Has anybody had any luck using a P4 texture MAT on Don or Judy? For me, they seem to load but not be applied to the figure. Any suggested work arounds would be appreciated.

You have to use Pro Pack compatible MATs.

You went way over my head there. What is a Pro Pack compatible MAT? Can I edit a "non Pro Pack" MAT in my text editor and make it into a Pro Pack one?

Some MATs created for Poser 4 are missing info, usually two "0 0"'s near the texture references.

Though this will work in Poser 4, it will not in the Pro Pack or Poser 5 which is a bit more strict about the syntax.

Maybe I misunderstood, you're not trying to load a Poser 4 figure texture on Don & Judy are you?

-Jeff

I'm trying to load Mike textures onto Don. I believe other posts here have said they work. (?)

No, The maps for Mike and Don are different.

There's a thread called "Good news/bad news for Don and Judy using Mike and Vicki MATs" which says: "The good news - for the most part, Mike and Vicki textures work well on Don and Judy, respectively. I tried a few random textures with MAT files and they worked normally. (I didn't do the microscope routine, so there may be a few touchups needed, but as far as I can tell, the textures seem to map properly. Even tattoos and detailed makeup had no discernable distortions. The bad news - the eyes are mapped differently." I thought it sounded too good to be true.

Well I haven't compared the maps. Try applying the maps by hand and see what you get.

Just 2 missing infos ? Can someone send me an example of those differences so that I can make a conversion tool from P4 Map to P5 ? I would need a P4 map not working on P5, the corrected map on P5 and I'll do a free magic converter quickly. e-mail me here.

btw If you have any need for a P4 to P5 dedicated tool - which might interest all of us - I'll do it too... for free.

Poser 4 already creates the proper format, it's just that some people leave it out of the MAT files.

To see the correct format apply maps to a figure and save it to the library.

Open the cr2 in an editor and examine the formating around the texture map references.

Make sure to link the map nodes to the shader tree in the Materials Editor. Regardless of whether it's a P4 or ProPack Mat, this will still need to be done by hand, and the dials may need to be set. Poser 5 Materials vary in degree of use to 6 significant digits. Poser 4 maps only allow a percentage to be set for strength. Paul

yep vicky and mike textures do work on don and judy but you have to do as entropic said

Heh... Just realized I might have said something that could be confusing if you've never used shader nodes... so: The way Poser 5 handles materials is this. You have a large menu on the left, which holds the values of intensity and the basic properties of each material setting. This is the shader tree. A node is the little box that contains the map. One map can be linked to different areas on the tree by using the mouse to drag and drop the setting to the node. For instance, select "displacement" hold down the button, and drag it to the node, then release. A line will appear linking the property to the map. You can move the node around like any other window by dragging the title bar. This allows you to keep thing organized. The dial settings for each property in the shader tree affect different aspects of that property. For instance, the Displacement setting will determine the degree of variation in the intensity of the map. A high displacement will mean that low areas are dramatically lower than normal areas, for instance. It's going to take experimentation and practice to get use to. The firefly renderer is very powerful in this sense, and can dramatically change the look of a texture, bump map, etc. with incorrect settings. My first attempt at a displacement map was a disaster. I set the displacement value too high, and ended up shredding Vicky over a 15 mile area... In fact, it looked like someone had taken a sledge and started knocking polygons wildly around the room with no discernible pattern. Subtlety and patience is all it takes, though. If you have any questions, let me know by IM or email to sepharim@msn.com, and I'll try my level best to help. Paul

Oh yeah, new nodes can be created by clicking the node box in the corner. There are a lot of things to learn, but the above advice should get you through the basics. Remember, the shader nodes will only be recognized by firefly in either draft or production modes. To speed your previews, make sure you disable displacement unless you need it. Displacement doesn't actually change the model itself until render, and is very processor intensive as firefly has to calculate it at that time. If it's enabled, firefly will try to calculate it, whether its there or not.

Very true, Paul! (As seen in another post of mine.) I didn't turn off the displacement on Stephanie's textures and the rendering took almost 2 hours and the picture was horrible. But that was also a light and shadow problem.

There's a lot of great information here that I'll need some time to let sink in. But, in my case I think it has more to do with Poser not changing the pointer (to the texture file) when you apply your new MAT. In the Material Room watch the Color_texture node while you apply MATs. You will see that the texture name does not change. Yet if you click on image_source you will find that your new texture is now in the drop down list of textures to pick from. Pick your new texture from this drop down list and everything renders fine--- but of course that defeats the purpose of using MATs in the first place.

well see my answer to my question.....now one more question, will a mat file work in poser 5 that is used in Poser 4 if it is installed directly into poser 5 (without editing the mat file)? Sharen

Hi Sharen, I think I am seeing a pattern. It does not look like it has anything to do with where the texture file is located. I've copied it into the Poser5 textures file, and I've tried it where it is, in the Poser 4 textures file. For me to get the MAT's to work I have to: Go into Materials Room Select the figure (in this case, Don) Then double click on my MAT file. Then if I render I find that I have the new textures applied properly (except, of course, for the eyes). It simply will not apply a MAT for me from the Pose Room. Also, if I decide to change to yet another MAT while I'm in the Materials Room it will not make the change until I select a different Material from the drop down box. (It doesn't seem to care what material I select,Iris, Tongue, who cares, just as long as I make a selection.)

The material room is just coming around for me, really confused at first but I am getting just a wee better at it...thanks for the advise...Sharen