-============================================================- Product Name: V4 Perfect Neck Authors: Meipe & Xameva Copyright: June 2012 by Meipe & Xameva ** If you need help with this product, contact Xameva through Renderosity mail please, as English is not Meipe's first language. Thanks. :) --------------------------------------- Description: V4 Perfect Neck is an essential fix (+ realism enhancement) for V4 that has been needed forever. The core of the fix is an extra details morph, giving her a much more realistic looking neck - based on real photo references and sculpted to perfection. But it doesn't just fix the default pose. Twist her neck, bend it, and move it side to side (move her head too!)... you'll notice her new neck stays fixed in every pose! You can also adjust the detail level of the fix for complete control. Link to video tutorial (It's for Perfect Thighs, but the script process is the same. You create the Perfect V4, and inject the "INJ Perfect Neck" onto her): Poser users - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrEtAFSrcGI DAZ users - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbyvxjWPArA --------------------------------------- Requirements: - Victoria 4.2 - PC and MAC compatible - Poser 5+ - DAZ Studio 2.3+ --------------------------------------- If you have any problems with the script or anything else after reading this ReadMe entirely, please contact either Xameva or Meipe through Renderosity sitemail. We'll do our best to get back to you within a day. We realize it may seem like there are a lot of instructions and you might feel overwhelmed, but it's actually very simple and we've done our best to explain things as thoroughly as possible. Xameva & Meipe would like to thank an anonymous scripting stranger. You know who you are. Thanks so much again, this wouldn't have been possible without you! Also a big thank you to Nerd3D for providing his EMC Fixer. -============================================================- [-How to Install-] Extract the contents of the .zip file into your Poser or DAZ Studio directory and the product contents will be in the Pose library under "XandM Perfect V4". -============================================================- [-The Script-] **Required step! (Unless you've done this already with a previous Perfect fix) Perfect Neck requires you to inject our custom morph channels into your figure's .cr2 file using a script we've provided. This is not the same thing as Morphs++ for example. Our custom channels are special channels that need to be created in order to make the morphs perfect, and so they won't interfere with other products that use the same common community channels. - Your original .cr2 figure is not changed at all. The script creates a copy of it and injects the channels into that. You then use this figure to inject the Neck fix. - You can use the script on any .cr2, including your custom characters. You DON'T have to start from scratch! Be aware though that if your saved .cr2 is grouped with clothes, hair, and anything else, that the custom fix channels may inject into those items too. This shouldn't cause any issues other than your stuff having some empty channels, but if you want to avoid that, save your character to the library ungrouped, and then load the clothing, hair, etc. back onto your Perfect character after. --------------------------------------- To use the script: *** If you've done this process before, you DO NOT have to do it again! Use the Perfect V4 you created previously, and load this new fix on her! *** 1. Your scene can't be empty in Poser, make sure a figure is loaded into the scene. (in DAZ the scene can be empty) Double click the "Create Perfect V4" script, which is located in the Poses library under "XandM Perfect V4". 2. Browse to the Runtime\Libraries\Character\DAZ People folder. Select Victoria 4.2.cr2, and then click Open. (It doesn't have to be Victoria 4.2.cr2, it can be any V4.2 figure. But if you want to use the default V4.2, which is the standard, then Victoria 4.2.cr2 is the one to select.) 3. Save the new Perfect V4 .cr2 wherever you want, just make sure it's inside the character directory. If you want to keep things simple, just save it to the same DAZ People folder as the default Victoria 4.2. 3a. In the .zip of this product, located in the Documentation folder, is a thumbnail image "Perfect Victoria 4.2.png" that you can move to wherever you save your new Perfect V4. 4. Browse to your new Perfect V4 figure in the library where you saved it, and then load it. 5. You will not have to repeat this process again. You can load the fix onto this one Perfect V4. Use this new "Perfect V4.cr2" from now on when you want to use the Neck morph fix, and for other "Perfect V4" fixes. * Script not working? This may because you are using Poser 7 or earlier, or you have a custom runtime set-up. Scroll down to the section "[-Script Not Working?-]" for further instructions. -============================================================- [-How to Use the Fix-] 1. Load your Perfect V4 character from the library. (Poser users - delete the other figure from your scene that you loaded before using the script.) 2. Make sure "Inverse Kinematics" is turned off on your Perfect V4 character. 3. Make sure "Use Limits" is turned off on your Perfect V4 character. 4. Load the "INJ Perfect Neck" pose onto your Perfect V4 character. 5. Load the provided bonus partial poses, your own saved poses, or pose V4 manually as you normally would. 6. On the "BODY" actor of your Perfect V4, you can decrease the strength of the fix at any time by turning up the "LowerFix" dial. ** Important notes specific to the Neck fix ** 1. Fix range: This fix works up until these values. If you push it further, the results won't be too bad, but certainly will not be as good as the fix intends. Be sure to also check out the partial poses, which show off some of the extreme limits of this fix. NECK dial increase | dial decrease Bend: 40 | -40 SideSide: 20 | -20 Twist: 65 | -65 HEAD dial increase | dial decrease Bend: 31 | -45 SideSide: 25 | -25 - Note that the head "Twist" dial is unlisted. We recommend you avoid using a lot of Twist on the head (or none at all), and instead use "Twist" on the neck, as that is what we designed the fix for. 2. You can adjust the level of detail of the neck fix by using the dial "NeckDetail" located on V4's BODY - Injection Channels - Community. Experiment with it in different poses. Sometimes it's better to lower it, and others to raise it - it's all personal preference. 3. We do however recommend you lower the "NeckDetail" when you bend V4's neck and head back all the way. Going off real world reference images, the neck gets more smooth in that pose. -============================================================- [-Important Notes-] 1. Clothing: As with other custom morphs, clothing can be tricky (especially tight fitting items) and will probably need adjustments. There are a few possible solutions: A. Postwork your rendered image in a 2D program such as Photoshop/Gimp. My personal technique is to render V4 in the current pose, then render her with the clothing visible (fit it the best you can with the clothing's built in morphs), and finally render just the clothing with V4 invisible. Then in Photoshop you blend all 3 layers together, erasing the parts that are clipping. It takes some practice, but it definitely beats having to postwork V4's default ugly joints. -=====- B. There is a tool called Morphing Clothes for sale at Renderosity: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/morphing-clothes/64629 When you are happy with the way you have V4 posed, you use a free script by Dimension3D to create a FBM (Full Body Morph). Link to script: http://d3d.sesseler.de/index.php?software=poserpython&product=spawn_fbm Then you use Morphing clothes to transfer the FBM to the clothing item. Note that we have not tested this method but it was suggested by several people on Poser/DAZ discussion forums. We will be investigating this further and hoping to reveal the information to you via email and the DAZ Studio discussion forums. --------------------------------------- 2. The poses were designed for the default V4. Most full body morphs will still look great, but at extreme values your results will vary. If necessary, use the "LowerFix" dials on the BODY to blend the fix better with your extreme morph. 3. The DAZ script only works in DAZ Studio 3 or later. Sorry DAZ 2 users! If you have Poser, you can create your morphed character .cr2 with the Poser script, and then use that figure in DAZ. Or you can use the same method under "[-Script Not Working?-]?" below. 4. For those who have bought either Meipe or Xameva/Meipe's morphed poses before, you will need to use the script in this product to inject the channels again and create the new .cr2. This new script is upgraded and injects new channels. 5. REM bug solution (Poser): If you use the REM pose to remove the fix, change your mind, and then re-inject it on the same figure - the fix may become bugged. There is a possible solution to this bug: A. Use the "REM" pose. B. Add the figure to the library. C. Delete the current figure from scene and then re-load the figure you just added to the library. D. Inject the fix. If the fix is bugged, do step E. E. Delete figure from the scene. Then un-do the delete. It should be fixed. It might not be, it depends on your version of Poser. 6. *catches breath* If you read all that, give yourself a pat on the back. Enough technical gibberish, start enjoying your new purchase! :) --------------------------------------- [-Known Bugs-] Poser: - A bug where you have two V4's loaded with the fix, and moving the first V4's neck affects the morphs of the second V4. This is called morph cross-talk. We have included a tool called "EMC Fixer" by Nerd3D that fixes this problem. In your content library, browse to the Poses tab under XandM Perfect V4 - Perfect Arms and there will be a folder called "2Figures". On the thumbnail images there are instructions on what to do. - If you're are experiencing crashes when trying to save your scene, make sure to uncheck the "Use external binary morph targets" option in the Poser preferences under the "Misc." tab. This option has been known to cause instability issues in Poser and is not usually necessary unless you are creating .PMD full body morphs for distribution. - The REM pose for the fixes do not completely remove all the data. The ERC tree remains. This happens with all ERC based pz2's, we've researched it heavily. This is what causes the bug where you REM the fix from a figure, then re-inject it on the same figure, and it's not working properly. See Important notes for how to solve it. - If you delete your figure with the fix injected, and then change your mind and undo the delete, the morph fix may become bugged, even after re-loading the fix morph injection. You'll need to delete the figure, then re-load it from the library. --------------------------------------- DAZ: - If you use the option "Zero Figure" or "Restore Figure" on your figure while it has the fix injected, this may bug the fix and cause it not to work. Use the provided REM poses and re-inject the fix. - The m-valueParm dials on BODY are for future Perfect fix releases. If we hid them with the script, there would be a crash in DAZ for some reason. So we left them visible - they don't do anything and won't slow DAZ down, so you can ignore them. Sorry about that. -============================================================- [-Script Not Working?-] The script may not be loading because you are using Poser 7 or earlier, or you have a custom runtime set-up. See below. --------------------------------------- Poser 8 or higher? Using Poser 8+ and the script won't run? It may be because you have a custom runtime set-up. You'll have to run the script manually by clicking "File" at the top right, then "Run Python Script". Then locate and open the script "XandM-CreatePerfectV4.py" under Runtime\Python\poserScripts\XandM. --------------------------------------- Poser 7 or Lower? Don't panic, you have two options: 1. Use DAZ script in DAZ Studio to create the Perfect V4 .cr2. You can then use the new .cr2 in Poser. 2. This option is a bit of a hassle, and more of a last resort. We've included a stand-alone Python script that runs outside of Poser, but requires you to install the Python software. (http://www.python.org/download/) - After installing Python, in a file browser (Windows Explorer or whatever), find your Victoria 4.2.cr2 in the DAZ People folder, and copy it. Then paste it into the Poser Runtime folder where you installed our product under Runtime\Libraries\Character\XandM Perfect V4\OlderPoser. Then, double click XandM-PerfectV4OldPoser.py. It should create a new Perfect .cr2 file instantly in the same folder. You then browse to that folder from within Poser and load it. ** Note that when you double click XandM-PerfectV4OldPoser.py, if it opens up Poser and doesn't create a Perfect V4 .cr2, you must do one extra step. Right click XandM-PerfectV4OldPoser.py in your file browser, then click "Open With". Then click "Choose default program." Then browse to where you installed Python, select the Python .exe and click OK. This associates the .PY extension with Python so that the scripts opens in Python and not Poser. ** If you're running the script on a .cr2 file other than Victoria 4.2.cr2 or Michael 4.cr2 (custom character), you will need to open the XandM-PerfectV4OldPoser.py script in a text editor. You need to change the "iname = "Victoria 4.2.cr2" field to the name of your custom figure's name. For example, if your .cr2 is named "BobsCustomV4.cr2", you'd changed that line to "iname = "BobsCustomV4.cr2" Then save the script and double-click the script while your custom character .cr2 is in the same folder. As you can see that method is clunky and we apologize if you have no choice but to use that method. You can uninstall Python after you've created your Perfect V4 figure. -============================================================- Thank you again, enjoy your purchase! :) -============================================================- [-File List-] ..\Documentation\ License0409.txt Perfect Victoria 4.2.png XandM_V4PerfectNeck_ReadMe.txt ..\Runtime\Libraries\Character\XandM Perfect V4\2Figures\ !!!!Info.cr2 !!!!Info.png !!!EMC Fixer.cr2 !!!EMC Fixer.png !!Instructions1.cr2 !!Instructions1.png !!Instructions2.cr2 !!Instructions2.png !!Instructions3.cr2 !!Instructions3.png !!Instructions4.cr2 !!Instructions4.png !!Instructions5.cr2 !!Instructions5.png ..\Runtime\Libraries\Character\XandM Perfect V4\OlderPoser\ !!Instructions1.cr2 !!Instructions1.png XandM-PerfectV4OldPoser.py ..\Runtime\Libraries\Pose\XandM Perfect V4\Perfect Neck\2Figures\ !!Instructions1.png !!Instructions1.pz2 !!Instructions2.png !!Instructions2.pz2 !!Instructions3.png !!Instructions3.pz2 !!Instructions4.png !!Instructions4.pz2 PermissionCreditNerd3D.png PermissionCreditNerd3D.pz2 ..\Runtime\Libraries\Pose\XandM Perfect V4\Perfect Neck\DAZ\ !INJ Perfect Neck DAZ.png !INJ Perfect Neck DAZ.pz2 !REM Perfect Neck DAZ.png !REM Perfect Neck DAZ.pz2 Info1.png Info1.pz2 Info2.png Info2.pz2 ..\Runtime\Libraries\Pose\XandM Perfect V4\Perfect Neck\Partial Poses\ !Zero V4 AllButNeckHead.png !Zero V4 AllButNeckHead.pz2 !Zero V4 Just NeckHead.png !Zero V4 Just NeckHead.pz2 V4-!BackToCamera.png V4-!BackToCamera.pz2 V4-!FrontToCamera.png V4-!FrontToCamera.pz2 V4-!SideToCamera.png V4-!SideToCamera.pz2 V4-B01.png V4-B01.pz2 V4-B02.png V4-B02.pz2 V4-B03.png V4-B03.pz2 V4-F01.png V4-F01.pz2 V4-F02.png V4-F02.pz2 V4-F03.png V4-F03.pz2 V4-F04.png V4-F04.pz2 V4-F05.png V4-F05.pz2 V4-F06.png V4-F06.pz2 V4-F07.png V4-F07.pz2 V4-F08.png V4-F08.pz2 V4-F09.png V4-F09.pz2 V4-F10.png V4-F10.pz2 V4-S01.png V4-S01.pz2 V4-S02.png V4-S02.pz2 V4-S03.png V4-S03.pz2 V4-S04.png V4-S04.pz2 V4-S05.png V4-S05.pz2 ..\Runtime\Libraries\Pose\XandM Perfect V4\Perfect Neck\ !INJ Perfect Neck.png !INJ Perfect Neck.pz2 !REM Perfect Neck.png !REM Perfect Neck.pz2 Info1.png Info1.pz2 Info2.png Info2.pz2 Info3.png Info3.pz2 Info4.png Info4.pz2 Info5a.png Info5a.pz2 Info5b.png Info5b.pz2 ..\Runtime\Libraries\Pose\XandM Perfect V4\ !!Instructions1.png !!Instructions1.pz2 !!Instructions1b.png !!Instructions1b.pz2 !!Instructions2.png !!Instructions2.pz2 !!Instructions2b.png !!Instructions2b.pz2 !!Instructions3.png !!Instructions3.pz2 !!Instructions4.png !!Instructions4.pz2 !!Instructions5.png !!Instructions5.pz2 !!Instructions6.png !!Instructions6.pz2 !!Instructions7.png !!Instructions7.pz2 !Create Perfect V4.dsa !Create Perfect V4.png !Create Perfect V4.pz2 !Extra Note1.png !Extra Note1.pz2 !Extra Note2.png !Extra Note2.pz2 ..\Runtime\Python\poserScripts\XandM\ mx-CreatePerfectV4.py