They suggest P4 and DAZ|Studio because it is the only rational thing to do. P4 vs P5 isn't like the differences between software that runs on a Mac vs PC. Say I model and rig a figure in P4. This figure is obviously going to work in P4, but is in all likelyhood usable in P5. If you dig through the available P4 content other than textures on the market (and free) about 95% of it works just the same in P5 as in P4. So should they say their products are for P5, simply because most of them will work there? Most people would automatically read "for Poser 5" as meaning "NOT for Poser 4," and cost them a large portion of their P4 users, who appearantly still outnumber P5 users by a wide margin. Stating that it is for P4 leaves users of P5 with the hope of downward compatability, so they keep their P4 customers and P5 customers.

Found on this website. Not the book. MAY be worth more than just a couple $. 2 Potential correct answers depending on who is guessing. Potential winner may or may not have this. The 2 potential answers are : "Brains" and "Dem tinky things" :P Worldbuilder / The Upgrade to WorldBuilder.

Okay, been playing with PHI builder and I do see a benifit. It skips the need to edit the CR2 to use external geometry. But otherwise it is almost identical to the Hierarchy Window inside of Poser. It would be nice if it had an option to set the standard Rotation Orders and hierarchies though. hmm.. maybe I'll make one that does that. :)

You refering to H.E.R. and HIM? Maybe I'm dilusional(all that food over the holidays does that to me sometimes) but they don't come with any clothing do they. Not being argumentative, I really may be wrong. I don't have either installed at present to check. My point was that saying you have to buy the clothes, morphs and textures isn't really being truthful, since finding free versions of all of these is easier for V3/M3 than any other figure due to their popularity.

But that's my point, the second easiest part of figure creation is the drag-drop in the hierarchy window. (second to clicking the "Create New Figure" button)

Does PHI builder somehow eliminate the need to figure Rotation Orders or something? (the only part I really dislike)

I admit I've never used it, but from the available reading material on PHIs they were only useful through Poser 3.

Ah, vs Setup Room. One of those many aspects of Poser 5 I haven't bothered to look into.
I only use 4, and keep 5 on hand for compatability testing. It's too slow and buggy for anything else IMO.

Message edited on: 01/08/2005 23:57

Can someone please explain why I would want to use a PHI builder (or any PHI at all) in Poser 4+? I never understood it myself, since Poser has all of the tools already.

"keep in mind you still have to by the morphs to make or use any characters." and "The morphs and textures to make the figures usable for artwork still need to be paid for." You guys don't spend much time viewing the galleries do ya? :P Textures you can get for free from right here at Rendorosity, and morphs.. well I just wish people would learn to use them.. Maybe then there would at least be some diversity in those nude vicky pictures. I don't see many Free figures that come with morphs, textures and clothing. In fact.. I can't think of ANY that do off hand. Why are they doing it? Well their statement was that it would help bring more people into the Posering world, which is a good likelyhood, with free figures, free software to use them in, free textures here and there, free clothing here and there,... The only reason not to toy with it is a complete lack of interest.

They're twins. But Freak was raised by a primitive tribe of ritualistic bodybuilders who eat nothing but raw meat and drink nothing but imported beers. Michael was raised by their mother, a hairdresser by day and an exotic dancer by night.

Easy to fix... Vertices/Split in UVMapper as mentioned. If you don't have UVMapper, you can spelit vertices with Poser.. #1 Select your imported cylinder. #2 Grouping Tool. - New Group.. "Ends" is a fine name. - Select the Top and Bottom of the cylinder. #3 Still Grouping Tool. - New Group.. "Base" is another good name. - Select the rest of the cylinder. #4 Grouping Tool stil. ;) - Spawn Props. #5 Export the Ends and Base as the new OBJ file. The exported version now has the vertices connecting the top and bottom to the rest of the cylinder split, so it will render without that rounding effect.

AntoniaTiger "But how much will it cost to get away from NVITWAS" Funny you should mention that. The 25th Xmas freebie in the DAZ forums was a NVIATWAS kit. LOL XENOPHONZ Will V4 be free? slowly slips into a trance I see .. in the near future. . .. no V4 . . no M4 .. I see.. A Beast! A freakish uni-figure with extreme morphs to make all manner of fantasy humanoid monsters, from aliens to werewolves. . . and what could be David SR1, and some python scripts who's purpose I can't fathom yet. slips out of the trance and wonders what just happened

This makes no sense whatsoever. DAZ still has DAZ Studio available for free, an alternative to forking out a hundred bucks(or more depending on the version) for Poser. DAZ releases M3 and V3 for free, the 2 most pupular human figures there are among Poser users. So now, anyone with access to the internet can get into the Poser world for $0.00 and have some rewarding renders in a day. This means dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of new customers for Poser content in the near future. So how does that in any way Reduce marketability of anything? Look at the galleries for crying out loud! :P Appearantly ~80% of the people using V3 don't have a clue about morphing her appearance(or they're just too lazy to do it). That means when they want a different look, they'll look for a different figure to accomplish it. This = $$$ for figure creators.

Just as it says :) OBJ files are Poser files. well they're Alias Wavefront files, but they are the geometry files Poser likes. To make a prop from an OBJ, import the OBJ and click the + in the Props library, and give it a name. For figures, make sure to check the Existing Groups box when you export the OBJ. The copied CR2 reads 'Groups' as body parts from that OBJ. Joint information and all the other 'Poser' specific stuff is stored in the CR2, not the OBJ. So copying the original figure's CR2 means it will know how to work with the parts you exported. To make your own figures . ... well that is a much longer story. ;)

Sure. MAT files don't have to contain the complete Material entry for anything, only what parts you want to change. material materialname { KdColor 1 1 1 1 } for example, would set the material's Base color to white, without changing the texture, reflection, highlight, etc..

Try photoshop. Play around with Noise and Dust&Scratches filters, then use the image as a transmap. What makes a realistic translucency isn't the numeric transparency setting so much as the composition of the material itself. Paper has bits of thread materials, miniscule grains of wood pulp etc. The wrinkles in an animal's skin, minor scarring, and simple genetic pigment variations will make parchment a much varied transparency. Unless you want to duplicate celuloid or some other synthetic, you will need an image transmap or a good python script to get a quality render of a translucent material.

hmm why specifically DAZ? I would like to know what people liked and disliked this year from Rendo products myself. There are so many to chose from the replies might help me make some decisions. :) But for this thread.. BEST : The 3D starter sets.. can't beat the price for the content. BEST(Underrated) : Toonimal Lamb.. I like cute and fluffy! okay? :D David.. I agree with a previous post, he is what M3 should have been. (I've made it a point to never sell my work, but I'm sorely tempted to start putting out content for him.) WORST : MilBigCats has to take my vote here. While an improvement over previous big cat figures, it was so obviously rushed to release that IMO it should be pulled until it is finished. WORST(overrated): The Girl. Yes, she is an awesome figure, and artfully modeled, but all of that support for a figure with so few uses? She just doesn't have the adaptability many of us have come to expect for retail figures. Niles, DAZ reps do post here on occasion. But it wouldn't look good if they were posting here more than at their own site. ;)