Product Title: FA MUV Bundle; Fire Angel's Multi Purpose Utility Vehicle bundle.

Product Date: January 2009

Product Copyright: Copyright January 2009 The Fire Angel

Author: The Fire Angel

Author E-mail: Available after purchase.

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Needed Files List and System Required:

Poser 5 or later, DAZ Studio; in DAZ Studio you will have to adjust materials
manually to get the best appearance.  Note that I cannot yet make custom Studio
options as the program will not run on my computer at all.  This product was created
on a Mac and should work on both Mac and PC.

A minimum of 512Mb of RAM with Poser (Mac and PC).

1Gb RAM recommended for use on Poser with any meaningfully detailed set loaded.

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Ownership statement: All of this product's content was created by The Fire Angel and
may include derivatives of the following free resources:

textures from http://www.cgtextures.com/

Blender was used for all modelling.  Poser 5 and Poser 6 plus the BB-Edit Lite text
editor were used to create the Poser format files.  PhotoShop Elements was used for
the texturing and as mentioned above some textures from cgtextures were used for some
of the dust and dirt.

All source files have been kept in case proof of copyright is needed.

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Detailed Installation Instructions

Extract the zip-archive with your zip program: - Open WinZip and press the button
"Extract"  In the window "Folders/drives", select the folder that contain your Poser
program. (for example c:\program files\Poser4\). - The check box "Use Folder names"
must be marked. That way, all files will placed in the correct path.

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Conversion and/or application instructions

Mac users will need to install using a manual method (or an Applescript known as
"Merge Folders"; Google or another search engine will help you find it).

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Usage Tips/Limitations

OK, there are a lot of files and plenty of options; I'll run through them and where
you will find them one area at a time.  Note that I don't describe things in the
order in which they appear in the Poser menu.

1. Figures menu: MUV:

MUV Standard:

This is the main base model; it's packed with details and is designed to represent a
cargo and troop carrying armoured 6x6 truck of the future.  To use most of the
functions of the truck, click on the main hull.  The steering has the correct
Ackerman geometry and the front four wheels will turn when you operate the steering
dial.  The driver's seat can be raised and when you do so the hatch will open
automatically to prevent the driver bumping his head on it (I'm very safety
conscious).  You can also open the hatch separately by clicking on it, and it opens a
little wider than the automated opening driven by the seat lift dial.

There is also a dial to widen the seat in case you're using The Freak; he needs that
option to avoid overwhelming the seat completely.

Each wheel has it's own suspension dial as well, so you can operate the suspension to
pose the vehicle realistically on uneven ground.  In addition, you will find a dial
for each tyre, so you can set the tyre to run flat.  If you do this, it will deform
realistically as the wheel goes round.  The tyre deformation in this product makes it
the first Poser wheeled vehicle to have deforming tyres.   If you're interested in
making such tyres for a product of your own, there will be a tutuorial on how to do
this yourself available as a free download not too long after the truck is
commercially available.

The steering is controlled by a single dial; this saves work posing each wheel
separately.

There is a dial to rotate all the wheels together for animators, and you can also
select each wheel and rotate it individually.  This allows you to set wheels to
different angles if there is more than one MUV in your scene; after all, it would be
poor realism if all the trucks in your picture or animation happened to have their
tyres at the same angle...

The rear door is opened by clicking on the upper part and using the dial.  The lower
part of the door is geared to it and will lower as the door opens and fold up again
as it closes.

The seats inside the truck will each seat two normal sized Poser people in full
sci-fi armour or one Freak character, also in combat armour; the seats can also be
folded out of the way to allow the maximum internal space for cargo.  You can fold
all or just some of them, so you can mix cargo with people. Although the internal
seating is designed to comfortably accomodate twelve Poser people the truck is big
enough so that it could, if real, seat fourteen in less comfort, and eight freak
sized people.

MUV Front Turrets and MUV Rear Turrets:

These two are conforming figures; they add defensive laser turrets to your MUV. These
could be used as anti-personnel weapons and to shoot down incoming mortar, RPG and
rocket projectiles.  The idea is based on the US Army's current THEL (Tactical High
Energy Laser) project, but since this is a sci-fi product and represents a future
product, we'll say development has made the turrets smaller and still powerful enough
to do the job; scary...

MUV Tie-Down:

This is a figure; when adding it to the truck, load the truck in and don't move it at
all, then add this figure to the scene as well; it will arrive at the right position
to tie the truck down to the floor; then select the option in Poser to "Change figure
parent" and make the truck's main hull, or some other non-moving part, the parent of
the tie-down kit.  This then allows you to select your truck and move it into
position in the dropship, cargo ship or whatever, and have it look as if the
loadmaster and his crew have anchored it down properly.

Since the tie-down kit is posable, you can alter the poses of various parts to show
the truck being released, and could even animate this if you choose.

MUV Tie-Down Zeroed:

This is a zeroed version to allow you to add it to the floor of a cargo ship or
dropship or whatsit, to show where the truck was or will be anchored down.

Tie-Down Single:

This is for use on other vehicles in the same scene as the MUV; it's a single item so
you would normally need four of them to anchor a vehicle to the floor.   Making the
arms separate makes it easier to position them where you need them for vehicles other
than the MUV.  In addition you can use more than four for articulated trucks,
extremely large vehicles etc.

Mobile Command Vehicle:

This is represents a mobile command post vehicle; there are two sets of optional
antenna housings provided; one is a smart-prop and so is found in the Props menu, the
other is a conforming figure and so is in the same menu as the vehicle itself.  The
conforming figure has a nice spherical arial on top of a telescopic mast.  In case
you're wondering about the shapes, the housings all represent the sort of shapes you
would expect for a phased array antenna housing of one sort or another.  In the
future it is likely that most antennae fitted to both civilian and military radio and
radar equipment will replace old fashioned antennae with phased array antennae due to
their vastly better performance and flexibility.

The computer consoles for the interior of this version of the truck are a smart prop,
so you don't have to have them loaded to render external shots.  It is also possible
for you to use this prop for other vehicles or inside buildings, if you have
somewhere suitable.

MUV Ambulance (4 versions):

The 4 versions of the Ambulance vary only in their paint schemes.  The Ambulance 1
and Ambulance 3 are in standard colours, with their ambulance symbols bright red.  In
some environments where the enemy may fire on ambulances, operators of military
ambulances normally have an alternative version of the symbol provided in camouflage
colours, known as the "subdued" versions.  Ambulance 2 and Ambulance 4 have the
subdued colour scheme.  One symbol is the militarised version of the "Star of Life"
(usually blue on a civilian ambulance, red here) and the usual red cross which is
most common on military ambulances in the present day.

MUV Caged Flatbed:

The cage sides can be dropped down; straighten the steering first or the bars will
pass through the vehicle's tyres.  The rear gates are both opened by a single dial on
one of the gates; the other gate has no dials so you'll know which is which.  Check
the props:MUV Acessories for a selection of loads for this truck.  Note that the
Caged Flatbed can only use the forward set of laser turrets, so don't try to conform
both sets.

MUV CPV:

This is the Convoy Protection Vehicle.  Typically, small convoys of trucks would be
led by one of these and the last vehicle would also be a CPV.  Larger convoys might
also have some within the convoy.  It would always travel fitted with both sets of
laser turrets.  If you select the turret, the dials to rotate it, to elevate the guns
and to spin the six-barrelled cannon are all in the turret, just to make things
easier.

MUV Flatbed:

A plain flatbed truck.  The conforming crane fits this version of the truck.  Most of
the loads would be shifted by caged flatbeds as loads are more secure, but one for
every six to ten of those there would probably be a flatbed fitted with a crane to
help with the unloading.  This version can also be fitted with the smart-prop rocket
racks to make an ammunitin carrier for the rocket artillery.  There are also other
prop loads for it, most in two versions; one will fit on the truck around the crane
when it is conformed, the other version of each load fills that space and so is
suitable when the crane isn't fitted.

When you lower the hook on the conforming crane note that there is no
texture-stretch; as far as I know this is the first time that anyone has worked out
how to do this trick in a Poser crane.  It is not done with a morph; if you're
interested, there will be a tutuorial on how to do this yourself available as a free
download not too long after the truck is commercially available.  The trick I used
applies to winches, cranes and probably has other uses I haven't thought of.

MUV Oil Tanker 1 and 2:

Version 1 has the peacetime HazMat plates in bright colours, version 2 has the
subdued version of the plate in desert colours to match the rest of the truck.  The
codes on the plate are those for lubricating oil, but you may use the MAT poses
provided in the "MUV MAT" folder to change the codes for a variety of substances,
from Aircraft Fuel to Water.  There is a conforming hose for the tanker truck, with
EasyPose dials for posing, but also some preset poses to make it easier to use.  The
two poses, "Hose In Use 1" and "Hose In Use 2" have matching poses for the Freak, V3,
V4, M3 and M4.  Pose the hose, select the figure and then use the matching pose for
the Poser person you are using.

The hose will not load in the correct position for use; conform it to the tanker to
correct this, and open the rear door on the tanker to make it look sensible.

If saving poses of your own for the hose, INCLUDE MORPHS IN ALL POSES; this ensures
that the EasyPose dials (which use null morphs and morph-controlled joints) will have
their settings saved as well.  Yes, you read that right, it's morph-controlled joints
not joint-controlled morphs...

MUV Rocket Artillery:

The dials to rotate and elevate the rocket pods are in the main hull, not in the pods
or their mounts; this should make it easier to use the truck as all dials are in one
place.  The rockets are in the props menu as smart-props; the one icon loads 40
rockets into the truck, and you can delete or move them as needed.  Smoke and flame
effects for launching are not provided, it is best to add those in postwork in
PhotoShop (or whatver you use) or buy one of the many effects products available for
Poser or DAZ Studio.

MUV Water Tanker:

This is identical to the Oil Tanker except that the HazMat plates are exchanged for
the standard shipping symbol for drinking water.  The same hose can be used and all
poses for one version of the tanker will work for the others.

2. Poses menu: MUV:

The poses provided are for Victoria 3 and 4, Michael 3 and 4 and The Freak.  They
will position the figures on or in the truck provided it is in the default starting
position.  Once they are posed, you can parent them to the truck and then move it to
wherever it is needed in your scene.  There is also a reset pose for the truck itself
which puts it back at the default position if you need to do this.

If you want to show someone in the driving seat in the raised position, use the one
of the poses provided to put them in place with the seat down, parent the figure to
the seat, then raise the seat.

NOTE: The feet of the figures are likely to need repositioning in some poses unless
they are wearing the same footwear/clothing items I put on them when I created the
poses.  The same may apply to the seated poses that position them in the rear
compartment, since in some cases I posed them wearing heavy armour or thick military
clothing.  You can always save your own tweaked versions of the poses once you have
your figures set the way you need them.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  When saving poses to your library for the MUV itself, always include
morph settings in your pose.  This way all the control dials (many of which are
morph-controlled) will be included in your pose.

3. Poses Menu: MUV MAT:

There are three poses here to change the texture on the vehicle's tyres, so you can
show it with new tyres, grey dusty tires or red dusty tyres (the last being the
default).

There are also a number of poses to change the HazMat plates on the tanker, so you
can show it carrying a wide range of loads, from Aircraft Fuel to Water.  If you use
these, remember to add the matching prop from the props menu.

4. Props Menu: MUV Accessories:

There are smart props for the MUV itself, and cargo for scene filling.  There are
also two different driver's helmets in versions smart-propped to the same figures
that are supported in the poses folder; Victoria 3 and 4, Michael 3 and 4 and The
Freak.  There are also simple prop versions of these so you can add them to any
figure manually and then parent them, saving them back as smart props if you choose
(it's generally best to use a different name if you do that).

The smart props have a red outline in their icons so you can see where they fit on
the truck.  They also have the word "SMART" on the icon in big friendly white
Helvetica bold capitals, just to make it really obvious.

Some of the icons load whole cargoes onto the flatbeds; each of these is for one of
the flatbeds and won't fit perfectly on the other one; loads for the Flatbed won't
fit the Caged Flatbed and vice-versa.  To show an MUV part way through loading you
can add these loads and then delete some of the props.  After that it's usually best
to add some of the ordinary props to the scene, so they look as if they are part of
the load being taken off or put onto the MUV.

5. DAZ Studio:

DAZ Studio won't run on my machine at all, so I can't test or prepare special options
for Studio.  Once I get a more up-to-date computer, I will support Studio properly.

While I can't suport use in DAZ Studio the product works, with the following
limitations:

Tyre deformers don't work on some installations of Studio.   No-one knows why, and it
isn't just dependant on which version you have since my testers gave conflicting
reports; most said the tyre deformers worked, one said they didn't, but most had the
same version of DAZ Studio installed.  In most installations they do work, so
hopefully you'll be one of the lucky ones if you're a Studio user.

Materials load without the proper reflective properlties.  Set the specular options
and reduce the shine, and the MUV looks fine.  The headlights have a bump map which
at the time of writing Studio doesn't load automatically, it's in the folder:

:Runtime:textures:FireAngel:Ground_Vehicles:MUV:

The file name is:

MUV_LightsGlassBump.jpg

Apply it manually and the glass on the lights will look a lot better.

6. Files supplied:

A list of all the files in the package is supplied in the ReadMe folder as
MUV-BundleList.txt

7. If you bought the MUV Base and have upgraded:

Before installing delete the MUV Base product.  If you haven't got an easy way of
doing this just delete the file:

:Runtime:Geometries:FireAngel:Ground:MUV.obj

...then install the MUV Bundle, and allow files to overwrite existing files.

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