Poser questions and help etc [Archive] - Mania Forums - Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Entertainment

03-15-2003, 06:47 PM

I just thought I'd start a thread specifically for Poser so that those with the software can respond directly in here instead of searching for other threads.

I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get hold of the Zygote Muscle Man figure for Poser or if there's a link somewhere. Or if someone has it and wouldn't mind sending it to me, I'd be most grateful. Any and all help appreciated.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

D.K.HOOD

03-15-2003, 11:09 PM

I was going to start a 3D question thread but you beat me to it. Why do you need the Muscle Man figure? I'm new to Poser but I've been using the superhero Morph in Poser 5.

03-17-2003, 08:29 AM

I need it in order to open some file - it says that it can't find that particular figure when prompted, and it also mentions it in the readme.text - however, I think I've gotten round it by copying another figure.obj and renaming it as the Muscle Man figure and putting it into an appropriate directory, so that Poser is fooled into thinking it has found it.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

D.K.HOOD

03-17-2003, 10:25 AM

Hey Welshcat, I've always liked your Iron Man stuff, are you going to do one in Poser?

03-17-2003, 01:55 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by D.K.HOOD:
Hey Welshcat, I've always liked your Iron Man stuff, are you going to do one in Poser?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks. Well, only to a certain extent - ie perhaps to get the poses and cut down on the amount of time spent looking for a base image, and perhaps setting out the layouts for a scene. But I don't want to fall into the trap of many movies these days and become totally reliant on CGI - I'd rather still do many of the reflective layers myself even though it's extremely tedious simply because I have more control over exactly how I want Shellhead to look for that particular picture. But with Poser I can imagine that it would lose that human element and become too mechanically produced as was the case with the Spider-Man movie. So I don't think I'd ever do a picture completely in Poser, or at least let it show too obviously that it's been done that way.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

Rheul

03-17-2003, 08:28 PM

I have a question. My monitor is truely puny and I cant seem to fit all the controls on the screen. Is there any way to change the resolution so I can fit everything on screen?

Darth_zaiyen

03-17-2003, 09:08 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Rheul:
I have a question. My monitor is truely puny and I cant seem to fit all the controls on the screen. Is there any way to change the resolution so I can fit everything on screen?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I had this problem up until I changed my screen resolution from 800x600 to 1024x768. COuldn't find anything to change it within the program.

03-18-2003, 01:46 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Darth_zaiyen:
I had this problem up until I changed my screen resolution from 800x600 to 1024x768. COuldn't find anything to change it within the program.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well I have a fairly big screen, but I still can't fit all the controls on either, even if I move some of them around to the edge of the screen, because I still need a big enough workspace to see a picture fully. I may be wrong here, but it seems you can't practically use everything at once but can only call up things as and when you need it.

I have another question - when you have 2 figures up on screen at once, they seem to become co-joined together even if they are standing separately. Thus when you try to bend or manipulate one, the other one moves with it too. And trying to conform clothes to a figure isn't an easy task either because when you begin to pose the model, the clothes don't always consistently move with it even when you've set a parent thingy. Anyone know about these?

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

Darth_zaiyen

03-18-2003, 02:51 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
I have another question - when you have 2 figures up on screen at once, they seem to become co-joined together even if they are standing separately. Thus when you try to bend or manipulate one, the other one moves with it too.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Are you talking about when you add 2 figures and they seem to merge with one another?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
And trying to conform clothes to a figure isn't an easy task either because when you begin to pose the model, the clothes don't always consistently move with it even when you've set a parent thingy. Anyone know about these?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I find it best to first put the naked figures in the correct poses, and then choose to add in the clothes. Then I select the clothing and choose the 'Conform To' option.

Gustvoc

03-18-2003, 03:48 PM

For the people that is looking for characters like the muscle man, maybe in Animotions.com or renderosity.com you can find them.

03-18-2003, 04:10 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>: Originally posted by Darth Zaiyen:

Are you talking about when you add 2 figures and they seem to merge with one another?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes - they seem to become like Siamese twins who share body parts and move when the other moves. I do use the translate out tool or move them over to one side. You'd think they'd operate properly when they aren't even next to each other, but they still do the same cojoined thing.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>
I find it best to first put the naked figures in the correct poses, and then choose to add in the clothes. Then I select the clothing and choose the 'Conform To' option.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've tried that too - sometimes it works but then it asks whether you want to conform to Figure1, Figure2, Figure3 etc - so which one do you pick short of guessing? And if you don't like that pose after all or decide to move a limb, the clothing doesn't quite stay in the same position at times. I can see that I'm going to end up using Poser as purely a base image source with perhaps a few added props (eg for unusual helmet shapes) and painting over it with Adobe like any other image. Of course, I'm also a pretty quick learner if I'm able to just figure out certain small stumbling blocks such as the ones i've mentioned.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

[This message has been edited by Welshcat (edited 03-18-2003).]

Darth_zaiyen

03-18-2003, 04:53 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
Yes - they seem to become like Siamese twins who share body parts and move when the other moves. I do use the translate out tool or move them over to one side. You'd think they'd operate properly when they aren't even next to each other, but they still do the same cojoined thing.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I used to have this problem too. What I do is use the 'Translate/Pull' tool and highlight or click on one of the bodies. You should see a grey circle appear around the figure. Click the circle (you'll know you've got it when it turns red) and drag it over. This should move one of the bodies and make it much easier.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
 I've tried that too - sometimes it works but then it asks whether you want to conform to Figure1, Figure2, Figure3 etc - so which one do you pick short of guessing? And if you don't like that pose after all or decide to move a limb, the clothing doesn't quite stay in the same position at times. I can see that I'm going to end up using Poser as purely a base image source with perhaps a few added props (eg for unusual helmet shapes) and painting over it with Adobe like any other image. Of course, I'm also a pretty quick learner if I'm able to just figure out certain small stumbling blocks such as the ones i've mentioned.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

To tell which figure it is, you can click the body you want to conform the clothes to and look in the lower left corner, it should tell.

Rheul

03-18-2003, 06:58 PM

I must say this is a great thread 3 questions of mine have already been answered and Ive only asked one. Sadly regurding my orignal question of screen resolution, I cant change mine. My very old garbage monitor wont take anything other than 600X800. I curse the day my old monitor went south on me...

03-23-2003, 03:19 PM

I have another question - how do you get a figure to hold a prop (eg a gun or a sword) in their hands? I know that attaching a prop involves setting a parent, but short of positioning the figure from all angles and just hoping that the prop will be in the correct place, isn't there an easier way to do it? Sometimes when I attach a prop to a figure, it isn't actually in their hand but only attached to the end of it. I'd like to be able to see a close up of a figure's hands where you can actually see them gripping an object. Any ideas?

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

D.K.HOOD

03-23-2003, 04:01 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
I have another question - how do you get a figure to hold a prop (eg a gun or a sword) in their hands? I know that attaching a prop involves setting a parent, but short of positioning the figure from all angles and just hoping that the prop will be in the correct place, isn't there an easier way to do it? Sometimes when I attach a prop to a figure, it isn't actually in their hand but only attached to the end of it. I'd like to be able to see a close up of a figure's hands where you can actually see them gripping an object. Any ideas?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I tested this with a cane so it should work. First, use the hand poses that Poser has to get your grip. Then put your prop in the hand exactly the way you want it. Set the parent for the prop to whatever hand its in and make sure you check the box that says "inherit bend of parent". Now whenever you use Poser's body poses the hands are in a preset position so everytime you choose a different pose the prop is going to move. All you have do is go back to the original hand pose that you selected before. The body will stay in the same position that you left it but the hand and prop should be in perfect position.

03-26-2003, 08:27 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by D.K.HOOD:
I tested this with a cane so it should work. First, use the hand poses that Poser has to get your grip. Then put your prop in the hand exactly the way you want it. Set the parent for the prop to whatever hand its in and make sure you check the box that says "inherit bend of parent". Now whenever you use Poser's body poses the hands are in a preset position so everytime you choose a different pose the prop is going to move. All you have do is go back to the original hand pose that you selected before. The body will stay in the same position that you left it but the hand and prop should be in perfect position.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I tried this, but it still seems to be very difficult getting a prop such as a sword into a figure's hand, even using the hand poses. I've tried looking at the figure from various angles but the sword seems to either disect the figure at times or when you rotate the figure, you can see that the sword is actually further away from the hand than it looks when looking at it head on. I have had to rotate the sword to get it into the correct position for holding, but that just makes it worse. Any other ideas?

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

Rheul

03-26-2003, 05:39 PM

I seem to be having problems with hair. I just cant seem to make it visible. I can see the wire frame of the hair but thats it. Ive made it work before (by trial and error) but just cant seem to do it consistantly. What process do I need to go through to make it visible?

D.K.HOOD

03-26-2003, 06:16 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
 I tried this, but it still seems to be very difficult getting a prop such as a sword into a figure's hand, even using the hand poses. I've tried looking at the figure from various angles but the sword seems to either disect the figure at times or when you rotate the figure, you can see that the sword is actually further away from the hand than it looks when looking at it head on. I have had to rotate the sword to get it into the correct position for holding, but that just makes it worse. Any other ideas?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ok, first thing, when you position the sword in whatever hand its in make sure you have the camera set to that hand (left hand camera, right hand camera). If you are already doing this then I can only suggest one other thing but I don't know if it will work and it'll take too much time to try and explain it.

TazmanC

03-27-2003, 09:29 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Rheul:
I seem to be having problems with hair. I just cant seem to make it visible. I can see the wire frame of the hair but thats it. Ive made it work before (by trial and error) but just cant seem to do it consistantly. What process do I need to go through to make it visible?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Do you render your image? Most hair props need to be rendered to be seen.
Speakiong of props I had to nuke my computer and my backing up of all my poser files and props didn't take so I got nothing. And man I had alot of good stuff I created and used to
http://www.comics2film.com/UBB/frown.gif

Sticks

03-29-2003, 12:13 AM

OK, for the prop in hand thing, try making the hand section (palm etc) the parent, if you can. I had a problem with this before and it was mainly due to it attatching itself to the fingers instead... dunno why...

Short of that, as others have said, get the figure into the pose, then place the prop... sometimes works better...

as for two figures, at the lower left of the workspace, there is a drop down, where you can select the individual figures.

I've been using poser for years and the bugs STILL amaze me, sometimes!

pax

03-31-2003, 10:49 AM

Thanks for the help everyone - I seem to be getting the hang of a few things which were difficult - how do you do these morphing things? When I've downloaded a few, they sometimes say that it's a different velocity. And how exactly are you supposed to apply them to the figure?

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

D.K.HOOD

03-31-2003, 11:35 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
Thanks for the help everyone - I seem to be getting the hang of a few things which were difficult - how do you do these morphing things? When I've downloaded a few, they sometimes say that it's a different velocity. And how exactly are you supposed to apply them to the figure?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've totaly given up on loading morphs. My program always either crashes or gives me an error.

Sticks

04-01-2003, 03:35 PM

Ok.. the problem with morph targets is that they need to be from the figure thay you are using...

Basically, all they are are the original object, but with the poly's moved around... for example, the simplest: a batman-ears morph. To MAKE it, you open the .obj file from Michael, or poserguy 4, or whatever, in a 3D program, Rhino, StudioMax, etc. Then you delete everything else, except for the head. Once this is done, you grab the cornerpoint of a polygon and lift it straight up. Easy, no? With me so far?

OK.. the problem most people have with morphs is that they are trying to add a morph to a different figure than the one it's supposed to go on. That's probably what's going on with you, my indigo amigo.

pax, all

Darth_zaiyen

04-01-2003, 10:43 PM

ok, different kind of question:

I started up Poser today and all my toolbars had been rearranged. I moved most of them back, but some were missing (off-screen) and I can't get the back! I searched everywhere for a "Bring Back My F---ing Tool Bars" option, even resized my screen res then dragged them into place and shrunk. But when I downsized my screen res, everything moved back to where it originally was. Help! Please!

TazmanC

04-02-2003, 06:24 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Darth_zaiyen:
ok, different kind of question:

I started up Poser today and all my toolbars had been rearranged. I moved most of them back, but some were missing (off-screen) and I can't get the back! I searched everywhere for a "Bring Back My F---ing Tool Bars" option, even resized my screen res then dragged them into place and shrunk. But when I downsized my screen res, everything moved back to where it originally was. Help! Please!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well Zac I had that happen to me once and theonly way I got it to go back was I had poser opened and I made it crash. When I re opened it they were back to normal. I am sure there is a better way of doing it. I did it another way also but I will be danged if I casn remember. WHich tool bars are they?

Darth_zaiyen

04-02-2003, 02:48 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by TazmanC:
Well Zac I had that happen to me once and theonly way I got it to go back was I had poser opened and I made it crash. When I re opened it they were back to normal. I am sure there is a better way of doing it. I did it another way also but I will be danged if I casn remember. WHich tool bars are they?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Light Controls and Memory Dots.

04-03-2003, 05:14 PM

Thanks again for the help. Now I have another question. Which folder are you supposed to put files with obj extensions? I've downloaded something but it doesn't say in the readme where to put anything, and they're all basically obj files.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

Sticks

04-04-2003, 01:35 PM

Welshie, you can pretty much put them anywhere, but I'd suggest creating a new folder in Runtime called Objects (or whatever).

pax

04-04-2003, 03:50 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Sticks:
Welshie, you can pretty much put them anywhere, but I'd suggest creating a new folder in Runtime called Objects (or whatever).

pax<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks. But what are Objects exactly? Are they props or characters? And how do you access them from the library once Poser's loaded up?

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

04-05-2003, 04:27 PM

Another question I have: how do you open files with the extension " .bum" (ie bump map files)? Is there a program that can open it to edit it, or is Poser able to do that in some way? Or if not, how do you create a bump map?

TazmanC

04-05-2003, 06:13 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
Another question I have: how do you open files with the extension " .bum" (ie bump map files)? Is there a program that can open it to edit it, or is Poser able to do that in some way? Or if not, how do you create a bump map?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have opened them in PSP. I think they even still had the extension of .bum
These are what give textures to images like the scales for Capt America that kind of thing. I also know that Poser will take any image you created for a bum file such as Jpeg or bmp and it will create a .bum file when ya select it.

Man I dont think I have said the word bum so much in my life. LOL

D.K.HOOD

04-05-2003, 06:13 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
Another question I have: how do you open files with the extension " .bum" (ie bump map files)? Is there a program that can open it to edit it, or is Poser able to do that in some way? Or if not, how do you create a bump map?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Change the file extension to .bmp and you can edit it even though I've never messed with it before. I suggest you make a backup copy before fooling around with it.

Sticks

04-06-2003, 07:35 PM

OK.. here goes *grin*

.obj files are object files, the wireframes that the props, figures etc are made out of.
The figures in poser are actually made up of several different files, the .obj file is the actual model, there's an .rsr and another that are the joint and movement etc. files, the texture and bump maps and one or two more, i think.
Props are generally in .obj format, as this gives the smoothest surface.

ummm... i think that's it...

.bum files are just .bmp files with a different extention... so you can alter them in PSP or photoshop or whatever...

one thing about bumpmaps... they're a pain in the ass.. *heh* but play with them, they're worth it... they add JUST that much more realism.
You can download textures and bumps off the internet at animotions, renderosity etc... check aound...

for props and other stuff, 3dcafe had a great selection of free objects and stuff as well...

hope this helps..

pax

oh, and if you want to do your own bumpmaps, open the wireframe texture in the "textures" folder (you'll find it) and you can play with it there... then just save it as a .bmp (Remember it's gotta be grayscale) and, in poser, select that as the bump... it should convert it on its own...

pax

[This message has been edited by Sticks (edited 04-06-2003).]

Sticks

04-11-2003, 11:09 PM

Just a thought I had for all us Poserers...

Why don't we all pic a a character, say from Animotions, get the same file etc, y'know what I mean? and do a pic using it?

I'm not suggesting a challenge, but why not do something along these lines? Then we can critique and make suggestions, to help us get better at this annoying, addicting program we all seem to enjoy/hate. *grin*

The thing is, we're all basically on the same page with this, an even playing field, so to speak.

I dunno.. it's late... just thought it might be cool...

pax

04-12-2003, 12:10 PM

The thing I wonder about something like animotions is that the characters seems to be practially already done for me, and there's nothing much left for me to do except pose them in a position with a background, and that would be basically the whole thing done. And now that I've got the hang of posing several figures at once it's not very difficult to do.

I guess it wouldn't really feel as if I'd actually created the picture myself. I know doing your own from scratch is maybe a bit like re-inventing the wheel, but does anyone else feel the same way about using someone else's pre-made character in exactly the way it's been created? I guess it's an issue I need to think about, but if I were to use it, it would need a hell of a lot of post-production work in photoshop to make it my own.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

D.K.HOOD

04-12-2003, 03:21 PM

I feel the same way Welshcat, except I know for sure this is something I will never do. Whenever I download a prop I feel guilty so I know I'll never download a complete figure. Plus I already rely on Photoshop to get the look I want anyway so using a character that someone else did would be useless to me.

04-12-2003, 05:01 PM

Well someone play devil's advocate here and tell us how using another's pre-made Poser figure might be ok, and different to, say:

a) using someone else's artwork
b) using a commercially produced toy/ sculpture

or how it might be the same as just using a base image from the net to manipulate in photoshop, and/ or anything else I haven't mentioned

I'd be interested to hear different suggestions, because I don't have an answer to this and I'm sure those who have been using poser for longer must have thought through these issues before.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

[This message has been edited by Welshcat (edited 04-12-2003).]

Rheul

04-14-2003, 06:43 PM

Well just call me the Devil... I recently did a Venom pic in poser and used a Venom figure I found on a website. I stated that The Venom was not mine and named the web site I found him on. Also he really was not the main focus of the pic. He was in the background and shrouded in shadows. Id say the focus of the pic I did was the mugging I depicted and the camera angle. I did have some reservations about using the Venom figure but I figured as long as I said that it was not mine it would be ok.
Also there are many manips on this site done using statues and other artists(namely Alex Ross) work as base images, not to mention the photographers whose work gets maniped (I dont think I have ever seen a photographer get credited it anyones work). Not thats this practice is done with the intent to "steal" I mean who knows the name of the porno photographer who took the base pic anyway?
I think its just another "tool" for us to use to show images of our "heroes" and thats what were all here to do anyway. Yeah its a grey area but in the long run I dont think it hurts anyone. The images in our beloved DCG are tastful for the most part, sometimes the images are in the words of Frank Zappa "a little bit cheesy but nicely displayed" (im guilty of this as well) but its all done in fun. I say go for it. If it helps to bring another cool Batroc the Leaper manip I say it was well worth it.

Sticks

04-15-2003, 12:12 AM

I don't have any problem at all using figures and props from animotions or anywhere else! *grin*

That's why they were put there!

I made a Starman power rod prop, as well as a Plastic Man figure and put them both up (And a Nightwing one too, now that i remember, back when it was the 3D-cc) and the reason I put them there was so that people can use them.

And as for the idea that it's just posing and go... well... if that's all you're using poser for, you're not using MOST of the features in the program.
There are lights, other props, basically, a whole photography studio right there at your disposal. To extend this metaphor, does it matter WHO makes the costumes your model wears? If you want to be the costumer, props department, lighting technician, director AND photographer, as WELL as being the model, well, then... go ahead! Do it all yourself. But, when there are people offering goods and services... and for FREE!? Hell, son, I'm taking it!

There are some aMAZING textures, props, models and poses out there, all at your fingertips, to use for whatever you want.
Why not use them? Most of these people are WAY better than I'll ever be at texturing, or bumping, or modelling, or whatever...

and who says you have to use their texture or whatever in the render?

What I was suggesting was that we all start on the same page, say Vandalar's Hulk for Michael, or Hasdrubal's Nightcrawler, and go from there. If the texture sucks, or you want to add a fabric like bump map, go to...
I just thought it would be cool to do something with all the same start, so we can see what can be done...

pax

[Edited bit here:

and as for credit and feeling bad about using the stuff... most people that I know that have stuff on Animotions don't care... unless you're making a fortune off their hard work...

PLEASE don't feel bad about that! *grin*
It's nice when you DO give credit, but no-one minds if you don't.]

[This message has been edited by Sticks (edited 04-15-2003).]

D.K.HOOD

04-15-2003, 12:58 AM

I think its cool for people to use the stuff that is put there like Sticks said. But personally I don't use any figures that didn't come with Poser. I did use the supercape though because I had no clue how to make my own. But now that's changed so I probably won't use that anymore. That's just my thing.

04-15-2003, 01:46 PM

Some good and persuasive arguments here. I think that if I were to use the figures, I'd still have to do a lot of work on it in photoshop so that it didn't look very generic and practically identical to everyone else who has used that same figure.

I guess the good thing about those pre-made figures is that they can be used as a base image from which to start, and then manipulate in the same way as a normal photomanipulation. Plus it would cut down on looking for base images which takes hours, if not days, weeks or even months.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

Sticks

04-16-2003, 09:53 AM

this is exactly my point...

Trust me, if you are using Poser right, they WON'T look generic and like everyone else's...

pax

04-16-2003, 01:21 PM

Has anyone here used Bryce or 3DMax (or similar software) to supplement Poser? If so, how easy are they to use, and are they essential things to have? In what way do you use them, if at all?

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

D.K.HOOD

04-16-2003, 04:31 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
Has anyone here used Bryce or 3DMax (or similar software) to supplement Poser? If so, how easy are they to use, and are they essential things to have? In what way do you use them, if at all?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've been trying out Bryce 5 and so far I find its most useful building environments. Compared to other software that I've tried its not difficult at all. There's a lot of stuff to learn but you can find a ton of tutorials on the internet. I may try giving Z Brush another try. I had downloaded demo version but at the time it seemed a bit too much for me. I haven't tried 3D Max yet.

Sticks

04-16-2003, 08:21 PM

Bryce is great in addition to poser!

The renering in Bryce is MUCH nicer, and, if you are willing to wait a bit longer, it has amazing volumetric stuff that add SO much to the realism of a piece.

Picture a World War II Captain America, in an alley in France, with wonderful thick fog up to his knees... gloomy and atmospheric!

It's a great program and, if you're feeling a little more ambitious, it can animate VERY groovy movies!

pax

04-19-2003, 01:48 PM

How many megabytes is Bryce? I'm not sure if I've got the space to download it from somewhere like Kazaa. However, I do know that I have many pictures which simply cannot be finished and remain in development hell because I can't find a suitable background (and probably never will looking under google). So something like Bryce would be ideal, if it can do realistic renders.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

Juvenilemike

04-19-2003, 02:09 PM

Bryce is pretty big. I played around with it very briefly, and found it a little lacking. I'm sure with extensive knowledge you could get exactly what you wanted, but I found that it only really worked giving undulating hills. Think Wales. Bah, I'm sure that's just because I didn't spend long enough with it. You might want to try...um I forget the name of the program, but it gives you a free desktop photo everyday. They've got some great backgrounds.

Mike

D.K.HOOD

04-19-2003, 03:41 PM

Did you try any of the tutorials from the web? There's so much more that you can do than what you described. You can make generic office buildings with reflective windows in minutes. Or you can use the boolean operations to make bizarre buildings and structures. There's also different atmospheres you can create. And that's just only the tip of what Bryce has.

04-19-2003, 05:21 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Juvenilemike:
Bryce is pretty big. I played around with it very briefly, and found it a little lacking. I'm sure with extensive knowledge you could get exactly what you wanted, but I found that it only really worked giving undulating hills. Think Wales. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wales? Well if it can recreate Wales it looks like Bryce is pretty much an all encompassing software!

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

06-26-2003, 05:37 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by D.K.HOOD:
Did you try any of the tutorials from the web? There's so much more that you can do than what you described. You can make generic office buildings with reflective windows in minutes. Or you can use the boolean operations to make bizarre buildings and structures. There's also different atmospheres you can create. And that's just only the tip of what Bryce has. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've been downloading Bryce today. DK, where are these Bryce tutorials on the net? I think I'll need your help getting started on this so that I don't just create hills or things which look like screen shots from a computer game. I want to do these realistic rendering that Sticks is referring to.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

D.K.HOOD

06-26-2003, 06:20 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
 I've been downloading Bryce today. DK, where are these Bryce tutorials on the net? I think I'll need your help getting started on this so that I don't just create hills or things which look like screen shots from a computer game. I want to do these realistic rendering that Sticks is referring to.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Here's a good place to start: http://www.3dcafe.com/asp/tutbryce.asp

06-27-2003, 10:14 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by D.K.HOOD:
Here's a good place to start: http://www.3dcafe.com/asp/tutbryce.asp <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for the link. I think I might need to ask some really basic questions on Bryce however, if you don't mind. First off, when the Bryce window is up, I can't seem to click on any other activated windows at the bottom of the taskbar (eg to click onto this page or any page on the net). The only way around this is to press ALT and TAB at the same time and then scroll through until I find the correct window. Is this some default setting on Bryce by any chance and is there any other way just to click the appropriate window, or do I always have to go this long winded route?

Oh, and what does "positive" and "negative" mean in Bryce terms when you click on the object attributes?

Thanks

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

[This message has been edited by Welshcat (edited 06-27-2003).]

D.K.HOOD

06-27-2003, 10:22 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
 Thanks for the link. I think I might need to ask some really basic questions on Bryce however, if you don't mind. First off, when the Bryce window is up, I can't seem to click on any other activated windows at the bottom of the taskbar (eg to click onto this page or any page on the net). The only way around this is to press ALT and TAB at the same time and then scroll through until I find the correct window. Is this some default setting on Bryce by any chance and is there any other way just to click the appropriate window, or do I always have to go this long winded route?

Thanks
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's a good question. Sorry I can't help because I never figured that part out for myself and I haven't been using Bryce for awhile now. I do remember that sometimes the taskbar would show up at the bottom but I could never get it to stay there.

06-28-2003, 08:42 AM

Thanks anyway. I can't seem to see anything about that in the Bryce Manual.

Here's another question, either to you or Sticks (if he's around): When I create a terrain, land the object, and then apply a texture to both the terrain and the ground plane, I still get shadows under the terrain slab. I can't seem to see how to get rid of it. I've pressed the "Wireframe shadows on and off" button, but it still has shadows. How do I get it so that the terrain slab and the ground plane look all as one continuous piece?

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

D.K.HOOD

09-02-2003, 10:50 AM

Bumpity bump bump bump! I can't believe no one has posted in this thread since June. Ah well, just using this bump to announce I've gone back to using Poser. That is all.

09-02-2003, 12:48 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by D.K.HOOD:
Bumpity bump bump bump! I can't believe no one has posted in this thread since June. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, this thread really ended up becoming me just asking all the questions. Maybe many are still not convinced about Poser, or maybe everyone else just knows how to use it.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>
Ah well, just using this bump to announce I've gone back to using Poser. That is all. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Good for you. Glad you saw sense. Why the sudden change of heart?

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

D.K.HOOD

09-02-2003, 01:32 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Welshcat:
 Good for you. Glad you saw sense. Why the sudden change of heart?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Because I realized now that I can still use Poser simply for poses, instead of trying to do everything with Poser.

09-02-2003, 01:40 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by D.K.HOOD:
Because I realized now that I can still use Poser simply for poses, instead of trying to do everything with Poser. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Which is precisely what I do, since I haven't a clue how to create a texture map and custom costume in Poser, and it would take far too long. I just use it like a base image I would find on the net and create the rest of the costume in Photoshop.

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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

Sticks

09-02-2003, 06:10 PM

My bad... didn't even see it when it bumped.

Ok.. here's the deal with positive and negative.

If you have two intersecting objects, say a cube and a sphere, and one is set to positive and the other to negative, then group them, the negative will cut itself out of the positive one, leaving a hole...

you can get some VERY cool effects and nice basic modelling using this...

on this Robot project I was working on, I needed eyelids for over the eyeballs, so what I did was create a sphere slightly larger than the eyeball and centered it so the eyeball was in the middle. Then I set it to positive.
The next step was to create the cut out. I took a cube, rotated it 45 degrees onto its edge, then flattened it, set it to negative and placed it so one of the acute edges was intersecting the sphere. Then you set them to group and Viola! Eyelids for a robot.

It's fun to play with this and make other stuff. You can also chop up an object with several other objects, set the GROUP to negative and cut into another object...

I hope this helps.. sorry for the delay...
I'll try to keep up...

pax

Sticks

09-02-2003, 06:15 PM

Oh, and for the other Q...

Not sure what you mean, but try using the page up and down buttons to move the object lower... that SHOULD get rid of the shadows.

Or, If those are the only two things in the pic, just go to your lightsource and click "Turn Off Shadows".

The wireframe shadows button thingie is only for the workspace, to show you the shadows there, so you can see where the thing floating in the air is in relation to the rest along that plane...

Sticks

09-02-2003, 06:20 PM

Actually, playing with texture maps is a blast and I'd think we lot would be in to it!

There are some very good texture templates that have the seams colour coded so you can line stuff up if you need to. Also, there are some absolutely aMAZing textures that you can get for skin, bodies, eyes, hair, costumes, etc.

I bought one from a young lady in Russia (i think it was.. I can't remember her name) that is almost perfect! I'll do a pic with it (not sure of what, but I'll figger something out) and post it... It blew my mind when I saw it.

pax