Need help from a fellow Mac user

Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 65

First of all, I'm a brand new Mac user so bear with me. I've been a Poser user in windows since version 4 so the Poser program isn't new - it's the file system of the Mac that has me utterly lost.

I managed to install and open Poser 7 on my iMac with Snow Leopard. So far so good. But..during the install it put runtimes all over and I can't figure out what should be where. I've tried moving a few things and all I managed to do is mess it up so bad I had to delete the app and reinstall it.

Please, please, someone help!

Posted:Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:46 pm

Hmm, that sounds very strange. If you installed Poser there should only be one runtime folder for it, just like if you had installed it on Windows. On a mac, the file structure is the same as on a PC. You have the Runtime folder with all the sub folders underneath it (Pose, Hair, Props, etc) with the same file extensions as on a PC (cr2, hr2, etc).

Sounds like the install got messed up. I think you're doing the right thing by reinstalling. Just let Poser 7 install into default locations and you should be fine. Let us know how it goes.
Good Luck.

Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 65

Being new to the Mac I chose all defaults in fear I would mess up. All three installs did the same thing:

Under Applications I have:
1) Applications/Poser7/Runtime - a Poser folder that has the actual app as well as the manuals and a Runtime. That runtime isn't complete as there is no Geometry file and it has folders I've never seen before - Cq, figures, heads, Lip Sync, Plugins, poserhtml, prefs ,scripts, ui.

2) Applcations/Runtime - a Runtime folder that looks like the normal runtime I'm used to seeing. It has the CP Simon character and that's it.

3) Applications/Poser 7/Downloads/runtime - has only one subfolder - libraries. No geometries etc. and all the folders are empty.

Under User/myname/Documents/ there is a blank folder called Poser 7 Contents

I tried moving the poser.app file out to direcly in the applications directory and poser wouldn't start - hence the first reinstall.

I tried combining the application/runtime with the one in application/poser7/runtime and broke it again and had to reinstall

I have left it all alone as it installed but it is a royal pain to get to and am having to chase down files one by one as they are obz files and poser is looking for obj - crz files instead of cr2 and obz files in the character library.

Can I say I'm royally confused and frustrated?

Joined: 02 Jan 2007 Posts: 185

I'm still running 10.5, not snow leopard, but this is what I have:

I have your #1 and your #3. I do not have what you list as #2. With that said, all of my runtime structures are complete (I mean, everything works and all files are where they're supposed to be).

#1 has all the "weird" folders you list (poserHtml, LipSync, etc). I'm used to seeing them. They're normal for me. Smile

#3 is always blank for me. I never install anything there. You can safely ignore this one unless you want to use it.

I have never seen the install put a runtime folder in the Applications folder, however. I have also never seen a poser folder under Documents.

Is it just the application install that's doing this? Have you installed the content that comes with it as well to see where that gets put? Do you have all 3 SR's installed or just the base program?

Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 65

This is just the straight installation from the disk. I clicked on the update button but nothing happened so I didn't know there were any updates for the mac version. Where would I go look for them?

I did the compact install cause I really didn't want all of the content that comes with the program. I have a fairly good sized external drive with sorted runtimes - btw - that works fine.

Do you have any clue what to do about the obj/obz issue?

Posted:Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:09 pm

When you say the "compact" version install, what do you mean? This could be the problem. You may have omitted a part of the install that was needed perhaps? I would recommend letting Poser do the complete install and then you can remove files later if you don't want them.

As for the other folders ( #1), those folder are supposed to be there, both on the mac and the PC. They are a part of the Poser program. Just ignore them for now but remember they are needed.

#3 is a download area for Poser where you can install files to see if you really want them and if they install correctly to the right folders. Older zip files are notorious for not installing into the right folders and being hard to find. If all goes well then you can move them to the main runtime folder. Or as Sabu says, you can safely ignore that folder.

The crz and obz files are compressed cr2 files and obj files for Poser and are needed.

If you haven't installed your personal content into Poser yet, click on Finder > Applications and then drag the Poser 7 folder to the Trash. Reinstall Poser one more time but do not do a compact install. Let Poser install the whole thing. Like I said, you can delete content later if you want. This way you won't miss any files you might need.

Joined: 09 Oct 2003 Posts: 65

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I did the complete reload and this time I didn't get the extra runtime in applications. It works like a charm!

Posted:Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:38 pm

Excellent, glad to hear it. You'll find Poser works much the same way as on a PC so you should be good to go.