Clothing Designer: Basic Clothing
Video Overview -- Free Upgrades -- New Features

The Clothing Designer Suite of tools enables Poser users
to create their own clothing models within Poser.

Basic Clothing
Scissors
OBJ2CR2 File Converter
A set of generic clothing models that may be used to form the starting point for your designs. A tool to cut imported OBJ files and library props. Easily convert imported OBJ files or library clothing props into conforming figures.
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Video Overview

To provide the maximum degree of flexibility the modules are autonomous. One is not dependent on the other. You do not need to purchase all three. (Although naturally I would encourage you to do so :) For example the Scissors are not restricted to cutting just these basic clothing. They will cut any imported OBJ file or library prop. Similarly you do not have to use the Scissors, the basic clothing may be cut down using the Poser grouping tool or exported into a third party modeling application for additional editing. Also the OBJ2CR2 file converter is not the only method by which the basic clothing may be converted into conforming clothing. Because the modules are sold separately and can be used separately, they can not be deemed to be a "process" and thereby infringe any patent relating to the process by which 3D clothing is created. (If such a patent even exists, which I doubt).

Suitable for Poser 5, Poser 6 & Poser 7 PC & Mac
Ensure that all Poser service releases are installed.

Basic Clothing: installation, details and method.

Start by extracting the downloaded ZIP file to your Poser folder. (Mac users extract to a convenient location then copy the files over). They must be installed to the version of Poser that you are running, they can not be installed into the Poser Downloads folder or an external runtime.

When using the Clothing Designer basic clothing, you will primarily be loading the clothing from the figure library then manipulating the model in the Poser scene however there are a couple of Python script tools that you need to be aware of.

  • The software must be registered before it can be used. Simply fill in the details in the How_to_register_your_software.txt file and email them to me at pcooke@philc.net . I will then email you back your own personal unlock file. Unlock files are not transferable.
  • Once you have received and installed the unlock file select the Poser menu item "Window" followed by "Python Scripts" In the Python Script window that appears click on one of the empty buttons and navigate to the file Runtime:Python:poserScripts:PhilC:Clothing Designer:start_ClothingDesigner.py Run that script and the Python buttons will look as per the image on the right.
  • Click the "Utilities" button followed by the "Decode OBJ Files" button. The geometry files as supplied are encoded, this will decode them. You only need to do this once. I've chosen to do it this way so that it will be much easier to distribute any future updates.
  • Buttons are provided to access the Scissors and OBJ2CR2 modules if you have them installed.
  • If you wish this script to be permanently displayed as one of your main buttons edit your mainButtons.py file with this line:-
    poser.DefineScriptButton(8, ":Runtime:Python:poserScripts:PhilC:Clothing Designer:start_ClothingDesigner.py", "Scissors")

As an aid to keeping track of which node is currently selected Python scripting is employed to cause the selected node to "high light". For Poser 6 users this is automatically enabled when the Base Control figure is loaded into the scene. Poser 5 users will need to turn the function on manually by using the button in the Utilities section.

Deleting the Control figure then reloading another one may cause this function to fail. See notes about restarting Poser below.

Load the basic clothing from the Figures library. They will be in the PhilC Designs:Clothing Designer folder.

Pant and skirt suits for children, males and females are provided. These include:-

Children
Laura, Luke, Maddie, Matt, P4 Boy, P4 Girl, P5 Penny, P5 Will, P6 Ben, P6 Kate.

Female
Aiko, Jessi, Judy, Kiss, Miki, P4 Female, SP3, Terai Yuki, V3

Male
David, G2 Males, M3, P4 Male, Don, James

V4 and Poser 7 figures + many more now supported. See free upgrade page

If you own Wardrobe Wizard you can obviously expand upon that range by converting the finished clothing.

Next load your figure. This is for reference only, there is no Python scripting interlinking the figure with the basic clothing. None is needed.

Select the Control figure which contains the basic clothing and apply the required pose to it. Poses will be in PhilC Designs:Clothing Designer folder. The pose will apply the figure morph to the basic clothing and adjust the control figure where required.

A "Zero Figure" and "Zero Control" pose is also provided for your convenience.

Click the red nodes and turn the node control dials to create the required shape for the clothing.

Additional morphs are included which affect the full sleeves or skirt.

Poser magnets may also be used to good effect. For a comprehensive magnet tutorial including an on screen video presentation click this link.

You can now use the grouping tool to spawn a prop of the clothing.

  1. Select the Control figure.
  2. Select the cloth
  3. Click on the Grouping tool to open the Group Editor
  4. Click the "Create Prop" button
  5. Input a name for the prop when prompted.
  6. Click the "OK" and close the Group Editor window.

At this point I recommend that you:-

  • Save the scene just in case you want to return to it at a future point.
  • Save the clothing prop to the Prop library
  • If you have created a configuration of the Control figure that you may want to reuse in the future, save a pose (with morph data), of it to the Pose library. When you want to return to it load the Control figure and apply the pose.
  • Close Poser and then restart Poser and reload the saved prop from the Prop library.

The reasons for this are:-

  1. You have invested time into this project, it would be a shame if it were accidentally lost.
  2. The method by which the red control nodes get high lighted upon selection uses a Python function that can interfere with other scripts.
  3. If Mac users delete the Control figure using the Poser Figure/Delete menu whilst high lighting is still turned on Poser will crash. So they must use the "Delete Control Figure" button supplied. Even then there may be problems if they load a new Control Figure. PC users should also use the "Delete Control Figure" button because it includes the command to turn off the high light command
All of which is why, for both PC and Mac, I recommend that once you have your clothing created you save and restart Poser.
After restarting Poser and reloading the saved clothing prop from the library you can use the grouping tool to make further selections and create the dress shown below. Note that the morph dials from the Control figure are not trasfered into the prop. If you had the Scissors module you would be able to make cuts that were unrestricted by the positioning of the existing polygons.

You could now take the clothing prop into the Cloth Room and allow it to drape over the model. Another option would be to export out the OBJ file for editing in a third party modeling application. If you had the OBJ2CR2 module you could convert it into conforming clothing.

The completed clothing model is yours to do what you like with. I view the Clothing Designer as a tool to create a clothing model. You can not reditribute the tool but you can redistribute the result.