3D links - Poser 5 & 6, Bryce

A small Poser to C4D Guide

A. If you are importing into Cinema4D don't forget to set the scale-factor for wavefront-obj under program-settings to something like 1000. Otherwise you get very tiny figures and C4D gets into trouble because they are to small...
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B. Set your texture-search-path in Cinema in Program-Settings from C4D to "bla\bla\...\Runtime\Textures"
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C. Get the interPoser-plugin from [link] - free version should still be available.

1. Save your Poser-File "ABC".PZ3
2. Export the wavefront-obj "ABC".obj. Name should be the same, this makes it easier for interPoser
3. Import the wavefront obj via interPoser
4. interPoser checks automatically the PZ3 file for textures and assigns them in Cinema automatically...
5. In Interposer you have the option either to reference the textures in their original location or to copy all textures to your C4D project
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F. MAT-Poses via interPoser

1. Select your via interPoser imported clothing object
2. Goto to the interposer browser and select the character, prop OR mat-pose for this object
3. interPoser will read and modify your material-settings inside C4D
4. If you selected the wrong object nothing will happen...

This is a very neat feature!!!
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E. Special treatment for poser-hair-textures (interPoser takes care of this, but it is better to know what happended there)

1. In Poser it is called transparency in Cinema it is the "alpha channel"
2. So every b/w-picture from poser's transparency channel needs to go into the alpha channel in C4D
3. Set the filtering in the alpha channel at least to MIP or to SAT
4. Set the illumination in the material channel to "Oren-Nayar", looks more natural...
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F. Special treatment for reflection-maps

Poser still uses a lot reflection maps instead of real reflection (they were not possible until Poser5), intePoser storess them in the environment channel of C4D-materials. So most of your models using reflection maps look "strange" in C4D, to modify this you have three options:

1. Reduce their strength in the environment channel
2. Switch on real-reflection for this material in C4D, something like 10-30% gives good results and switch off the enviroment-channel
3. Use a combination of reflection and environment-channel
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G. Props

You can import props and light with interPoser directly into C4D, without the need to export them first, use the interPoser browser and switch on the little checkmark box.
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H. Updates of imported objects

If you imported something and you see that the pose does not fit, then change it in Poser, export again and do an update object with interPoser this makes sure that only the figure and props are updated and all material-settings stay active, so you don't have to do this all again...


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courtesy of http://fredy3d.deviantart.com, thanks fredy!

Below is a handy tut for those just starting out, or even as a supplement to the "Where to put Poser Files" graph above for those that lose track of their Runtime. Originally posted at Runtime DNA

The Uber-Newbie File FAQ for e-Frontier's Poser

By Momcat

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For the purpose of this FAQ, I will use the Poser 6 hierarchy. It has all of the same directories and file formats as previous versions, plus those unique to this version.

What are all these files and where do they go????

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Let's start at the very beginning of the Poser hierarchy. Starting in "Program Files", look for your "Metacreations", "Curious Labs", or "e-Frontier" directory folder. In that folder you will find a folder called "Poser 4" (or maybe "Poser Artist". Poser Artist is simply a repackaged version of Poser 4. Any tutorials dealing with Poser 4 can be directly applied to Poser Artist.), "Poser Pro Pack", Poser 5", or Poser 6", depending on your version of Poser. Within that folder is a folder called "Runtime".

Runtime is the very top of the Poser file hierarchy.

When you purchase a product from any of the major online Poser content stores; product that is meant to be installed in Poser will be pre-packaged using the standard Poser hierachy. This means that you can unzip all of the folder contents directly into your Poser version folder, or; you can extract the contents of the zip and simply cut and paste the "Runtime" folder into your Poser folder. Your computer may inform you that doing this will overwrite any files contained within the Runtime folder that have the same name. This is fine. You will not lose any files, but the ones you are installing will be installed to the proper sub directories.

Within the Runtime directory are several sub directories. For this FAQ, I am only going to focus on the ones that you, as a beginner, will need to know about to get started. The other ones don't need to be bothered with unless you are an advanced user.

Runtime/Geometries contains all of the subfolders containing the .obj, or "objects" files relating to all of the figures and props. Unless you are an intermediate to advanced user, you should not move these files around or Poser will not know where to find them when you try to load them into a scene. The .obj file contains the structural information for the figure or prop, sort of like a shell. When you load a prop, or a figure into your Poser scene, the file you are activating (cr2 or crz for figures, pp2 or ppz for props) contains information that tells it which obj file to look for and where to find it. If you move the obj file from its original installed directory, Poser will not be able to find it and will take FOREVER just to give you an error message and ask you if you want to look for the file manually. In short; don't move the obj files around unless you can also edit the library files to point to its new location. That's not really all that difficult, but it's rather a pain in the neck, and generally unnecessary. The only files in this folder that can, and are even recommended that you actually REMOVE, are Poser 4 specific files called rsr files. Poser 4 has a bug that corrupts these files. Deleting them can solve a myriad of problems, and Poser 4 (Poser Artist) will recreate new, uncorrupted, rsr files the next time that figure or prop is loaded into a scene.

Runtime/materials is where the materials nodes folder is located in Poser 5. You only need to worry about this if/when you become more familiar with the materials room and creating your own materials.

Runtime/Python contains all of your Python scripts. Python is a script language used by Poser Pro Pack and above to automate certain actions, create special effects, and all sorts of really cool things. This is another folder that you should not move or change files in unless you know what you are doing. Any Python script you get will have instructions on how to place it. If it doesn't, ask the author.

Runtime/Reflection Maps contains the default poser reflection maps. Sometimes a product will use that folder for reflection maps, but most of the time they will put them into the textures folder.

Runtime/textures contains all of your folders and subfolders that contain the actual images that Poser uses to wrap an image around the object file as part of its materials information. Again, these files should not be moved around or renamed unless you can also edit the library files to tell them what to look for and where.

Runtime/libraries may contain 2 different types of library folders. In most of the folders are your actual Poser libraries. These contain the files that you see when you open up Poser and look in the library pallette: Character, Face, Props, Light, Camera, materials, Pose, Hand, and Hair. Files within these folders can be re-organised and renamed in any way that makes your life easiest. However, it's generally a good idea to leave the different types of files within the library folder that they belong. ie: keep Hair files in the Hair library, expression files in the Face library, etc, but changing Runtime/libraries/Light/Somebody's Lights/Blue Lights_01.lt2, to Runtime/libraries/Light/Colored Lights/BlueSkies.lt2 is still going to open the same information. It's like plugging your phone into a different jack within your house, and changing the face plate. It's still the same phone number that gets dialed. It's just in a different location and it has a new look.

The other type of library folder, however, usually contains information and files used for Injection and Remove poses (or INJ, and REM). These are easy to recognise because they will have, or be among other files that have inj or rem, show or hide in thier names. Do not move, delete, or rename these files or your injection poses will not work, and Poser will once again hang in limbo for eons before giving you an error message and asking if you want to locate the files manually.

Library file types

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Libraries in Poser 4 also contain rsr files. These files should not be removed. These are the library icon images that correspond to the same named library file. Poser Pro Pack uses jpg format I beilve, and Poser 5 and 6 both use png. If you change the name of a library file, you will also want to rename the corresponding image file so your thumbnail image will show up. If there is no corresponding image file that your version of Poser will recognise, you will see a little shrugging man in place of the thumbnail.

Camera: cm2, or cmz
Character: cr2, or crz
Face: fc2 or fcz
Hair: hr2 or hrz
Hand: hd2 or hdz
Light: lt2 or ltz
materials: mt2 or mtz
Pose: pz2 or pzz
Props: pp2 or ppz