COLLADA and Poser Pro

COLLADA is a collaborative 3D data standard initially established by Sony Computer Entertainment America and currently administered by the Khronos Group. COLLADA enables the interchange of 3D data between a number of third party 3D authoring applications, permitting software tools to be combined into a powerful production pipeline.

The COLLADA format is adopted by a number of third party tools and an up to date list of those tools can found on the official COLLADA mediawiki. Each 3D application developer that offers support for the format writes and supports their own implementation of COLLADA Import/Export. As such, each implementation may vary, and many are still in active development, with improvements released as the format gains traction and feedback from the production world. We strive to provide you with the most feature rich and compatible COLLADA export currently possible under the guidelines and limitations of the format. 

If your primary 3D authoring tool is not supported by a PoserFusion plug-in, but does provide COLLADA import, you may be able to access and integrate pre-rigged and textured 3D characters from Poser Pro. Depending on the needs of your project, evaluate whether it is better to animate your characters in Poser Pro or simply export the character or scene data and animate it in your primary authoring tool.

Keep in mind that third party applications, while developed to the COLLADA specification, are developed by a number of separate teams attempting to conform to a set of guidelines that are in flux. We will do our best to continually support COLLADA through updates and by working with these teams to provide the best and most compatible import and export possible.

Poser Pro COLLADA uses:

• Integrate pre-rigged characters from the Poser Pro library and third party marketplace of Poser content into your projects or production pipeline.
• Pre-visualize scenes, animations, and lighting/camera angles to help convey new game ideas, deliver storyboards, or pitch industrial designs and architectural concepts.
• Export Camera/Light data from Poser Pro for motion matching
• Export posed characters to include in Photoshop versions that support COLLADA
• Import COLLADA data assets from other 3D authoring tools into Poser Pro.

Important notes when working with COLLADA data:

• Poser Pro’s implementation of COLLADA has been optimized to work with bipeds, and non-standard figures such as quadrapeds may generate unpredictable results.
• Poser Pro’s rigging paradigm is different from COLLADA’s vertex weight model and bending may translate unpredictably for some figures.
• Figure set-up angles can affect the appearance of exported content.
• Medium resolution character geometries will generally work better than low resolution character geometries.
• Conforming figures in Poser Pro do not reliably export via COLLADA
• Poser Pro’s COLLADA exporter is still undergoing development, and as enhancements or improvements are available, they will be offered in application updates.

POSER 9 vs POSER PRO 2012
COLLADA FEATURE SUPPORT

Poser Pro includes COLLADA data import and export to assist with the integration of 3D character content and scene data into third party applications.

		Poser 9	Poser Pro 2012
IMPORT	Import Static Meshes with Basic Materials		Yes
	Import Lights		Yes
	Import Cameras		Yes
EXPORT PREPARATION	Change Skinning Methods to Simple  Bones Single Skin		Yes
	Adjust Simple Bones Single Skin Vertex Weights		Yes
EXPORT	Target Application Presets	Yes	Yes
	Export Standard Units vs Custom Units	Yes	Yes
	Adjust Scene Scale	Yes	Yes
	Convert All Geometry to Triangles		Yes
	Include Normals in Exported Geometry	Yes	Yes
	Include Rigging (preserves posability and animation)		Yes
	Export Every Frame as Keyframe		Yes
	Export Morph Targets (non-baked)		Yes
	Bake Diffuse Map	Yes	Yes
	Bake Transparency Map	Yes	Yes
	Select Transparency Channel	Yes	Yes
	Invert Transparency Map	Yes	Yes
	Reduce Texture Size	Yes	Yes
	Adjust Texture Size to Power of 2	Yes	Yes
SUMMARY	Only the Poser Pro product line offers support for importing COLLADA data, and exporting animated bending figures with morph targets. All other featur es are supported in both standard and Pro lines.