hi all, im wondering if anyone can help me; im trying to learn how to build conformers with extra parts, or weld parts of a conformer that dont normally go together. this must be a pretty simple process as every single skirt or dress clothing item is already doing this (i.e. the legs are stuck to each other not just to the hips) when i try to do it my conformer parts keep separating from each other. (i have tried adding weld statements but that only worked for me once so far... and i changed the cr2 that worked in the same way as the ones that did not work, so no clue what is going on) also, in the case of a poseable cape, i have seen that people make the back part conform to the chest, but then often have several sections called cape1, cape2, cape3 etc which are seperately poseable on their own. i really need to learn this stuff so i can take my prop sets to the next level lol; the creativity is outstripping the technical skill and that creates a bottleneck ;P thanks! Brian

Attached Link: http://www.3dmenagerie.com/

heyas; firstly, check the structure of the skirts. in most cases, you will find that the 'hip' section actually extends down between the two thighs and keeps them separated. you can add extra weld statements, but you need to be aware that this may introduce a rendering bug in your item. simply insert the extra weld statement after the object's original weld statement. for example, after weld lThigh; hip, add weld lThigh; rThigh. you should only need one weld. it might not work in that order. in which case you can switch the order (ie: weld rThigh; lThigh). and/or you can try adding in both statements. the normal rule of thumb is, to list the part highest in the hierarchy first, then the lower parts. once you do this and have the seam welded together as you pose the figure, you need to do a test render. you can tell right away if you have the bug, a couple of triangles will shoot of into space, and poser will lock up if you try to render again. the only solution for this, so far, is to not use extra welds. now as for conforming and semi-conforming, it's no trick, really. you just name the conforming bits the same as body part names (ie the top of the cape can be 'chest') and the non-conforming parts as other names (ie: cape1, cape2, etc.) if you're hacking a cr2 to plug your object into an existing (or pre-made base) conforming cr2, you'll need to splice in the extra parts that don't exist on the base figure. see my 'grafting on body parts tutorial' for help with that. the easist way to do it, is to build a phi file and convert a hierarchy for your new obj, and then just throw the new bits into the old cr2. (uh, that is, if you're using the phi file method of building figures.) i did run into a problem with this at one point. i had one conformer that was okay with one level of body parts sticking of each piece, but it totally flaked when i had two generations of descendants coming off of it. i dont know why :/

cool thanks very much ill check out the tutorials, i still dont know what "magic" makes a cr2 become a conforming cr2, so i been using poserwizard or existing conformers to be the basis for mine, but it would be good to learn. the actual text of a cr2 is still pretty much a mess to me, i can do some light editing, but im not real clear on what most of it is used for specifically.

heyas; well then, also check out the 'painlessly easy conforming clothing' tutorial at my site, too ;)