How to use the Poser Format Exporter: - The purpose of this tutorial is to help you better understand the Poser Format Exporter.
******************************************************************************
The Poser Format Exporter is availible in the DAZ3D store for free if you are a PC member - For DAZ Studio 2, 3 & 4
******************************************************************************
What does it do?
The Poser Format Exporter is designed for one thing, saving poses and morphs you created in DAZ Studio to Poser Pose(.pz2), Face(.fc2) and Hand(.hd2) file format.
******************************************************************************
NOTE: The Poser Format Exporter does NOT save Deformer information.
******************************************************************************
******************************************************************************
To find the PFE within DAZ Studio goto “Studio > Scripts > Utilities”
******************************************************************************
What are the different options in the PFE and what are they for:
Path & File Name should be self explanitory.
Nodes: Root or Selected. Root is when the primary level of the figure is selected (indicated by the bounding box around the figure) where as Selected is simply the body parts that are selected.
Propagation: None or Recursive. Choosing None will mean that only the selected body part pose is saved. Whereas Recursive will save the pose on the selected bone and all child bones as well.
Timeline: Current Frame or Animated Range. When Current Frame is selected, only the pose shown on the current frame is saved. With Animated Range all the pose data from each frame will be saved. You can also indicate at whcih frame to start at and which frame to end at. If your saving a single pose, just choose Current Frame
Transformations, Others & Attributes: Pose information corrisponding to these catagories will not be saved unless the box is checked.
Transformations: Rotation, Translation & Scale. Within these three selcetions they each have X-axis, Y axis & Z axis. X refers to left and right movement, Y refers to up and down movement and Z refers to forward and backward movement. Depending on the purpose of the pose your saving you should determine when these options are used since each one is not always required or necessarily desired. From my own expericance, posing a figure in relation to another figure (ie: Couples) or a certain prop I check off the Rotation and Translation boxes. If its just a standing pose thats intended for general use, then I only check off Rotation. Scale is only used if you intend on increasing or decreasing the size of the figure.
If no boxes are checked DS will not save the file
******************************************************************************
Special Note: When saving your poses with the DS2 version, MAKE SURE you include the file extention or it WILL NOT save at all!!!
******************************************************************************
Others: Morphs (targetGeom) & Numeric (valueParm). It controls whether or not to include morph property values in the exported file; that is, properties for the actual individual morphs (targetGeom) and not just the linked property that drives them (valueParm). In the case of a Full Body Morph (FBM), this is the difference between the single property on the root that controls everything (valueParm) and the individual morphs on each body part (targetGeom) that are the actual morphs. This is the most likely scenario, as typically the properties that are exposed at the bone level are actual morphs. ***Special Thanks to Rbtwhiz for that explination***
Attributes: Visibility should only be checked if you are hiding a particular body part and want that applied by the saved pose. Bending is only checked if you want to record the Bend option on the Parameters Tab. By default bend on the Parameters Tab is ON and the Bending option is unchecked.
Saving a Custom Face (.fc2) Morph:
After you have finished your character, goto the Parameters Tab and select the head (eyes do not need to be selected if you have not adjusted their position or scale). Now select the PFE and for Nodes choose Selected and for Propagation choose None. Under Transforms choose the necessary options. Next goto Attributes and check off Numeric (valueParm). Please make sure you have chosen .fc2 as your file type before you click on Accept.
******************************************************************************
Saving a Hand (.hd2) pose:
Hand poses can be saved using two methods. The easiest way to save a hand pose is to first select the hand that you posed and then goto the PFE and for Nodes choose Selected and for Propagation choose Recursive. Under Transforms choose the necessary options. Now just make sure you choose .hd2 as your file type and when you goto apply the hand pose you will be presented with the “Left hand or Right hand” option before the hand pose is applied. The second method of saving hand poses is covered in the Partial Pose section below.
******************************************************************************
Saving full body or Partial poses:
For saving a full body pose you have two options. The easiest way is to select the figure on the Scene Tab and then goto the PFE. From there, make sure you set Nodes to Root and Propagation to Recursive. Under Transforms choose the necessary options. Make sure .pz2 is your file type before accepting. See the Partial Pose below for the other method.
******************************************************************************
Partial Poses:
Weather you are saving a full body pose, a hand pose or just part of the body, this last method for saving poses is the most versatile. From the Scene Tab, select ALL the body parts that you want recorded in the pose. If you are using this method for a full body pose, I find it best to select the head, then hold the “shift key” (windows) and then select the figure base. This will select all body parts between the two. If its for a hand pose, choose the hand and any finger bones you require. Next goto the PFE and for Nodes choose Selected and for Propagation choose Recursive, under Transforms choose the necessary options. If you are saving a leg or arm pose, choose the relevant part and make sure you set Propagation to Recursive. The setting for Nodes will not have an effect in that case.
******************************************************************************
Custom characters (morphs):
This is a cross between the face morph and partial pose options. Start by selecting the required body parts, then goto the PFE and once again for Nodes choose Selected and Propagation set to None. Under Transforms choose the necessary options and then under Others select Numeric (valueParm). Make sure you choose .pz2 as your file type.
******************************************************************************
AniMate: - Thanks to lululee @ Renderosity
After you have all of your animation setup make sure you ‘bake to anim keyframes to DS keyframes. ( that is in the right corner ani timeline menu)
Click on the scripts menu and launch the Poser Format Exporter
Select “timeline animated range” attributes visbility and bending.
That writes an animated pose file for Poser.
******************************************************************************
Props:
To save a pose file for props, simply select the prop on the Parameters Tab, then launch the PFE. You will notice that the PFE window has three areas greyed out since they are redundant when dealing with props. So just select the options that apply under Transforms and choose accept.
Open the PZ2 for the prop after its made and near the top look for this line:
prop “the prop the pose is for_000000:1” (without the quotations)
The zeros represent the numbers you will see there. Remove the underscore and numbers but not the ” :1 ” then resave. Now the pose should work correctly in Poser 8 and up.
******************************************************************************
