Poser3 to Bryce3D

By Lisa Casler
Most tutorials I have come across that tell how to import a Poser3 figure into B
ryce3D explain that you should import the WaveFront Object as a single object. I
have found that importing the obj into Bryce with separate meshes works better
and gives you more options in changing the skin/clothes textures.
First you must create a figure in Poser3, like I did here:
After you create the figure, pose it the way you like, you should save the Poser
file. I also save the pose, if it's one I created, in the Poses area.
Now to export your figure. Select export, Wavefront OBJ....single frame....expor
t object groups for each body part. It will be slow going if you have a slower m
achine, but fear not, it is working. Walk away, grab that Bryce3D Manual and rea
d it, listen to some good music, make a sandwich. When you get back, it will pro
bably have completed saving your figure.
Now open Bryce3D. Select import from the file menu and head for where you saved
your OBJ figure. This will also take a few minutes, good things are worth waitin
g for.
The Imported figure
After your figure has been imported, you will need to smooth it. Click the U but
ton on the side of the figure to ungroup the meshes. Keep them all selected howe
ver. Click on the E button, select Solid Boolean when Rendering and click on the
Smooth Sphere and it will smooth it for you. This will also take a bit of time,
there are a lot of objects, most of mine have around 54.
After the smoothing, deselect all and
attributes) and name it "Hair". Click
d some texture and color to the hair.
hop, but you can use the hair texture

select just the hair. Click the A button (

on the M (Materials) button and we will ad
I use my own hair that I created in Photos
that came with Poser3.

In the Materials Lab, click the button next to "Diffuse". Click the P in the tex
tures box, it will bring up the picture textures. Load the hair texture located
in Poser\Runtime\textures\Poser 3 Textures dir/folder. Click the copy button und
er the picture and paste it into the alpha channel box. It will ask you if you w
ant to delete it, say yes. In the third window you should see the poser texture
colors with the white being invisible. Click okay (you should save the picture l
ist, you will probably use it again) Make sure it is set on Parametric, put the
blue buttons into Diffuse, Ambient, Diffusion - around 100, Ambiance - around 20
, Bump Height - around 2 and Refraction on Air - 100. You can adjust all the set
tings until you get the look you want. I usually change the diffuse color from t
he blue button to just a color. Brown works good. Click okay when you have it lo
oking like you want.
Now select all the meshes, hold down the shift key and deselect the hair. Group
all the remaining meshes together by clicking the G button. Click the M button t
o get back into the Materials Lab again. Load your poser texture - Look in the P
oser\Runtime\textures\Poser 3 Textures dir/folder. Click the copy button under t
he picture and paste it into the alpha channel box. It will ask you if you want
to delete it, say yes. In the third window you should see the poser texture colo
rs with the white being invisible. Click okay (you should save the picture list,
you will probably use it again) Make sure it is set on Parametric, put the blue
buttons into Diffuse, Ambient, Diffusion - around 100, Ambiance - around 20, Bu
mp Height - around 2 and Refraction on Air - 100. You can adjust all the setting
s until you get the look you want. Click okay when you have it looking like you
want.

You should have a figure covered in a nice Poser texture. You can now deselect a
ll the meshes and choose what you want covered with another texture. Even the ey
eballs are separate meshes, so you can make new eye colors. (the eyeball, iris,
etc are all one piece however)
Here is an example of a Poser3 figure I made, imported into Bryce3D and added te
xtures. The zebra strip is a material created in the Materials Lab, applied to t
he upper arms, upper legs, neck and torso. I then applied a shinny black materia
l to the lower arms, hands, lower legs and feet. The face and eyes get their tex
ture from the Poser texture and the hair from the Poser hair texture.
Tutorial created by Lisa T. Casler
http://www.mochamadness.com/lisa/bryce/