I have an OBJ file for my original prop, and I also have separate OBJ files for each morph target.

I now want to create a PP2 file that includes all the morph target data (I'm reasonably familiar with the PP2 file format).

My current method of creating the deltas (don't laugh!) is to import the OBJs into a spreadsheet, write simple formulae (A minus B) to convert the absolute coordinates of the morph targets to deltas, and then cut-and-paste these deltas into the targetGeom deltas in the PP2. (Yes, I like doing things the hard way!)

Now there MUST be a more sensible way!
Advice please

*I know that I can import the original OBJ in Poser6, and then load the other OBJs as morph targets, but I can only save this as a PZ3/PMD pair.  
Yes, I can then extract the necessaries from the PZ3 to make a PP2, but the deltas are still hidden away in binary form in the PMD, which is not what I want .  
(I also want the PP2 to work with DAZ|Studio, which doesn't seem to understand PMDs)*

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The 3Dcheapskate* occasionally posts sensible stuff. Usually by accident.
And it usually uses Poser 11, with units set to inches. Except when it's using Poser 6 or PP2014, or when its units are set to PNU.

*also available in ShareCG, DAZ, and HiveWire3D flavours (the DeviantArt and CGBytes flavour have been discontinued).

Turn off binary morph targets in your preferences, then save from Poser to get embedded deltas. You may want to leave them turned off since I've heard they have - issues, sometimes...

Thanks EB, that makes it so much easier :thumbupboth: !

(That's the big [only?] advantage of doing things a really stupid, long-winded way. Discovering the proper, sensible way is such a relief!)*

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The 3Dcheapskate* occasionally posts sensible stuff. Usually by accident.
And it usually uses Poser 11, with units set to inches. Except when it's using Poser 6 or PP2014, or when its units are set to PNU.

*also available in ShareCG, DAZ, and HiveWire3D flavours (the DeviantArt and CGBytes flavour have been discontinued).

Quote - Discovering the proper, sensible way is such a relief!

:lol:

Mind you, I have no room to laugh. I use spreadsheets quite often for generating morphs - the language in my head which describes what I want translates into formulae much more readily than it does into modelling processes. :)

The especially nice part about letting Poser do it:  Poser automatically omits the
all-zero delta lines, and calculates the 'indexes' and 'numbDeltas' lines correctly.
Those tasks can be extremely time-consuming and error-prone if done manually.
(Yeah, I started that way too.)

My python page
My ShareCG freebies

Thanks again EB + ockham. I've just released the result of all this (my first morphing model - a chess pawn) as a freebie. Letting Poser create the deltas saved me a lot of work.

Does anybody have any suggestions on a good way to extract the PP2 data from the PZ3?
MorphManager, with it's expand/collapse facility, is good for seeing what's in the PZ3. That helped me find the bits I wanted to delete. But I ended up using a plain old text editor to delete the bits I didn't need. Definitely an error-prone way to do it.

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The 3Dcheapskate* occasionally posts sensible stuff. Usually by accident.
And it usually uses Poser 11, with units set to inches. Except when it's using Poser 6 or PP2014, or when its units are set to PNU.

*also available in ShareCG, DAZ, and HiveWire3D flavours (the DeviantArt and CGBytes flavour have been discontinued).

Quote - Discovering the proper, sensible way is such a relief!

 With that in mind - you could save the prop to the props library? :-)

I knew I'd asked a very similar question before, so I'll add my new question to this old thread. It follows on beatifully from EB's last reply - shame I didn't ask the question 5 months ago!

If you've imported an OBJ into Poser 6, how can you save it out directly as a PP2? How do you "...save the prop to the props library" ?

I can only see the "File > Save As" option, which only lets me save as a PZ3. What am I missing?

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The 3Dcheapskate* occasionally posts sensible stuff. Usually by accident.
And it usually uses Poser 11, with units set to inches. Except when it's using Poser 6 or PP2014, or when its units are set to PNU.

*also available in ShareCG, DAZ, and HiveWire3D flavours (the DeviantArt and CGBytes flavour have been discontinued).

Select the prop you want to save.

Open the section of the props library where you want to save it - create a new section if desired.

Click on the (+) button at the bottom of the library palette.

That's the basics. If your prop was parented to a figure at the time you saved it, you will be asked if you want to make it a smart prop (so it will position and parent itself to that same body part next time you load it).

You can also save more than one prop together using the Select Subset button.

Simples. :-)

Thanks EB - I like seemples !

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The 3Dcheapskate* occasionally posts sensible stuff. Usually by accident.
And it usually uses Poser 11, with units set to inches. Except when it's using Poser 6 or PP2014, or when its units are set to PNU.

*also available in ShareCG, DAZ, and HiveWire3D flavours (the DeviantArt and CGBytes flavour have been discontinued).

spreadsheets here too

i also use them to translate the morphs to the opposite side, like rshoulder to lshoulder

i made an index of comparative positions on the opposing sides to line up the vert numbers

go that way really fast.
if something gets in your way
turn

dorkmcgork - indeed, for some morphs spreadsheets are definitely still the easiest way! I'm intrigued by your morph-mirroring indices...

Anyway, another question, sufficiently related to the thread title to add it here.

I know that the custom geometry for a prop can be externalized in the prop declaration, e.g.

prop Bishop
    {
    storageOffset 0 0 0
    objFileGeom 0 0 :Runtime:Geometries:3DCheapskate:Chess2a:Bishop.obj
    }

But what about the morph targets? Is there any to externalize these? E.g. the 'RoofExtend' in the following. My guess is that it's not possible...

prop PBB-base
    {
    ...
    channels
        {
        groups
            {
            groupNode Morph
                {
                parmNode RoofExtend
                parmNode CanopyShorten
                }
            }
        targetGeom RoofExtend
            {
            ...
            numbDeltas 53
            deltas
                {
                 ...
                }
            }
            ...etc... 

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The 3Dcheapskate* occasionally posts sensible stuff. Usually by accident.
And it usually uses Poser 11, with units set to inches. Except when it's using Poser 6 or PP2014, or when its units are set to PNU.

*also available in ShareCG, DAZ, and HiveWire3D flavours (the DeviantArt and CGBytes flavour have been discontinued).

(...other than Poser's .PMD 'binary morph targets' I mean, obviously. That's where this thread started, trying to avoid those things!)

What I'm really asking is, I guess, is there a way to use external .OBJ files as morph targets for Poser and DAZ|Studio? I'm fairly certain there isn't, but I'd like a second opinion...

---

The 3Dcheapskate* occasionally posts sensible stuff. Usually by accident.
And it usually uses Poser 11, with units set to inches. Except when it's using Poser 6 or PP2014, or when its units are set to PNU.

*also available in ShareCG, DAZ, and HiveWire3D flavours (the DeviantArt and CGBytes flavour have been discontinued).