Hi,

I am currently working on a piece of furniture that will have the cushions, padding seperate from the main body/base. I want to be able to apply MAT poses to these models so that The fabric can be easily changed, also I would like to apply morphs to the models so that they could imitate compression caused by a character sitting or leaning against a soft surface. I would also like a couple of the soft cushions to be posable (so they can be rolled up like a futon mattress or bent).

I really like the idea of using alternative geometry (could be used for the soft furnishings) and I may want to combine this as well.

My main question is, would you advise creating these objects as props or posable characters or a combination of both. My main aim is to try and get as much versatility from my object, without clogging up my pose and character folders with too many selections.

Cheers,

Simon.

I would say a combination of models. Let's take for example the frame of the furniture, that would almost always stay the same but the cushions on the other hand would be a poseable figure. Sharen

Best done as a Pure Figure

CR2 Generation

Create the phi file with the appropriate hierarchy
Eg Elements - sofaBody sofaLeg1 sofaLeg2 sofaLeg3 sofaLeg4 sofaBack sofaArmRest1 sofaArmRest2 cushion1 cushion2
Generate the RSR and CR2 file

CR2 Editing

Adjust the JPs - especially the centers

Turn off bends for discrete pieces Eg cushions

The frame can be tweaked with tapers, scales, translates, rotates and so on ... even adjusting the scale extents or scale types - eg "propagatingScale" instead of "scale" in the CR2

Add the geometry switches in the CR2 or use "replace actor with prop" from the main menu for the cushions

PS You may fix JPs later by deleting jointing for cushions in the CR2

Hope this helps :)

Message edited on: 08/20/2004 04:29

Message edited on: 08/20/2004 04:30

This is all very helpful, Thank you. Simon.

MAT poses only work on figures or props that are parented to a figure. So you'd best use a figure, maybe you can set up different cushions as different parented props.

The pen is mightier than the sword. But if you literally want to have some impact, use a typewriter

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Q-"MAT poses only work on figures or props that are parented to a figure. " That's a bit of a shame as I have been experimenting with purely props and altering the physical appearance using morphs (which works really well and are easy to set up and use). Perhaps I could set up some form of invisible control figure that has all the props parented to it? Is there no way of setting up alternative materials in a similar manner to alternative geometries? Simon.

Setting up an invisible control figure works fine. 3DWorldz is an environment figure that is built that way, the only body part is a dummy, and the rest is parented props. Alternate materials can be set up, actually, you use alternate geometries that have the same vertices but different materials. A dirty trick, but it works.

The pen is mightier than the sword. But if you literally want to have some impact, use a typewriter

My gallery   My freestuff

"Is there no way of setting up alternative materials in a similar manner to alternative geometries?"

Materials are mapped from mat pz2 to the selected object in the Poser display in the following manner -
An actor or smart prop has associated figure data so that materials are mapped to the entire figure . In this respect, Hair is a kind of smart prop .
Ordinary parented props do not contain figure data, so that mapping occurs only to the selected individual prop .
Smart props are created by first parenting a prop to the figure, saving to the library as smart props (to acquire figure association), then reloading the props .

Alternate geometry and replace props behave the same as actors and smart props where mapping is concerned .

With delta morphs, there is no issue of mapping as the geometry is the same - only vertex positions are shifted .

Of interest is the material declarations in Poser files . The material declarations occur in the actor/prop section after the channels declaration - as customMaterial 0 or 1 .
CustomMaterial 0 uses subsequently declared materials in the figures section -
these manifest as figure materials in the Poser materials editor .
CustomMaterial 1 uses immediately declared materials -
these manifest as seperate prop materials in the Poser materials editor .

Message edited on: 08/28/2004 03:07