I still haven't assembled the new CAD PC, but I'm slowly getting clear of the ghastly post-'Flu blues. My attention span has *begun* to recover, if only for several hours a day...

To be honest, after using P4 a decade ago, the complexity of P11Pro terrifies me.

( Never mind my new 'TurboCAD Pro' or the budget 'bryce'...   )

Upside, I should be able to work with much larger, much more detailed scenes.

And dress Posette & Co in style.

And perhaps 'grow hair' on stuff ??

The facility for 'external' runtimes *should* mean I can organise content in a context-sensitive  manner, rather than the oft-hapless rummage I remember from my old P4's organic sprawl...

So, WIPs (1~~n), Posette, Aiko3, H3, V3, much V4 & Genesis stuff to adapt, 'free' aliens & monsters, 'budget' aliens & monsters, 'home/office' buildings & contents, 'workshop' buildings & contents,  'spooky' buildings & contents, 'scary' buildings & contents, 'alien' facilities & contents, 'primitive' objects, vehicles, armoury, terrain etc etc etc...
==

My collection of .zip freebies salvaged from that forgotten slide-mount archive drive and trawled from those few 3DWorld 'cover' CDs has now been supplemented by a lot of downloads. I've left compliments all over SCG & R**y. Having bryce available means I've also grabbed some lovely, lovely .OBPs etc which previously left me shaking my head. The old but still free 'RSR to PNG' utility means I can identify and evaluate many oft-classic Poser models with, um, obscure names.

One thing that already bugs me is self-installing stuff. I can explore .zip & .rar archives, even the 'nested' variety, but .exe models are a *pain*.

How do you know *exactly* what's in them or where they'll go prior to installation ??
How can you tell if they'll try to climb into your basic Runtime, or may be sent to an external directory ?

Worse, many will NOT install without a valid Poser program resident. And, of course, the CAD PC is still a pile of boxes...

D'uh...

For those installers you just create a dummy runtime extract, and then zip the runtime, rinse and repeat. You can pose the item, and save an image into the generated Readme location for future ref.

When it wants to install into the Poser legit Runtime, you can just copy, or create a "Poser.exe", and place it in the Runtime you want to extract into.

My niece prefers installers, I don't care either way.

I can't remember if there was a utility to view the installer as an archive or was it an archiver like WinRar etc, that can explore the contents... I'm getting old.

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I've found that to do well with any figure you really need to have a passion for that figure,

...and I hope you develop that passion for yours.

Had a hunt around with Google...

Seems there are two types of self-installing exe files.

Some have a 'bundled' front end you may by-pass with an un-zip program, either as-is or by first renaming the .exe to .zip. These are now rare due to this ease of by-pass.

Those with a 'binary' front-end are much more secure. They cannot be by-passed without decompilation, which is not only non-trivial, but breaches the 'terms & conditions'.  Worse, some will *insist* on being installed in Poser's own runtime, typically on C: drive. However, IIRC, they may then be copy/pasted --NOT 'drag/drop' moved !!-- to an external runtime...

Uh, Poser's preference for having 'premium' stuff on C: drive was one reason I went back to a C: HDD instead of my planned SSD. My external runtimes will still be on RAID D:.  I'm fitting a 'hot swap' SATA slide-mount to allow CAD back-ups independent of our Synology NAS box. Be a few months before I can afford a big enough WD 'black' drive...

Mobo pack includes a palm-sized booklet with installation & configuration instructions. This SLI board is sufficiently different to standard '990' that their standard board info does not suffice.

Sadly, it has tiny, fuzzy-grey print on grey paper, so very difficult to read, and the screen-dumps / menus are nigh illegible.

So, I hunted the PDF off Gigabyte's site.

New snag, crop-marks which make it impossible to print *significantly* larger from 'Reader'.

Okay, I sent 30-some pages to my laser printer, doubling the effective size of the pages, and now with clear black text on white paper, but half of each page is still wasted by huge margins enforced by nested crop-marks...

Not funny.

After weeks of misery checking connections, removing / re-inserting graphics cards etc etc and getting NO SIGNAL, it is sorted.

The mobo just needed its BIOS resetting. After that, the $30 mini graphics card I'd bought for trouble-shooting worked perfectly as-is, driving a $5 pre-owned 15" display via a spare VGA cable.

So did the DVI cable I'd first tried on the big cards. No, I hadn't mashed the pins.

So did my spare 19" screen hung off this desk. No, it wasn't wrecked.

So did the first of my two mega-cards, driving that screen. And so did the second, when fitted alongside. I'd not wrecked them either, and the PSU really was feeding them their essential auxiliary power via that six-pin port apiece....

Okay, I can now get to the BIOS menus. Unfortunately, I wasted so much time muckin' about with the 'no signal' thing, my domestic 'To Do' list has reached 'scary'.

Also, I reckon I've just room on the *right* of this desk to hang that 15" display from another hinged bracket. Means I can attach this now-elderly PC to do basic browsing, label printing etc etc etc while the CAD Tower is busy. But, that means setting up the pillar-drill and jig again. I really, really should have drilled the spare bracket when I did the other screens' three...
===
Interesting *free* finds while browsing...
I wanted some nice train models as static Poser props. There are some models on SCG & R**y, but none I felt would be right. Had a cheap, 'me too' 'Model Rail Simulator' from waaay back, did some exploration. No, the models used a proprietary format...

Investigated Microsoft's 'Train Simulator', more proprietary formats. Trainz ditto.

Seems you cannot go *back* from any 'packed' train / vehicle / scene object to its basic mesh.

After much too much Googling and link-following, I stumbled upon a site with a bunch of free GMAX precursor models. GMAX, of course, is free, albeit 'hobbled'. Idea is you play 'Chinese Menu' with components, hand-rails, bogies etc, then export via your chosen simulator's proprietary 'package' plug-in...

Seems there's a free 3rd-party plug-in to display mesh as .obj data list, which you then copy/paste to a text editor, then save as an .obj file...

Not sure exactly what's available --No thumbnails-- but added to my 'investigate' list...

There's an interesting tool for model conversion I stumbled over as I'm flight simming. It works for the MSFS .mdl format. might work for the trains, too.
http://www.scenerydesign.org/modelconverterx/

____________

Sadly, none of those gamer 'flight' formats match those I've met looking at railway sims, but I've downloaded the tool.

There are many models on eg CGTrader which are free as posted in a non-portable / non-convertible format.

IMHO, their artists are being naughty because they're getting kudos and 'download points' for modest models which you need *their* $1k~~2k /seat software to access. And, yes, their software can *easily* export in open formats...

Sometimes, though, they slip up and forget formats may be 'obscure' rather than 'untouchable'...

Finally, finally found time to re-assemble the pillar drill, jig and bore those two extra 6mm holes through fourth VESA bracket, open to 7mm, de-burr and mount to RHS of desk.

Phew.

Of course, the 'pre-owned' 16" display's VESA holes are placed several inches higher than my 19" wides', so that screen doesn't clear the top of my Synology NAS box. I'll have to move the NAS again. I think I can tuck it behind the RHS 19".

Oh, and re-position bungee cord to prevent cats knocking it off the back of the desk.....

Of course, the NAS is now doing its 'blinky light' thing, aka 'I'm doing house-keeping; come back later.'

And, yes, not only is the 'standard' 16" display three (3) whole inches narrower than my 19" wides, but lower resolution. I'll have to re-organise this PC's screen icons before transferring business to the 'small screen'...

Got to go. Set out family member's many evening tablets, then watch 'Gravity & Me', a worthy Science Documentary...

About six months ago, I sent a neat answer to a head-scratching question posted on the New Scientist magazine's 'Last Word' page. I'd almost forgotten about it, but they've now published it and sent me a cheque...

So, I went hunting on DAZ for 'final reductions' in their March sale...

'Secret Underground Base Bundle'
'Big Bug Bundle'
'Stephanie RR', who can trade outfits with Posette and be a 'face in crowd'...
'SP3' as a face in crowd...

I also got 'Boots' for V3/A3/S3, so they can *try* to upstage Posette...
 

Still haven't configured BIOS and installed Windows etc on new CAD PC. Currently trying to recover from mess left by this PC's Windows not recognising primary password.

I've a reserve admin account, but it cannot access a lot of stuff, or fix the broken account...

Infuriating part is I've a CSV back-up of my t-bird address book which t-bird flatly refuses to read. Worst case, I'll have to dump it into a spreadsheet, pick out the 'regulars' and hand-enter them.

And my e-mail archive is potentially toast...
D'uh...

A trustworthy PC guru is sourcing a 'safe' breaker kit for me...
==

Thinking ahead, I've hit Amazon for the classic 'Secrets of figure creation with Poser 5' by 'BL Render', and the slightly later 'How'd you do that ?' aka 'Poser character creation for beginners Vol #1' by 'DAD'. Books cost less than postage.

As 'Secrets' had a bundled CD-ROM, I ordered the same title from two different sources. My caution paid off. One came with a disk, the other without.

Does mean I can have one book open at 'work in progress', the other at the 'fault finding' section...

Down-side, when I glanced through the books, I thought my brain would explode. I *used* to know my way around *some* parts of a CR2, at least enough to find and fix bad OBJ references.

The whole's complexity is terrifying...

Used Synology console to map NAS to emergency account. Ran a Nik_Files back-up overnight. ~470k individual files in ~ 10 hours. Snag is 'directory overheads' mean that Poser model mega-zips shift at ~ 9.x MB/s, smaller files go 2~~3 MB/s and umpteen tiny files stagger along even slower...

Clearing decks to run Source Forge's *free* OPHCRACK in hope that can get into the f***ked account. Currently down-loading the ISO to a thumb drive...

{{ Nik-Note: Sadly, there is a time and place for epithets, and too many Windows' issues seem to tick ALL those boxes... }}

I'm not really interested in creating 'humanoid' figures beyond clunky robots, I'm hoping to craft some un-earthly Big Bad Bugs. So, all being well, I'll be studying some of the 'alien' zoo I've down-loaded. There's enough free, multi-segmented monsters that I should be able to learn how they're made. Yes, I know there were ways to 'mung' Poser-4 CR2 files, but I'm hoping some will be 'open' to view and study...

Hmm. Looks like our IP's having a bad day. Yells from media room that streaming's stalled. {Sigh} Time to load our dinner into oven while my last 50 MB downloads...

Adding insult to injury, the utility that creates an ISO image on a USB memory stick will NOT run on this PC without that same trashed password.

I put utility & ISO on the stick, loaded it up on the old XP system where the utility ran without complaint.

Sadly, even with this PC's boot sequence re-jigged via F10 menu, the 'breaker' just will not boot from that USB memory stick.

Nor will this PC boot from it in 'refresh' mode.
{ Sigh...}

So, I'm going to press on and complete the CAD Tower, then rip the C: drive out of this PC, put it in the Tower's slide-mount and go dumpster diving...

{ Bigger sigh...}

FWIW, one of our missy cats has just bounced up onto this desk.
 Hello, Kitty !!
'Robbie', aka '005½' is famous for killing five and a half rats in two weeks when we had a 'binny' --Trash hauler-- dispute a couple of years ago. She lay in wait, 'hull down', on our patio steps, pounced as the rats trotted across our small lawn.

Nape-bite, shake, job done.

'Bertie', her gracile sister, shared the honours on the sixth...

Having ghastly problems installing Win10 (Home) on CAD Tower.

Installs just fine, but will not come back after any restart, just spins its spots ad-infinitum, 'To Infinity & Beyond !!'.

Installed a second time, same problem.

I *think* I've messed up the complex BIOS boot menus, but must admit ignorance of my ignorance...

So, I'll isolate PC, reset BIOS via little switch I left connected against such contingency. Then I'll disconnect SATA#0 C: HDD, link it via USB adaptor to *this* PC, reformat the sh**t out of it and start again...

But maybe later, as my thumpin' headache may be start of a migraine. If so, must grab a nap to 'chill'. Spouse going to Chris deBurgh concert this evening, I must organise the logistics...

Have fun at the concert, Chris is a real artist for sure

____________

As I'm partly tone-deaf, I generally sit in the bar, sip lemonade and read, or type-up part of a story on my 10" Win10 tablet. It has the classic NOTEPAD, you see !!

There are very, very few concerts that I can tolerate. IIRC, last one was former Seekers' Judith Durham's haunting farewell tour...

Tonight, I snuck into Spouse's box at very end. CdB was doing 'Don't Pay The Ferryman' in style. Did a couple of songs I didn't recognise the lyrics but sent crowd wilder. Much dancing in aisles...

Then, CdB mentioned Hillsborough & justice, sang 'You'll Never Walk Alone' and almost brought the house down with delight.

Finally, he sang an old-music-hall-ish song, something about a 1924 stripper named Felicia or Delicia or such...

I'd bought a CD and a live-concert DVD at half time, so they'll probably be played until they glow...