Hi all,

I need to create a blank .cr2 for 3duniverse's Skye figure as a base for creating the necessary files for .pmd INJs. I purchased the Skye developer pack from Daz after speaking briefly with 3Duniverse wherein he stated that the full blank .cr2 included with the developer pack would fulfill these requirements. Unfortunately the blank .cr2 mesh that loaded in poser is missing some parts of the mesh and will result in a wrong vertex number error when I go to load my original morph targets. I've spent quite a bit of time on this project (over 30 fbms and pbms, a from scratch painted texture set with many variants, an optional genital prop with morphs, and a toon style Bob haircut prop with textures). I had hoped that purchasing the dev pack would overcome some hurdles that I encountered when trying to edit the Skye. Cr2 for a blank.

So... my questions are this:

1_What exactly needs to be removed from the original Skye .Cr2 in order to avoid propagating proprietary data to the INJ's?

I can easily manage to delete all of the base morphs and deformers (hidden included) and the IK chains from the .cr2 but I'm running into some confusion about deleting the various channels buried in there (especially the empty Daz style community channels). Is it even necessary to delete these channels for .pmd?

2_ is it possible to point the blank. Cr2 (from the dev. pack, which references an incomplete dev. mesh) at the full Skye.obj without error?

Some caveats regarding replies, as of this writing I do all of my Poser related work in Poser 8 on a pre-Intel ppc power Mac G5. Windows based utilities that automate such tasks are not available to me (morph manager, etc.) and I've learned to compensate solely through manual text editing. Any replies that are critical of software, hardware, etc. are not constructive or helpful and will be ignored.

Thanks for your helpful expertise in these matters.

I would copy the cr2 from the dev kit and edit the cr2 to point to the full obj file.

what happens if you simply import the dev obj file ?    if its a complete figure then the dev cr2 is bad, maybe some body parts not named quite right in the cr2 or in the dev obj.

you should be able to create a custom inj pose for only your new morphs. What utility do you use to create the inj pose file ?

.

Sorry, not being sarcastic, genuinely confused.

If you paid for the Skye developer pack and it doesn't work properly, why not go back to the source and get the dev pack repaired?

:)

http://forum.runtimedna.com/showthread.php?54325-Creating-A-Blank-CR2-Tutorial

Morph Manager is free here...

http://www.morphography.uk.vu/dlutility.html

Glitterati,

The dev pack works fine for creating articles of clothing but the mesh (dev.obj) that the dev .cr2 calls on is missing lips, brows, and lashes. I created all of my morphs using the original skye .obj so if I go and load any of my morphs on the blank .cr2 called .obj I will get an incorrect # of vertices error, at least for any morphs involving the head. When I wrote 3duniverse and asked him "will the blank skye fig work for creating .pmd inj files?" he said "yes, the blank dev .cr2 should work fine for that".

Markschum, 

turns out the blank dev .cr2 calls on a dev.obj rather than the original skye .obj, the dev .obj is missing lips, eyebrows, and lashes and so has a different # of vertices than the original. 

To both markschum and WandW, please read my OP in it's entirety... in particular this:

"Some caveats regarding replies, as of this writing I do all of my Poser related work in Poser 8 on a pre-Intel ppc power Mac G5. Windows based utilities that automate such tasks are not available to me (morph manager, etc.) and I've learned to compensate solely through manual text editing. "

I use a text editor.

" I would copy the cr2 from the dev kit and edit the cr2 to point to the full obj file."

I'm going to try this right now.

Crossing my fingers. ;)

Glitterati,

The dev pack works fine for creating articles of clothing but the mesh (dev.obj) that the dev .cr2 calls on is missing lips, brows, and lashes. I created all of my morphs using the original skye .obj so if I go and load any of my morphs on the blank .cr2 called .obj I will get an incorrect # of vertices error, at least for any morphs involving the head. When I wrote 3duniverse and asked him "will the blank skye fig work for creating .pmd inj files?" he said "yes, the blank dev .cr2 should work fine for that".

Markschum, 

turns out the blank dev .cr2 calls on a dev.obj rather than the original skye .obj, the dev .obj is missing lips, eyebrows, and lashes and so has a different # of vertices than the original. 

To both markschum and WandW, please read my OP in it's entirety... in particular this:

"Some caveats regarding replies, as of this writing I do all of my Poser related work in Poser 8 on a pre-Intel ppc power Mac G5. Windows based utilities that automate such tasks are not available to me (morph manager, etc.) and I've learned to compensate solely through manual text editing. "

I use a text editor.

" I would copy the cr2 from the dev kit and edit the cr2 to point to the full obj file."

I'm going to try this right now.

Crossing my fingers. ;)

Thanks for explaining that, DeathMetal. Can I offer a simple solution for you then?

The dev.cr2 that calls the wrong object.......

Open it in your text editor

change the object all to replace it with the skye.obj you need

save it to Dev-New.cr2

Now you have a functioning dev using the figure you need with a lot less work.

on edit:  There are 2 lines in a CR2 which call the object file.  Be sure to change BOTH.

Just did as both Glitterati3d and markschum suggested... and

Woo-hoo! Worked perfectly. I guess I should have tried that before typing all those questions. The fix took less time to do than typing the OP. Awesome guys, thank you.

Oh, btw... thanks for taking the time to provide those links also WandW. :)

Just did as both Glitterati3d and markschum suggested... and

Woo-hoo! Worked perfectly. I guess I should have tried that before typing all those questions. The fix took less time to do than typing the OP. Awesome guys, thank you.

Good deal, glad you got it straightened out. Happy rigging and morphing.

I thought that the Mac could run some of the python scripts. If it can there are a few free scripts for saving inj pose files from a cr2.

If not, you can do a cut and paste from the cr2 with an editor, but its more work.   If you need help just post again. I am used to using the PBMCC channels in the Daz figures. 

There should be a tutorilal on using the pmd file method for dding morphs.

Hi markschum, yeah I'm using the method explained by Nerd3D here...

http://nerd3d.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1 

I've created .pmd inj's before but never anything this ambitious as I plan on having morph groups and such and all slaved to master dials in the body (including just single actor effecting morphs). I'm aware of your Poser knowledge from watching posts here in the forum over the years and certain things you've done with 'rotica artists... any help you could provide (if the need arises) would be an honor and greatly appreciated.

Thanks

DeathMetal, would you mind sharing with us as you learn?  I can do most rigging, but JCMs just confound me.  I'd like to understand how they work, not just how to type one out and I can't, for the life of me, seem to grasp the whole slave/master concept. 

I recently had a project where the JCMs were literally doubling up - acting TWICE on the same JCM - and I ended up trashbinning the project because it was just an unmitigated mess.

I'd like to understand how/why/when that mess came from, though.

You use pml right? It should be a snap using that considering you can morph onto posed figures and reload resulting morphs onto a zeroed fig, no need for tedious subtractive morphing as pml handles this for you. This is how I understand pml anyway, am I wrong? It's then a matter of inserting code for a master dial into the .cr2 to slave one channel to another and adjusting the deltaAddDelta ratio for desired results.

If possible go on ebay and pick up a copy of Secrets of Figure Creation with Poser 5, there's a copy on sale there for about 5 bucks right now... invaluable for this type of thing, it's all covered in chapter 3; cr2 Theory/cr2 Practice.

Or use Poser dependencies (poser 8 and up) and skip all that nerdy text editing, also I think one of PhilC's script utility suites can automate some of the ERC for JCM's...Poser Toolbox?

You probably know more about jcms than I do Glitterati. ;) all of my above suggestions still stand, though. I defer to anything you say on the subject.

...I think your jcm telescoping might of come from the deltaAddDelta value I mentioned earlier, that's where I would concentrate on testing.

Anyone who is curious about .cr2 anatomy and function might find this link valuable, the writer here does a nice job explaining such matters clearly...

http://brian-the-techie.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-poser-rigging-tricks.html?m=1

You probably know more about jcms than I do Glitterati. ;) all of my above suggestions still stand, though. I defer to anything you say on the subject.

I understand, DM........what I guess I am saying poorly is that while I can use the tools to create them, I still don't thoroughly understand them. When I encounter a problem with a JCM, I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand WHY.

Anyone who is curious about .cr2 anatomy and function might find this link valuable, the writer here does a nice job explaining such matters clearly...

http://brian-the-techie.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-poser-rigging-tricks.html?m=1

Thanks for this link, DM.  He is very, very good at explaining this stuff in plain english.  Sometimes, I read Poser stuff and they might as well be speaking a foreign language.

Spending time reading through it.

**DeathMetalDesk , **

If you keep saying things like that I will need a bigger hat ;-)

**I am mainly a persistant hackerwho doesnt know when to quit.
**

JCMs are simply a morph controlled by the joint position, so for example bicep flex will depend on how bent the elbow is. I have seen the problem of morphs doubling or worse so it sometimes takes some careful looks at what is controlling that channel.

**
**

I'm having trouble posting in another thread, so this is a test...

After reading the product page for the Skye Dev Kit, it doesn't appear as if it was designed to create morphs.  It aims solely at creating clothing and other items.  If you want to create morphs, you will have to create your own blank cr2.