Poser (Making games with Poser)
by Renzo Sanchez · in General Discussion · 07/29/2003 (2:11 pm) · 15 replies
Poser is a great tool. You can animate a character in seconds. You can use Victoria or Michael characters from Daz3D in poser an animating in seconds, or apply walking animation, run animation, etc. With poser and a game engine like Torque you can create a game in seconds.
The big problem is how to import a poser animation.
It is posible to export poser character to .3ds and then import the character, but How can I import a walking character in poser?
Is there any plugin for export poser animation to .max or .X file?
This is a great tool, because we can have animations in seconds, Why is the best way in order to make a game with Poser?
Renzo.
The big problem is how to import a poser animation.
It is posible to export poser character to .3ds and then import the character, but How can I import a walking character in poser?
Is there any plugin for export poser animation to .max or .X file?
This is a great tool, because we can have animations in seconds, Why is the best way in order to make a game with Poser?
Renzo.
#2
07/29/2003 (4:43 pm)
One word: License
#3
07/29/2003 (6:03 pm)
Thanks Joshua, that was very insightful of you.
#4
07/29/2003 (6:49 pm)
Good for rendering skins for people models!
#5
However, if you are making a 2d game, I believe you could make good use of poser.
Also, Joshua is correct. Though you are allowed to use the rendered poser images any way you want, you are not allowed to redistribute (in any format) the actual meshes themselves.
07/30/2003 (12:25 am)
Yes, that is true, the polycount is way too large with the Michael/Victoria meshes. However, if you like poser as an animation tool, you could always import lowpoly models that are created in another modeller (poser can import and export .3ds files), set it up to be "posable", and animate it like you normally would. You can export the animations as a 3ds file, but it will not be a skin and bones animation, but instead it will export all the vertex positions for every frame, resulting in very large files. But there is a Poser SDK, with which I've heard it's possible to write your own exporter to export proper animations.However, if you are making a 2d game, I believe you could make good use of poser.
Also, Joshua is correct. Though you are allowed to use the rendered poser images any way you want, you are not allowed to redistribute (in any format) the actual meshes themselves.
#6
If you want a really impressive character animation system, pick up Kaydaras Motion Builder (it's only $100 for indies). It's the second best $100 I ever spent... awesome software. Honestly if you like Poser (cough SLOW) get this and save 90% of your time. They have some decent training over at www.3dbuzz.com watch a few VTM's and I hope you'll be enlightened :)
07/30/2003 (2:43 am)
Poser models are sometimes useful for generating a decent normal mapped person. Despite Joshua being a man of many words it did pretty much hit the nail on the head there though. I hear "Absolute Character Tools" for max generates some decent human's if you have a reasonable buget for tools.If you want a really impressive character animation system, pick up Kaydaras Motion Builder (it's only $100 for indies). It's the second best $100 I ever spent... awesome software. Honestly if you like Poser (cough SLOW) get this and save 90% of your time. They have some decent training over at www.3dbuzz.com watch a few VTM's and I hope you'll be enlightened :)
#8
Anyway, I think the best thing with Poser is the huge amount of content available, both for purchase at sites like www.daz3d.com and for free at sites like Renderosity.
I have a small collection of free textures for the Poser characters/clothes available for free download from my site (www.micogames.com) as well.
This vast amount of content is a great help to any small developer. So if you are making a 2d game, I definitely recommend Poser.
08/04/2003 (1:49 am)
Yeah, Poser can be a bit slow, even on pretty powerful machines. I think that it doesn't take advantage of hardware for rendering...Anyway, I think the best thing with Poser is the huge amount of content available, both for purchase at sites like www.daz3d.com and for free at sites like Renderosity.
I have a small collection of free textures for the Poser characters/clothes available for free download from my site (www.micogames.com) as well.
This vast amount of content is a great help to any small developer. So if you are making a 2d game, I definitely recommend Poser.
#9
Nearly all the character animations were was made in Poser and rendered into 2d.
http://www.theocracy.com
08/18/2003 (3:44 pm)
A very good example for using Poser in 2d games is Thoecracy. This game was released only in europe, becouse ubi soft in those years reorganised their us hq, and theocracy was in a distribution hole. This game is an Age of Empire "clone", but not all the way, its have some empire building possibilities.Nearly all the character animations were was made in Poser and rendered into 2d.
http://www.theocracy.com
#10
Using it for 3D is a bit more involved. You can't use the models that come with it, nor most readily available models, because of licensing. However, you can use a model you have made yourself and pull it into poser. It just requires a little time.
If you look ta how much 3D Studio costs, and other stand-alone, low-cost programs, there aren't a lot of options out there. Poser is really crappy overall, but it really is one of the best programs in its price range for posing models. Yes, characterFX is cheaper, and yes, you can do animation with CharacterFX, or with Milkshape directly, but Poser does it better. Poser lets you play with things in a natural way.
Poser exports Biovision Hiearchy Files. Almost every 3D program out there can read a BVH file and apply it to a model, and Milkshape is no exception.
And I'm not saying poser is cheap, I'm saying not everyone can afford or work with Lightwave, 3DStudio, Rhino, Hash, etc. If you buy a lot of add ons to get them to do what you're wanting done, then it moves the price range even farther out of some indies price range. It shouldn't take a 2nd mortgage to finance an indie game.
Poser is relatively cheap, and works relatively well as a standalone product for posing. It's less than what a good commercial C compiler costs, and it works really well for producing BVH files that you can use with your own models.
08/23/2003 (2:16 pm)
Poser is great for rendering 2D artwork. Most poser models (check the license -- all that ship with poser fall in this category) can't be exported for use in any 3D application, but can be used in any 2D application (again, all that ship with poser can be rendered, and the finished stills or animations may be used for any purpose).Using it for 3D is a bit more involved. You can't use the models that come with it, nor most readily available models, because of licensing. However, you can use a model you have made yourself and pull it into poser. It just requires a little time.
If you look ta how much 3D Studio costs, and other stand-alone, low-cost programs, there aren't a lot of options out there. Poser is really crappy overall, but it really is one of the best programs in its price range for posing models. Yes, characterFX is cheaper, and yes, you can do animation with CharacterFX, or with Milkshape directly, but Poser does it better. Poser lets you play with things in a natural way.
Poser exports Biovision Hiearchy Files. Almost every 3D program out there can read a BVH file and apply it to a model, and Milkshape is no exception.
And I'm not saying poser is cheap, I'm saying not everyone can afford or work with Lightwave, 3DStudio, Rhino, Hash, etc. If you buy a lot of add ons to get them to do what you're wanting done, then it moves the price range even farther out of some indies price range. It shouldn't take a 2nd mortgage to finance an indie game.
Poser is relatively cheap, and works relatively well as a standalone product for posing. It's less than what a good commercial C compiler costs, and it works really well for producing BVH files that you can use with your own models.
#11
Using it for 3D is a bit more involved. You can't use the models that come with it, nor most readily available models, because of licensing. However, you can use a model you have made yourself and pull it into poser. It just requires a little time.
If you look ta how much 3D Studio costs, and other stand-alone, low-cost programs, there aren't a lot of options out there. Poser is really crappy overall, but it really is one of the best programs in its price range for posing models. Yes, characterFX is cheaper, and yes, you can do animation with CharacterFX, or with Milkshape directly, but Poser does it better. Poser lets you play with things in a natural way.
Poser exports Biovision Hiearchy Files. Almost every 3D program out there can read a BVH file and apply it to a model, and Milkshape is no exception.
And I'm not saying poser is cheap, I'm saying not everyone can afford or work with Lightwave, 3DStudio, Rhino, Hash, etc. If you buy a lot of add ons to get them to do what you're wanting done, then it moves the price range even farther out of some indies price range. It shouldn't take a 2nd mortgage to finance an indie game.
Poser is relatively cheap, and works relatively well as a standalone product for posing. It's less than what a good commercial C compiler costs, and it works really well for producing BVH files that you can use with your own models.
08/23/2003 (2:49 pm)
Poser is great for rendering 2D artwork. Most poser models (check the license -- all that ship with poser fall in this category) can't be exported for use in any 3D application, but can be used in any 2D application (again, all that ship with poser can be rendered, and the finished stills or animations may be used for any purpose).Using it for 3D is a bit more involved. You can't use the models that come with it, nor most readily available models, because of licensing. However, you can use a model you have made yourself and pull it into poser. It just requires a little time.
If you look ta how much 3D Studio costs, and other stand-alone, low-cost programs, there aren't a lot of options out there. Poser is really crappy overall, but it really is one of the best programs in its price range for posing models. Yes, characterFX is cheaper, and yes, you can do animation with CharacterFX, or with Milkshape directly, but Poser does it better. Poser lets you play with things in a natural way.
Poser exports Biovision Hiearchy Files. Almost every 3D program out there can read a BVH file and apply it to a model, and Milkshape is no exception.
And I'm not saying poser is cheap, I'm saying not everyone can afford or work with Lightwave, 3DStudio, Rhino, Hash, etc. If you buy a lot of add ons to get them to do what you're wanting done, then it moves the price range even farther out of some indies price range. It shouldn't take a 2nd mortgage to finance an indie game.
Poser is relatively cheap, and works relatively well as a standalone product for posing. It's less than what a good commercial C compiler costs, and it works really well for producing BVH files that you can use with your own models.
#12
Lightwave (by itself) is $1595/seat suggested retail price.
Milkshape is $20 (version 1.6.6)
CharacterFX is $15
Unwrap3D is $35
It's been suggested that these 3 programs combined provide a reasonable feature set "close to" the commonly used feature set in 3D Studio, I can't speak for whether that is indeed the case or not. By "commonly used," I mean the set of featurs that are most often used in low-poly model design.
Add Poser 5, for $199 (digital download version), and you're still at about 1/5th of what Lightwave alone costs, before any plug ins, add ons, etc. If you look at the feature set you're getting for that price tag, it's not hurtful. And there's not much else in that price range on a per-seat basis.
Note that also, with ACS, you would nead to buy lightwave for each seat that would be using ACS's fetaures, even if the animation people are not doing any modelling. With Poser, you could have the team working on animations have only the poser software, a savings of $1395 on a per-seat basis. Someone with no clue how to work lighwave could sit down with poser to adjust an animation, also.
I'm not trying to "push" poser, I'm just saying look at the price per-seat, overall. If you already have lightwave, or 3D studio, etc. then Poser probably isn't an ideal tool. On the other hand, you can't have someone relatively untrained adjust an animation in lightwave or 3D Studio, and in poser, that is certainly an option.
The biggest thing is to find tools that work for you and use them.
08/23/2003 (3:11 pm)
Also (posting this separately because it was longer than I liked for an edit)...Lightwave (by itself) is $1595/seat suggested retail price.
Milkshape is $20 (version 1.6.6)
CharacterFX is $15
Unwrap3D is $35
It's been suggested that these 3 programs combined provide a reasonable feature set "close to" the commonly used feature set in 3D Studio, I can't speak for whether that is indeed the case or not. By "commonly used," I mean the set of featurs that are most often used in low-poly model design.
Add Poser 5, for $199 (digital download version), and you're still at about 1/5th of what Lightwave alone costs, before any plug ins, add ons, etc. If you look at the feature set you're getting for that price tag, it's not hurtful. And there's not much else in that price range on a per-seat basis.
Note that also, with ACS, you would nead to buy lightwave for each seat that would be using ACS's fetaures, even if the animation people are not doing any modelling. With Poser, you could have the team working on animations have only the poser software, a savings of $1395 on a per-seat basis. Someone with no clue how to work lighwave could sit down with poser to adjust an animation, also.
I'm not trying to "push" poser, I'm just saying look at the price per-seat, overall. If you already have lightwave, or 3D studio, etc. then Poser probably isn't an ideal tool. On the other hand, you can't have someone relatively untrained adjust an animation in lightwave or 3D Studio, and in poser, that is certainly an option.
The biggest thing is to find tools that work for you and use them.
#13
this and other things in your post are not accurate, AutoCharacterSetup comes with a freely distributable runtime plugin that does not require end users to have a ACS license. Once the the model is rigged it can be manipulated no problem.
And ACS4 is $90 US, which is easily about $400 US less than it could be.
Posers "animation" facilities are comical at best, it does not even do IK! Please . . .
Besides the fact that it is ILLEGAL to actually use the meshes for anything other than rendering.
Poser is not useful for much more than CG pr0n in rendered in Brice. Poser is not worth 5 cents in a production environment.
Anyone that has actually used any of the professional level tools will tell you this, and already has in the above posts.
08/23/2003 (4:41 pm)
Quote:Note that also, with ACS, you would nead to buy lightwave for each seat that would be using ACS's fetaures
this and other things in your post are not accurate, AutoCharacterSetup comes with a freely distributable runtime plugin that does not require end users to have a ACS license. Once the the model is rigged it can be manipulated no problem.
And ACS4 is $90 US, which is easily about $400 US less than it could be.
Posers "animation" facilities are comical at best, it does not even do IK! Please . . .
Besides the fact that it is ILLEGAL to actually use the meshes for anything other than rendering.
Poser is not useful for much more than CG pr0n in rendered in Brice. Poser is not worth 5 cents in a production environment.
Anyone that has actually used any of the professional level tools will tell you this, and already has in the above posts.
#14
I am refering to the default characters and a few others I have seen.
I wouldn't use poser for games due to the High poly cound (as stated abouve) and the poor mappings.
I have created player models that work fine for torque. The UV maps are exelent. :)
08/24/2003 (2:44 am)
Poser also has one thing bad. The UV mapping are horrid. just load one up and look at the them. I am refering to the default characters and a few others I have seen.
I wouldn't use poser for games due to the High poly cound (as stated abouve) and the poor mappings.
I have created player models that work fine for torque. The UV maps are exelent. :)
#15
http://my.smithmicro.com/poser-pro-game-dev.html
01/21/2015 (4:37 pm)
This will answer all the issues SOLVED about POSER use for gaming. They came up with POSER PRO GAME DEV check the linkhttp://my.smithmicro.com/poser-pro-game-dev.html
Torque Owner Patrick Glaspey
If you insist on trying, check out Body Studio for 3dsmax (check curious labs website they have it plastered all over) it is $179.00 and will let you open a poser scene.
I have tried many things to use these great models. There are various mesh optimizers out there which will reduce the poly count and retain the shape, the problem is the polys are in terrible shape for animating by the time this is all done and you end up tweaking the model forever by hand anyway. Not a very effective method for getting a model into the game.
A very good use for the poser models though I have found are as guides. Import the model from poser in the pose you want will any clothing items loaded. You can then covert them to editable meshes and make them see-through and freeze them and you will have a 3d guide to use as you build your mesh.