When I click either thigh, the entire hip area gets selected.

Good, it's grouped properly.  You are at the point where you need to edit the weight maps on the thighs to get proper movement. See above.

In this case, you are going to want to use the "Subtract" brush to remove the maps on the side opposite the thigh you are on.

It's just common sense at this point - if you move the LEFT thigh, you don't necessarily want the right thigh to move as well.  As long as the right thigh is green, it's going to move.

When I go to the joint editor, the only setting available to me is "center" and a couple of scale choices. There is no bend or twist there.

When I go to the joint editor, the only setting available to me is "center" and a couple of scale choices. There is no bend or twist there.

In the Joint Editor window, there is a drop down menu which will allow you to choose the correct joint.

This is what I get at that dropdown.

This is what I get at that dropdown.

Arrrrrrrrrgh, it's likely the originator has hidden the Bend option (which also means it is not rigged at all). You really have 2 choices at this point.....1) choose another figure to work on, or 2) go into the parameters tab, click on the arrow on the top, at the right and choose Show Hidden Parameters.

Then export the object again and start over.

Par for my course. ROFL.

I'll try both options and get back to you.

Lets not argue about this please.

Keep in mind, all info regarding various weightmap techniques is important, the pros and the cons, even if you're just focusing on weightmapped clothing. 

To be fair, the thread title and first post does specify weightmapped characters, not clothing. 

So I don't think any of the info given here, by Vilters or anyone else, is irrelevant. Some may be a bit incorrect, but all of it seems pretty relevant. If someone says something they think to be true, and someone else knows it's not true, or might have been true at first but has been changed since the intro of weightmaps, then you can correct them without attacking or insulting them. That's called providing constructive criticism. 

 For one, in order to understand how to weightmap clothing, it's pretty important to learn how to weightmap the figure that the clothing is intended to be used on. Kind of like learning basic math before learning algebra. 

If the figure you're using is already weightmapped, then there's half the challenge already taken care of, but most figures are not currently weightmapped, so for people that want to learn how to WM their own versions, this is just as important as learning how to WM clothing. 

Here are a few tutorial videos on youtube about weightmapping figures and transferring rigs to clothing, updating older clothing with weightmaps, etc: 

Rigging Figures with Vertex Weight Maps 301

Weight Maps Transfer 302: Update Older Clothes

Weight Map Copy/Paste/Symmetry in Poser Pro 2014

Poser Pro 2012: Vertex Weight Map Creation Tools

Poser Webinar - Rigging and Vertex Weight Mapping (1 hr)

NOTE: Using html in posts (ex: the - tags) no longer works with the latest changes to the forums. So in order to quote a previous post you have to use the 'Quote' button, or copy/paste the section you want to quote and do something like change the color of the text, or make it bold, etc., to establish a difference in what you're saying vs what you're responding to. (I don't know why they removed html formatting from posts, but they did, so we're stuck with it for now). 

 Sorry, I had a meeting to attend to.

Glad to see that all is more or less back on track.

@ Shane, good job to post the relevant SM tutorials.

@ Doug; never use an obj file that you exported from Poser. Always use the obj file that came in the package.( At least if the vendor did his/her job).
Unfortunately, Poser, up to and including PP2014 SR5, including the Game Dev version, is unable to export a reusable obj file.

A detailed report has been filed to SM, but it is technically impossible to correct the bug at this moment.

End users using Poser versions up to and including PP2014 SR4 will need about 1 hr to repair a Poser  exported obj file.
End users using Poser versions AFTER PP2014 SR5 will have some  less repair work to do.

Sorry,but after seeing all of the above comments about my contribution here, I will not go into details.

**Just remember to NEVER reuse an obj file exported from Poser, and NO there are NO exceptions from this rule, unless you spend an hr to repair it..

**This will end my contribution here.

Have a nice day all. 

@ Glitterati3D ; It's all yours.

  For one, in order to understand how to weightmap clothing, it's pretty important to learn how to weightmap the figure that the clothing is intended to be used on. Kind of like learning basic math before learning algebra. 

Actually, Shane, I've created weight mapped clothing for almost every WM figure released and I have never weight mapped a figure.  It's actually something I have no interest in doing.  I would find the tedium of 3 finger joints x 5, 2 toe joints x 5, eyes, etc. boring.  Just not on my list of things to accomplish.  LOL!

"Lets not argue about this please."

Not going to argue Shane, you have covered off any concerns I had.   I think this is a very informative thread with many people taking a lot of time to provide information, would be a shame if it became an argument.

 Note:  In older versions of Poser, some clothes were in the Figures library tab - Posette's, for example.  In newer versions, they are Props.  No idea why.

If the doll is not / cannot be WM itself, is there any point to try adjustments to their out-of-the-box clothing?  I have PP2014GD and still only use Posette, but I would like for her otherwise conforming skirts to follow her poses without having to make them dynamic (tried years ago and gave up) and then posing them independently.  As it is, I stick with "poly paining" with the Grouping Tool and have not tried to morph her body to make her skin become a pleated skirt with dials.

 Hello Gremalkyn, You have PP2014GD, right?.

Load a figure, (Posette if you want to), select the body, and :
Goto => Figure in the top menu
Select => Merge All Zones to Weight Maps => Posette is now a Weight Mapped figure and all Joints can be adjusted and repainted in the Joint editor. It is as simple as that.
All figures can be converted to Weight mapped figures this way.  But?? LOL, Why is there Always a but???? LOL.

=> This merge function copies the exact same effect as what you had before with the traditional rigging. => You will see no difference in how the figure bends at all.
And this transforms ALL joints to Weightmap Joints what makes the cr2 very heavy and is often not required.

Best practice is to search what Joint you want to improve, and only transfer those to Weightmapped Joints..

Want to improve the rCollar bend? Select the rCollar and open the Joint editor.

in the Joint editor that defaults to "center", select "Up_Down" from the drop down menu. (Look at the screengrabs on the previous pages for the selectable options.)
Select Falloff Zones => You see the inverted triangle that says Sphere_0
Below is an inverted triangle that says Add.... Click that one and select => Merge Zones to Weightmap
Sphere_0, has changed to WeightMap_1
Click on it and select the Sphere_0 again,
and then click Delete.., and confirm. => You do not need Sphere_0 any more

WeightMap_1 has now changed to WeightMap_0

Now you are ready to fine tune the Joint in Up_Down, commonly referred to as Bend.

See the little Paint palette behind Replace?, Click on that little Paint palette.
A new window opens with the Vertex Weight Brushes, and you can paint the vertex weight for that particular Joint in "Up_Down."

he brush operations are the same as for the morphs brush, but this time you do not morph the mesh, but you paint how far a vertex can move when bend, twisted, or front-back dials are spinned.

hope this helps.

Shane added some fine links in his post, and , euh, it is also in detail in the manual.

Before anybody starts jumping up and down in anger?
Yes I know.
Extremely few vendors clean out the old Sphere Joints.
Everybody adds, and adds, and adds, but very few do a clean up.

 Thank you, vilters. :D  I will experiment with Posette as you have suggested.

Also, I never mastered any version of Poser, so the Game Dev specific updates / options are just as new to me as anything else.  As the little kid down the street says, "Toys good.  Lots toys . . . extra good."

Hi, after a long time of coming soon, the next week, I think the adman WM ( with the adwoman motph pack) would be available.

 May I ask a question? Why do you require the end user/consumer to use the RTE Encoder/Decoder?

 This will take a lot more time than I thought, since:

1)  I have no manuals (of any kind) and cannot find them on the Smith Micro site.

2)  Changing from Sphere to Weight Map (and deleting Sphere) does not correct Posette's shoulder socket implosion when putting her arm straight down (Use Limits off).

I will watch the tutorials again.

Simply change from Sphere to Weightmapped and deleting Sphere will indeed change nothing. That is correct.
It will copy the exact Weights from the vertex they had in the Sphere to the Weightmap.

To correct the bend, you have to re-paint the Joint in the Joint editor. => Read that as change the weight of the movement of the vertex involved.

All Poser manuals are in your personal Runtime under the folder Documentation in pdf format.
The PP2014 GD manual is around a 1.000 pages, but very well written and the "painting" is in detail in the manual.

Best regards, Tony

 May I ask a question? Why do you require the end user/consumer to use the RTE Encoder/Decoder?

You need to ask that question of Joe Public, who created the D3 and V3 weight maps. He released the files into the public domain, so I have no issues with hosting these links, but I cannot answer any questions about the chatacters, other than to assure you that they work.

"All Poser manuals are in your personal Runtime under the folder Documentation in pdf format.
The PP2014 GD manual is around a 1.000 pages, but very well written and the "painting" is in detail in the manual.

Best regards, Tony"

x.x  Nothing happened when I clicked Help --> [any manual] so I assumed I had nothing anywhere.  Odd they would have included "links" in the program that seem to do nothing when all it needs to say is "look in the Documentation folder of your Runtime or go ask vilters." o.O

I will read the thing this weekend and toy with the weight maps after. :) 

 May I ask a question? Why do you require the end user/consumer to use the RTE Encoder/Decoder?

You need to ask that question of Joe Public, who created the D3 and V3 weight maps. He released the files into the public domain, so I have no issues with hosting these links, but I cannot answer any questions about the chatacters, other than to assure you that they work.

By RTE encoding, he doesn't run the risk of sharing geometry - which is DAZ's Intellectual Property.