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RELEASED Light Dots Python Script for Poser 12

Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
Welcome to memory dots for LIGHTS in Poser 12! Makes me wonder why Poser never had these for lights, but here it is, and it's bigger and packed with extra functionality! ^____^

This is something I wanted to have in Poser 12 that I would use a lot. It's a way to quickly store and retrieve light sets with a click, plus some extra actions that come handy in different situations. This is what the tool looks like, and it should look familiar to anyone who have used Poser memory dots before, except that is BIGGER (4x4). :)

It's a mix of memory dots with some extra light management actions, all in one tool.

MainGUI.jpg

Just 9 dots are not enough for me, at least when it comes to LIGHTS, so I made it a 4x4 16 dots, and they behave the same as the ones from Poser, but also have some extras. Clicking an empty dot stores your current scene lights into a memory dot. Alt+clicking deletes a dot preset, making it empty again. Alternatively, we can also delete dots with a right-click, which I find quicker and easier.

So far, same as with regular Poser memory dots (if it had any for lights), so here's another difference - we can name memory dot presets, so we can identify them by hovering the mouse over them. To do this, CTRL+Click a dot and you will be able to type in a name for it. It shows as a tooltip as shown below. By default, light dots don't have any names, but they look all the same, and it can become hard to remember what they do. All properties are preserved is you close the tool, and will be back next time you run it, so your saved light dots will always be available.

NamedSets.jpg

Ok, so now we can store up to 16 scene lights as memory dots (yay!), and also name them to make it easier to know what they do. Now look at the "Actions" menu at the top. It can be accessed by clicking the menu, or right-clicking anywhere on the tool where we don't have a memory dot. Either way will do. It offers actions in 4 different categories.

mainMenu.jpg

The first one is to delete lights. We can either delete all lights from the scene, or select by type. In the example below, we are deleting all "Spot" lights from the scene.

DeleteMenu.jpg

Next, we have the light toggle actions, where we can turn lights on and off. With one click, we can turn all lights on or off, or do it selectively by light type as shown below.

ToggleMenu.jpg

Then we have the PointAt actions, where we can make all directional lights point to the selected actor with 1-click. We also have the option to remove the constraint from all, or only from the currently selected light. The tool automatically knows which lights are directional, and handles them seamlessly.

PointAtMenu.jpg

Finally, we have light type conversion actions. This can be used to convert the selected light to any type, as seen below. Some light types behave poorly if converted to a nondirectional light while having a PointAt constraint, so the tool handles this automatically under the hood. It auto-disables the constraint for light types that do not support it.

ConvertMenu.jpg

The tool was built using a native WX panel, so it will work seamlessly with other Poser panels. It can be docked anywhere, or run detached/floating. It will remember this next time you run it, like the size, position, and docking state. I have also skinned it to match the Poser colors, except for the action menus that don't seem to be skinnable in WX.

This new tool should make working with lights in Poser much quicker and easier. I wanted to make a demonstration video, but Poser is currently being affected by some changes introduced by a recent Win10 update, making it run super slow. It stops responding for a few seconds after every action, so a video would be impractical at the moment. Fortunately, this doesn't affect everybody, so it might be just a few of us depending on our software/hardware configuration, and what Win10 updates we have installed. I will make a demonstration video as soon as things get back to normal, and I hope that will be soon. ^^
 
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AnimaGemini

Living in the clouds
Contributing Artist
Welcome to memory dots for LIGHTS in Poser 12! Makes me wonder why Poser never had these for lights, but here it is, and it's bigger and packed with extra functionality! ^____^

This is something I wanted to have in Poser 12 that I would use a lot. It's a way to quickly store and retrieve light sets with a click, plus some extra actions that come handy in different situations. This is what the tool looks like, and it should look familiar to anyone who have used Poser memory dots before, except that is BIGGER (4x4). :)

It's a mix of memory dots with some extra light management actions, all in one tool.


Just 9 dots are not enough for me, at least when it comes to LIGHTS, so I made it a 4x4 16 dots, and they behave the same as the ones from Poser, but also have some extras. Clicking an empty dot stores your current scene lights into a memory dot. Alt+clicking deletes a dot preset, making it empty again. Alternatively, we can also delete dots with a right-click, which I find quicker and easier.

So far, same as with regular Poser memory dots (if it had any for lights), so here's another difference - we can name memory dot presets, so we can identify them by hovering the mouse over them. To do this, CTRL+Click a dot and you will be able to type in a name for it. It shows as a tooltip as shown below. By default, light dots don't have any names, but they look all the same, and it can become hard to remember what they do. All properties are preserved is you close the tool, and will be back next time you run it, so your saved light dots will always be available.


Ok, so now we can store up to 16 scene lights as memory dots (yay!), and also name them to make it easier to know what they do. Now look at the "Actions" menu at the top. It can be accessed by clicking the menu, or right-clicking anywhere on the tool where we don't have a memory dot. Either way will do. It offers actions in 4 different categories.


The first one is to delete lights. We can either delete all lights from the scene, or select by type. In the example below, we are deleting all "Spot" lights from the scene.


Next, we have the light toggle actions, where we can turn lights on and off. With one click, we can turn all lights on or off, or do it selectively by light type as shown below.


Then we have the PointAt actions, where we can make all directional lights point to the selected actor with 1-click. We also have the option to remove the constraint from all, or only from the currently selected light. The tool automatically knows which lights are directional, and handles them seamlessly.


Finally, we have light type conversion actions. This can be used to convert the selected light to any type, as seen below. Some light types behave poorly if converted to a nondirectional light while having a PointAt constraint, so the tool handles this automatically under the hood. It auto-disables the constraint for light types that do not support it.


The tool was built using a native WX panel, so it will work seamlessly with other Poser panels. It can be docked anywhere, or run detached/floating. It will remember this next time you run it, like the size, position, and docking state. I have also skinned it to match the Poser colors, except for the action menus that don't seem to be skinnable in WX.

This new tool should make working with lights in Poser much quicker and easier. I wanted to make a demonstration video, but Poser is currently being affected by some changes introduced by a recent Win10 update, making it run super slow. It stops responding for a few seconds after every action, so a video would be impractical at the moment. Fortunately, this doesn't affect everybody, so it might be just a few of us depending on our software/hardware configuration, and what Win10 updates we have installed. I will make a demonstration video as soon as things get back to normal, and I hope that will be soon. ^^
This will come handy. Absolut useful and long awaited.
 

Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
Updated to include the last created or accessed dot preset. This state is preserved across sessions. Also added About and Help buttons, and wrote the PDF manual. Pressing the "?" help button will open PDF manual.

CurrentDotState.jpg
 

Sunfire

One Busy Little Bee
QAV-BEE
Contributing Artist
The one thing that turned me off of using memory dots was the fact I couldn't figure out how to delete the ones I didn't want any more. Or how to reuse the dots.
 

Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
The one thing that turned me off of using memory dots was the fact I couldn't figure out how to delete the ones I didn't want any more. Or how to reuse the dots.

Oh that is simple: ALT+Click a dot to delete it. I am using the same keys in this script, so it becomes seamless with Poser functionality.

PS: With Light Dots, you can click the "?" button at any time to open the PDF manual and see all the functionality explained. :)
 

Sunfire

One Busy Little Bee
QAV-BEE
Contributing Artist
Oh that is simple: ALT+Click a dot to delete it. I am using the same keys in this script, so it becomes seamless with Poser functionality.

PS: With Light Dots, you can click the "?" button at any time to open the PDF manual and see all the functionality explained. :)
Yeah, not so simple if you don't know. ;)

I couldn't find any information on them when I went looking, granted I never asked on any forums or dug very hard in the manual. Now I know.
 

Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
Yeah, I was kind of bugged that I couldn't delete dots at first, but then I read the manual and found our it was ALT+Click. Here's an excerpt from the Poser 11 manual, page 61, that explains that in particular. I have actually learned a LOT by reading the manual. :)

1618267603040.png
 

Sunfire

One Busy Little Bee
QAV-BEE
Contributing Artist
Thanks this was back about Poser 7, unfortunately that manual spent a lot of time just being a collector of dust.
 

Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
I don't think the manual has changed much since Poser 7, besides adding the new features. Excerpt from the Poser 7 manual below, pretty much the same.
1618270393217.png
 

RAMWolff

Wolff Playing with Beez!
Contributing Artist
I use the Camera dots ALL THE TIME these days. Not a day goes by when I'm not taking advantage. Like you know how troublesome zooming and rotating around areas can be using that outdated camera control panel but using the camera memory dots I can instantly zoom to the underside of a hand and then click another and I'm on top of the hand. Not only saves time but it also saves nerves!

So Ken are you going to use the same as Poser's delete dot ALT *click* ??
 

Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
I use the Camera dots ALL THE TIME these days. Not a day goes by when I'm not taking advantage. Like you know how troublesome zooming and rotating around areas can be using that outdated camera control panel but using the camera memory dots I can instantly zoom to the underside of a hand and then click another and I'm on top of the hand. Not only saves time but it also saves nerves!

It's integral part of my workflow in Poser, and I miss it when I am in DS. I establish the scene framing first, and then work on the scene around it. I save the main camera framing on a dot, and go with the camera everywhere to work on the scene, knowing I can go back to check the final framing at any time with a click. It also allows me to try different framings, knowing I can go back if I don't like it.

So Ken are you going to use the same as Poser's delete dot ALT *click* ??

Definitely! It's already in there. All you are used to do with memory dots is the same here, and I am adding more on top of that, like dot descriptions with tooltips. ^^
 

RAMWolff

Wolff Playing with Beez!
Contributing Artist
One of things that really bothers me about the built in one in Poser is that there are no labels and there is no way to set which type of dots you want to be the default. I NEVER EVER change up the UI. Once I set it up I forget about it but camera dots I use daily! Seems like they should be updating how the dots panel operates in those two ways!
 

Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
I have asked SMS to include the current dots in the saved configuration, but didn't get it. I wanted cameras to be the default, instead of UI, but this preference cannot be saved.
 

RAMWolff

Wolff Playing with Beez!
Contributing Artist
Of course it can they just have to write that little bit into the code. I hate excuses like that!
 

Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
I understand Poser was found near death when Rendo acquired it, and the years of abandon and negligence have to run its course. In other words, the dev team have to measure priorities when choosing what to address now, or later. Fixing Poser took a rain check for so long that now there are just too many things to consider. Just today I had a couple of my requests denied, and that was it. They have to make the hard decisions, because some things are more important than others.
 

Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
Resolved an issue when multiple scripts were running, Poser 12 was unable to tell them apart, and would only remember the last one that was launched. There is a bug on the Python API I have reported to the dev team, and I have found a workaround, so I don't have to keep waiting indefinitely until everything is fixed. In my last test, I have launched 4 different scripts at once, and each could manage their own resources fine, so the workaround is working!

This actually affects all scripts I made for P12, so I had to go back and patch them all. Light Dots P12 was one of them, and now I think it's ready for internal beta. Yay! I have been waiting since early March without being able to release any scripts for P12, and now I think the waiting is over. ^___^
 

Ken1171

Esteemed
Contributing Artist
Internal beta is now complete, and we have a final version. I have set up the store product page and uploaded the final ZIP to Rendo. It will go through QAV and probably be released at Rendo somewhere in the next few days, if I am lucky. ^^
 
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