Make a Basic Refrigerator Prop

Page 3: Texturing and Combining the Objects

Make sure you have completed the steps on pages 1 and 2 before proceeding. Okay, now that the introductions are over, let's get back to work.

---

Applications used:

 Poser 4
 Windows Explorer
 Notepad or Wordpad or a text editor

1. Let's jump right in and start the coloring process.

(If you haven't done so already, switch back to the Main Camera (Ctrl-M).)  Let's open the Materials Editor: Go to Render > Materials.  As usual, you'll see the list of objects in the left pull-down box and the list of materials in the right pull-down box.  You can actually change the texture and colors to suit your taste. (Do you want a yellow refrigerator or blue or red? How about a wood texture or marble?) For this tutorial, the refrigerator will be a dull yellow color, with a slight bump map.

2. Change the exterior color.

Switch to the refrigebase (left pull-down box) and exterior (right pull-down box).  Click on the Object Color and give it a yellow-gold color.  Click on the Highlight Color and give it a dark color.  Click on the Reflective Color and make it white.  For a bump map, let's use the Default Ground Texture: Click on the "Load" button and browse for the "Ground Default Texture.tif" file (it should be in your Poser\Runtime\Textures folder).  Poser will ask if you want to convert it to bum format- click Yes.  (Your screen should look like the image to the right, though, feel free to change it to suit your taste.)

3. Repeat the process for the doors.

Switch to the upperdoor (left pull-down box) and exterior (right pull-down box).  Change the settings to match the base's exterior (or the image, above).  Switch to the lowerdoor (left pull-down box) and exterior (right pull-down box).  Change the settings to match the base's exterior (or the image, above).

4. Change the interior color.

Switch back to the refrigebase (left pull-down box) and exterior (right pull-down box).  Click on the Object Color and give it a blue-white color.  Click on the Highlight Color and give it a dark color.  Click on the Reflective Color and make it white.  We don't need a bump map, so make sure the Bump Map pull-down box is set to "No Bump".  (Your screen should look like the image to the right, though, feel free to change it to suit your taste.)

5. Repeat the process for the doors.

Switch to the upperdoor (left pull-down box) and interior (right pull-down box).  Change the settings to match the base's interior (or the image, above).  Switch to the lowerdoor (left pull-down box) and interior (right pull-down box).  Change the settings to match the base's interior (or the image, above).

6. Change the metal color.

Since we're already on the lowerdoor, switch to the metal material (right pull-down box).  Click on the Object Color and make it white color.  Click on the Highlight Color and give it a dark color.  Click on the Reflective Color and make it white.  We don't need a bump map, so make sure the Bump Map pull-down box is set to "No Bump".  However, we will need it to look like real metal... so, we'll use a reflection map. Remember, reflection maps do an excellent job of simulating a metal surface- they do not actually reflect anything.)  Let's use a silver reflection map- click the "Load" button and browse for a "silver" image. Note: there should be a silver image in the Poser\Runtime\Reflection Maps folder. If not, you can download one from any of the Poser-community sites.  Set the Strength to 100% and check both "Multiply through..." checkboxes.  (Your screen should look like the image to the right, though, feel free to change it to suit your taste.)

7. Repeat the process for the upper door.

Switch to the upperdoor (left pull-down box) and metal (right pull-down box).  Change the settings to match the lowerdoor's metal (or the image, above).  (We don't need to change anything on the refrigebase since it doesn't have a metal material.)

8. Change the wood color.

Since we're already on the upperdoor, switch to the wood material (right pull-down box).  Click on the Object Color and make it white color.  Click on the Highlight Color and give it a dark color.  Click on the Reflective Color and make it white.  We don't need a bump map, so make sure the Bump Map pull-down box is set to "No Bump".  We don't need a reflection map, so make sure the Reflection Map pull-down box is set to "None".  However, we will need it to look like real wood (or at least "simulated wood covering")... so, we'll use a texture map.  Let's use a wood texture map- click the "Load" button and browse for a "wood;"-type image. Note: If you don't have one, you can download one from any of the Poser-community sites.  (Your screen should look like the image to the right, though, feel free to change it to suit your taste.)

9. Repeat the process for the lower door.

Switch to the lowerdoor (left pull-down box) and wood (right pull-down box).  Change the settings to match the lower door's wood (or the image, above).  (We don't need to change anything on the refrigebase since it doesn't have a wood material.)

10. Save the materals and view it.

We're all done with texturing the refrigerator, so click the "OK" button to clock the Materials Editor  (If you haven't done so, switch back to the Main Camera (Ctrl-M).)  We should still be in Wireframe view, so let's switch to Full-Textured view (hit Ctrl-9). But, this won't show the bump map.  For fun, you can render the image to see the full effect. So, yes, go ahead and Render (hit Ctrl-R).

11. Save the props to the Library.

Open the Library Palette and switch to any Props category.  Select the refrigebase and click "Add to Library" (the button).  Repeat for the upperdoor: select it and click "Add to Library" (the button). Note: Poser will ask if you want this added as a "smart prop"- click Yes to have Poser save it so it will parented to the base.  Repeat for the lowerdoor: select it and click "Add to Library" (the button). Note: Like the upper door, Poser will ask if you want this added as a "smart prop"- click Yes to have Poser save it so it will parented to the base.

We now have all 3 objects textured and created as Poser props. We could stop here and we would have a very good refrigerator prop. But, let's do a few more steps: let's use a text editor to copy the code for each prop and combine them into one. Note: you can use a word processing program such as Word, just be sure you save the resulting file as text-only. Before we begin to edit the props, though, let's clear the scene: click on the lowerdoor and hit the Delete key. Then, click on the upperdoor and hit the Delete key. And, lastly, click on the refrigebase and hit the Delete key.

12. Open the refrigebase in Notepad (or which text editor you'll be using). But, wait, how do we get a Poser prop into Notepad?

First, open Windows Explorer and go to the Poser\Runtime\Libraries\Props folder.  Next, go to the folder where you saved your refrigerator prop. For example, if you saved it in the "Furnishings" category, there will a folder (under Props) called "Furnishings".  Find the refrigeBase.pp2 file (remember, a pp2 file is a "Poser prop" file). Note: If you can't see the .pp2 extension, you will need to "Show File Extensions":  Go to Tools > Folder Options.  Click on the View tab.  Find the "Hide file extensions for known file types" checkbox and make sure it is *unchecked*.  Click the "OK" button to save the changes. Note: As general practice, you should *always* show file extensions. A number of viruses and worms try to trick users with names like "iloveyou.txt.vbs". If you are hiding file extensions, you will not see the trailing ".vbs" extension... which stands for Visual Basic Script, which can do very hamrful things to your computer.  Select both the pp2 and rsr file and copy them. This is so we can work on a copy without damaging the original. Note: Pro Pack users may see a .png file instead of an .rsr.  Rename both of these files to "Refrigerator" (or whatever suits your taste- this will become the final, combined prop). Make sure not to change the file extension.  Right-click on the pp2 file and go to Open With > Notepad. Note: If Notepad is not listed, go to Open With > Choose Program. On the next box, you can choose Notepad. You can also check or uncheck whether you would like Notepad to be the default program to open pp2 files. Don't worry- if this happens, it does *not* change the way Poser reads the files, only what happens when you (the user) double-click on them.  You will now be looking at the code for the prop.

13. Before we start copying and pasting, let's open the files and see what's we're looking at.

Find the upperdoor pp2 file and do the same thing: right-click and choose Open With > Notepad.  You will now see the code for the upper door.  Repeat for the lower door: find the lowerdoor pp2 file and do the same thing: right-click and choose Open With > Notepad.  You will now see the code for the lower door.  There are three parts that we need to copy and paste:  1. The object geometry: this section starts at the name of the name of object followed by the "geomcustom" and includes the list of "v" coordinates, "vt" coordinates, and "f" coordinates.  2. The object definition: this section starts at the name of the object, just below the list of "f" coordinates and includes the settings for xTrans, yTrans, zTrans, and the material settings.  3. At the very end of the file is the list of props to add to the scene (the "addActor" list).

14. Let's start putting everything together. First, the geometry section:

Switch to the upperdoor pp2 file.  So, highlight the section that starts with "prop upperdoor" (just above the word "geomCustom") all the way to the end of list of "f" coordinates. Also include the two } characters after the list.  Switch to the Refrigerator pp2 file and position your cursor *after* the list of "f" coordinates (right in front of the words "prop refrigebase").  Paste the code from the upper door. (If the { character is next to the word "prop", hit the Enter key to add a line.)  Next switch to the lower door and repeat the process: highlight the section that starts with "prop upperdoor" (just above the word "geomCustom") all the way to the end of list of "f" coordinates. Also include the two } characters after the list.  Switch back over to the Refrigerator pp2 file and hit Paste (your cursor is already in the correct position.) Again, though, if the { character is next to the word "prop", hit the Enter key to add a line.

15. Next, the object definition section:

Switch back over to the upperdoor pp2 file.  Highlight the next section: from the "prop upperdoor" (just below the now-highlighted section) to the } character just above the word "doc", at end of the file. (Hit Ctrl-End to go to the end of the file.)  Switch to the Refrigerator pp2 file and position your cursor before the word "doc" (at the end of the file).  Paste the code from the upper door. (If the { character is next to the word "doc", hit the Enter key to add a line.)  Next switch to the lower door and repeat the process: highlight the section that starts with "prop lowerdoor" (just below the now-highlighted section) all the way to the } character just above the word "doc", at end of the file.  Switch back over to the Refrigerator pp2 file and hit Paste (your cursor is already in the correct position.) Again, though, if the { character is next to the word "doc", hit the Enter key to add a line.

16. Now, the "addActor" code:

Switch back over to the upperdoor pp2 file.  Highlight the entire line that says "addActor upperdoor".  Switch to the Refrigerator pp2 file and position your cursor after the words "addActor refrigebase" (at the end of the file).  Hit the Enter Key to create a new line and then hit Paste.  Next switch to the lower door and repeat the process: highlight the "addActor lowerdoor" line.  Switch back over to the Refrigerator pp2 file and hit Paste. (Your cursor should already be in the correct place: after the "addActor upperdoor" line.)

We are finished with the copying and pasting, so you can close all of the pp2 files and Windows Explorer. Or, if you prefer to keep them open to make sure everything works in Poser, that's fine also.

17. Using in Poser...

Switch back over to Poser. We should have an empty scene.  If we look in the Libraries Palette (which should still be open), we will *not* see the new refrigerator prop. But, wait- didn't we just create it? Yes, but there is a catch- since we created it ourselves in Windows Explorer, Poser won't "see" it until we refresh the list.  So, select any other Library: figures, poses, other props, etc.  Then, re-open the prop library with the refrigerator. You should now see it in the list.  Once you've found it, click on the check button (Add Library Preset) to add it to the scene- all three parts should appear.  (Your screen should similar to the image, above, in step 10... but with the doors closed.)

And that's it! You're all done! Congratulations on building a refrigerator with working doors... from scratch!