Hello Poser users!

Since the Cinema 4D Charity Drive (look in the FreeStuff section - choose Cinema 4D, and viola! Many of them have OBJ versions as well, including mine), I've come to realize I have many elaborate models sitting in limbo, and many models I've made that I might try and sell.

Problem? I need someone to test them out as I have NO experience with Poser other than exporting a basic mesh for me to bring into C4D, XSI, or Mudbox to mess with, and put into scenes.

I need feedback so they'll be manageable - I think my polycounts are going too high.

Soooooo... If someone dares, I can send them a link to download the OBJ I'm currently dusting off and prepping. Load it in Poser, tell me if you see any problems, what might make life easier for this scene, etc. Lemme know IF this would be something people might buy, as well - my worry is that this might be too odd a setup, or difficult to position to get anything out of for scenes.

Please lemme know if you're interested - I think I'm gonna cap it at the first 5 takers.

Thanks in advance-

-Lew

I'll bite... :)

1 down!

I'll send you an IM once it's up tonight - still not up yet apparently...

Thanks!
-Lew

I'm in

Does the obj need to be turned into a figure ?

Nope - it's an indoor sci-fi-ish arena.
2 down!
-Lew

I can do that. What sort of turn around are you hoping for? I'm UK based, so I might not be done with it this evening.

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

No specific rush - looking for feedback - too close-quarters, would be helpful if it had doors, make another room down there, too high a polycount (do more details in textures, not actually modeling them kinda thing), etc.

And we have #3!

i would like to test it too let me know
Thanks
SaRaneth

And #4!
1 more to go!
Gotta take my son to T-Ball practice, it should be up when I get back and I'll send you folks the link - thanks!
-Lew

You can sign me up as no.5 - using PowerMac G5.

And we have #5!!
Okay, door closed for now.
Don't worry - there'll be a round 2, or a new round with a new model.

-Lew

Oh lummy, what have I let myself in for? :O) I have never done any texturing of a model... I wouldn't know where to start! But I'm exploring the arena and doing some Clay renders now. This was the first one, with typical Poser render artifacts...

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention... I imported the obj twice, once at 100% and once at 1000%. The larger import comes into Poser at just about 500 inches high, which is still too small, but useable.

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

Awwww - the smaller version sits perfectly inside the arena area below - like a little arena mini-me! That's so cute!

Interesting... There's GOT to be a way I can control the scale out of C4D when I export to OBJ.

It's supposed to be roughly 195ft length, 135ft wide, and 136ft tall.

Maybe my last thing should simply be to get it into Poser, size to proper dimensions, and THEN export as a - I'm suddenly blanking on the extension... .pz2? Poser object?

I definitely have some "working out" to do...

I like the light sources between the monitors - hadn't thought of that and it looks cool!

Thanks for the feedback so far!

-Lew

Quote - Oh lummy, what have I let myself in for? :O)
I have never done any texturing of a model... I wouldn't know where to start!
But I'm exploring the arena and doing some Clay renders now. This was the first one, with typical Poser render artifacts...

texturing is easy, :) it is the UV mapping that most people dread.

what is the poly count?

I am interested in an arena.
Are there any exists? I don't see any doors
are there lights? as in the physical items in the model that produce lights, not poser/DS light sources.

My Homepage - Free stuff and Galleries

Is there an entrance into the arena center that I'm not seeing or are the people supposed to just jump over the fence to get down to play?

As of yet there are no door anywhere - at this point there is no way for anyone to get in or out of this place, or even get in or out of the arena area below. Haven't made 'em yet - nope, you're not missing anything - I am ;-)

I'm planning on large sci-fi doors down below for the "athletes" from their respective prep-rooms, and I'm planning on 4 sets of more normal double-doors for people to get in and out of the building/seating area.

As I was getting deeper and deeper into modeling this, I realized I may have some problems with it since it will be going into OBJ format for sale - and I'm now (through the feedback) finding out I REALLY SHOULD make it a Poser object with all texturing FIRST, and an OBJ second.

Now that you can see (in general) the arena, is this even something that would be of interest - or is it a little too out there, difficult, specific for scenes, etc.?

It's a 6-row seating arena with a 12ft drop to the actual arena floor where all forms of competition occur. I'm debating just how detailed I should make the prep-rooms below, but I'm generally thinking lockers, a sink, a coupla benches and a smaller door so you can see where they get into THAT room from a generic hallway.

Oh, and I need to learn how to rig objects in Poser so you can OPEN and CLOSE all the doors. So, more to do there as well.

There will be more to come.

-Lew

Looking very nice, Lew.

______________

Hardware: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X/MSI MAG570 Tomahawk X570/Zotac Geforce GTX 1650 Super 4GB/32GB OLOy RAM

Software: Windows 10 Professional/Poser Pro 11/Photoshop/Postworkshop 3

> Quote - texturing is easy

Hehe... anything is easy, for those who have learnt how.

I really like the arena as it is now. There's a lot that could be done with it, with some textures. I got diverted into playing with volume, instead of concentrating on what I was supposed to be doing. Then this crazy pigtailed girl popped up and started cavorting around the arena like some demented gladiator slaughtering imaginary beasts with her bare hands. For a moment I thought I recognised her from my laboratory... but no, it couldn't be... could it?

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

A low-quality RT render showing a view from up near the roof. I like this.

Yes, it needs entrances/doors such as you have in mind, although for my purposes these need only be cosmetic. If you add behind-the-scenes things such as prep rooms, etc., I would prefer it if they were done as separate props - no point in always loading the scene with geometry that isn't always used.

Lighting... I would like to see an optional set of modelled spotlights mounted up on the 'beams', or whatever they are called, together with a corresponding Poser light set to load scene lights within the modelled spotlights. Perhaps a few different lighting presets.

By the way, where is the ground level supposed to be? The default load position is with ground level more or less at the top of the arena seating area... which is okay.

Time to sleep.. more later.
Izi

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

" instead of concentrating on what I was supposed to be doing."

Hehe - don't worry - there is no activity requirements other than "play and tell me whatcha think."

"By the way, where is the ground level supposed to be?"

Ya know what? I never thought of that! The model, I think, sits a little LOW on the actual horizon/ground grid in C4D because I never thought that mattered - I always just repositioned as necessary for aligning it with anything else in a scene - since C4D doesn't start with a physical ground plane of any kind. Just a reference grid, but I suppose that WOULD be object orientation, huh?

I'm gonna bring it into Vue and see how it behaves...

See why I need feedback? Sorry - I'm the new guy. :-)

Good point about the prep rooms - cuz that would add a LOT of geometry - so it's just better to get them separate? I figured people would want the whole "more bang for the buck" kinda thing but it DOES seem that manageability comes into play.

Keep 'em coming - my list is growing, and hopefully it'll mean less troubleshooting for each consecutive model I make.

Thanks again, and I'll talk to ya soon-

-Lew

Tyger_Purr - sorry! I haven't answered your question yet! Just opened it in Vue and it says: 199,760 polygons.
-Lew

Please, seperate rooms for detail. I dont have much actual memory and this model bogs my Poser 7 down a lot. Its a very nice model though.

Quote - Just opened it in Vue and it says: 199,760 polygons.

Poser GeomStats says 100,204 polys. Why would it be different in Vue? Strange....

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

"Why would it be different in Vue? Strange...."

I dunno - that IS strange!

Gonna open it back up tonight in C4D and see what IT claims the count to be, but it looks like I'm over the 100k limit I heard advised.

Markschum - It also sounds like the advice was pretty good, though - if it's already starting to bog down P7 I should keep any further enhancements fairly light.

I THINK I can also drop the poly-count a bit more here and there. Get rid of a coupla loop cuts that might be just for extra smoothing - they might not be needed.

My list is getting bigger - thanks folks, and keep 'em coming!

-Lew

Using Poser 7. (PowerMac G5, Tiger))
Imported object and had to scale it to 3500% to make it big enough for James to sit down.
It imported in green, by the way.

3,500% - wow! Yes, definitely need to put it in Poser before saving it out!

I'm stumped on the green - it has no materials at this point. Not even zones.

I see yet another thing on my list - the center railing and posts need to be thinner - they look massive next to a character!

C4D says these stats:
100,184 polygons
1,407 objects

Thanks folks, and keep 'em coming!

-Lew

By my calculations, an import scale of 3,264% would make it exactly the right size.
At 100% it imports at 50 inches high. The correct height is 136 feet, or 1,632 inches, so the import scaling factor should be 1,632 / 50 * 100% = 3,264%. I've just re-imported at this size, so I'll try a few quick renders with a figure in various places.

Mine imported first with a blue Preview material, and the last time with magenta. It seems to be random, like the colour of a new light source.

I started to create material zones, but I ran into problems with the Poser Grouping Tool, and so I went off at a tangent to learn how to do this in Blender, which I've never used. So far I I've only created one for the dome roof and one for the rest of the structure.

By the way, do you want feedback via this thread, or would you prefer it by IM? I never asked...

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

This thread would be great - also keeps it in 1 localized spot for my reference - and I don't care that the laundry is aired in public either.

Hey, this is a learning experience for me, and it's been VERY eye opening! You have no idea how thankful I am for you folks!

-Lew

A close up of the seating with Alyson, the Poser 8 character. This scale seems about right. Yes, the arena centre railings do need to be smaller diameter. Back with more soon, I hope.

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

*following along...

....

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

I've REALLY gotta make those smaller - it looks like they have a 12in diameter or something! I have company over tonight, but that'll probably be the FIRST thing I fix/redo tomorrow night.

-Lew

Aly has been exploring up in the roof. This was a small and quick IDL render with DoF, and I didn't get the lighting right. Not to worry... it's past my bedtime.

When I first saw the arena, I thought it would be perfect with a glass or semi-opaque dome roof. The problem with this is that the girders just pass right through the dome, and end in mid air outside.

I suppose it would need a fair amount of remodelling work, but it would be nice to have those girders properly 'supported' at the ends - ending on solid structural parts rather than just passing right through the dome.

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

Just added to the list.

Gonna toy with what would be needed to model skylights - it's actually not THAT complicated a roofing system YET which is exactly why I decided to have testers at this point in the construction.

BTW - when I've made changes I'm gonna upload another one for you all to play with - and just like before, it's yours free and clear - have as much fun with it as possible which will lead you to exactly the troubleshooting you've been giving me.

Thanks again!

-Lew ;-)

Okay - update time! 1 - Basic hallways behind the doors to the arena have been added. 2 - Doors to the arena have been added - no doors for the audience yet, but those will be simple. 3 - Horizon Line has been changed to the base of the model - I hope that fixes it... 4 - Railing surrounding the arena has been redone to be MUCH thinner. 5 - The ceiling has been changed to have large open "strips" for skylights, and a "sheet" has been added to make a "glass" material so you can see up to the sky, or make it bright white and blown out like you can't see the sky because it's so much brighter than indoors (which would be more natural to actual photography anyway). 6 - The arena floor has been slightly modeled to have areas raised/textured. 7 - Arena interior walls have had a bit of model texturing done as well to give them a more interesting surface. 8 - Giant monitors on each side have been added like huge LCD scoreboards. 9 - Girders have been tinkered with - the outside of the building is "clean" of extra geometry, and some supports that extended out have been deleted - so if one should choose to do an exterior shot, at least the roof will look okay...

Still need to put tiny "blocks" where the girders anchor to the ceiling, as well as a bunch of simple par-cans for lights.
No materials have been tackled yet.
Gonna do a little more and then upload a new OBJ for you all to play with. Sorry to say the poly-count went UP, but hopefully not too much to handle.

-Lew

Just found this "Log" of progression :)
Will follow from here.

Suggestions:

Export some Poser model to use as a reference (V3, V4, M3, whatever you have/prefer).
Import that .obj file into Cinema 4D - Using my Riptide (free) or Riptide Pro (commercial) .obj file plugin (http://skinprops.com).
When Importing it into Cinema 4d, set the Scaling value to 1000 (this is a good scaling value that I've used for years - it scales the tiny Poser models up by 1000 times).
With the figure loaded, scale your arena or other C4D models to suit the figure.
While working on the model, be aware of where the Y=0.0 (ie. a floor) is - you'll want to have most models sitting on the floor before you export.
You can also set up material zones and even groups (only needed for posable figures in Poser) - Riptide will maintain all that info (the built-in .obj Import/Export does not).
You'll likely also want to do your UV-mapping in C4D before exporting.
When you're ready to Export to Poser, use the same 1000 Scale Factor setting, to scale the model back Down to Poser-like scales.

...while not specific to Poser, Riptide was originally written for my own use in developing Poser models. Riptide Pro has many additional options, including "Preset" configurations (including one set up for Poser). The Pro version has a free 30-day trial.

Cinema4D Plugins (Home of Riptide, Riptide Pro, Undertow, Morph Mill, KyamaSlide and I/Ogre plugins) Poser products Freelance Modelling, Poser Rigging, UV-mapping work for hire.

Hi Spanki - thank you SO MUCH for the tips - gonna go back into the model tonight and do what you mentioned!

I'm very worried about the scaling issue - when bringing a Poser figure into C4D it's tiny, and it sounds like when they bring MY MODEL into Poser, it's TINY (one of the scaling up someone mentioned having to do was 3,500%!)! So the scaling issue has me not only scratching my head but a little panicky. I only figure that by finally bringing it into Poser and scaling it properly, when I save it as a Poser object it'll maintain that scaling.

I figured the main objects I would UVMap in C4D (and created custom textures in PS) - and once it's imported into Poser for final prep (and eventual save) and give the not so important pieces (girders, for example) basic materials in Poser. Here's the currently pathetic part - I don't even know how to do basic texturing in Poser :-)

I currently have P6 but I'm about to get P8 and learn how to create Mat Zones (as well as rigging) for this very reason.

Does anyone know of any reason I should get Poser Pro, vs just P8? All I'm gonna do is make sure the model works in Poser - textures, rigged, and sized, etc. I've gotta act on it fast, though, as it's only on sale until the end of the month. My upgrade to P8 is $100, to P-Pro is $200, and I can't figure out any valid reason to spend the extra money right now.

Quick question? I'm using C4D 9.6 (haven't learned enough of Max or Maya yet to do this with any confidence) - will Riptide work with it? I know - I COULD just download the free version and find out, but if it works fine with 9.6 I'd just jump right to getting the Pro version since $50 is a steal.

-Lew

Ah - just found that you have a specific 9.6 version! Cool!

Yeah, the download categories on my site can be a little confusing, but it sounds like you figured it out - the Pro version requires R9.6 or later, so there's one in that category. The free version requires R9.1 or later, so it can be found there.

And yeah, I noticed the scaling issue... it sounds like you were maybe already working at a somewhat small scale within C4D and then scaled it down when exporting (the built-in exporter has a scale setting as well, which you may not have adjusted). But anyway, give my suggestions above a try - if you scale Poser figures Up by 1000 times, they are no longer tiny inside C4D - it's a comfortable working size for most models... the only potential issue is the size of your arena is really big, so you could also try a 100 instead of 1000 scale - just use the same value for Importing from Poser and Exporting back to it and everything will work fine.

Cinema4D Plugins (Home of Riptide, Riptide Pro, Undertow, Morph Mill, KyamaSlide and I/Ogre plugins) Poser products Freelance Modelling, Poser Rigging, UV-mapping work for hire.

You have to know if they scaled on import because thats a percentage of a standard figure size , or used the scale parameter in object properties. Its easy enough to import and scale, modelling in real world dimensions can be much easier tha trying to work to poser scale.

I keep the units displayed as "inches" in C4D, but I think it just might be irrelevant to actual physical size - because it's all over the map when I bring it into Vue - sometimes small, sometimes HUGE.

And I have 2 machines I'm working on - 1 at home and 1 at work - and I have a feeling that's contributing to the differences as well. 1 Isn't working at the "same size" as the other even though they are displaying units as "inches".

Gonna look into the settings and see if there's an architectural set of preferences or something (something where it denotes a real-world size relationship). Given that I've only ever made models just for my eyes only, this has never been an issue - I resize to taste. But since I'm planning on others using these models, I'd like them to be able to merely open them up and start using them right off the bat.

-Lew

Okay, I now have P8 and am learning the few things I think I need to cover - material basics, sizing, the lighting system - I MIGHT start to dive into the rigging, but I'm not gonna hold my breath. Right now the basics of the first 3 might be just the edge of my brain's capacity.

I hate the door I came up with, so I'm changing it, and also adding light cans based on a warehouse gallery I went through recently.

Once I can do some more tweaks, at least have "zones" set up, I'll have a more usable model to upload and you guys can play with it.

Thanks for hanging in there with me on this - it's been a pretty cool learning experience so far!

-Lew

I'm still here, watching and waiting for the new version... :O)

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

Quote - I'm still here, watching and waiting for the new version... :O)

X2 :)

Okay, while I'm getting up to speed and refining this, lemme ask a general question.

This is a LARGE arena - the "playing floor" is roughly 95 feet long - the seating is large - 6 rows deep around this thing. To populate it might very well take around 1,000 characters, and also include whomever, or whatever, is actually playing some form of game below.

Is this something that would even be used - thinking realistically?. Is this too limited and difficult a setting, or do you think it might have numerous uses?

I'm basically trying to gauge the possible responses and figure out settings/scenes to model that would be fun to use in the future - a mile-long space port may be a cool IDEA, but populating that thing with characters and ships and odds-and-ends would be a nightmare for a computer to handle and the user would get too frustrated - and my name would start to be associated with "difficult to use models" - get it?

And the next thing I'm thinking of doing is a Vegas-style somewhat large hotel room with a bizarre hottub and fireplace - so it would be more accessible for normal use and situations - and not need a cast of thousands to fill it.

I like a lot of room to play, but trying to find that manageable size others might enjoy as well is a little tricky so far.

-Lew

Speaking personally, the arena itself would never be much more than a render plaything for me. I would not attempt to fill it with anything like a realistic crowd. I can imagine that a comic-style 2D crowd overlay for the seating areas would be relatively easy to set up, or even a bunch of low-res figures; but this sort of scene is (at least for now) not something that really appeals to me.

A hotel room would be of much more interest, not only to me but in the Poser marketplace, I think. If it is cleanly and realistically modelled, imports well into Poser (no smoothing issues, etc.), and has good material zones for flexibility in texturing, then I think there may be a rewarding level of interest. It would depend a great deal on the price point, of course. As you know, Poser products tend to be way down the price and quality scale compared with those for the higher-end apps. With notable exceptions, I add hastily.

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

This is kind of what I was thinking. Not many universal options for a large arena - too specific maybe. Well, still gonna finish it and move onto the other ideas.

Gots more ler'nin ta doo - I'll be back!

-Lew

So near as I can figure out/find out/look up Poser hasn't got simple "Omni" or "Spotlight" type of lights... Just presets of a type of setup, ideas of "sidelight" kinda thing - do I have that right?

I realize this is a direct question that should really be in a new thread, but here we are...

Yes, I'm having fun learning a new system of thinking about lights.

And wow - yeah, 3200% seems pretty right as far as an import size! Still waiting for a client check to arrive and then I'l be getting Spanki's plugin and UVMapper Pro. I figure I'll just map everything - the rafters and such will all roughly be the same thing anyway, so they can just be part of 1 giant image map.

The seat rows I'll actually wanna paint as rough lived-in (or I guess "seated-in huh?) with striping on them, as well as the floors in front of them.

I think the monitors will all be separate images as well, with templates provided (or you can just change the original image supplied) so you can create your own monitor images - whether it's player profiles, or scores, ads, etc.

Still need doors for the seating area.

-Lew

Poser has four types of light source:-

Pointlights. This is an omnidirectional light souce, emitting light equally in all directions from a single point source.

Spotlights. An aimed light emitter with control of spread using start and end angles, similar to spotlight flaps.

In Poser 8 and Poser Pro 2010, the above two light types can have different types of fall-off (reduced intensity based on distance from source): constant, inverse linear, or inverse square. In previous versions, only constant and inverse linear fall-off was available in native Poser (although inverse square could be done with some shader trickery) .

Infinite. Emitting parallel light rays of fixed intensity across the whole scene, such as sunlight, moonlight.

IBL. Image-based light model emitting light from all directions towards the scene centre point. Used for ambient lighting, often with AO to simulate ambient shadowing. Largely superceded by Poser IDL.

With IDL, we can also use self-lit objects as IDL light sources. This deals with diffuse ambient lighting, but specular still has to use one of the above light sources.

Hope this helps a bit!

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

Hmm, you still have big plans for the arena. I can't wait to see it... well, I can wait, but I'm fidgety!

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

Ah - I was looking at the Library Palette! Totally missed the Light Controls where the icon means "Create Light", then the tabs - yeah, I know - you already know this stuff...

Carry on!

-Lew

Okay, back in C4D since I still don't have the model the way I want it. New updates:

Doors on all 4 sides of the upper stadium - you can now get in and out of the place. A 3-light fixture is above each, but I think it looks kinda dumb so I'm most likely gonna make new ones - should go fairly fast since I have a handful of designs I'm working on.

Doors below in the arena that I'm finally happy with as well as lights above them.

Reduced the number of wall beams seemed cluttered and unnecessary, and it lowered the poly count - of course I then upped it with the doors and lights, but hey, here we are...

Added some temp basic textures for the lights and monitors just to highlight where they were and how they would separate.

Work is picking up big-time so I'm bouncing back and forth between C4D and learning some Poser to make it all work.

-Lew

That's really coming together nicely.
Looks to me there is a post missing, just right of centre picture.

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

Oh crap - you're right!

[and then he dives back into C4D, muttering cuss-words under his breath]

A-Sunbeam actually wrote 3,500 - for some reason I had 3,200 in my head and it still wasn't really big enough - need to try it again at 3,500 like he advised. (pay attention, dopey!)

Okay, got tired of visually trying to figure out which piece I was working on, so I put the missing rail post back in (thanks for that IsaoShi!) and gave everything a basic wash of colors so I can better see what I'm doing.

If IBL seems to be the popular way to generally light, I should start pooling my panoramic skies and put one in for a lighting map/texture. I'll see what I can do to come up with something, and some interior lights, to give a good starting point where someone can take off with and play.

Yes, more to learn - I think I'm close to being done with the actual modeling now. little things here and there and that should be it.

Thanks for your patience!

-Lew

That's looking really cool! What a difference a bit of basic texturing can make. Oh, and the sunlight streaming in through the rooflights - I like!

As I mentioned, 3,264% produced exactly the overall building dimensions that you gave us, but 3,500% may well be better for the standard DAZ figure size.

I would use the environment map for IDL, rather than a probe for IBL, especially as it's an indoor scene. But it's a great idea to provide an IBL image too for those with Poser Pro, Poser 7, or earlier.

"If I were a shadow, I know I wouldn't like to be half of what I should be."
Mr Otsuka, the old black tomcat in Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)

Just wanted to make a tiny nit-picking correction. Prior to Poser 8, the falloff was constant or linear, not inverse linear.

Since P8 we have constant, linear, inverse linear, and inverse square. Only the last one is somewhat physically accurate, but creates problems because no provision was made for a non-point source. When the distance to the light is very small, the intensity goes into the mega millions.

When an IDL sample happens to hit the right area of a surface very close to a light, it reads an enormous luminance and creates an anomalous hot spot. The net effect is that you see dappled lighting everywhere.

The math to avoid this is easy, but is not included in Poser.

A workaround is possible, but requires going back to the stupid light shader trick requiring entry of the light coordinates in the shader.

Renderosity forum reply notifications are wonky. If I read a follow-up in a thread, but I don't myself reply, then notifications no longer happen AT ALL on that thread. So if I seem to be ignoring a question, that's why. (Updated September 23, 2019)

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At least in c4d 7 (which I use .. don't laugh .. it still does the job!) I can set my obj import/export value at 1000. this makes poser figures a workable size, and handles the conversion process for me.

I don't use any newfangled converty thing .. just obj export. Clothing mesh requires a precise alignment with the figure, and I haven't had alignment issues with this method. Grouping, mapping and material setting are done elsewhere. (Auto group editor, uvlayout, uvmapper pro, etc etc)

About the pastel puke colours - that's what you get when an obj is imported with only Default material zone and no mtl definition. Poser randomly picks a colour out of its pallete, and most of them are horrid. (though the hot pink full plate armor I got once did crack me up seriously ...)

The black render blobby issues .. thats the poser smoothing thing I mentioned before. That's something you'll need to model to avoid for the most part.

All poser mesh objects are obj format. Some pp2 (prop) files have the mesh data embedded, but no store accepts them that way. as for scaling .. you can either scale in c4d to an imported poser figure, or import to poser, scale to figure, export again as OBJ and re-import that scaled and correctly Y positioned obj to work with. I'd say set up in poser first since it has more hoops to jump through. After that a plain vanilla obj format will be a snap, and easier than going the other way. Once you have the thing all shadered and such in poser, then export. The mtl file that's created then should make import and texture setup in most other programs much much simpler.

Architecture can usually be left as props, however, if you have multiple texture maps since MAT pose files cannot be applied to props, you may want to make it a cr2. Really, not hard. Smart props, props parented to a cr2 figure, will accept MAT pose files. Yes you can use mc6/mt5 shader and shader collection files on props BUT Daz Studio doesnt read those. Pz2 format MAT pose files are the de facto standard unless you wan to make custom DS and poser shader based material settings.

Lyrra

Well, the current/ongoing plan is to finish all my modeling in C4D, UVMap many but not all things (like the walls, floor, seats, etc.), then export as an OBJ.

Create textures for above mentioned "main things".

Bring it into Poser, size to fit a basic character, and then create simple shaders for the rest of the objects - like the girders, handrails, ceiling supports, etc. Things that most people wouldn't care if it didn't have a custom texture.

Set up some lights for a basic configuration, possibly a panoramic sky (though I'm still figuring out all of this in Poser - I'm currently sucking at it!) so you can see clouds through the sky-lights (or windows, depending on how you look at it - which will be a basic glass texture in Poser as well).

THEN, export everything FROM Poser - both the finished OBJ file as well as the Poser scene file/setup. If it works like any other 3D program I've used, you can set up the whole scene altogether and anyone else can simply load it and play. This leaves it ready for sale and use with Poser.

For a while I started trying to tackle it all at once when the model isn't even done to my satisfaction yet - so I've pulled back and am still in C4D until I finish THAT part of this project.

Poser, I'm finding, is almost like trying to learn a different language. They really have their own way of doing things - dials instead of basic gizmos kinda thing. Rather than a single scene file, it's a SET of "runtime" folders with parts in them.

And yeah - last import in P8, everything was a vibrant RED!! Cuz THAT'S realistic!

There's going to be a LOT more head-scratching by the time I get through with this.

-Lew

I've come to the conclusion that poser can sometimes be described best as an enigma, wrapped around a mystery, wrapped around a frag grenade with a very short fuse.

Nice modelling btw.

My Freebies
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Thanks!

Okay, some updates: 1 - Changed the lights above the doors - I finally like them! 2 - Added a whole set of lights to the girders, as well as 1 dropping from the center of each monitor cluster. Yes, there's a bulb inside each one, and there's also a socket - so materials can be made to look like glowing bulbs, as well as ceramic for the sockets. I don't know how close anyone will get to them, but they should look decent at a relatively close angle.

Pic #2

Pic #3...

Once I figure out how to actually put them in the text section so it's not an attachment, I will - and here's pic #4...

I re-modeled the vertical girders/supports - I thought they sucked. Modified where the walls meet the roofing system, adjusted the horizontal supports.

I think it's ready for another round of play, then possibly some minor tweaking and then off to prep and package...

Off to make a few purchases, and then I should have an OBJ for another round.

-Lew

Okay, some playing in Poser8 - I have some issues I need to tend to as you can CLEARLY see.

Not enough support geometry is making the endcaps bloat and look like pillows.

I have a feeling that the same situation is what is causing the phenomena of the rounded seating inside edges in the far end of the picture, as well as atop the lower arena door (where the "teams" come out) the weird highlights that look "lumpy".

My "doors" along the outer walls disappeared, which tells me the walls ballooned as well.

The down below interior of the walls must have puffed out as well - they are starting to obscure the indentations I gave the doors.

And here I was trying to keep the poly-count down...

Still trying to figure out a good lighting setup, still need to figure out some more things in P8, as well as UVMap this puppy.

-Lew

Hi!

If you render in Poser without "smoth polygon" enabled, is it still ballooned?

and... and.. your model is very nice looking, great work :-)

Coming in late to this, I have to say I LOVE this model! It's awesome and I can see lots of uses for it! Especially with a rusty/decauing texture on it :D

As Johnnybode said, simply uncheck Smooth Polygons on your object (you can do it at rendertime too but it's better to disable it on the offending model, that way people can render PEOPLE with smoothing (which looks best) and the model without.

Once you get it made into a PP2 or CR2 (I'd suggest CR2 because that'll take MAT poses, but anything will work) It's easy to "hack" the file and set Smooth = 0 inside the file, turning the bloating off for good!

Hotel rooms were mentioned, and sure those would probably sell, but there is an abundance of those already while this is something rather unique! It's not even what I usually render, but I know I WANT this based on these test renders. And that's saying something!

@Jonnybode - thanks! About to fire up P8 now, and I'll try that. I also went through the model last night and came up with the minimal amount of added loops cuts I could figure out and I'll see what that does as well. Gonna try both the one shown above, as well as the new version and see if I've gained any benefits.

@TrekkiGrrrl - thanks also! I'm gonna start with a clean futuristic kinda texture, and then an almost kinda creepy "underground brutal" texture (I'm thinking people would like a choice between a good or bad place for "competitions") - and have the templates so you can create your own as well.

Yes, I was gonna for for an outlandish over the top Vegas cheesy hotel room next. This would not be your normal hotel room - multi-level (3-4 stair steps to get up or down to them), center fireplace, champagne glass bathtub, heart-shaped big bed, large open shower stall with quadrupal head, monster TV with entertainment system (basically, this could be a mnulti-use place - you could actually turn it into a bar, turn it into a regular living room for more normal settings, etc.) etc.

After that I've come up with a list of 18 more scenes/environments, and that's not including "props sets" that I'm planning as well.

Gotta finish this one first, though. Gonna bring both in - the older one with smoothing unchecked and see if it works, the new one - see if it works regardless (or did I just create more geometry for no reason? kinda thing).

Thanks all, and I'll be back later tonight (can't be on P8 too long - gotta play with my boys today, mow the lawn, make sure my wife realizes I still love her and haven't forgotten her, etc.).

-Lew ;-)

Okay, the bloating stopped, but I still have the weird "rounded corner"issues with the older model.

Gonna pull in the new model and see what that does.

BTW - I have it divided now into 3 "sections" I guess you could call it.
1 - The Arena below, hallways, the 2 large side monitors above the doors, the seating and railings - everything you could "walk" on.
2 - The monitors suspended over the arena.
3 - The whole ceiling section with the girders and lights, etc.

By having only 1 of these at a time - say, just the flooring section so you can set up your characters and basic lighting - greatly reduced the polycount and things seem to work much faster. Then you can add the later sections at the last minute IF you are going to need them at all, or if you want something like the shadows you see in mine.

-Lew

Okay - had a moment of "Eureka!" with lights! I think I will officially be able to come up with a lighting schematic/setup after more than a little play and save the whole thing as a scene file - this is a hope. At the least I think I can make a preset kinda thing.

The extra geometry seems to have helped, but I see a bit of the problem still there in the rounded geometry. But I have a feeling it's also something that a single color with a good amount of Specularity is showing. When I put a real texture on there I have a feeling it's gonna blend in and look normal.

We'll see...

Meanwhile - I'm LOVING Spanki's Riptide plugin! MAN that really helps organize things for import into Poser!

-Lew

This arena of yours makes me see duels between lions and frightened christians (from the old haydays of Rome,) but in a more modern way.

Your shadows really sets the mood here, Andy has been there all night to make sure he gets a seat on the front row :-)

maybe you could make a low poly crowd to sit on those seats. that would be a great add-on product. (not too low poly though or they won't look good)
As far as future scenes, my favourites are scenes with lots of clutter, and everything already positioned for me, as I'm making a comic with thousands of panels so the more time saving the better.
BTW I'm very impressed with your awesome modelling abilities.
Love esther

MY ONLINE COMIC IS NOW LIVE

I aim to update it about once a month. Oh, and it's free!

Okay, I'm almost done!

Working out some texture issues (not because of UVMapping - those are great! - but something's going on with Poser itself. They worked perfectly in C4D, but one of the sections is going wonky in P8.

By Sunday I'll be sending links to download the newest version for people to play with, see where problems are, fixes needed, suggestions for "ya know what would be cool...?!" Stuff like that.

Thanks for sticking with the ride, sorry it's taken so long.

See ya Monday with another post!

-Lew ;-)

for those endcaps , just unweld the end polygon. The ballooning is a smoothing issue with Poser.

That's a neat trick! I gotta remember that next time - so far I've given them a little extra support geometry and they don't bulge anymore.

Esther - thanks about the modeling!

Right now it's around 122MB with all the textures! That's not even counting the templates folder, and possibly a folder as a "thank you" pointed at my personal site to download which has PSD files so you can have a starting point (like for the monitors). I dunno if I've made something simply too big for most Poser users to manage, but from the sounds of some comments I've read around I might be pushing it - and I'm still not done, apparently. Argh!!

I thought I was close to finished, making the Poser version, and I realized there were some things I didn't duplicate like the railing stands - there was 1 for the entire railing around the arena.

I think until I can figure out the Monitor Assembly texture glitch I'm gonna upload a version that doesn't have it.

Going to go to bed now. Since I basically need to redo the Poser setup, I need to start over, and hopefully I'll have this up for the group to download and play with tomorrow night.

(in the voice of Marvin the Martian) Dee-lays, dee-lays...!

-Lew

Okay, I have a bunch of test renders. For some reason I can't see the floor - it's just a giant black hole right now.

Forgot to duplicate the door handles for the upper double-doors - they each only have 1 handle. Thought I was ALMOST done, too - oops...

I can't figure out how to include images in the body of text, and not as an upload/attachment, so I guess for now I'll just make multiple posts to show you where it is.

-Lew

I think I'm just gonna make all the upper girders a dull grey - they'll have bumps and specular, but I think I'm gonna forgo the colored texture since it really calls attention to itself.

-Lew

Quote
For some reason I can't see the floor - it's just a giant black hole right now.
end quote

Did you check "normal forwards" for the floor? (in the material room)

And there it is!! Thank you Jonnybode!

-Lew

OKAY!!!
Now, this time, with FEELING!!
I think I'm done - made a ZIP folder, and my wiffie will upload it to my site and I'll send out the link. If you're not interested in continuing to play with it, lemme know.
Thanks for your patience (and next time I'll make something a tad smaller...)-

-Lew

"By my calculations, an import scale of 3,264% would make it exactly the right size."
-IsaoShi

To all whom I just sent links to, I've been bringing it in at 3,500%, but it does feel a tad large. I think Izi is right about that size.

Good luck and have fun, and thanks again for the comments and suggestions-

-Lew

I'm done with all the modeling and texturing, and let's be honest - it's freakin' huge!

Rendo has a size limit of 150MB, and I think it's something like 160-ishMB with the templates. DAZ also has suggested size limits due to complaints they get for purchases that turn out to be difficult for many customers' computers to manage.

Here's where I'm at - the folks that have the new version downloaded - gimme some down and dirty feedback so I can figure out any last-minute tweaks that would be needed, and I'm gonna put this up as a freebie since I can host it on my own site and just have the link in the FreeStuff section here at Rendo.

Thanks again for your patience, and I hope you all can enjoy the model soon-

-Lew

Forum: Poser - OFFICIAL

Subject: I need someone to test out an OBJ model - anyone willing?