Poser 3 Measure Props & Warp Modeling

Tips & Tricks for Modeling in Poser Alone
Supplement to 3D Artist issue #36 page 26 article, "What's a Foot?"
By Bill Allen / Images by the Author

Introduction: Welcome! First-time visitors should start with the original print article, which is slightly amended here. Follow that with the tutorial(s). You will also find references, definitions, and free prop and template downloads to help you put these techniques to work for building your own objects and entire scenes completely within Poser, using only Poser for your 3D work.

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"What's a Foot?" & What's New? Your questions and comments to <ballen@3dartist.com> are welcome and could help make this page more useful. However, due to the author's workload, individual responses cannot be promised. (Note: Do NOT attach files to messages to any <3dartist.com> address. Such messages or their files may be deleted.)

12 June 1999
• First building block tutorial added, including a simpler example of warp modeling.
• No tutorial yet (or very soon), but here's a log cabin built with these techniques, shown on the author's new personal home page.
1 June 1999
• The concluding section added to Workbench Tutorial #1, with advanced tips and with suggestions for variations on the exercise.
28 May 1999
• Mapping template downloads added for footCubes.
• FootCube mapping essay added.
25 May 1999
• FootCube downloads converted to PC PKzip and Mac StuffIt archives.
18 May 1999
• First workbench tutorial posted, and a Warp Modeling Tips page added.
12 May 1999
• "Ballzac" definition expanded to include link to instructions on how to make a ballzac.
• References section added
11 May 1999
• This supplement page first posted, with much more to come.
The original article was developed early in the year and written in April, and shipped in 3D Artist issue #36 in early May 1999. It requires Poser 3.0.1 (3.0 cannot save props).

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What's a Foot? Original 3DA#36 Article With Additions By Bill Allen Images by the Author

These cottage walls were built in Poser with no outside modeler. Rounded corners were created by warp-modeling a flattened footCube into a 90-degree bend.

Individual footCubes were scaled and stacked as simple building blocks to form a wall with door and window openings, and to create the door object.

Missing from Poser 3 is any local or realworld unit system that's available to users. However, it comes with a ready measuring tool in the form of a Caucasian "Business Man." Presuming that his creators made him to be about six feet tall, and cross-checking his shoe size (size 11?), one can calculate a proportional reference device.
___ You can make a "footCube" for yourself by exporting a Poser Prop Styles box and reimporting it at 18.26 "Percent of standard figure size" (%sfs). If you have Poser 3.0.1, save the footCube box to your props library.

Alternate method: Scale a box prop to 127.25%. Export and reimport with %sfs off. Save as "footCube" prop.

Metric system: Scale a footCube prop 328%, export and reimport with %sfs off. Save as "meterCube" prop.

___ A Poser box turned footCube can be used as a measuring reference (in wireframe it views as 1.5" squares). However, its most important use is as a building block. For instance, xScale it 300%, yScale 650%, and zScale 17%, and you now have a door object that measures 3'x6.5'x2". Just keep doing that with additional blocks and you can have a whole house or castle built right in Poser.
___ For use as a building block, you may find it convenient to have a footCube's Center Point be centered on its bottom side. You can easily accomplish this by doing the OBJ import step with the import dialog options Centered and "Place on floor" both enabled.
___ Other issues here, such as mapping and footCube file size, will be covered in an online article at www.3dartist.com [you're there--Ed.], where you also can find some measure props.

Warp Modeling You can warp footCubes into new shapes by creating ballzac-like "workbench figures" that start as three or more Poser parts or props. Use parameter dials and Joint Parameter controls to shape. When finished, hide the other parts and export the shaped part, then reimport it as a new object. See online for more about this, too [you're there--Ed.]. [end] Click image at right to see full size.

A previously flattened footCube has been imported as the middle part of a three-part ballzac-like "workbench figure." The top part (not seen here) in the hierarchy serves to anchor the work. The footCube being modeled (seen bent against a ball prop reference object) is being warped with Joint Parameters. The part lowest in the hierarchy (seen partially at upper right) is radically altered and relocated in the process. When finished, the other two parts are hidden, and the modeled piece is exported, then reimported as a new prop.

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Tutorials
Important: Please read the disclaimer included with each tutorial.

1) Workbench Tutorial #1: Making a curved corner building block (324K)
2) Building Block Tutorial #1: Making a dining table (145K)

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Definitions
For Poser 3+ Measure Props & Warp Modeling

Term	Explanation
Ballzacs	Named for the first such model, "Ballzac," shown in an article by Cecilia Ziemer in 3DA#34. These simple models, made of perhaps three or four spheres, are easy for users to create themselves as exercises for learning how to work with their own Poser 3+ figures. [how to make a ballzac]
footCube	A cube that has been sized to closely approximate a one-foot cube. It can be used as a reference for scale, or it can be used as an object itself, rescaled exactly to serve as a door or other building block. [how to make a footCube] [footCube downloads]
%sfs Percent of standard figure size	A file import setting, such as used with File/Import/Wavefront OBJ. Turn it off for importing objects of a desired known fixed size. Turn it on at 100% when importing objects of unknown size coming from other 3D applications, which usually work in scales very different from the "Poser universe." And you may occasionally use it to import at exact sizes, such as at 18.26% to bring in a cube at one-foot across.
Warp modeling	Using Poser's figure controls to change objects into new shapes. As you may have noticed in working with Poser 3+ figures, it isn't too hard to accidentally move a part to the point that it or adjacent parts begin to deform. This deformation can be put to planned use to warp Poser primitives into new and possibly complex shapes, giving the user powerful modeling capabilities within Poser itself. The best way to do this is to create a workbench figure consisting of three or more parts in order to warp one of those parts into the wanted shape. When you have the object shape you want, hide the helper objects and export the new object to some format (usually OBJ), reimport it (usually with %sfs off), and save as a prop. [tutorial][warp modeling tips]
Workbench figures	Simple figures, much like ballzacs, created especially to warp one of the components into a new angular or organic shape. The parent in a workbench hierarchy is usually used as an anchor, something like a vise. In a simple three-part workbench figure, the middle component usually would be the object acted upon by manipulating the third part, lowest in the hierarchy. [how to make a workbench figure]

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Downloads Props: footCubes
The following are all tiny downloads, under 11K each. Open the PC .zip or Mac .sit into a temporary folder, or directly into your Runtime\libraries\props\Prop Types folder, or create a special folder named something like, Runtime\libraries\props\measures. (On PC, keep the .pp2 and .rsr pair together.) These props are self-contained and do not need corresponding Runtime/Geometries files.

footCube1x1 1x1x1 cube PC footcube1x1.zip Mac footcube1x1.sit A footCube of six four-sided faces. When mapped, the map repeats once to all six sides. Not warpable. footCube1x1w 1x1x1 cube wrap PC footcube1x1w.zip Mac footcube1x1w.sit A footCube of six four-sided faces. When mapped, the map wraps around all six sides. Not warpable, but handy for custom maps. footCube8x8 8x8x8 cube PC footcube8x8.zip Mac footcube8x8.sit A footCube of 768 three-sided faces. When mapped, the map repeats once to all six sides. Use this footCube for warp modeling, but avoid use for simple building block due to larger RAM requirements.

A footCube prop when yScaled 600% should reach the top of the Poser 3 Business Man, whom we have presumed to be six-feet tall in order to create a measuring system for Poser. When making such a comparison, remember to first do a Figure/Drop to Floor (Ctrl/Cmd-D) command on both the figure and the measure prop.

Templates for footCubes
The following downloads are AI and TIFF files you can use as templates and test maps for footCubes and other props. File size is given for each download file. The TIFFs are LZW-compressed, ready to use with Poser 3.0.1 but must be uncompressed for use with 3.0. The AI files expect the Arial TrueType font to be on your system, but should work without it. Rasterize the AI files at 300ppi for starters. Note that earlier versions of Illustrator may not succesfully open grid8x8.ai, which is an AI7 file. If your application doesn't recognize .ai files, try changing the file extension to .eps.
___ Please see a separate mapping essay about using these template files.

Flat 8x8 Grid AI7 file grid8x8.ai (67K) TIFF grid8x8.tif (16K)	This 8x8 grid corresponds directly to the mesh on each side of a regular or warped 8x8x8 footCube. It also can be useful for quickly testing how maps will land on any prop or figure element, as you can see in the illustration above.
Cube Wrap Grid AI4 file cubewrap.ai (8K) TIFF cubewrap.tif (53K)	This grid is designed specifically to wrap around all six sides of the "1x1x1 cube wrap" footCube. When you scale a footCube1x1w prop asymetrically, scale this map accordingly to land textures exactly where you want them.

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References ___- Associated Pages -
"Mapping footCubes" - Essay specific to measure props as well as in general about mapping templates.
"Warp Modeling General Tips" - A short list of ideas.
Tutorials - Practice with measure props used as building blocks and for warp modeling.

___- 3D Artist magazine -
Comprehensive Index: Poser - Index of articles about Poser in the print magazine.
Re:Poser - Poser resource page, including version update info, utilities, and commercial support links.
"Figures from Props" - Text from the 3DA#34 article that first showed that Poser itself can be used for creating new figures.

___- MetaCreations -
Poser 3 Advanced Techniques Guide - To do Poser figure creation (and warp modeling, which requires figure creation), you need this MetaCreations documentation, which is available only as a 5.2Mb Acrobat PDF download. To show how hierarchies work, this manual jumps right into highly complex examples, so start with ballzacs for an easier first experience.

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3DA#36 supplement

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Revised: 16 Jan 00
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