How to create a single smart prop from two props?

stripe6499_9253833ae8

I have a smartphone prop that I want to add a blank screen to so I can inject images onto the screen. The smartphone prop is a single piece with no seperate material zones. I've created a primitive plane and sized it to cover the screen area on the smart phone prop. I've parented the plane to the smartphone. Now I want to save it as a single smart prop, so the plane is still selectable. Scene set and group won't work as I want it as a smart prop. I do have the item saved as a scene set as a work around, but I'd prefer it as a single prop with the plane selectable so it can be resized, etc.

You folks haven't failed me yet, and I know I must be missing something easy and obvious.

Richard Haseltine

Is the plane saved as a Figure/Prop asset - File>Save As>Support Assets>Figue/Prop Asset? If so a Wearables preset will do the job.and you can use Hierarchical Materials presets.

Dartanbeck

Yes. Like Richard said, in these situations I save it as a Wearable Preset

stripe6499_9253833ae8

Richard Haseltine said:

Is the plane saved as a Figure/Prop asset - File>Save As>Support Assets>Figue/Prop Asset? If so a Wearables preset will do the job.and you can use Hierarchical Materials presets.

Well, that works, but it's still not an actual smart prop, but at least the phone and screen stay together and appear with the hand. so yay! TY Richard. Maybe I was over thinking it as needing/wanting it as a spart prop.

crosswind

You just need to export both phone and plane to an obj file and import it back, it'll be a single Prop with a separate "screen" surface. Then assign image to "screen", parent it to figure's hand and save it as a Wearable Preset. Now it's a single Smart Prop of a "phone".

Another way: if the "top surface" of the phone is selectable as a "screen" with Geometry Editor, there'll be no need to create a plane on it, just select and create a separate surface...

Richard Haseltine

stripe6499_9253833ae8 said:

Richard Haseltine said:

Is the plane saved as a Figure/Prop asset - File>Save As>Support Assets>Figue/Prop Asset? If so a Wearables preset will do the job.and you can use Hierarchical Materials presets.

Well, that works, but it's still not an actual smart prop, but at least the phone and screen stay together and appear with the hand. so yay! TY Richard. Maybe I was over thinking it as needing/wanting it as a spart prop.

What is your definition of a smart prop? As far as I know a Wearable preset is the standard way to make them.

Richard Haseltine

crosswind said:

You just need to export both phone and plane to an obj file and import it back, it'll be a single Prop with a separate "screen" surface. Then assign image to "screen", parent it to figure's hand and save it as a Wearable Preset. Now it's a single Smart Prop of a "phone".

If the goal is to share the result, and the phone is from someone else (which I understood to be the case here) then that would not be permissible.

Another way: if the "top surface" of the phone is selectable as a "screen" with Geometry Editor, there'll be no need to create a plane on it, just select and create a separate surface...

Dartanbeck

Richard Haseltine said:

stripe6499_9253833ae8 said:

Richard Haseltine said:

Is the plane saved as a Figure/Prop asset - File>Save As>Support Assets>Figue/Prop Asset? If so a Wearables preset will do the job.and you can use Hierarchical Materials presets.

Well, that works, but it's still not an actual smart prop, but at least the phone and screen stay together and appear with the hand. so yay! TY Richard. Maybe I was over thinking it as needing/wanting it as a spart prop.

What is your definition of a smart prop? As far as I know a Wearable preset is the standard way to make them.

Either way we'd still have to position it to the other hand and parent it in order to make a Smart Prop for the other hand - but yeah... if we Save As > Figure/Prop Asset, we can choose to make it a Smart Prop.

Wearable does the same thing without having to pick that as an option.

Dartanbeck

I use Wearable Presets to save Nulls to the figure with invisible primitives within that will then automatically create hair movement on my dForce hair. Works like a charm.

 

After trying that successfully many times, I've learned that anything that is parented to a figure can be made into a handy dandy wearable! Love it!

Dartanbeck

Mely3D even has a car (Modular Buggy) that has various parts the can be applied to it via wearables. It's a very powerful system!

stripe6499_9253833ae8

Thank you all. I've not really been working with wearable presets, so I'd never considered them the same as smart props, but thinking about, I guess they are, in which case, that's my easy solution. Hehe, so much effort and learning just for an onscreen detail of wanting a smartphone that would appear to be taking a picture of the render scene. I'm sure there is a smartphone prop out there that has a seperate screen surface, but the one I have doesn't. Well, now it does, obviously. 

stripe6499_9253833ae8

Richard Haseltine said:

crosswind said:

You just need to export both phone and plane to an obj file and import it back, it'll be a single Prop with a separate "screen" surface. Then assign image to "screen", parent it to figure's hand and save it as a Wearable Preset. Now it's a single Smart Prop of a "phone".

If the goal is to share the result, and the phone is from someone else (which I understood to be the case here) then that would not be permissible.

Another way: if the "top surface" of the phone is selectable as a "screen" with Geometry Editor, there'll be no need to create a plane on it, just select and create a separate surface...

Nope, no intention to distribute. This is for personal use only.