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Even Poser 7 had the Morphing Tool, so it's not something really new. Nonetheless, it has been evolving and improving, so PP2014 has the best version, since it wasn't changed in Poser 11. It is just that this project and the super hero outfit has helped me realize it's the better tool for handling morphs and JCM corrections than ZBrush. I was originally stuck in this particular part with a number of outfits while rigging in DS, but now I decided to return to Poser, and it felt really easy to handle in the end. ^^
Yeah. Poser really is capable of a lot more than folks think, honestly.
Ken, I have to admit to a little bit of envy here. I think the first time I played with the morphing tool was, actually, Poser 7. I toyed with it a little bit more in P8, and then again in Pro2010. By the time i had PP2010, though, I was fully migrated over to DS, and I just do not have the patience to fight with the DSON converter to do in an hour or more, what takes me five minutes to do in DS.
I have broken the morph tool out again with P10, but I still have yet to be able to do anything other than utterly destroy a mesh with it. I have not ever been able to actually produce anything with that tool, even though I know it's very, very capable of it. So, I have to confess to just a little bit of envy there.
But I'm glad it works so well for you. There's a Skype contact of mine who swears by it as well. I just can't ever make it do anything that's even remotely constructive myself. I find it very awkward, with not nearly enough control, even though the P10 morph tool is far more evolved than what was in P7.
Ken, I have to admit to a little bit of envy here. I think the first time I played with the morphing tool was, actually, Poser 7. I toyed with it a little bit more in P8, and then again in Pro2010. By the time i had PP2010, though, I was fully migrated over to DS, and I just do not have the patience to fight with the DSON converter to do in an hour or more, what takes me five minutes to do in DS.
I have broken the morph tool out again with P10, but I still have yet to be able to do anything other than utterly destroy a mesh with it. I have not ever been able to actually produce anything with that tool, even though I know it's very, very capable of it. So, I have to confess to just a little bit of envy there.
But I'm glad it works so well for you. There's a Skype contact of mine who swears by it as well. I just can't ever make it do anything that's even remotely constructive myself. I find it very awkward, with not nearly enough control, even though the P10 morph tool is far more evolved than what was in P7.
@Seliah (Childe of Fyre) That's exactly how it was with me when I first got started with the Morphing Tool in Poser 7. It felt like the tool would destroy everything it touched, and gave me little control. What was happening is that the early versions of the Morphing Tool were rather slow, unresponsive, and would explode vertices located at the border of objects. It also had problems with targeting rogue vertices I didn't want to change, but all of this has been fixed over time, and PP2014 has it working on its best. Just like it took a while to get used to sculpting with a brush in ZB, it also took me a while to get used to doing the same in Poser - it takes some practice.
Like in ZB, the Morphing Tool brush has adjustments for intensity and brush size, and each task needs those to be adjusted accordingly. I like to start with very little brush intensities when fixing morphs, and only increase it when really needed. Also like ZB, the Morphing Tool brush has a falloff that can adjusted as needed. It can be a "hard" or a "soft" brush (there are 5 levels to choose from), which works exactly like the falloff in ZB.
But again, the Morphing Tool has several big advantages over ZB as mentioned above, like you can still repose the figure when needed, and you can use the conforming brush with real-time collision detection (with custom offset) against wherever object you choose. ZB can't do any of that.
Like in ZB, the Morphing Tool brush has adjustments for intensity and brush size, and each task needs those to be adjusted accordingly. I like to start with very little brush intensities when fixing morphs, and only increase it when really needed. Also like ZB, the Morphing Tool brush has a falloff that can adjusted as needed. It can be a "hard" or a "soft" brush (there are 5 levels to choose from), which works exactly like the falloff in ZB.
But again, the Morphing Tool has several big advantages over ZB as mentioned above, like you can still repose the figure when needed, and you can use the conforming brush with real-time collision detection (with custom offset) against wherever object you choose. ZB can't do any of that.
Oh, it has a LOT of advantages. Absolutely, I agree with you there. I have continued to play about with it, but so far I haven't yet found my "groove" with it. I'm only working with P10, though. Could not (and still cannot) afford PP2014, let alone P11 or PP11.
I definitely see the improvements of the tool over when they first introduced it. I just haven't yet been able to produce anything constructive with it, which frankly is a PEBPAU in my case. (Problem Existsts Between Poser And User!)
I'm only working with P10, though. Could not (and still cannot) afford PP2014, let alone P11 or PP11.I definitely see the improvements of the tool over when they first introduced it. I just haven't yet been able to produce anything constructive with it, which frankly is a PEBPAU in my case. (Problem Existsts Between Poser And User!)
@Seliah (Childe of Fyre) If you haven't upgraded to PP2014, I have to say you are missing the BEST Poser version ever. For once, SMS has greatly improved brush performance across the Joint Editor and the Morphing Tool, making their use more fluid - it used to drag in the past. I remember in Poser 9 I sometimes had to wait a couple of seconds to actually SEE the results of a brush stroke, depending on the mesh density. In PP2014, sometimes there is still a little lag on heavy meshes, but overall it has become much more usable than before.
Try reducing brush intensity depending on what you are trying to do. When I was to push or pull geometry, I usually set intensity to numbers as low as "0.05" (depends on what units your Poser is configured to use). This gives great control over how far I want vertexes to move around. But for smoothing things out, I use to leave intensity to max (1.0) when it's a large area, and lower it (0.1) in smaller areas. Just like ZB, there is a setting for every case, and with practice, you will find what numbers work for you. ^^
Try reducing brush intensity depending on what you are trying to do. When I was to push or pull geometry, I usually set intensity to numbers as low as "0.05" (depends on what units your Poser is configured to use). This gives great control over how far I want vertexes to move around. But for smoothing things out, I use to leave intensity to max (1.0) when it's a large area, and lower it (0.1) in smaller areas. Just like ZB, there is a setting for every case, and with practice, you will find what numbers work for you. ^^
Poser exports OBJs using its standard scale. What scale you use when importing into C4D is completely up to you, as long as you convert it back to Poser scale when you are done editing. That's how I do between 3DSMAX and Poser. When importing Poser OBJs into MAX, I scale it up by a factor of 250, and when exporting back, I scale it down by a factor of 0.04. But it could be any other scale factors - MAX doesn't care, so it's a personal preference of mine.
If you want to match ZB scale, you could export to ZB using GoZ and then save the OBJ from there. But that would complicate things, since you would have to scale it back down to Poser size, and you wouldn't know what scale ZB used. Actually, Poser already works with OBJ, so we don't have to export anything, unless you are working with morph targets. But even in that case, just pick a scaling factor you like and make sure to scale it back when you're done. ^^
If you want to match ZB scale, you could export to ZB using GoZ and then save the OBJ from there. But that would complicate things, since you would have to scale it back down to Poser size, and you wouldn't know what scale ZB used. Actually, Poser already works with OBJ, so we don't have to export anything, unless you are working with morph targets. But even in that case, just pick a scaling factor you like and make sure to scale it back when you're done. ^^
Looking fabulous Ken!! I really like some of your color combos and that is a really nice tweed you have going on there!
Here, I just thought it was because I'd upgraded to a faster computer that explained why the morphing tool was more responsive!
I absolutely love the morphing tool. I also used it primarily for fixing poke through ... especially with V4/M4. I find I don't have to do that quite as often with the HiveWire figures (yay that!), except when I'm doing characters that are a bit more extreme. Then it's a lifesaver!
I've only just recently started using it for creating adjustment morphs, and as you say, the ability to see real time without going back and forth between programs makes it that much easier to create those adjustments.
I absolutely love the morphing tool. I also used it primarily for fixing poke through ... especially with V4/M4. I find I don't have to do that quite as often with the HiveWire figures (yay that!), except when I'm doing characters that are a bit more extreme. Then it's a lifesaver!
I've only just recently started using it for creating adjustment morphs, and as you say, the ability to see real time without going back and forth between programs makes it that much easier to create those adjustments.
I am loving this outfit Ken. You do such great work.
I think the longer skirt rigging is limiting the range of poses Dawn can perform while wearing it. So I today I decided to add body handles to it, and they work in addition to the existing rigging. You can pose Dawn normally and never touch the body handles if you don't want to, but if there are pokethrus, they can be used to fix them. They can also be used for other effects, like clothing flowing or wind blows.
In the example below you can see the body handles, the blue cubes at the skirt's bottom. Don't worry, they are set to be automatically invisible in renders. And I didn't use the new handles from Poser 11 because they are not backwards compatible, but these are. On the right I have posed Dawn in a challenging pose, and there was a big pokethru on the left leg, which was fixed using the body handles. There are 4 handles in total: front, back, left and right. Each has their own Bend, Side-Side and Twist dials, and I didn't set any limits.
So these handles are not for posing, but instead for adding motion or fixing pokethrus. This might be Dawn's very FIRST skirt with body handles?
In the example below you can see the body handles, the blue cubes at the skirt's bottom. Don't worry, they are set to be automatically invisible in renders. And I didn't use the new handles from Poser 11 because they are not backwards compatible, but these are. On the right I have posed Dawn in a challenging pose, and there was a big pokethru on the left leg, which was fixed using the body handles. There are 4 handles in total: front, back, left and right. Each has their own Bend, Side-Side and Twist dials, and I didn't set any limits.
So these handles are not for posing, but instead for adding motion or fixing pokethrus. This might be Dawn's very FIRST skirt with body handles?
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