"Cherry_Rings_AP" by Les Bentley.

Conforming earrings for the Antonia 1.2 figure. They can to some extent be used with other figures, see further on in this document.

The rings feature alternate geometries, and pseudo-gravity. The rings were Tested in P6, they are expected to work in any current Poser version from P4 up.

INSTALLATION:
Extract the zip to to your main Poser folder, or to any folder directly under a Poser 'Runtime' folder. You will find the Cherry_Rings_AP figure in your Figures library, under Antonia > Clothing > Jewellery.

USE:
All the posing of the rings is controlled through the parameters palette in the Body actor of the Cherry_Rings_AP figure, you will not be able to pose the rings via the mouse cursor in the Document Window.

With the Antonia Polygon figure loaded in your scene, load the Cherry_Rings_AP figure and conform it to Antonia. 

Select the Body of the Cherry_Rings_AP figure. The parameter dial are divided into several groups. In the parameters palette for the Body, the first group is "Gravity, and contains the sub-group "Gravity Strength L-R", more about gravity later. The second group is Cherry_Rings, this group contains dials to do the basic posing of the rings.

The next group is "Pendant". The first dial in this group "AltGeom Pendant (0 to 3)" lets you select between 3 pendant geometries, cherries, pear, or sphere. Setting the dial to zero will remove the pendant. The next dial lets you scale the pendant, this is followed by a collapsed sub-group "Pendant Transforms", the dials in this group allow you to pose the Pendant.

The next group is "Chain". The "AltGeom_Chain" dial lets you choose between three different chains, or none. With the dial set to 1 you get a long thin chain of light gage, set at 2 you get a thicker heavier gage chain, at 3 you get a shorter round section chain, and at 4 you get a single link. Next comes a dial to scale the chain, then dials to introduce a slight curve to the chains. The curves are implemented via morphs, and at full strength will introduce deformation to the shape of the links that will be noticeable in a static head and shoulders shot, but probably not in an animation or more distant shot.   

The next two groups "Ring Translations" and "BODY" are mostly of use when using the rings with figures other than Antonia. You will also need to use the dials in "Ring Translations" if a head morph or scaling changes the position of Antonia's ears.

PSEUDO-GRAVITY:
The Gravity dial is set to zero (off) by default, if you set this dial to one, the rings will 'Point At' an invisible actor below the ground, thus posing themselves automatically to take account of gravity as Antonia is posed. This has its limits, but works well for moderate tilts and bends of the head. One big fly in the ointment here is that the rings will not respect solid objects, and if Antonia is tilted too far to the side, the rings will fall through her neck. To counteract this, you can either use the dials in the sub-group "Gravity Strength L-R" to selectively turn the effect of gravity down on one side, or you can turn gravity off completely via the main "Gravity Off-On" dial, and pose the rings manually. If the head is tilted to the side more than 20 degrees, you will probably get better results posing the rings manually. The direction of gravity is derived from the orientation of the y axis of Antonia's BODY actor, this actor should not be tilted by x or z rotation (yRotate is OK).

TEXTURE MAPS and MATERIALS:
The materials are very simple. There are only two maps used by the figure "Silver1.jpg" is used as a reflection map by the rings and chain, "Stripes-V-Soft.jpg is used as a texture map by the sphere pendant. There is also a "BeachBall.png" that you may like to us as an alternative texture map for the sphere.

OTHER FIGURES:
You can use the rings on other figures by parenting, rather than conforming them. The instructions that follow assume a zeroed pose for the target figure, but at a pinch you can also do it for a posed figure. To use the Cherry_Rings_AP with figures other than Antonia: Load the Cherry_Rings_AP, do NOT conform them. Use yTran and zTran in the Body of the Cherry_Rings_AP to move it so that the rings are at approximately the correct altitude and zTranslation for the ears of the target figure. Use 'Set Figure Parent' from the Figure menu to to parent Cherry_Rings_AP to the head of the target figure. Use the dials in the "Ring_Translation" group to make fine adjustments until the rings achieve an exact fit to the ears. Once you have the rings positioned correctly, Memorize the figure. Using Outline Document display Style, and orthogonal cameras such as the Front, Left, or Right Camera, may help you to achieve a good fit. The pseudo-gravity will not work correctly when Cherry_Rings_AP are used in this way, and should be left turned off.

I plan to release a V4 version of the rings in the near future.

Thanks to Cage, who's "chain_maker4b.py" script made the chain geometry.

LICENCE:
The files in this distribution remain the property of Les Bentley. You are here by granted a none exclusive licence to use the files in the following ways, and under the following conditions. You can use graphic images produced produced using these files for any purpose, including commercially. The files in this distribution may be redistributed, in original or modified form, providing the following conditions are met. No charges may be made for the files, their distribution, or access to them, or for any package in which they are included. The foregoing conditions must be included in a plain text file included with any distribution.

In other words, this is a freebie, and must always remain a freebie, even if modified. Providing the conditions are met, you are encouraged to use these files as a basis for your own earrings, either for Antonia, or other figures.

Les Bentley.
31/October/2011.
