Several new items were introduced during the advent of version 3.0 of both the Michael and Victoria figures. Among the most unique (and perhaps least understood initially) was that of "Morph INJection" technology. This system allows users to pick and choose which morphs are loaded onto their figure. As a result, system resources are kept to a minimum while working with the figure inside a posing application.
Overview of the Morph INJ/REM system
Simply put, all the morphs created for version 3.0 of Michael and Victoria are in their character CR2 files; you just can't see them. They are not usable because (1) they are hidden, and (2) they are missing some necessary data (delta lines for the morphs).
Upon installing either Victoria or Michael 3.0, a folder entitled "!DAZ" is placed in the "Poser:Libraries" directory. This directory contains all the data that the "Pose" files will call upon. For those manually placing the folders, it is critical that this hierarchy be adhered to in order for the figure morphs to work properly. The folders placed in the Pose Library Directory are broken down into categories (with a set of INJ (injection) and REM (remove) files for each category). The files inside these folders allow you to load and remove morphs from the figure. This permits you to keep the dial area manageable and gives you customization by having only the dials you are working with available and visible to you.
Now that you've installed your 3.0 version figure. Let's go through applying morphs step by step. We'll use Victoria 3.0 as the example figure, though the process is the same for Michael 3.0 (naming of folders may vary slightly):
Load V3 into your document. Open your Pose Library. As previously mentioned, morphs are categorized.
- !V3 Full-Body
- Morphs found in this category affect the body in general rather than localized areas affected by other categories.
- !V3 Head
- These morphs change the head to represent ethnicity and deal with various structural differences of the face.
- !V3 Eyes
- These morphs are specific to the structural makeup of the eye area, but not the eyeball itself. (Those morphs can be found by clicking on the Eye body parts.)
- !V3 Ear-Nose
- These morphs are localized to structural changes of the ear and nose.
- !V3 Mouth
- These morphs are localized to structural changes of the mouth and tongue, and also include movement of the tongue.
- !V3 Teeth-Gums
- These morphs are localized to the structure of the teeth and gum areas.
- !V3 Features
- These morphs change the facial and head structure in areas not covered in other categories (such as brow, cheek, chin and overall face) and also include some movements that contribute to expression.
- !V3 Expressions
- These cover the morphs which work with Mimic and other morphs controlling the facial areas for expression and speech.
- !V3 Chest-Breast
- These morphs are specific to the mammary area of the chest. Breast reduction and augmentation as well as a male and inhalation morph make up this category.
- !V3 Glute-Hip-Abs
- These morphs, useful for both altering features and simulating motion, are localized to the structure of these body regions.
- !V3 Legs-Feet
- These morphs are localized to the structure from thigh to toes. They are primarily intended for structural variation, but also include morphs for simulating motion in the toes.
- !V3 Muscularity
- These morphs cover the whole body and are notably referenced by their anatomical names. They provide mass and definition for the muscles as well as flexation.
Choose the morph you wish to inject. Note that INJ (inject) files have a plus (+) sign and the REM (remove) files show a minus (-) sign. Add the morph.
- Tip 1: Morphs affecting the entire body will be found only in the BODY group.
- Tip 2: Morphs exclusively affecting the head will be found only in the head group.
- Tip 3: Morphs affecting the irises and pupils will be found only in each eye group.
- Tip 4: All other morphs will be found within the BODY group as well as within the specific body parts to which they pertain.
- Tip 5: Injection morphs must look up information to load the deltas that make them work. As a result, you may experience longer than normal load times. (Particularly the !All Head Morphs from the Head Pack and the !All Body Morphs from the Body Pack, which you will notice have red icons with hourglass symbols to remind you.)
Using Morphs
When the dial appears, you are ready to use it. Try applying it at full strength (1.00) to see its effect and then try smaller increments. Note how sometimes the lower increments can give you what you're after better than full strength. The morphs are designed to be at their highest extreme at 1.00 and dialed back. You can try values above 1 or even try negative increments, though not all will work well in this manner.
Continue to add morphs as you desire. If you decide to remove a morph, follow the same procedure with the REM files. If you save your figure, remember that once you close and open the file again, all the dials may be unhidden. They should not appear while you continue to use the file, even if you periodically save your file (as you should).
Once you have decided on a figure with a particular set of morphs you would like to work with, you can save to your Figure Library and then optimize your file, so it's ready to use for a future project. (You can create a ready to use library of your own favorite characters this way.) Remember that these CR2 files are for your personal use, however.
Now that you've loaded on proprietary morphs they shouldn't be distributed. For information on how to create and distribute characters or other easy to use add-ons for Victoria 3 please refer to Arcana for tutorials on this subject.
NOTE: Due to the nature of the application of these morphs, it is important to be sure that you have selected the correct figure (Victoria 3/Michael 3) when injecting a morph. Otherwise you will apply morphs to figures that are not compatible with the morphs, and Poser will give an error message at best and crash or, at worst, hang your system and force a cold-boot.
NOTE: Poser 5 and 6 users will have to select a different body part, then re-select the INJected part for the morph dials to appear(i.e. INJect a Head Morph, select an arm, then re-select the Head).
- Tip 1: Try applying clothes and/or other props after injection.
- Tip 2: If any other prop is in the range of selection, you may try selecting the head or eyeball (if there is hair on the figure) or a finger or other non-prop part of the figure.