SceneScapes.

Welcome to SceneScapes. This is a modular construction set for building custom architecture for outdoor scenes. This is an ongoing and evolving range that we will be adding more to yet, amongst all the other content we make.

To install, copy the Runtime folder from the zip archive and copy it to your Poser folder that already contains a Runtime folder. Once you have unpacked SceneScapes, your new props will be located here:
Runtime:Libraries:Props:MortemVetus:SceneScapes:SceneScapes:

Please note, if you bought any of the SceneScapes packs up to and including X5 - Paved In Stone, the props will be in different folders, for which we apologise, but SceneScapes came into being before we became Mortem Vetus and indeed before we even got together. X6 - Castle Creatot does have the correct library structure. With this re-packing for Renderosity, we've taken the time to update all the libraries to properly place them where all further packs will go.

Ok, so let's get started. The very first thing we need to do is set our Poser units to 'Meters' as we can see in image 1 below. As you can see, we're using PoserPro2014 for this User Guide, but everything we'll be doing can be done in most versions, and if anything can't we'll note limitations.



Image 1: Setting units

Right, now we're all set up, let's get playing with some props. As we said at the start, we've updated the library structure of all the old SceneScapes packs to reflect that we are now MortemVetus. We're going to load '3x3 even flagst' which we can see below. This opens at zero in all directions. As most things load at zero, we've found it helps to leave one of these flagstones setions at zero, so we know we'll be able to see any figures or other props we bring in. Props can be loaded by double-clicking the thumb, by highlighting the thumb and clicking 'Apply Library Preset'- the single tick, or by dragging and dropping from the library to the document.


Image 2: Loading props

Now that we have a starting point, we can work away from that. Next up, we're going to load 'Plain Wall 3x3-A'. Nearly all the props have a suffix, either A,B, or C. Pieces with A have footstones and ar intended for use at ground level. Pieces with B have fascia stones and are intended for use above ground level. Pieces with C have no surface decoration and are intended for use at any level.



Image 3: Adding a wall.

When it opens, we can see it's in the same place as the flagstones, so we want to move it to the edge.  Click on the number next to the zTran dial and enter -2. This moves it 2 metres back, which lines it up with the edge of the floor section. Every piece in SceneScapes should be moved by a whole number, and they will line up perfectly. Directly entering the numbers in is a good way to keep everything aligned, and it makes life easier when constructing larger scenes.


Image 4 lining up the wall

So now we've got our wall lined up properly, the next quesion is which way do we want to go from here? Up-down or Side-side? We'll start at the sides and we're going to add a corner to the left end of the wall. We're going to use Corner2-A, and when it loads, we can see it occupies the centre square of the paving. But it's turned wrong and it needs moving.


Image 5: Adding a corner.

To get it into position, we need to move it left 2 metres, or -2 on the xTran, and back 2 metres like the wall. This places it in the right position, so all that's left is just to line it up. In the yRotate enter -90, and it will be in place. NOTE: For rotation on the y axis, a negative number produces a clockwise rotation and a positive number produces an anti-clockwise direction. In the image below, we can see the corner in place and the dial settings that got it there.


Image 6: Corner positioned.

That's Side-Side. For Up-Down, we'll be working slightly differently. We're going to load a 'Plain Wall 3x3-B' and move it into position. If we look at the dials now, we see it has moved -2 on the zTran and 3 on the yTran. All yTran distances are in multiples of 3, so 3, 6, 9, 12, etc. To fill the corner in, we do exactly the same as the first coner, but raise the new one by 3.


Image 7: Up 1 floor.

There are some irregular pieces included, the Inverse Corners and Inverse Low Corners. In the image below, we can see Inverse Corner-A loaded and it's not very central. The centre is in the same place as the paving section underneath, so 0,0,0. Because of this, there may be times when a little re-positioning might be necessay to corret the fact it rotates unevenly. Luckily for us, this one just needs to be slotted back in to position.


Image 8: Inverse Corner.

Once we have the Inverse Corner in position, our construction looks like image 9 below. At the moment, it looks a bit haphazard and bitty. But there's plentry of potential places we can take this.


Image 9: Positioning the inverse corner.

In the next image, we've added a load more pieces, mostly to just show them all slotting together.  We added a Door-A to the open end of the inverse corner and then a normal corner to that. We then added a window section and a further corner. Then some Low Wall pieces to creeate the parapet.  Because that left a gap, we took another flagstones and dropped it in. Then we carried on along the main wall and up.

We should point out a limitation that we've become aware of from using these sets. Because they are contructed to be outdoor items, there's no real interiors. So when using window sections, there may be times you need to add a wall inside the building, so you can't see right through. This is an issue we will be addressing in future releases, which will also be on a larger scale, bigger pieces.


Image 10: Building it up.

Now that we have a chunk of building, we're going to stop adding any more and we'll take a look at what we can do with it. Clumping pieces together allows for making much larger scenes easier.  So this block we've built here, we're going to look at treating it as a single object. The first thing we'll want to do is parent all the props to a single prop. To do this, we'll go to Window > Hierarchy Editor. Top of the list is the first flagstones and we'll use that as the parent. In the Hierarchy Editor, we can click on a prop, drag it on top of the flagstones, and it's now parented. We've reduced the number of pieces a little, and we can see there are still quite a few left.


Image 11: Parenting in the Hierarchy Editor.

Now that all the pieces are parented to the flagstones, everything moves with that prop. So we can move that entire block of props as one entity. This is useful if we have a nice building but we may need to move it to accomodate terrain or additional props. It's also very useful for building things around zero and them moving them to their desired place in the scene.In Image 12 below, we've moved moved the whole thing back by 10 on the zTran, rotated it 45 degrees on the yRotate dial, and loaded a new flagstones.


Image 12: Moving a block of props.

So now we can move this block of props around within our scene, but suppose we want to use it in another scene, or maybe build a library of complete structures for easy use. No problem, we'll add it to the library and follow the sequence in image 13 below. First we click 'Add to Library'. In the dialogue box that opens, we want to click 'Select Subset' and then check all the props. Click ok on that window, name your new library entry and click ok. When you load this new library entry, it will focus on the parent prop, although it's always best to check just in case.


Image 13: Saving a subset.

We're going to leave this scene as it is, and use it for the next chapters of the User Guide. We'd suggest using just a few pieces to begin with, to get used to how it all slots together.
We hope you enjoy using this pack and as always, we look forward to seeing what you render with it.

Best wishes and happy rendering,
Andrew and Tracey
(MortemVetus)