Hi

Here is something I would like to see in the next version of Poser.

I would like to see a walk animation utility that somewhat resembles the one in DS4.

I would like to be able to place my character in a scene, and then click a button labeled "WalkStart and have the figure move from a standing pose into the first step.

Then I would like to be able to click a "forward 1 cycle" button, and have the figure move forward at the correct speed and go through one walk cycle.

And finally a button for "End" that would take the character back to the starting pose.

I would like to have options for Turn Left or Right 90 degrees or 45 degrees.

The process would look like this...

My character is standing in a field.

I click the Start Button, then click forward 3 times, then seeing where my character has walked to I click turn right 45 degrees forware 3 cycles etc.

Just by clicking on the walk buttons you could make your character walk where ever you wanted it to, always moving at the correct speed so that the feet look like they are in contact with the ground.

You could complete a complicated walk sequence in just a few minutes.

If it could be done to incorporate the different walk styles even better.

Mike

what id like to see:

-the weight mapped joints that i have been asking for in over 8 years of these threads (which are rumored to be coming, finally - but it remains to be seen how well/hastily they will be implemented).

-the ability to install content in .zip containers. ie: rather than having a runtime folder structure full of tens of thousands of little files dispersed everywhere (making it a nightmare to uninstall/move/update content) just have a new 'CONTENT' folder that you can simply drop a product.zip file into (with the proper directory structure within the zip, naturally) and Poser would read from the .zip itself.  from a technical perspective this wouldnt be hard to implement, it would retain backwards compatibility, and with modern processors it could decompress a .zip on the fly with no noticeable performance hit at all.  this would make it a breeze to install, uninstall, update and move content since it would simply be a matter of dropping/deleting/copying product .zips in your content folder.  just like switching on/off mods in video games you could have a little checkbox beside content you want 'active' or 'inactive'. for those that dont think this feature would be useful, Poser would continue to read files from the Runtime directories as usual. but it would allow the poweruser to quickly and efficiently manage their installed content and also cut down on the filesystem overhead that a bloated Runtime creates.  say you use a handful of freestuff/marketplace items once a year for a render - this would let you install them within seconds from a backup drive/disk, then remove them again seconds after you are done, instead of having hundreds of now useless files dispersed in a bloated Runtime.

-a better JCM system. the ability to edit intensity curves - rather than simply applying linear JCMs, the possibility to control one JCM morph with more than one dial and/or the inclusion of some sortof IF switch: for example have one JCM kick in for the arms forward with the arms raised, and a different JCM kick in for the arms forward with the arms down.  this would solve most of the hideous joint deformation issues we have in Poser - if you really think about it, the primary purpose of Poser is figure posing/animation, and there have been no advances at all in this area in the last decade at least.

unfortunately, historically those at the reigns of Poser are likely to focus on more flashy new features -- ie: bullet points on the box -- than making core program improvements.

^forgot to add,

if the program read directly from product .zip files, it would allow you to combine related products to even more efficiently organize your runtime and backups.   say you had 'Bob's Medieval Dress' and 3 related products of textures/fits/morphs. since youd only ever be using the 4 products together, you could combine them into a single .zip file.  this way if you need to uninstall/update/backup the dress, you arent hunting through your runtime for 4 different merchants' unique folder structures/textures/poser files but rather just a single nice clean .zip - which, incidentally, transfers and backs up a lot faster to USB/zip/SSD drives than thousands of little individual files do.

a product update could be accomplished in seconds by simply redownloading the 1.1 or 1.2 version of the product and replacing the old one in your runtime.  with a product like my GND - where the update replaced the textures/face morph/makeups, if for some reason you preferred the old version you could keep its .zip and switch between them easily.

I am not doing animations, so I can not comment on those MikeMoss's proposals. For the proposals form Blackhearted:

Quote - -the weight mapped joints

DAZ-Studio has openend that dance with their Genesis series. Guess Poser will follow now that users see the result. Add my vote for this one.

Quote - -the ability to install content in .zip containers

A long-term favourite of me. Add my vote there, or rather for a full blown install& verification utility for the ZIP's, checking the 'sanity' of the content before adding it.

Quote - -a better JCM system.

  The possibility to make non-linear relation between JCM and joint motions has been there since Poser 7, but few people may realize and even less people use it. See 'Using dependent parameters' in chapter 28 of the Poser reference manual. (well, in the Pro manual it is chapter 28). Compatibility with older Poser versions and, increasing, with DAZ-Studio is something few developers want to do without.

That may also explain why:

Quote - unfortunately, historically those at the reigns of Poser are likely to focus on more flashy new features -- ie: bullet points on the box -- than making core program improvements.

There have been core program improvements. Poser 8/Pro2010 was a major step forward in render speed and stability, container falloff space definitions were added, .xmp product description files were introduced, but improvements are picked up sloooowly by the market.

Quote - -a better JCM system. the ability to edit intensity curves - rather than simply applying linear JCMs, the possibility to control one JCM morph with more than one dial and/or the inclusion of some sortof IF switch: for example have one JCM kick in for the arms forward with the arms raised, and a different JCM kick in for the arms forward with the arms down.  this would solve most of the hideous joint deformation issues we have in Poser - if you really think about it, the primary purpose of Poser is figure posing/animation, and there have been no advances at all in this area in the last decade at least.

I can't comment on what is coming, but I can comment on what has already been delivered.

Poser 8 introduced a very useful feature called the Dependent Parameter Editing Tool. This tool allows you to interactively create fully editable curved and linear Dependent Parameters for any object, body part, morph or other value in a Poser scene, driven by any existing channel or by a new Master Parameter Channel. The tool is also included with Poser Pro 2010.

I blogged about this back in August '09 here but sadly the Semidieu video I referenced is no longer live.

Semidieu also created this thread on RDNA talking about use of the Dependent Parameter feature. The feature is also well documented in both the Poser 8 and Pro 2010 manual.

Another good reference to see the Dep Parm feature in action is to explore the Poser 8 figures. These have both morphs and deformers which are driven parameers, controlled buy joint rotations. If you click on an actor wih asociated driven parms, you'll see an icon on theright hand side of the channel that looks a funky key. This indicats it's a driven pam. If you click on theaorow to that key's right, you'll see a menu itme that will list Master Parameters that drive that channel. You can click in the menu to go to the Master Pam and further edit it. Correspondingly, if you click on a MAster Pam such as a Full Body Morph in thebody of those figures, you'll get a list in ht menu of all driven parms,whcih again canbe further edited.

The video can be found here

http://tutorials.shaderworks-studio.com/DP_ArmLength_1280/index.html

Improved Hair and cloth room.

A new room similar to marvelous designer or even the old cirtual fashion  to create your own dynamic clothes.

interesting, thanks - ill need to look into the dependant param editing tool.

unfortunately, i cant see a way to truly solve issues like V4's shoulders unless there is some way to code two completely separate sets of JCMs for one joint, with something like an 'IF' switch determining which one kicks in based on whether the shoulders are up or down.

based on what ive seen theres a small minority of users here that dabble in the cloth and hair rooms, but the vast majority of users think theyre 'too much hassle'. would be nice for SM to make them a little more accessible and fun for novice users so there would be more of a userbase for them.

they both have a lot of potential, but people keep going back to transmapped .obj hair and conforming clothing because they are 'one click easy'.

Quote - interesting, thanks - ill need to look into the dependant param editing tool.

unfortunately, i cant see a way to truly solve issues like V4's shoulders unless there is some way to code two completely separate sets of JCMs for one joint, with something like an 'IF' switch determining which one kicks in based on whether the shoulders are up or down.

Actually, that's exactly how the Dependent Parameter Tool can be used. Two distinct sets of morphs could be linked to a joint and driven by it's rotation; so for instance, midway through a shoulder's upward rotation, one set of morphs could dial in to their full effect, and as the shoulder moves higher, that first morph dials down to zero effect and a second morph could start kicking in. Driven parms can control multiple morphs and deformers that are tweaked to work on a very narrow range of rotation.

Quote - based on what ive seen theres a small minority of users here that dabble in the cloth and hair rooms,

Guilty!

I'd like them to get rid of those dials and use something kinder for complex scene designing and composing... You know, like "in scene/in window object manipulation". I can't be the only person who thinks that =/

Those dials are dreadful............

^the dials and scene gizmos arent so bad, although yeah it would be nice to be able to just rightclick+drag or ctrol+rclick+drag on the screen to rotate and zoom, etc.  every 3D app on earth other than the Metacreations ones have that basic functionality :)

Quote - Actually, that's exactly how the Dependent Parameter Tool can be used. Two distinct sets of morphs could be linked to a joint and driven by it's rotation; so for instance, midway through a shoulder's upward rotation, one set of morphs could dial in to their full effect, and as the shoulder moves higher, that first morph dials down to zero effect and a second morph could start kicking in. Driven parms can control multiple morphs and deformers that are tweaked to work on a very narrow range of rotation.

hmm, thanks - i need to try this.

What I would like to see with the parameter dials is the ability to click on the ends of the readout and have is move 1 unit up or down.

Sometimes I go crazy trying to drag it to the right number.

Eventually I have to double click on it to open the window and type in the number I want.

Mike

Dependent Parameters is extremely powerful, don't limit your thinking in how to use it...because it can do quite a wide variety of things!

It's very simular to ERC coding, but you can see the results in real time and tweak/make adjustments with a curve graph as well as a linear graph. Tre be'jon.

Watched the video, but I'll need to seriously marinate on the dependant parameters bit. That's heavy duty stuff for sure...

What I would like is something that Vue has - the ability for a light to affect only those objects you select. 

Quote - unfortunately, i cant see a way to truly solve issues like V4's shoulders unless there is some way to code two completely separate sets of JCMs for one joint, with something like an 'IF' switch determining which one kicks in based on whether the shoulders are up or down.

There is a way to code two completely separate sets of JCMs for one joint. The clothing set I'm currently making has morphs to fix distortions in its details caused by bending that work... err, I need an example to explain: there's a corset with buckles on the front, I have a morph for when chest bends forward and another for when chest bends backwards. The chest-forward morph has a positive control value (so when bend value increases, the morph value increases) and a minimum value of 0 (so it won't go to a negative value when the chest is moved backwards. The chest-backward morph has a negative control value (when bend decreases, morph value increases) and a minimum value of 0 (doesn't go negative when chest is moved forward).

This way, only the chest-forward morph is used when bend is greater than 0, only the chest-backward morph is used when bend is lower than 0.

There should be free functions that allow slaving to multiple dials at once. Make corrections for bend+twist, e.g.

Quote - This way, only the chest-forward morph is used when bend is greater than 0, only the chest-backward morph is used when bend is lower than 0.

im aware of this, and it works fine for simple joints and not complex joints like the shoulder.

those morphs are either going to completely fix her shoulders in the up, or in the down position.  if you properly correct down/down-forward/down-back, it will look like crap in up/up-forward/up-back (and vice-versa).  yes, down and up are independant of each other and easy to set up - but how do you make 2 completely separate sets of morphs for down/down-forward/down-back and up/up-forward/up-back?  it would have to be coded so that when the shoulders are in the up position they use a completely different set of forward/back morphs than they do in the down position.

and thats not even introducing twist to the equation. when you raise your arms, your shoulders also rotate almost 180 degrees - they dont just bend up/down like a hinge.  but right now id be satisfied with just a solution for the first problem, and i can make a workaround for twist.

Quote - ^the dials and scene gizmos arent so bad, although yeah it would be nice to be able to just rightclick+drag or ctrol+rclick+drag on the screen to rotate and zoom, etc.  every 3D app on earth other than the Metacreations ones have that basic functionality :)

Alt+Leftclick = rotate

Space+Leftclick = pan

Ctrl+Space+Leftclick = zoom

Quote - Alt+Leftclick = rotate

Space+Leftclick = pan

Ctrl+Space+Leftclick = zoom

thanks!  but sweet jebus, can those be remapped to something less.. wierd?

now im sounding ungrateful :)

The .zip solution sounds great to me, items could associate themselves with the packages instead to individual files/texures/objects. I can only wish someone, somewhere, will listen to this suggestion alone.

I have a pretty big wishlist (better camera handling, an independant main camera, neutral lights or preview only), but I'm sure they have all being mentioned before by me or sombody else.

The .zip solution sounds great to me, items could associate themselves with the packages instead to individual files/texures/objects. I can only wish someone, somewhere, will listen to this suggestion alone.

I have a pretty big wishlist (better camera handling, an independant main camera, neutral lights or preview only), but I'm sure they have all being mentioned before by me or sombody else.

I'd like to see Smith Micro give me a $100 rebate for using Poser for all these years.

:b_funny:

what I would like to see in the next Poser:

Drop the tag team relationship with Daz completely and finally. Strike out on your own and create your own fleet of top quality figures. 

I know that financially the relationship may be rewarding in the short term. But from a creative standpoint, it sucks. You're stuck with, and held back by, what the other guy is doing. Innovation suffers. Bottom line, you will never create a Poser that will be as good as it could be, by relying on other companies figures and content.

I believe that in the long term you also hurt yourself financially.

cheers.

@ Diogenes
I completely agree with you on that one.

Completely new, LOW, Medium, and High Res figures that have the same morphs and textures.
That way the end user can use any density figure acording to his/her computer specs, and still get Quality results.
Or choose between the figures for far distance, medium distance, and close up work.

But the body shapes, and movements will have to overdo any existing figure-model.

Actually I only partly agree. DAZ and Poser enjoy a symbiotic relationship. There's no real reason to force a split between the two. That said, just as DAZ has put out it's own software, Studio, I DO think that it's time for Poser to put more effort into the figures that it ships with Poser.

Actually, there is one thing I'd really like to see in the next version of Poser. A better Hair Room. I'm just learning Blender and frankly, I'd like to see the hair room work more like that.  A comb or brush to sculpt, style or morph the hair. and the ability to use it to grow things like grass on a plane or fur on a dog. The only thing is that Poser's hair  slows the computer waaayyy down so I don't really use it  much. Maybe there's some way to over come that.

Maybe the hair room could become the Particle room.

weight mapping and improved rigging is all fantastic and sorely needed. But please dont build poser around the genisis figures. Don't  write the core code just to accomodate the new daz figures. Please do a better job than that.

You are probably not going to have the chance to rewrite the core again for a very long time. I would much rather see Poser more compatible with 3ds Max and Maya than daz studio. If it is an easy thing you can do to throw in support for the genesis figures, then sure, but otherwise, dump it completely.

You may lose a few people from your base support short term, but from there you can build a base that is solely Poser based and if Poser has more compatibility with Max and Maya you will gain more than you lose.

cheers.

What i would like to see?

Humm

-Render

Ibl Speculare

IDL Speculare

Idl Shadowing

Normal map (tangentSpace) full support: Overlapping, symetric,Texture Coordinats effect .

Caustics/Photon mapping

Dispersion

Complete FastScatering

Raytracing optimisations

-Materials rooms

custom node (HLSL Support)

Alpha texture channels support.

Strand hair node

Variables: lightvector, reflectionvector, TBN Matrix, Tangents

ArcSin, ArcCos, ArcTan

Materials instance

Postprocessing rooms.

-Manipulation

Trièdre tools

Separate resetMorph and resetPosition

Zoom Mouse Wheel.

-Utilitie

Materials gamma correction converter.

-Bridge

3dsmax/maya-->poser (no resetup)

Ambitious, no? Cry

Sorry for my bad english

Don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but I would like a spherical camera/ render output, so I can "pre-render" background stuff once, then put it onto something like BB's environment sphere and use for background and IDL. This would save rendering time if I wanted to change the camera angle slightly.

I know others have done it with "mirrored ball" prop effects, but these usually need a filter in photoshop, precise prop and camera placement and there is distortion because the camers cannot see what is reflected on the bottom of the ball.

There is one thing I'd like to see in the Next Poser. Some way to make rigging clothes  more automatic.  Either that or step by step instructions on using the set up room and the grouping tool.

Generic human models I can texture to my hearts content. Models that are similar to the Makehuman generic humanoid mesh that can be made male,female,young,old and textured to the users heart's content. I've always wanted to make a male model with a feminine face and the current version of poser doesn't give me that liberty.

I've also wanted to make an adult female model with a childlike face. Something a kin to Anime Studio 8's character wizard function.