Lightwave 8.x and Poser 7: The Duel
 

I'm a newbie in both Lightwave and Poser, so I am undoubtedly covering old ground here.

I have completed (at a newbie level only) a Voyager-era comm-badge in Lightwave. Upon importing to Poser, I discover what appears to be extra geometry added to the object, distorting its shape and closing the holes in the object. (No, I'm not talking about the automatic rounding of edges that Poser does. This is something weirder.) :cylon:

This occurs whether I use the .lwo or the .obj file formats; if anything, the image appears to be slightly more accurate using the .lwo format.

If I load the .obj file into UV-Mapper (classic or demo-Pro), again, I see what appears to be extra geometry points in the image, although the mapping itself appears to be accurate enough. (I do not yet know how to use Lightwave's in-built mapper; time to haul out the manuals and do some more reading!)

I'll see if I can upload some images here to demonstrate what I'm talking about.

The smaller, dimmer image is the comm-badge in Lightwave, with the holes in the base plate. Note the arc at the bottom of the badge is correct.

The other image is in Poser 7. I cannot get separate colored faces, there appears to be extra material added to the bottom arc, and the holes are gone!

you've got N-Gons!
you need to add in edges round your 'holes' to stop them from closing. (this is a limitation of the OBJ format) \

split the faces down into Quads, making sure you work round the holes in the mesh you want linking the edge of the hole to the edge of the face (point to point). that will fix your woes. do the same for the silver section. (looks like the gold is closing over the silver you see.)
if you have a renderosity account, I showed how to fix it here - http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forum...essage_1896641

BLESS you!
 

I've gone over to Renderosity and I'm studying that tutorial even as I type.

THANK you! :jestor:

That took care of the worst of it!
 

I still have some curious artifacts in Poser 7 which may be due to the way the textures are stretched over the new polygons, but you've certainly cured the worst of the problems I was having.

Thanks!

And of course, once it's finished, I intend to upload it to various places as a freebie, including here.