Hi!  Ideally, down the road, I'd like to try my hand at selling (or if that fails offering for free) my character morphs.

So through my research, I've found two things a bit confusing and would like help/clarification.

1.  How the heck, do I create the INJ/REM files?  I have Poser 8 so I think that limits me on some of the free software out there.  I really don't want to mess around in text files (I usually screw things up).  And I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for something that I may not even be able to figure out!  Please advise!  :)

2.  Skin Mats... OK so I know where to get the V4 templates, and I'm fairly confident with my photoshop skills, but is there a special way to paint, resolution, size, or way to save the mats so that others can apply them with ease?

3.  Hair, I'm still not a master of hair... when others sell their character morphs, they typically do not include hair is that correct?  I feel as though I'm more skilled in some areas than others.

4.  I thought of another question... after you create your morphed character, let's say I'm using V4 base, do I need to create a new UV map template?  Will the UV map template adjust to the morphs without having to create a new one?

 

Anyway, I appreciate any and all help.  :)

1. if you dont want to text edit them then there are several ($) utilities that do it for you. im a bit behind the times on this front so im sure someone else will have suggestions.

2. to paint skin textures youll need some form of projection painting software. ie: bodypaint, mudbox, zbrush, etc. again im not sure what cheap/free software is available lately.

3. you dont need to release hair with your characters - thats a totally separate market. although for full compatibility its best that when you create your characters you do NOT morph/move their scalps.

4. morphing doesnt alter UVs at all, so the UVs - and resulting templates - will still be the same no matter how drastically you morph your figure.  extreme morphs can STRETCH textures, however, due to the base UVs not being optimal for the new morphed shape. theres not much you can do about this when creating content for 3rd party figures, except to pay attention to texture stretching while morphing. in apps like zbrush you can load the figure texture to see how the texture reacts to your morphing.

all of the above refers to custom morphs, btw. ie: morphs in an external application (or inside poser with the morphing tool), not dial twist morphs.

2.  Crap you mean photoshop won't be good enough to paint the skin in?

And I did want to use the dial morphs as well... at least I have been.

 

Thank you for your response!

On the contrary, 3rd party 2D programs are the basis of producing skin textures or any type of texture for that matter.  UVMapper would provide the 3D view to check the painting before bringing it into Poser.  Blacksmith3D will allow you to paint directly on the 3D model, but this is not the only program available. 

INJ/REM files can be created in various programs, but as Blackhearted mentions, they are not free.  However, there are some freebies which can convert these morphs easily after you spawn them in Poser.  Someone will come along with a listing. 

"2.  Crap you mean photoshop won't be good enough to paint the skin in?"

most textures are created in Photoshop or its equivalent.

its just that for figure texturing you will eventually run into body seams, which youll have a hard time texturing seamlessly without some form of projection painting program.

the recent versions of Photoshop have some limited 3D painting capabilities.

as hborre mentioned, UVMapper is another staple - and the standard version is free.

This is becoming a very expensive hobby!

I look forward to lists of must have programs!!

Well since I have Poser 7 I'm not sure whether these will work, but here goes on the list:

1. Pozers Little Helper: http://home.online.no/~kjellil/Index-AllStuff.htm

        Morph obj in an ext program, import into PLH and it will generate INJ/REM files)

2. Morph Manager and CR2Editor: http://www.morphography.uk.vu/dlutility.html

        Morph Manager can edit Poser files to add/remove Injection Channels and does numerous other things... CR2Editor edits Poser files (cr2,pz2,pp2,hr2,pz3, etc...)

3. P5 MAT Writer: [[Works in Poser 7, so it might work in P8]] http://ixido.com/shnarf/index.php?topic=53.0 {{Scroll down the tutorial to where it says "P5 MAT FILES" the link will be in either blue or green :) }}

Those are what I use, Pozers Little Helper to make INJ/REM files, CR2Editor to edit the INJ/REM and MAT files, and P5 MAT Writer to make the mat files... hope this helps :)

 

1. To create INJ/REM files I use svdl'e "SpawnCharacterP6 update", or "Pozers Little Helper" (PLH).

SpawnCharacterP6 is good when you already have the morphs loaded a the character. PLH is good for making INJ/REM files directly from obj files, and is particularly useful when you need to make morphs from a morphed full body obj. Both the above are free. I think D3D's Poser file Editor, and PhilC's pz3 editor can also produce INJ/REM files, but these are not free, and I don't have any details on how they work.

2. The easiest way to apply textures and other material settings is as an mc6 or MAT pose file. mc6 files can be saved from the Poser Material Room, and can be converted via a simple text edit to MAT Pose if desired. As I understand it, DAZ Studio does not support the mc6 format, and for this reason many prefer distributing MAT poses. The choice between mc6 and MAT pose is controversial, and you will find many pro and con arguments in the forums.

3. UV regions will be stretched or compressed by the application of morphs, but I have never heard of anyone distributing new UV templates with their characters.

Thank you so much all.  I really appreciate it.  Now to pick some and learn them...  :(

 

Another question:

Is it frowned upon to just dial up a new character, create new mats and sell him/her that way?  Must a person morph the person in another program like Zbrush or Hexagon first?

Dial Spin morphs as they're known, are generally frowned on now but the Marketplace is still full of 'em.  In order to make your character worthwhile, you really need to add value.  A custom morph and a very good and unique texture are, while not essential, a definite plus.

I'd go so far as to say Dial Spin and Merchant Resource based characters have pretty much fucked up the market, since it's relatively easy to make a "new" character from them.  Consequently, the market is flooded with cookie cutter characters.

I gave up texture and characters because it's too much work for too little reward.  Yes, I used Dial Spins (they were still acceptable at the time) but all my characters were unique and I never once used a premade base texture.

I'm now sharpening my modelling skills because there seems to be a more buoyant market with a longer sale time.  Texture sets tend to be like music charts; here today, gone tomorrow.  Also, IMO, models have a higher percieved value than textures.  For roughly the same amount of work you can usually charge more for a model than for a texture.

Unless you're prepared to put in some serious hard work like Blackhearted - his characters are unique and beyond a doubt the best you'll get - you'll be working for next to nothing.  No disrespect to you but as a beginner, you just won't have the chops to compete so you'll have to sell your stuff at a much lower price, at least to start with.  

If after all that, you absolutely, positively need to kill every motherfu... sorry, wrong reference; I mean, you absolutely, positively need to make character sets, pick a slant that nobody's done before.  Be careful though, because if you're too unique, nobody will buy it.  My best selling sets were humanoid robot textures with glow in the dark bits.  Nobody had done that before but hey guess what, soon after everyone was doing them.  :) 

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts SamTherapy.  I think that it's probably true when you are trying to break into anything though, if you aren't as good as those already doing it, you have to break in selling low.  But if you quality is there eventually you can demand more.  At least that has been my experience with certain things in life!  (I was self employed for 6 years selling my crafts online, at the end I was established and known for quality, I was able to sell my items at a much larger price than my competitors.  Anyway, my point, is I think that's probably true in a lot of areas.)

So I've thought of more questions... OK so let's say you make your character, dial morphs or altering with Zbrush or whatever, you paint up your skin textures... but what about the eyes?  Does a seller/giver need to learn to paint up eyes to include in their package as well?

Like Sam said, this is seeming to look like TONS of work with very little reward.  Even being able to sell at $15+ it just seems like the creator/artist isn't getting paid what they should for the time invested.  Or maybe those who are skilled, it just doesn't take them the time it would take a newbie.  Maybe that  is for a different thread though!

Yes, eyes should be included with the package.  Problem, most vendors provide false reflections with the iris texture which does not look realistic rendered under differenct settings. 

And becoming a vendor, many have started with giving away freebies until they achieve some recognition and status.

I'd have no problem giving stuff away free... in all likelihood, I imagine, everything I ever make will probably be a freebie.  But it's nice to have ideas and goals.  :)

I'm guessing "dial-spin" morphs are so popular because you don't have to custom-fit each piece of clothing to the character. (I realize that dynamic cloth lovers are rolling their eyes about now!)

I love unique characters, Anastasia being the latest. Before that, GND4 and the various iterations of Alice. I liked them so much that I was willing to jump through hoops to get V4 clothes to fit them (haven't done it for Ana yet, because Alyson2's bones are different than V4's and conversion is more involved). 

But I suspect many vendors want to appeal to the broadest market possible, thus usually create their characters' body shapes with the V4 Morph++ dials. The faces are usually custom injections, but that doesn't affect clothing at all.

Attached Link: Skin Resources

Unless you're going for a mechanical/robotic look, or outright fantasy, the best way to do eyes is to use photos.  Good luck with that because it's a huge pain in the backside to get realistic eyes without specularity or stray reflections in there.  

A good starting point for all your skin, hair and eye texture needs is 3d.sk.  Getting the photos from there is only half the story, though.  You can at least take a basic eye photo and clone parts of it to kill reflections and at worst, paint them out.

Whatever you do, please, please, please learn how to set up eye materials correctly.  If you really must put fake reflection maps in them, at least provide an option for those of us who like to use proper reflections.  Also, please remember, the cornea should never have a diffuse texture applied to it under any circumstances.  If I had a penny for every time I've had to edit them from other vendors I could probably have paid for half the content I've bought over the years. 

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SamTherapy:  That link you included I just glanced briefly... only have a few seconds right now, but I noticed it has "Pre-Made Head Textures"... are people just buying those and using them with their new characters?  That's not what that is for right?!  But just glances that looks like a great site, thanks for sharing!

imax24:  That's a really good point about the clothing and not altering bodies.  Hmmm... hadn't considered that.......

Quote - Is it frowned upon to just dial up a new character, create new mats and sell him/her that way?  Must a person morph the person in another program like Zbrush or Hexagon first?

My answer to your question #1, was based on the assumption that you wanted to make an INJ for morphs that you had created yourself. "SpawnCharacterP6 update" and "Pozers Little Helper" create files which contain actual morph deltas. As most third party morphs are subject to copyright! Distributing such files would be a breach of copyright. For third party morphs the only thing you are allowed to distribute is the morph dial settings. For that you need to make a MOR Pose. There are some utilities to help making MOR Poses, but I don't know anything about them.

Quote - SamTherapy:  That link you included I just glanced briefly... only have a few seconds right now, but I noticed it has "Pre-Made Head Textures"... are people just buying those and using them with their new characters?  That's not what that is for right?!  But just glances that looks like a great site, thanks for sharing!

imax24:  That's a really good point about the clothing and not altering bodies.  Hmmm... hadn't considered that.......

Nope.  I think they may be for games and so forth.  Poser's characters are mapped differently.  3d.sk sell packs of photos of a whole nude figure, taken from various angles around the body, and various distances so you can piece them together like a photographic jigsaw to make a whole skin. 

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lesbentley - Well I'm a little confused, I've seen characters in the marketplace that appear to be dialed morphs, and included they are packaging up as INJ/REM's... I've seen cr2 and such too but no mor's.  Interesting.

SamTherapy:  Gotcha.  Thought that some people might use some of those as shortcuts.

Quote - lesbentley - Well I'm a little confused, I've seen characters in the marketplace that appear to be dialed morphs, and included they are packaging up as INJ/REM's.

Just because something has "INJ" in it's name, that does not mean that it is not a MOR[ph] pose. To say that something is a MOR pose is just a shorthand way of saying that it is a pose that sets the keys (dial) values for morphs, but does not contain deltas, or at least that's the way I use the term. Such files as you mention are usually MOR poses that also contain readScript calls. readScript is a way of allowing one pose file to call another pose file. There may be a series of nested calls, but at the end of the chain is usually a "delta INJection" pose.