neglect and betrail to surface.And when that happens, damage control might be out of your control.

...Might win out even if Poser 5 does arive soon... After all, I've waited this long, why not wait longer to make a complete switch once and for all.

...CL in financial trouble eh... ...Tisk-tisk, and they had such potential too. Anyway, the more interesting tidbit of information I have acquired here is I can get poser 4 to run on my OS-X. Sweet..! I read about it someplace else, on some other post but I didn't believe it for I thought they meant they were running the OS-9 environment which (I hate) caused me a lot of trouble and convinced me to convert all my software over to OS-X (I betcha mac planned it that way all the time, LOL) except Poser which then and now isn't native but, if it will run on OS-X regardless and do so stable enough for me to enjoy working with it still, I might just keep the "old dog" in my virtual toolbox. Cool!!! I can't wait to get home and see if I can make it work now. Though I still say CL dropped the ball big time when it comes to us Mac users, and that was before I realized how close they are to forfeiting the game entirely.

...I also have an old workstation (Besides the supped up Mactop I usually work on) at home that runs OS-9 (Which I hate, the last pre OS-X I liked was OS-8.6, but I digress) and I use that when I have a project that requires poser. Though to be quiet honest, I don't really use it that much since currently my career revolves around my traditional media and 2D digital art skills but I have an interest in 3D modeling and animation so I've been teaching myself slowly but surely the tools of the trade. The first application I used was an old copy of Ray Dream and Poser V1, then Carrara Studio (Prior to its slow response to OS-X) and Poser 4. Now I'm playing with lightwave and getting tips and tricks from a friend of mine who works teaching Lightwave to students at a local art school who is really close to convincing me that Poser is a 3D cheat- I got to tell you, I was once happy to have Poser as part of my toolbox for it made working with the human figure easy and fun, but since I haven't really used it in nearly a year, I'm starting to agree with my friend. That means one less customer now and in future for Curious Labs becuase once I turn my back on a product, I keep going... P.S. Far for me to tell you what is better, though from my experiences, I've had a lot less trouble working with OS-X (Thanks to the Unix shell it's way stable and far more flexible then any OS I've worked with though my experience is limited to win and mac) then I ever did with anything Mac used prior as an OS. You might want to give it a chance.

I had no idea that it would work at all in Mac OS-X. According to curious labs who promised to have an OS-X version of Poser 5 out by the end of June (Whoops, lloks like they missed that deadline- the rat bastards!!!), Poser 4 is not meant to be run on the Mac OS-X at all, unless you are running the OS-9 emulator which personally I refuse to do- I moved over to OS-X and there will be no looking back for me... Anyhow before I digress too much here, I am one amazed that you are able to get Poser 4 to run at all on OS-X, and am now inspired to try it myself in spite of the minor technical errors you seem to be getting with the interface (Something personly, being and Adobe bare bones interface enthusiast, I've never liked, and can't imagine actually getting anyworse) amd two just hang in there there is hope on the horizon that Poser 5 will be avalible soon and thus you won't have to worry about Poser 4 problems anymore- Just a whole new bumper crop of bugs and glitches, but at least OS-X supported ones.

Attached Link: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/eeecho_42