made a simple bridle in 3dsmax, now I have it in poser and try to put bones into the reins.. total nightmare, the bones themselves are difficult to place and grouping isn't precise enough to let me 'paint' the reins without having half the bit painted along with it.. auto grouping just messes up the whole process.

so, was wondering how other people get round this problem, I know the bones are not the same as in max so I assume I can't just rig it in max for poser..?  anyway I would have no way to get it back into poser as obj files don't seem to hold the bones and grouping, is there any other programs that can create bones and grouping and export to poser?

thanks

Attached Link: PHI Builder

Create your groups in MAX then create a PHI file for poser to read (converts it to a figure), PHI builder is easy to use for this (compared with writing a PHI file by hand.......Steve

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I usually use UV mapper to group things in, easier then Poser.
After a bit of experience with bones, you'll know how to group a lot of things things before you create bones.

There's a utility that afriend of mine wrote here on rendo that will take grouping and bones from Max, and export the info in a poser format. I just got it for testing, so I don't know how it works yet.
It's called Maxpo, by yangaimin (here on rendo).

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thanks everyone, I will first try grouping in max and working with that in poser, didn't know this was possible..

I have a few more questions though,

how exactly do I group in max for poser? I can group polys with the material editor but I would like the reins to be all one material.. is it called something different in max?

how do I export PHI information from max? (wrong forum I know sorry, just wanted to keep this in one thread)

thanks again for all your help, will defiantly be trying the Maxpo in future.

Divide your obj up in Max by groups. 
Since you are doing reins it might be easier to number them, that way phi will sort them logically, make it easier for you to create the hierarchy.
Poser will recognize all of your groups as one material, so that isn't a problem.

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**DarkEdge, the group tool in max doesn't divide a poly, it only adds separate mesh objects together (unless I am missing something, which is not terribly unlikely lol), as I say the only tool I know in max that can divide a mesh and that poser 'sees' in obj file is with the material editor, but that would mean I would have like 40 material settings on the reins..

when I 'group' in poser it doesn't add to the materials, but then I export to obj (to see if I can figure this out) and look at it in max which shows just one mesh with no groups.. does this mean max can't do grouping for poser? ..or that it can but only through materials?**

Cortic, Yes, I am aware of how Max works...I use it too. Here is how I would approach the reins, probably several different ways to approach this...this is just one way.

1- Create your model in Max. I will export these 6 box objects together as one obj file

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If I open the obj file in UV Mapper we can see that the 6 boxes are broken up into groups, which is what we want.

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I now import that obj file into PHI builder. See how they have arranged themselves into a good hierarchy chain already for me? That's because I used plane 1, plane 2, plane 3, plane 4, plane 5, etc. If you use numbers they will arrange themselves for you...cool huh? Save phi file.

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Now I import that obj file into Poser. If I open the group editor we can select each grouping very easily. No hasseling with Poser's fickle grouping editor. Best to do all of your grouping outside of Poser.

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Now with that obj selected in Poser I go to: file/convert hier file Locate where you saved the phi file. Now delete the obj from the stage. Go to your figures library and work your way to new figures folder...there it is! Bring onto the stage. Now go to the setup room and "presto chango"...my boxes now have bones linking them together.

If I go to the material room I can apply the same material to all of them, as there is only one material available for them all. 
Use this same method for your reins and you should be good to go.
Hope this helps.

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I see, thanks **DarkEdge, was hoping it would be easier (like material grouping in max) as I have a single box shaped into reins and was really hoping to just select the polygons and set the groups some how, I also have a mesh smooth on there so will take some re-building..

anyway I have my answer, thank you again for taking the time to explain it to me :)**

Well there is another way to use your materials as groupings. If you export from Max with materials applied, you can open in UV Mapper and select your material and save it as a 
group(s).
You could also detach in Max and those could be your groupings, then weld all in UV Mapper.
Lots of different ways to get what you want.
Sorry I couldn't be more help.

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**DarkEdge, I am very interested in that first idea with UVMapper, have downloaded the classic version, have grouped the polys in one of my reins into 20 sub materials in max and exported to obj, imported into mapper and select all 20 materials...

from there I tried saving model, assigning it to group, export UVs.  but nothing I try changes the materials to groups... do I need the pro version to do this or am I missing a command here?****

thanks

**

I'm sorry Cortic I do not have that answer for you, I have the Pro version. I will say that I use it all the time and well worth the investment.
There is a UV Mapper forum here at rosity where you could ask you questions though.www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showforum.php

Hope this helps

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Quote - ... nothing I try changes the materials to groups...

You have to do it one zone at a time. In UVMapper, do Edit > Select > by Material (Ctrl-M) and pick one material name. Then do Edit > Assign > to Group and enter your desired group name. If you're comfortable using a text editor, there's an easier way: replace all the 'usemtl' keywords to be 'g' (e.g. usemtl Reins1 becomes g Reins1). This will lose your material assignments, but they can be replaced easily - I assume you don't need many.

outstanding :) replacing the usemtl with g worked great!  that's exactly what I was looking for.  thanks EnglishBob, life saver :)

maxpo can do this just a few click.

Thanks, EnglishBob. I was starting to scream just a little. So many times, I read these threads where the problem-solving process is a tight circle between "Download another piece of software and use the buttons" and "Try to guess what it did to the mesh." Sometimes, leaving all those shiny tools and that comfortable level of abstraction and getting a little closer to the bare metal will tell you so much more about the process. The mesh divisions in an .obj file that are recognized by Poser occur in the "faces" section -- after the vertices -- and are in the format of "everything after this comment belongs to the group described." "Group" comments are in the format "g group_name," and "material" comments are in the format "usemtl material_name." You can change, delete, and combine these comments using a variety of tools; down to and including a lowly text editor. With the right search terms you can quite easily selectively change some of them and leave the others alone. Similar comments can be made about the Phi file, which is a dead-simple text document that is used as an instruction set by Poser to create a new hierarchy. The situation of Poser's basic DNA, the cr2 and similar formats, is akin but not as simple. Some parts of the cr2 are easy to puzzle out (the geometry calls near the top, for instance.) The rest of it needs a little more time and skill to get used to! Most modeling software has some way to create named polygon groups. It is usually simplest to make these in the original modeler rather than try to create them later with UVmapper or Poser itself. And, yes, using material domains is a work-around; with clever enough names you can do a find-and-replace of just your groups and leave the "actual" materials intact.

Very well, I'm sorry you felt my suggestion was complicated.

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