[Figure 5-22] Skin poking through clothes

Handling Skin Poking Through Clothes
If the scale of the conforming clothes isn’t exactly right, then some skin may show through the clothes, as displayed in Figure 5-22. This happens frequently when clothes for different figures are interchanged, but you can fix this problem in several different ways. The easiest fix is to simply scale or rotate the clothing item until the skin is covered.

The Wardrobe Wizard script utility includes commands to fix skin poke-throughs along with options to inflate, deflate and shrink wrap clothes onto the selected figure.

Another solution is to simply make the underlying body part that is showing through invisible. Since the clothing item holds the figure’s shape, hiding the body part won’t even be noticeable.

Clothing object can also be morphed to cover the skin in a particular area. Be sure to save out the morph target before continuing.

Conform Clothes to a Figure
1.       Open Poser with the Alyson figure visible.

2.       Select Window, Libraries to open the Library palette.

3.       Select and apply a pose from the Poses category.

4.       Click the Props category at the top of the Library palette and navigate to the Poser 8/Clothing/Alyson folder.

5.       Select the Capris thumbnail and click the Apply Library Preset button at the bottom of the Library palette.

The selected clothing item is loaded into the Document Window, but it doesn’t quite match the figure.

6.       With the Capris item selected in the Figure list at the top of the Document Window, select Figure, Conform To.

7.       In the Conform To dialog box that appears, select the Alyson object and click OK.

The clothing item is conformed to fit the figure.

8.       Repeat steps 5, 6, and 7 for the Top and Slippers.

[Figure 5-23] Conforming clothes

With all the various clothing conformed to the figure, she is ready for a night on the town, as shown in Figure 5-23.

9.   Select File, Save As and save the file as Conforming clothes.pz3.

Chapter Summary
This chapter explained how prop objects can be used to enhance the scene. Props can be loaded from and saved to the Library and can include external objects such as a mailbox or a motorcycle or figure accessories such as watches, jewelry, hairstyles, or clothes. Props can also be created in an external package and imported into Poser. Props are selected and positioned just like figure elements using the Editing Tools. Finally, props can be attached to existing figure elements, set to point at specific objects, replace figure elements, or created from existing body parts. This chapter concluded by showing how conforming clothes and hair can be used to dress a figure.

What You Have Learned
In this chapter, you
• Discovered how external props can be imported into Poser using a number of different formats and options.

• Selected, positioned, and edited props using the various Editing Tools.

• Attached props to figure elements using the Set Parent feature.

• Changed the orientation of props using the Point At feature.

• Replaced body parts with props.

• Created new props from a selected group of polygons.

• Made clothes conform to a figure.

Key Terms from This Chapter
• Conforming prop. An object that is deformed in order to fit the designated figure.

• Locked prop. A locked prop is one whose position and orientation is set and cannot be changed unless the object is unlocked.

• Offset. The location of an imported prop as measured from the scene’s origin point.

• Parent. The controlling object that a child object is attached to. When the parent moves, the child object moves with it.

• Prop. Any external object added to the scene to enhance the final image. Props may include scenery, figure accessories, clothes, and hair.

Kelly L. Murdock has more than 15 years experience in the computer graphics arena, especially in the area of 3D graphics. Included in the experience is a variety of tasks from high-end CAD product design and architectural pre-visualization to virtual reality and games. Kelly is best known for his international best-selling books on graphics including the 3ds max Bible, Illustrator Bible and Naked Maya. He also is the author of Poser 6 Revealed and Poser 7 Revealed as well as Edgeloop Character Modeling for 3D Professionals. Kelly currently works as a freelance designer for Logical Paradox Design, a company that he founded with his brother.