Done! Freebie - An Update To My 'PropGoto+' And 'Smart+ Props' (Poser Version Only At Present)

Wouldn't it be nice if smartprops worked with more than just Vicky (or the one figure they're designed for)...

"Generic Smart+ And PropGoto+ For Poser 6+" freebie now available for download from:
- ShareCG: http://www.sharecg.com/v/75429/gallery/11/Poser/Generic-Smart%2B-And-PropGoto%2B-For-Poser-6%2B
- Renderosity: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/?item_id=73724


I've just finished a major update to the 'PropGoto+' / 'Smart+ Prop' idea that I used for the dha (S.E. Asian sword), three S.E.Asian shields, and water jar scoop freebies. This package includes all the updated 'PropGoto+' / 'Smart+ Prop' functionality:

• all the necessary PoserPython scripts (in .py format so you can check out the code yourself if you really want to).
• Poser prop PP2 and pose PZ2 files that run the scripts automatically, so you can access all the necessary stuff direct from you Prop and Pose libraries without thinking about the scripts.
• Figure support is now driven by a plain text datafile (in a similar way to the WorldBall - although the datafile's a bit more complex) and you can add support for additional figures by yourself.
• PropGoto+ will now work with normal (i.e. non-Smart+) props. But you need to use a proxy and follow a short, fairly easy procedure (everything you need is included, and the procedure is explained in the included User Guide)
• .I've included updated versions of the five previously released Smart+ props - the dha (S.E. Asian sword), the three S.E.Asian shields, and the water jar scoop.

I've also included three PDFs:

• A User Guide - all the basics
• A Datafile Guide - how to add/modify/remove figures from the supported figures list
• A Make Your Own Smart+ Props guide - if you like the way this works and want more

If you have any problems at all please let me know as soon as possible. I did a lot of testing, but I also made a few last minute changes...

Happy Smart+ Propping!
The 3DCheapskate (aka Pete Williams)
30th March 2014


Supported figures:
- DAZ Gen 1-2: Aiko, Michael 1/2, Stephanie, Victoria 1/2.
- DAZ Gen 3: Aiko 3, David, Hiro 3, Laura 3, Luke 3, Michael 3, Stephanie Petite 3, The FREAK, The Girl, Victoria 3.
- DAZ Gen 4: Michael 4 (and Hiro 4, The FREAK 4), Victoria 4 (and Aiko 4, She-Freak 4, Stephanie 4, The Girl 4).
- DAZ Gen 5: Genesis (original base figure only).
- Poser 5: P5 Don, P5 Judy.
- Poser 6: P6 James, P6 Jessi, Miki2, Miki4.
- Poser 7: G2 Simon, G2 Sydney, G2 James, G2 Jessi.
- Poser 8: Alyson, Ryan.
- Poser 9: Alyson2, Ryan2 (and Tyler).
- Sixus 1: Adam2, Behemoth, Behemoth2, HER, HIM, Project Human Female, Project Human Male, Thrusty.
- Kirwyn's: K, KEZ, KEZ-WM, KOZ-WM.
- Others: Antonia, Apollo, Cynthia (BVH), Dawn (Hivewire), F202 Dollie, MayaDoll, The Princess/Heroine (Dark Anvil)

Almost There... An Update To My 'PropGoto+' And 'Smart+ Props' (Poser Version Only At Present)

Still on target, ETA hopefully about a week from now (but definitely not the first of April!)

The documentation's turned into three separate PDFs, still working on them all:
1) A  'How To Use The Smart+ Stuff' guide (15 pages)
2) A 'How To Edit The Smart+ Datafile' guide to add support for other figures , remove figures you don't use, etc (5 pages)
3) A 'Make Your Own Smart+ Props' guide (10 pages)

I've been through a couple of tidying up iterations with the PoserPython scripts - basically trying to convert my usual 'held together with sticky tape, chewing gum, and crossed fingers' code into something a bit more professional-looking...
...just a bit...   ;o)

I've also been playing around with the Smart+/PropGoto+ stuff a lot in Poser 6 and Poser 9, using all sorts of figures to try and get it right from an end-users perspective. I'm having fun coming up with icons - here's the latest 'PropGoto+.pz2' icon (original render for the icon created using my WorldBall - all my stuff ends up feeding back into other stuff!):

It turns out that doing the documentation, tidying up the code, and playing with it all at the same time is a very useful process. It's prompted a number of functional improvements to the code, as well as a lot more datafile validation and error checking.

Almost Ready... An Update To My 'PropGoto+' And 'Smart+ Props' (Poser Version Only At Present)

One of the things that's always really bugged me as a Poser/DAZ Studio user is that many allegedly 'hand-held' props are stupid!  ...that's stupid as in "not smart"... and that's "not smart" as in " not a smartprop"...

If you load up one of these stupid handheld props it just sits at the origin. And if you're lucky enough to have found a smartprop  the chances are that it'll be for Victoria.

Unless you have a smartprop for the specific figure you're using you have to manually move the prop to your figure's hand and get it oriented correctly. Some people might find this easy, or even enjoy it. But I just find it a complete pain in the ****!

The five hand-held props I've already released are what I like to call 'Smart+'. They're smart, in that they'll load into the hand of the currently selected figure like a standard smartprop. The 'plus' is that they will do this for 28 different figures (a mixed selection of DAZ, Poser, Sixus1, and independent figures that I happen to have on my system), and also that a hand pose is automatically applied to grip the prop.

The problem is that each Smart+ Prop used a separate script, and all the data for all the supported figures was hard-coded into each script. I decided that this data would be better in an external data file. That's all working beautifully now.

The original 'PropGoto+' allowed an already loaded Smart+ Prop to be moved from hand to hand and from figure to figure within the scene. I decided that I wanted some way of doing this with any prop. By using a couple of simple helper scripts and a 'DummyHand' proxy that's working quite nicely too.

And last but not least, why stop at supporting 28 figures? I've almost doubled the number now.

I'm currently finishing up a short PDF (with lots of pictures) explaining how easy it is to use, doing some final testing, and packaging everything up.

Hopefully it'll be released in the next week or so...