Great tutorial, thanks a lot, VK!

____________

Yes, Thank you VK!

{I just took the time to see if the"phi text" method was available to P5 users;...
The manual says: "Figure creators wishing to use the old method should refer to the electronic Poser 3 Advanced Techniques document, which covers the old figure creation method in detail. This document is in PDF format and is included on your Poser 5 content CD in the documentation folder."
It is not on my version of the CD. }

{ I did however notice a bunch of free content (including morph targets for Don & Judy) that I did not remember were there. :grin:}

Now having said that;... How can a P5 user make use of this beginner's tutorial?

____________
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.

WhooWeee!

I was able to download the "Poser 3 Advanced techniques" document from eFrontier.

____________
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.

Great detail in here!

So, if I have an existing car model, with pedals that don't move, hoe can I make them move?

Thanks!

I'm with Goat on this...
I think that I need a "hand-holding type" tutorial on how to rig a car model in P5.

I looked at already poserized vehicles (The Cobra, The Veepster, a Hummer, and others); but they only helped to confuse me more as to where the bones need to be.

As for the phi file, whew... I think I understand how to make it; but I am unclear when to make it; or even if I need to make it in P5.

 

____________
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.

Sorry, I can't help with the Setup room in Poser 5 and later. However, the steps are always the same.

Maybe it helps when I try to answer your questions.

@goat4444:
Make the first step: Import the existing car model into Poser (menu "Import > Wavefront OBJ").
Once you see the car model in Poser, open the Group Editor and check if there is for each pedal a group including only the pedal geometry.

You always have to start with a properly grouped model. So this is always the first step. Please ask for more information if you don't know how to import the model or how to use the Group Editor.

If the car model has no groups for the pedals, you need to group the model. This can be done in your modeler or in Poser. If you don't know how to group the model please ask here for more information.

If your car model has groups for the pedals, you're ready for the next steps:
- Scale the model if necessary.
- Place the model in the Poser scene where you want it to load.
- Adjust reversed normals if necessary.
- Use "Spawn Props" in the Group Editor to create props from the model groups.
- Delete the original car model.
- Export all the props to create the figure obj file.

If you don't understand these steps, please ask for more information.

Once you have the figure obj file, you can start to create the .cr2 (rig the model), see below.


@Whazizname:
I'm sure there are tutorials how to use the Setup room in Poser 5 or later to rig the model.

The phi-method is usually much faster (and painless, too). Here's some more information:

1. You can create the phi-file at any time. I usually make the phi when I have spawned the props in Poser. This way I can see the exact group names and make sure that all groups are included in the phi.

2. Usually, the car rig should be very simple. The simpler the better. You have a root object (the car body), and all parts are attached to the car body (like wheels, doors, pedals, etc.). Because of this, the phi is also very simple. You can use the following code as a template.



When you use the template, you insert your group names and add more actors (for the wheels, for example).

- The "objFile" line: This is a file path using the ":" separator. The line starts with the word "objFile", followed by a space or tab, followed
by ":Runtime", followed by the path to your obj file. Use the exact filename of your obj. The line must end with a return.

- Write a line (a full line ending with a return) for each actor.

- Each line starts with the hierarchy level (a number), followed by a space or tab.

The logic of these numbers is simple: The root actor has number 1. This actor will be the child of actor BODY in the figure. Most objects like humans and cars have a single root actor. However, you can define several root actors, for example two roots for two faerie wings. All actors with number 2 are children of the root actor. These parts are attached to the root actor.

All actors with a higher number are children of the prior actor with the prior number. For example, a "3" actor is a child of the "2" actor in the latest preceding line:
2 foo
3 foochild
3 foochild2
2 goo
3 goochild
3 goochild2.

- Each line lists the exact group name, followed by a space or tab. Spaces are not allowed in the group name, and your obj must not contain groups with spaces.

- Each line ends with a rotation order flag, followed by a return. The rotation order is for example "xyz". The above template can be used for a car model facing the front camera (the usual setup).

- Be sure to finish the phi file with a return to make a full line for the last actor.

- The rotation order is crucial when you make a soft body model, because Poser tries to set up complicated joint parameters for the figure. You don't need these parameters in a car model, so you don't need to care for this stuff. Once you have the .cr2, you load the car figure and simply adjust the origin of the parts.

However, the rotation order flags in the phi can help to place the origins. Here are the rules:

The origin of the root actor is always centered in the root actor. The flags in the phi just define the rotation order, that is the order of the rotate channels on the root actor.

For children of the root actor, the first dimension (axis) defines the major axis of the child. The second and third dimensions define the plane where the child is attached to its parent. When Poser converts the phi, the origin and the end point of the actor are placed at the end points of the major object axis, and centered in the second and third axes.

For example, the wheels have flags "xyz". The x-axis is the major axis of the wheel, and "yz" define the plane where the wheel is attached to the car. Using this flag, Poser places the origin and end point of the wheels on the x-axis, and in the center of the y and z dimension of the wheel. This is exactly what you want. Remember that this setup can be used when your car geometry faces the front camera.

Likewise, the door actor has flags "zxy". The origin and endpoint of the door is placed at the endpoints of the door in the z-axis, and centered  in the xy-plane.

Poser uses the bounding box of the geometry group to calculate the position of the origin and endpoint. The bounding box is the smallest box enclosing the entire geometry. For example, the hood actor has flags "zyx", the origin is centered in the xy-plane. This is not the hinge point of the hood. So you need to adjust the origin when you have your first .cr2.

The phi-flags also define the rotation order of the actor, that is the order of the rotate channels in the .cr2. You can set up the rotation order in the phi or later in the .cr2. Most actors rotate about one axis (like the doors, hood, pedals, etc.). In this case, the rotation order doesn't matter, maybe you even delete the unused rotate channels from the .cr2.

The rotation order does matter when the actor uses more than one rotation axis, like the front wheels (to drive and steer). There are two important rules for the order of the rotate channels:
1. Later rotate channels carry the rotation axis of prior rotate channels.
2. The middle (second of three) rotate channel can generate "gimbal lock".

A "later channel" is a channel whose code appears later in the .cr2. The "middle" rotate channel is the channel whose code appears after the first and before the third rotate channel.

Let's see what this means for the front wheels: We choose the rotation order "xyz". X-rotate revolves the driving wheel. Y-rotate turns the wheel when you are steering. Z-rotate is unused. When you drive and steer, you set both rotations, that is
x-rotate (drive)
y-rotate (steer).

The subsequent steer channel carries the rotation axis of the prior drive channel. When you steer the wheel, the drive rotation axis is carried and points to a new direction. This is what you want.

Rule 2 doesn't apply to the front wheels, since we use only 2 rotation axes.

Thank you for your tutorials VK, they are really priceless      

____________

     Thanks a lot, VK

____________

You're welcome.  

Thanks again VK.

I have a few questions:

1.)  The model I've chosen loads facing away from the camera. How does this alter the tutorial you posted? (I rotated & scaled the model; but when I spawned the props, they were unscaled, and unrotated.)

2.)  The model I've chosen has multiple "body" parts; should these be grouped together to form one "car body"?

3.)  (This is related to #2 above.) There were 74 props spawned from the model; some parts need to "work" together.(Tires, wheels, brake rotors, brake calipers,...)Do I need to group the parts that work together before I spawn the props?

4.)  Are the default OBJ export options ok for this?

____________
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.

@ VK;
Please ignore questions 2 & 3. I used the group editor to combine the parts that work together before spawning props.

I have one additional question though: How do I prevent the brake calipers from rotating as the wheels, rotors & tires roll?

____________
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.

Answer 1:
When the car faces the back camera, the procedure is exactly the same. You can use the same phi setup. For example, the major axis of the wheels is still the x-axis, and the flags in the phi are
2 wheelgroup xyz

You need different phi-flags when the car is oriented on the x-axis (facing the right or left camera).


Answer 4:
You choose special export options. Uncheck all options, check only "Include body part names in polygon groups".

What was the question ?

____________
I won the Loebner prize !