I have set up a prop consisting of two parts (from two separate obj files), one of which is parented to the other but rotates independently. It works fine as long as I save it as a pz3. If I try and save it as a figure, the rotation no longer works properly - the whole figure rotates instead of just the part. I assume this is controlled by something in the cr2 file, but when I open up someone else's cr2 for a comparable figure, I can't see anything that looks significantly different from what's in my cr2 file. Could someone tell me what lines I should be looking for?

AFAIK, articulate props (which are characters) have to have bones in order to work as you require. You'd need to go to the Setup room and bone the thing.

phantast, Here's what you need to do. 1. Export both props as an .obj file. The .obj must be saved in Geometries or one of it's sub-folders. In the export dialog, UNcheck all options EXCEPT the 1st one (include body part names in polygon groups). 2. Make a PHI file - This is a simple text file telling poser where the obj is stored and what the body part names are. You can make it in notepad and save it with the extension .PHI similar to the one below. ----------------------------------- objFile :Runtime:Geometries:yourfolder:yourobjname.obj 1 part1 yxz 1 part2 yxz ----------------------------------- That's all there is to a PHI. Insert your folder and obj name in the first line, and the prop names in the next 2 lines. It is VERY important that you use the names they have in poser, ie. prop_1, prop_2, or whatever. The PHI above makes a figure with neither part parented. If you want one prop to be a parent and the other a child, change the line 1 part2 xyz to 2 part2 xyz 3. Open the PHI file in poser (it's alt-f-h on the keyboard - I can't remember the menu, but it's in File). Poser will ask you to give it a name and add an entry to New Figures. Nothing will appear in the document window. You have to double-click the new entry. Your figure will open. After that, you may have to change the joint parameters to get the rotation right. You can do that in the JP Editor. If you decide to use this method and need help with the JPs, just yell. mac

PS With most non-organic figures, you MUST switch off the 'bend' option for each body part or they'll distort when moved or scaled. Open properties for each part and uncheck bend, then resave the figure to the library. mac

With any prop, the vertex information can be stored as an obj file in runtimegeometries, or it can be stored in the pp2 file. This seems to be true of cr2 files as well, as the reference cr2 file I'm using has no link to an external obj file, and includes the vertex data in the cr2. Therefore it doesn't seem to be necessary to save an obj file. Since a cr2 file also doesn't refer to an external phi file, I assume that the information in the phi file must be actually stored in the cr2 file. In my reference file I find: figure { name Figure 1 root BODY:17 addChild Frame:17 BODY:17 addChild Door:17 Frame:17 - which I guess is the conversion of the phi file. I'm not sure if the :17 is significant or just part of the name. It seems to me it must be possible to succeed by hacking the cr2 file directly, or my reference example wouldn't work. I just can't find the critical lines.

phantast, All cr2s reference external geometry. (Poser 5 may be an exception to this rule - I haven't looked into it yet). In the cr2 you should have 3 blocks, 2 of which start with the line figureResFile :Runtime:Geometries:folder:name.obj The 1st block is the geometry declaration. It starts with that line, then lists all the actors (the separate pieces within the obj file). Then comes the actor block. Again, you have a figureRes line, then all the body parts with their properties. The 3rd block is the materials and poser menu (addChild statements). The number '17' means that it was the 17th figure you loaded in that document window. If you save it to the library, open a new doc, open the figure and resave it, the cr2 will list '1' instead of '17'. A cr2 doesn't need to reference a PHI file. The PHI only tells poser where the obj is and what actors are in it. Poser then writes a cr2 and adds it to New Figures and you can delete the PHI. mac

Here's what the beginning of a cr2 looks like

{
        version
        {
                number 4.01
        }
        figureResFile :Runtime:Geometries:room creator:061staircase.obj
        actor BODY:1
        {
        }
        actor stairs:1
        {
                storageOffset 0 0 0
                geomHandlerGeom 13 stairs
etc, etc

The section you pasted above is the figure block where the materials are. Here's what mine looks like. figure { name staircase 1 root BODY:1 addChild stairs:1 BODY:1 addChild left_bannister:1 stairs:1 addChild left_rail:1 left_bannister:1 addChild right_bannister:1 stairs:1 etc, etc.

But before that section, you should have a huge amount of other information. mac

Sorry to have to contradict you, mac, but that doesn't seem to be so, and I am using Poser 4 not Poser 5. Here's the start of the file (the one that works): { version { number 3.01 } actor BODY:17 { } actor Frame:17 { geomCustom { numbVerts 64 numbTVerts 0 numbTSets 0 numbElems 56 numbSets 168 v -0.225740 0.000000 0.019690 v -0.225740 0.819710 0.019690 v 0.225740 0.819710 0.019690 v 0.225740 0.000000 0.019690 v -0.199030 0.000000 0.019690 v -0.199030 0.789130 0.019690 v 0.201690 0.789130 0.019690 v 0.201690 0.000000 0.019690 v -0.225740 0.000000 0.019690 v -0.225740 0.819710 0.019690 v 0.225740 0.819710 0.019690 v 0.225740 0.000000 0.019690 v 0.201690 0.000000 0.019690 v 0.201690 0.789130 0.019690 v -0.199030 0.789130 0.019690 v -0.199030 0.000000 0.019690 v -0.225740 0.000000 -0.019690 v -0.225740 0.819710 -0.019690 v 0.225740 0.819710 -0.019690 v 0.225740 0.000000 -0.019690 v 0.201690 0.000000 -0.019690 v 0.201690 0.789130 -0.019690 v -0.199030 0.789130 -0.019690 v -0.199030 0.000000 -0.019690 v -0.225740 0.000000 -0.019690 v -0.225740 0.819710 -0.019690 v 0.225740 0.819710 -0.019690 v 0.225740 0.000000 -0.019690 v -0.199030 0.000000 -0.019690 v -0.199030 0.789130 -0.019690 v 0.201690 0.789130 -0.019690 v 0.201690 0.000000 -0.019690 v -0.200210 0.000180 0.015930 v -0.200210 0.787110 0.015930 v 0.201530 0.787110 0.015930 v 0.201530 0.000180 0.015930 v -0.190100 0.000180 0.015930 v -0.190100 0.776990 0.015930 v 0.191410 0.776990 0.015930 v 0.191410 0.000180 0.015930 v -0.200210 0.000180 0.015930 v -0.200210 0.787110 0.015930 ... etc

phantast, No problem contradicting me. LOL. You're the one who has the cr2 in front of you, and I'm sure you're eyesight is fine. Well, it seems that you indeed have a cr2 with embedded geometry, but I'm not sure what it is. Is this a poser 3 file? It's certainly not a typical cr2. Have you tried opening one of the poser 4 cr2s, like posette? I never had poser 3, so I can't say what they were like. In thoery, you could hack a cr2 by replacing the actor names with your own prop names, but embedding the vertexs would be a nightmare, so you'd have to export an obj file and reference it in the cr2. mac

Re post #1: Phantast, the most probable cause of the problem you describe is that "allowsBending" enabled, this is the default condition when you use the Hierachie Editor to convert props to a figure. Each actor has a line "bend 1" or "bend 0", that determins wether bending is turned on for that actor. In the 'Figure' section of the cr2 there is a master swich "allowsBending", find this switch and set it to "allowsBending 0". That should solve your problem, though you may still need to do some work in the Joint Editor to get the figure working right.

Les, you're a genius. Armed with that information, in two minutes I had the thing finished and working perfectly.

see #4 for the same info. mac

Ah, but I already did switch off bending for each part as in #4. What I didn't know about was the master switch. That was the key.

Gladd Icould be of help Phantast!

OK. I see the difference. I didn't know about the master key myself. mac

Actually I too thought that setting all the individual bend paramiters to zero would work, in fact I still do think it works. I just recomended using the master allowsBending switch because it's quicker.