I'm trying to make the Bag prop from the Zygote costume shop CD poseable. I want to be able to rotate the strap about the bag, to make it hang naturally when worn over the far shoulder (across the chest). Since it's Zygote's mesh I can't post it, so I'll excerpt those pieces I added to it. The OBJ file now contains three groups: the bag, the strap, and the button. The relevant pieces of the OBJ file are: v ... (lots of vertexes) vt ... (lots of texture nodes) g bag usemtl bagMat f ... (lots of faces) g button usemtl buttonMat f ... (lots of faces) g strap usemtl strapMat f ... (lots of faces) Here is my PHI file: objFile :Runtime:Geometries:BagOfHolding:BagOfHolding.obj 1 bag xyz 2 button xyz 2 strap xyz When I try to convert this hier file, Poser responds with the error: "No geometry to match node: bag", and the same error for the button and strap. I've checked and rechecked my files. I've used the same name for the groups and the PHI, the path is correct in the PHI, and all of the groups from the OBJ are listed in the PHI. I've made sure to not mix up lower versus upper case letters. Yet Poser still doesn't like my file. Can anyone suggest what is wrong, or what to try next? BTW, I'm using a Macintosh and Poser 4, if it matters.

Everything looks correct from what you've written here. it should have worked. Have you tried the Poser4 mthod of figure creation? Import the BagOfHolding.obj into poser, select it then open the grouping tool. Click "Include all", then "spawn props". Once all the props have spawned off delete the imported OBJ. Open the Hierarchy Editor and drag the button and the strap onto the bag to parent. Select the bag then click "create figure". The new figure will load into the library and you'll be asked to name it. Load the new figure from the library; delete the spawned props after you're sure it worked. -JH.

I put together an "Old B.O.B.", from the Black Hole, using the primitives in Poser, and tried to use the Hierarchy Editor to create a figure that way, but Poser eliminated some of the parts when it converted the figure. I thought it might have something to do with P4 imposing the standard joint rotations. Right now the figure remains a set of parented objects in PZ3 form. How to fix?

You have to make sure all the parts are parented or it will leave them out when it converts to a new figure. Make sure each prop has a different name as well.

...you made B.O.B.??? I'm working on a LW version of V.I.N.C.E.N.T.! L

Would you like the B.O.B. PZ3, Warrior? Then you can have a set, and perhaps figure out where I've erred. I'll send it to you if you want it. I probably need to open up my dusty copy of PHI Builder and learn how to use it. I'm having some problems getting the eyes to move right as well. Each prop has a different name. I'll re-check the parenting. I'm pretty sure everything is parented, but I built it late at night way back in September (when I was just starting p4), so I may have missed something.

Sure thing. Send :o) WarriorDL@aol.com

I tried to use the method JeffH described, using the Hierarchy editor. I get all the way to the point of clicking on "Create Figure" and being presented with a dialog box to name the new figure. Clicking "OK" crashes the program (repeatably). This is somewhat disconcerting: until now I'd actually found Poser to be a quite stable program, and wondered why people on this forum were clamoring for a patch.

Ugggh.

I concur.

heya; is there an rsr for the bag that might be messing you up? guess not if it is a prop... :/ also, just a technie note: don't make the button a separate group, unless you need to pose it as well. make it g bag/usemtl button. the only thing i can think of at this point is, edit the obj, maybe change everything to all caps (or mixed case), save a new obj, make a new phi and try it again :/ you might also check for any weirdness like extra spaces after the group names ("g bag "?). that shouldnt bother it, but who knows??

I finally got it to work. The OBJ from Zygote had several polygons with more than 4 edges. Poser had no problem importing this OBJ as a prop, but was complaining of geometry errors when I attempted to import the hierarchy. After converting the OBJ to use only 4 sided polygons or less, Poser was able to import the hierarchy without problems. I used the depent utility recently posted to the FreeStuff section by Anthony Appleyard. I was able to run it using VirtualPC on my Macintosh; I hope a similar Mac utility will be developed.

yeeeeeesh! glad you figured it out! when i get penta-polys in my models, poser loads them, but wont draw them. (um, or rather i should say, poser skips them and leaves holes!) depent will come in handy!