Grouper is a small helper application designed to make importing Poser models into Bryce easier. There are two basic problems when importing these models.

Imported models look different in Bryce than they did in Poser When you export a model as on Wavefront OBJ, Poser does not include all of the material properties. Neither does Bryce support importing these properties. Materials must be manually adjusted after the model is imported for a realistic effect.

During import all bump and transparency information is lost.

Once imported the process of adjusting materials can be time-consuming Depending on the options you chose when you exported the model it may contain up to a hundred separate objects that must be correctly mapped and adjusted.

For example, if you export using the default options your model will contain 20 separate objects in Bryce. Unfortunately, the names of the objects are lost during import so it's hard to know that Figure_1_20 is actually the hair object.

If you chose to export the body part names, you imported model will contain 88 separate objects. The trouble here is although you can identify each body part, many of those parts must be mapped in the same way. Aside from adjusting 88 separate materials, you have to make sure that, for example, the abdomen and the chest are mapped in exactly the same way.

Grouper reads the OBJ file you export from Poser and breaks it down into its individual polygons, then groups them into objects based on their material. All mapping information is retained and the material names are sufficiently descriptive to make material adjustments in Bryce quick and easy.

Raw Poser .obj grouped and imported to Bryce

Original groups

Redundant materials removed with Grouper

Download

This software is distributed as "freeware" and is currently available only for Win95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP computers, it is distributed "as is" without warranty or acceptance of liability. It may not be distributed as part of a commercial software package without prior consent.

Unzip the distribution file into a folder and click on "setup" to install. If you have v1.0 installed, uninstall it, download the full installation before installing the latest version.

If you have already installed v1.1 or v1.2 and are installing v1.3, download the executable copy, expand it and copy it over the old executable. Even if you've installed Grouper before you should install the full version of 1.4. If you want to be notified of future releases, sign the guestbook at Renderosity.

Grouper 1.4

  • New Feature: Redesigned UI with tabbed dialogs.
  • New Feature: Repair now processes both .obj and .mtl files.
  • New Feature: Figure names can be included in material names.
  • New Feature: Override for alpha, diffuse, ambient, specular and specular halo.
  • New Feature: Strip diffuse, ambient, specular and bump maps.
  • New Feature: Regenerate .mtl files from default values to fix unusable .obj files.
  • New Feature: Templates to save and apply partial material group maps.
  • New Feature: Packager to collect texture and bump maps into a subdirectory.
  • New Feature: Online reference
  • Bug Fix: Corrected errors processing directory names with "."
  • Bug Fix: Corrected errors processing material names that differed only in case

Version History

  • Version 1.3
    • Bug Fix: Material names with embedded spaces are properly handled.
    • New Feature: File paths are remembered between session.
    • New Feature: Repair PPP #IND defects.
    • New Feature: Repair CR, LF defects.
  • Version 1.2
  • Bug Fix: Numeric material names in Poser do not appear in the material alias list.
  • New Feature: Window positions and file paths are now remembered between sessions.
  • New Feature: Added minimize button.
  • New Feature: Figure names are hashed into the exported material names.
  • Version 1.1
  • Enhancement: File processing is much faster.
  • Enhancement: Requires less memory.
  • New Feature: Supports user defined maps with a drag and drop interface.
  • Maintenance: Miscellaneous fluff has been removed.

Documentation

Grouper 1.4 includes a new online reference and workflow tutorials. Click here to go to the tutorials page.

Questions and Comments

Send your questions and comments about Grouper to grouper@castironflamingo.com.

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