How to Apply Textures to Your Poser Figure in Poser 5 Material Room

This process seems very complicated but in truth it's not. The figure I will use for this tutorial is Victoria 4, the clothing model I will use is Casual Clothes (shirt, pants, and shoes). This tutorial is written assuming that you already know how to load your figures and apply the base clothing models. The version of Poser I used is version 5.

Going into the material room of poser can be frightening at first glance, but again; it is not as hard as most assume. Granted it is much easier being able to click a button and textures are automatically applied however, it is an advantage to any graphic artist to know how to apply your own textures if you should want to create your own.

Upon opening the material room you will see your loaded figure to the left. In this case we see Victoria 4 with casual clothing and it's default textures applied. To the right of the screen you will see an option box. This box will be your "work-area".

If you selection "Object" a drop down list of all the figures and models within your image to the left will show. For this tutorial select 25CCV4_pants. A mess of images will load into your "work-area" which will provide you the option to select images, adjust different settings, and apply your new texture. For this tutorial we will keep it simple.

Be sure that you have selected 25CCV4_pants in the object selection list. You should see a box pop up called "Color Texture". Within the "Color Texture" box you will see image source (this is where you will link your new texture image), Auto fit, U scale, V scale, U offset, V offset, Texture Cords, Image Mapped, Background, Global coordinates, Mirror U, Mirror V, and texture strength. We are going to click on the text to the right of "image source"; another box will appear called "texture manager". This is where you can browse your computer by clicking browse to link your new texture.

*IMPORTANT*

You have to make sure that the texture you upload remains in the same place in order for Poser to find it and load it for rendering. For example; if you have your texture on in a folder called "texture", you must leave that folder and it's contents in place in order to render the image with your new textures. If you should move it before rendering Poser will not be able to located the texture image and you will have to browse again for it.

Browse for your pant's texture, select the file, be sure it loaded in where the "text" is, than click "OK". Select "Auto-fit" and leave the rest of the settings at default. Check to make sure your "Diffuse Color" is set at white and linked (by the colored cords) to your color texture box. Assure that the specular color is set to black and also linked to your texture box. One you have gained confidence within the material room you could advance to applying bump textures, apply transparency, and adjusting other dials to completely change the appearance of your outfit. For now we will leave everything set at default.

Looking at the top of the you see another option called "Material" with a drop down selection list. Working with this specific outfit there are no other parts that may need to be textured. However, do not that with more complicated outfits designers can be as keen as applying a separate texture to a specific button the outfit. Under Materials is where you would find this. So for example; you would first select your object and let that load. The main image and texture will the first thing you see. If you need or want to get advanced and detailed - working under Materials would be your next feat.

*Hint & Tips*

I am personally a stickler for bump maps. So I have chosen with the pants to create a matching bump texture and apply it to the model as well. To do this you would right click the box that is titled "Bump", select new nodes, 2D images, and image map. You would than browse for your bump file and apply it just as you would the main texture. You would have link the bump to the bump title. To do this you grab the little electrical outlet looking cord in the very top left corner of your new image map box, hold down your left mouse button, and drag to the little electrical outlet looking cord with the bump title area. You will see at the same time a colored cord linking these two items together. Success!

Next we will go back to objects at the top and select 25CCV4_shirt. We are going to repeat the process of browsing for our new texture image and applying it to the shirt. The bump file as mentioned above is completely optional. V4 casual clothing includes a "transparency map image" with the shirt. This option with the right adjustments of the dials will make the shirt look "see-through". For this tutorial we will leave the transparency image and settings alone. Don't forge to check the materials option and make sure there are no detailed parts that may need to be textured. You could create your own transparency map and apply if chose to.

Last but not least. Go back to objects and select 25CCV4_shoes. Again browse for the needed texture file and apply it to the shoes. If you haven't noticed already, the Materials optian is in use. You have just applied texture to ONLY the left shoe. This means the designer has separated the shoe textures and you will need to go to materials and select the right shoe. Continue on by repeating the process of browsing for your shoe texture and applying it. Once you have done that for both shoes you are done. With this specific outfit there is also a reflection image for the shoes. We are not going to use it. So we'll leave it at the default settings.

Now go back to the "Pose" room. Configure your render settings, render, and see your new textures. Job well done! I hope this how to will help you.