Modifying .cr2 and .pp2 file models

Lyn Buchanan

It is very easy to make a .pz2 file which will modify a .cr2 model. You do that by simply moving the proper sections over to a new file, making the changes (such as pointing to a different texture file) and filing it away as a pz2 file (normally called a pose file, but it works for all the model's parameters). Then you have a very tiny .pz2 file which when clicked, will modify the already loaded model. That way, instead of having a whole new .cr2 file for each different color, shape, whatever, you can simply have one large, bulky model file (.cr2) and when loaded, it can be modified by a very small and very fast .pz2 file to give it new textures and/or other parameters.

(Let's say that the body of the model has a plain green color and I wantl to change it to, say, a denim cloth texture. I would put a picture of a piece of denim into the model's texture directory and then make a .pz2 file containing only the line that points to the model's body texture. That line would have the path to the new texture file, as in the following complete text of the .pz2 file::

version
{
number 5 (or whatever version number the .cr2 file lists in its 3rd line)
}
figure
{
material body (The material name for whatever part of the model you want to modify)
{
textureMap ":runtime::textures:mymodel:denim.jpg" (the path to the new texture file))
}
}
}

...and viola, the surface of mymodel's body changes from plain green to denim textured.

BUT..... (now comes the problem I need help with.)

Whenever I try making the same .pz2 file from >>>.pp2<<< model files, the parameter change doesn't take effect. Clicking the resultant .pz2 file has no effect on the model. </p>

SO....QUESTION:: does anyone know how I can make an equivalent parameter change file for models made with .pp2 formatted files?

I've looked through all the Nuts & Bolts entries, looked on the internet and have spent more hours than I care to admit trying everything I can think of, but with no success. I know that there must be some way to make such a modification - just can't find out how.

Thanks for any help you can give.

Richard Haseltine

In Poser poses won't apply to a prop unless there's a figure in the scene, at least in older versions. For materials you can just save an MC6 file from the Materials Room, assuming you are using Poser 6 or later.

frank0314

For a prop its real easy. Save a mc6 then open that in a text editor. Where it say figure change it to actor and the obj name.

Lyn Buchanan

Hey! Thank you very much for the advice and help. However, a friend stopped by and showed me another way - probably an easier way, and I thought I'd pass it along. It's a simple variation of what I've been doing to make my own .pz2 files. I've been making my own .pz2 files to change .cr2 models in size, shape, colors, putting pictures and text on shirts, walls, doors, etc. for a long time, but it wouldn't work on models made with .pp2 file format.

What he showed me is actually very simple. Instead of using the word "Figure", like I had been doing before, he simply used the word "Prop" and the name of the original figure. Then, everything else was the same as I've always done.

As an example, he brought up a .pp2 file that is a simple matte black dress with a shiny black stripe down the front ( "Golden Lady" - a model posted to Renderosity by Studio Art Vartainan ). It was a freebie and as it was provided, there was no way to change the colors, put text or pictures on the dress, change the material, etc. But then, we put a picture of plaid cloth and another picture of white cloth into the model's Textures directory. Then, the code to modify the matte black into a Scottish plaid and the shiny black stripe into white cloth is:

{
version
{
number 10
}
prop goldenlady:5
{
material Dress
{
textureMap ":runtime:Textures:studioartvartanian:DynamicCloth:GoldenLady:Plaid.jpg"
}
material Trim
{
textureMap ":runtime:Textures:studioartvartanian:DynamicCloth:GoldenLady:White.jpg"
}
}
}

He saved that code to a .pz2 file ( PlaidWhite.pz2 ) into the same directory as the dress file.

Then, to use it:
1. Load the model into your scene (here, I loaded the dress onto V4)
2. Under the Scene tab, make sure the model (the dress) is selected.
3. Back under the Content Library tab, click the .pz2 file icon ( PlaidWhite.pz2)
and viola!!! The dress is immediately plaid with a white cloth stripe down the front.

Again, thanks very, very much for your suggestions. I have printed off your suggestions and will try them in order to learn more about the Poser file structure, but this is so simple and so much like what I've been doing to modify models that I'll probably keep doing most of the work this way. Again, thanks very very much.

BTW: To get the lines for this file, just open the .pp2 (or .cr2) file in a text editor and look for those lines. The version number is the first five lines, and the material sections are almost always at the bottom of the file. Just copy and paste the lines you want to change, make the changes and file it away as a .pz2 file. Extremely simple way to modify models in any way you want.