PoserFusion

for 3ds Max

TM

Reference Manual

Contents
Part 1 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Introduction Welcome to PoserFusion! . . . . . . . . . .3 Whats New in PoserFusion . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Installing PoserFusion . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Licensing Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Starting PoserFusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Using PoserFusion Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Posing Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Hosting Poser Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Scene Creation Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Creating the Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Reference PoserFusion 3ds Max Nodes . . . . . . .10 Universe Node Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Scene Node Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Object Node Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Part 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Part 3 Chapter 5

Poser, the Poser logo, PoserFusion and the Smith Micro Logo are trademarks and or registered trademarks of Smith Micro Software, Inc. Poser copyright 1991-2008 All Rights Reserved. All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Licensed product.

Introduction

Welcome to PoserFusion
Thank you for purchasing PoserFusionTM.

Whats New in PoserFusion

3ds Max 2008 Support PoserFusion now adds support for 3ds Max 2008 (32-bit version).

Using PoserFusion

Installing PoserFusion
PoserFusion is easily installed. Double-Click on the PoserFusionMaxSetup.exe to begin the installation process. Once the installer is complete, you must restart your computer.

Licensing Instructions
When you have completed the Installation, you will be required to specify the serial number you received from Smith Micro. You might also be asked to locate a valid installation of Poser 7 or Poser Pro. Please navigate to the Poser installation directory and confirm your choice. The plugin will then be able to initialize

Starting PoserFusion
The plugin will load automatically during 3ds Maxs startup.

Using PoserFusion

Using PoserFusion
PoserFusion is set up to be easy to use. When the PoserFusion plugin is loaded, a Poser Objects category is added to 3ds Max's Geometry creation pulldown menu. In this section we will go through all the options for using PoserFusion, and offer some tips and tricks for use with PoserFusion.

Getting Started
PoserFusion is a plug-in that will "host" your Poser file inside of 3ds Max. The reason we use the term "host" is that hosting is an accurate description of the functionality included in PoserFusion. PoserFusion creates a Poser engine inside 3ds Max which will playback the polygon meshes from a Poser file. In addition, some items will be translated from Poser to their 3ds Max equivalents. For instance if you choose to import lights, then PoserFusion will create lights in 3ds Max with positions, types and colors equivalent to those in Poser. Similarly, shading network will be created to approximate the materials available in Poser. This chapter will talk about the steps to use PoserFusion to host a Poser file. The next chapter will talk in detail about the specific nodes that PoserFusion uses.

Posing Characters
Setting up the poses, and animation for your Poser characters is done inside Poser. You then import the Poser file into 3ds Max. A link is maintained to the poser file on disk. Even after you have already started working in 3ds Max, you can go back to poser to update, and change your animation.

Using PoserFusion

Hosting a File
To host a Poser file in 3ds Max, 1. Go to the Create Panel (Geometry category), and simply select the Poser Objects option from the pulldown menu . 2. Scene Creation - You then click the Scene *.pz3 button under the Object Type rollout. You are now presented with a number of Scene Creation options, Including a parameter to specify your poser file. These options are explained below. 3. Character Creation - You then either click and drag to create your character, or use keyboard entry, and the create button. These options are explained below.in the Creating the Characters section. Once your poser file is hosted in 3ds Max, a link is maintained to the Poser file on Disk, make sure you keep a copy of the Poser file in the same location on the disk in order to re-load the 3ds Max files that contain hosted Poser files. In addition, you can re-load different versions of the same poser file if you want to update your animation and poses. Instructions on updating versions of your Poser file are located in the section describing ---------

Scene Creation Options

PoserFusion includes a number of options that affect that affect the creation of textures and lights. These next pages are a detailed listing of the options, and what they are used for.

Using PoserFusion
Texture Options PoserFusion provides the most complete texture translation from Poser to any high end 3D application. There a number of options included to customize the translation of textures. Force Full Texture - This option is off by default for better compatibility with external renderers such as Mental Ray. Use Transp Min/Max - Poser has a special function that allows a dropoff in transparency based on surface angle to camera. This option emulates this behavior with 3ds Max shader nodes. This method is on by default for highest compatibility with Poser shaders. Multiply Texture - Poser shaders multiply the texture color by the shader color. When this option is on, shaders created in 3ds Max will have a tint (multiply) node inserted to emulate this behavior. This method is on by default for highest compatibility with Poser shaders. Import LIghts When this option is on, the plugin will create 3ds Max lights with the same orientations (and positions in the case of spot lights) and colors as any lights in the in the Poser scene. Poser File The final option for scene creation is the Poser scene file you wish to import. First, click the file browse button (indicated by ...). Then browse to your Poser scene file using the file dialog and click Open.

Using PoserFusion

Creating the Characters

After you have created your scene, you need to create the characters in order for them to appear. There are two different ways to create these objects: Keyboard Entry or Mouse Dragging.

Keyboard Entry - To create characters using the Keyboard Entry options, first expand the collapsed section titled Keyboard Entry. You may alter the x,y,z placement of the object as well as its scale. These scale options are described the section titled Scale Options on the next page.

Mouse Dragging - To create characters using the mouse dragging technique simply position the crosshair cursor in the viewport, click and hold down the left mouse button, and drag away from the original point. You will see a bounding-box version of your scene growing or shrinking as you drag the mouse. When you are satisfied with the scale of your scene, release the mouse button and your scene will be imported.

Using PoserFusion

Scale Options The Poser world has a scale that goes from 0 to 1. In order to make this easier to use for Maya users, we have implemented an automatic scale conversion with 4 settings. Real Life - This is the setting to use if you are working in life-size scale within Maya. All geometry gets scaled up by 243.84 Centimeters As Feet - A number of Maya users start with the default units (centimeters) and use them as feet instead. This setting works very well with this workflow. All geometry gets scaled up by 8.0 Direct - No scale conversion occurs, the geometry is the same scale as in Poser. Manual - This mode lets the user set the Scale to any numeric value. When in Manual mode, you also have a Pro Pack Classic mode. Currently the new scaling methods are more accurate, but we have included this option for compatibility with sets built on the old measurements.

Using PoserFusion

Reference
This section contains the reference for the Dependency Graph Nodes which PoserFusion uses.

PoserFusion 3ds Max Nodes

The PoserFusion plugin creates 3 types of nodes for use in your 3ds Max scene. First, when the plugin loads it will create a Universe node. This is a dummy node that is the parent of all Poser scenes hosted in 3ds Max. By transforming this node you can transform all imported scenes. Second, for each hosted Poser file, PoserFusion creates a Scene node. This is a dummy node that is the parent of all objects in your scene. By transforming this node you can transform all objects in that scene. Finally, for each geometric object in the hosted scene (e.g. figures or props), PoserFusion creates an Object node. These nodes also allow you to access information, and options specific to each type of node. For instance, by selecting the Universe node, you can access plugin level parameters. These include company info, user guide, and version information. By selecting the Scene node, you can access scene level parameters such as scale and frame remapping options. By selecting the Object node, you can access object level parameters such as the Display Tracking option.

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Reference

Universe Node Parameters

The Universe node includes the global parameters and information for the plugin. This includes information such as the plugin version number, and company information. You can open the manual for PoserFusion by clicking on the User Guide button, and you can access the Smith Micro website by clicking the About button.

Scene Node Parameters

Scene File Rollout The Scene File rollout gives you access to commands related to the current poser file associated with the selected scene. In this rollout, you can see the name of the current poser file, and buttons for reloading, or changing the current associated Poser file. Reload File - Clicking the Reload File button reloads the specified Poser file into 3ds Max and refreshes all existing instances of that file. This button allows you to work in 3ds Max and Poser simultaneously. You can quickly and easily import any changes you make to the Poser file. Just save your Poser file over your previous version, and hit the Reload File button. You do not have to quit Poser or 3ds Max. File Information - Clicking the File Info button displays information about the current Poser file, including the full path to the file on disk, the full path to the Poser application, and other useful information. Scene Scaling Options The Scene Scale Options are the same as the Scale Options described on page 9.

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Reference
Frame Out of Range Options When you have animation in a Poser file, there is a start and end frame for the animation within the Poser file. Your animation inside 3ds Max may be longer than the animation from Poser. The Frame Out of Range options are used to determine what happens with the poser file when the frame in 3ds Max is outside of the animation range from your Poser file. Loop - The Poser animation will loop as many times as necessary to fill all of the 3ds Max animation frames. This can include a partial loop. For example, if the Poser animation is 30 frames long and the 3ds Max animation is 45 frames long, the Poser animation will loop 1.5 times to take up all 45 frames. Freeze - The Poser animation will freeze before its starting frame and after its ending frame. When viewing a frame after the end of the Poser animation, the Poser animation will be frozen in the same position as the last frame. When viewing a frame before the beginning of the Poser animation, the Poser animation will be frozen in the same position as the first frame. Hide -When hide is selected, the Poser items will only be visible when your 3ds Max frame is inside the Poser animation range. If your 3ds Max frame goes before or after the frame range of your Poser file, the poser items will become invisible.

Frame Offset Options Using these options, you can insert your Poser animation at any desired point in the 3ds Max animation. For example, if you have a walk cycle that starts at frame 1 in Poser, you can use these options to make the character start walking at frame 100 inside 3ds Max.

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Reference
Starting on Frame - This parameter allows you to enter the 3ds Max animation frame where you wish your Poser animation to begin. If you enter a frame number like 125, then your poser animation will start to play at frame 125. Until frame 125, the Frame Out of Range options will be used to determine if there is movement before the start frame.. Poser Source Frames - These options are used to select limited frames from your Poser file to use in your 3ds Max Scene. Start Frame - This indicates the first frame of animation that you wish to use from the Poser file. Animation in the poser file before this frame will not appear in the 3ds Max scene. Number of frames - These are the numbers of frames after your Start Frame which you would like to use. If you choose to only use 15 frames, then you will only see 15 frames from you Poser animation inside of 3ds Max..

Re-Mapping Frames Options You are not limited to simply specifying frame offsets. By enabling frame re-mapping, you have full control over playback of your Poser animation within 3ds Max: Enable - Check the Enable box to enable frame re-mapping. Enabling this option disables frame offsets and out-of-range options. Once remapping is enabled, you can modify the playback of the Poser animation by animating the Remap to Frame parameter. This feature is extremely powerful since it allows you to literally reshape your Poser animation. You can speed up your Poser animation or slow it down, run it backward, or even skip randomly through the animation. Remap to Frame - To re-map frames, Simply animate the Remap to Frame parameter. Your Poser scene will move to whichever frame number is specified in the Remap to Frame parameter. For example, to play your poser file backwards, you would animate this parameter from a higher number frame, to a lower number frame. You can use this same effect to speed up, slow down, or even randomize the poser animation.

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Object Node Parameters

Display Tracking Each Poser object may be set to a display tracking mode. These modes control how the geometry is displayed during playback of animation, and scrubbing in the frame bar. Box Tracking - An object that is set to Box Tracking always appears as one or more boxes in 3ds Max's view pane. This is a very quick way to get a general idea of the movement within your scene without the overhead of a complete geometry calculation. Fast Tracking - An object that is set to Fast Tracking appears in bounding box mode only while you scrub the animation using the frame bar or play the animation. When the time is not changing, you see the full geometry and materials. Full Tracking - An object that is set to Full Tracking displays its full geometry and materials even during playback or frame scrubbing. This mode provides the most accurate display, but can also be slower. These mode affect the display in the viewport only. When you render your scene, you will always see the complete geometry and materials. Choosing Box or Fast Tracking for objects with very complex geometry will greatly improve playback. The default is Fast Tracking.

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