Poser Newbie Thread
LycanthropeX
Posts: 2,287
Ok, I've been working in Poser since version 3. Poser is my main go to program when it comes to 3D. So I figured I'd start a thread for anyone new to Poser or anyone who has Poser questions they need help with. Anyone is welcome to offer helpful hints, tips or general Poser knowledge.
Comments
I inadvertently overwrote ALL my PROP FILES that came with Poser 8 yesterday with the prop file of an old content folder I was trying to move into my Poser 8 Runtime Folder. How can I recover those Prop Files? I am wiling to delete Poser 8 from my hard drive and then install it again since I am just beginning to use Poser I don't have any new content yet that I will lose by doing this. However, before attempting that solution I thought I'd ask if there is an alternative and also will Poser allow me to reinstall? (I have a Mac OS X.). Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
i'm rather unfamiliar with Macs, but i can try to help.
I believe the Poser 8 program and content had separate installers, so you should be able to recover it just by reinstalling the content portion
I'm unfamiliar with Poser 8. I went from 7 to 2010 then 2012. But with 2010 the content was a separate installer. You can go to their website and see if it is offered.
First I ahev to say that even as I have Poser 2010 I'm not a "Poser user". But it sounds like you moved something to your Poser xx(Runtime/Libraries/ that was named Props and it was overwritten.
If you have TimeMachine active and backup of that directory you would be able to just restore from a previous timepoint, othewise I know there is a P8 Content Update download, but I think it require the original content to be intact.
I would say Reinstall P8; I dont remember if the installer has a separate installer option for content only.
/ Totte
got it figured out yet Xfitz?
I am planning on doing some tutorials and such for this thread, but i'm kind of waiting till they fix the image resize thing so I can post larger images
Am re-installing both Poser 8 and Daz 4 and hopefully that will get me back to the starting line. I have learned that I should back up my files.
I have my runtime backed up in a few places
I've got a couple runtimes and backed up in two different places.
If I change my background color in Poser(9) and render it/'save it (as png) how come the bg color is not kept? It changes to whitish. Is it because it is saved as png? Is there a way I can get my preferred choice of bg color to be saved as part of the scene?
png format makes the bg transparent, try saving as a jpg
i use the png format a lot because i like to render my scenes in bits and pieces, then paste them all together in a 2D ap like photoshop, paint shop pro or gimp.
I figured as much. I didn't realize there is an option to save as a jpg. I thought Poser only saves in png. Duh@me! Many thanks.
And thanks for this tip as well. I never thought of doing that, which actually makes a lot of sense!
yup, i usually render over black, then save as a png, this gives me individual characters on a transparency, i can then stack up layers in Paint Shop Pro. the nice thing is, this allows me to add things like fog and other effects and based on how i place the layers my post work can be behind some things and in front of others, adding more depth
Poser will also save as .psd, which should give you a mask if you want it without automatically hiding the background if you don't. Most image editors will read basic .psd files.
yup
Thanks for the tips! I just started getting into Poser and it's my goal to actually improve over the summer. I've always used DAZ, but it's nice to know more than one program of the same kind.
Here's another question for you, more often than not, when I've rendered a scene, it looks "dirty". Like the walls have grayish markings/scratchings on them even though I've checked off "cast shadows" on the properties of the objects/figures. What causes this and how do I get rid of it?
in your light properties check the shadow blur radius, some times you can get that if it is set to low, also try adjusting the shadow bias. Also i believe ( I could be wrong here ) that checking cast shadows off stops the object from casting a shadow, not receiving shadows cast by other objects
yeah i just did a test, turning off cast shadows for an object will cause it not to cast any shadows, but it will receive shadows from other objects
just another quick tip, if you get an object that kinda blows up like a marshmallow in Poser, you can go into the object properties and turn smoothing off. You can also adjust the amount of smoothing by the numbers, but i find just clicking it off does the trick and is quick
you can also turn off smoothing in the render settings, but this tends to make everything a tad chunky looking, instead of smooth lines on your figured you get hard straight lines on your figures, turning smoothing off in the object properties makes your objects nice and crisp while leaving your figures smoothly curved
Thanks for being helpful. I will definitely keep all of these in mind.
I am sure this isn't the last you've heard from me. My next questions would most likely be related to the material room. It is just a tad bit less friendly than DAZ', but that's for another day :-)
the material room can be fun, lots of nifty stuff you can do in there
i might post some tutorials in a couple days
I look forward to it :)
btw, here are some free python scripts for Poser, I use them all the time
http://www.contentparadise.com/productDetails.aspx?id=2680
My latest addiction is making 3D anaglyph images, those are the 3D images that use red and blue glasses to view.
here is a link to the tutorial on how to make them
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/tutorial/index.php?tutorial_id=367&page=1
and where to get free 3D glasses ( just costs a couple of stamps )
http://www.rainbowsymphony.com/freestuff.html
it really is a fun easy trick to do in Poser, just takes minutes to learn
my latest 3D image
Ok, what is it folks most want to learn about the material room? There is a lot of things you can do in there, doing one tutorial that covers everything is a bit overwhelming, maybe we can break this down into smaller chunks