Does anyone with a large library of Poser 4 props know if there was ever a fix released for a hair prop called "Z Stripe" by Hojer?  I was looking through my Poser hair library and found saw this hair, realized I couldn't remember the last time I used it, and then before actually loading it on a character I made two nice texture maps (blond and auburn) for it.  Then when I went to try them out I saw that the hair model is flawed, there is a big ugly crease or edge on the back of the hair model itself (not the texture maps) that's too big to be corrected with just a transparency map.  I guess that's probably why I hadn't used the hair before.

    The file I have is called Zstripe.hr2, dated April 7, 1999.  There was a readme file with it listing a website for the author, but the site didn't seem to be active anymore.  A quick Google search didn't turn up any sites offering the prop for download anymore.  I was currently making a character that I'd like to use this hair with, but due to the flawed model the character could only be rendered from the front (of course, there's always post-work that could fix things).

    Was Z-Stripe hair ever fixed or would anyone who has a modelling program be interested in fixing it?  Of course I'd be happy to share the textures I made in exchange for a copy of the file (I don't think I can yet upload stuff to this site, or I would just put them out there).  As far as I know the file was only ever distributed for free originally and was never a commercial model, but if anyone knows differently or is unsure I do have Objaction Mover so just an obj difference file to use with Mover would be ok too.

    It seems that at some time in days gone by this hair prop was available both as a stand-alone download and was also included in a free character called "Sarah Geller" by duesentrieb (most likely gotten from Renderotica years ago), wherein the hair was still messed up (I have both, and they're equally flawed).

Thanks

Endosphere

I would say from my point of view that if the web site is no longer there and you can't contact the owner then it was abandoned. The users agreement may have limits to it which in some right by an amount of time is yours. I would say get rid of it and try something else unless you plan on learning mapping and modeling techniques to broaden your Poser knowledge.   It never ends for us Poserholics .   

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Two wrongs don't make a right.
But six left turns will get you around the block
and back in the driveway again.

Can we see a render of the hair, and it's flaw? It would help me to identify the hair prop, and to estimate if the fix is something that I am comfortable doing.

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It's not what you look like, when you're doing what you're doing;
It's what you're doing, when you're doing what it looks like you're doing.

Thanks everyone for responding.

To tda42, it seems like the file is likely in the public domain.  There weren't any terms attached.  The entire readme file simply said "Hair with UV Map" with an email address and a website.

I'm just getting back into using Poser lately.  At one time I was moderately proficient with the program, but it's just been collecting dust on my hard drive for six or seven years and it seems I've forgotten most of what I used to know about it, although I am spending a lot of time trying to get my skills back.  I like this board because it seems to focus on older Poser stuff everyone else has forgotten about, and I don't really have any intention of upgrading from Poser 4.

I think I might find some tutorials to study about using magnets.  Perhaps that might be useful for fixing this hair, but given the type of problem with the model I'm not sure.


To Whazizname, I tried to make this post with a picture attached but it doesn't seem like I'm allowed to attach files since I'm a new person to the board, and unfortunately I don't have any webpage where I could link to an image.

When looking at the hair in wireframe mode in Poser, it looks like there's a horizontal hole about 15 polygons across in the back of the head (it's a row of 15 black squares).  When the object is viewed in textured mode the texture map covers the area (no holes are visible) but there's what can best be described as a flat elevated area that drops off sharply like a cliff at the spot where the 15 black squares from wireframe mode are, if that makes any sense.  Thanks though for your interest.


Endosphere

Perhaps you could go to http://www.archive.org/index.php and plug in the web address and see if they have a copy of the old site and see if there was ever a fix for the hair prop. Just an idea.

Also a great place to find live Dead shows or whatever type of music you're in too. If I may recommend some RailRoad Earth.      
you can check this out too http://www.cocs.com/Poser/index.htm its pretty helpfull
 

Thanks for the leads, Marv and maovin.  I checked out the "Internet Wayback Machine" and it seems the hair creator's website was never anything more than it is now, which is just a simple page with a picture of a dolphin, no links or text or anything else (www.come.to/hojer).  To maovin, I'm stuck in a time-warp musically and mostly listen to old-school stuff like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

My experiment with magnets on the Z Stripe Hair didn't accomplish anything.  Due to the way the hair is made with like a domed area of polygons that are above the the main model I wasn't able to blend the flawed area, even though I used the Grouping Tool and only applied my magnet to the problem area.

If I make any other progress on the hair I'll update this thread, since apart from the flawed area Z Stripe is an attractive looking hair and it seems a shame to toss the model into the dustbin.


Endosphere

Could you attach an image of the Z Stripe hair? I'm thinking I may have an old copy of it but have probably renamed it. If I have it perhaps I could take a crack at doing a fix for it.

Thanks to Tormie I should be able to post pictures now, so here's a shot of the problem and the hair.  The problem is the line of black polygons visible in the wireframe mode.  These are actually showing a large hole in the mesh.  Due to how large the hole is (notice how elevated the area is in the textured view) I was unable to smooth it with magnets, but then again I'm still a novice with magnets.

Ah yes. I do have this particular hair mesh. If I remember correctly it is made from at least 4 separate hair models. I suppose you could probably call it a "Mish Mash Mesh".    

But seriously...
I'll take a look at it and see what I can do for you. If worst came to worst it wouldn't take much to postwork the area in your paint program like photoshop or Paintshop Pro.

Thanks Marv for taking time to check it out, regardless of whether you can come up with anything or not.

I'm always very grateful for free Poser stuff, but it does seem strange that the creator of the hair would put it out there with such an obvious flaw.  I guess years ago when I downloaded the hair, standards of realism were a lot different than today.

I'm kind of fond at the moment of the Posette I made from panel C in the image above and was thinking of using her in several scenes, and have resigned myself to fixing the hair with postrender editing.  My trouble is I'm often impatient when making scenes and would rather move on to the next set of renders instead of spending time on image editing.  Even though the transparency map I made for the Z Stripe Hair still needs more work, with that and the texture map I think the hair actually looks pretty decent except from the back and other than the flawed area shouldn't need much work post-render.


Endosphere

I would probably try to make a morph (code twister's free morph master should be great on this) on the problem area to move it inside the head or give it a little more "hair like" shape...

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Thanks for the lead, ahjah.  I'm not familiar with the Morph Master, but I'll google it right now and check it out.

Endosphere