Vue Animated EcoSystem Following Terrain Contours Script
What the script does:

Moves animated figures in an EcoSystem across a terrain, taking terrain altitudes and instance scales into account.

Currently (28th March 2005) the script only works with figures moving exactly North South i.e. from the edge of the terrain furthest back in the Vue scene toward the front.

Updated version posted April 1st 2005.
Removed the option not to recalculate every instance every frame as performance gain was negligible.
Fixed bug which caused figures to occasionally drop to knee deep in the terrain (beware the Python division operator).
Added option to set as startup script. This was to get it to work with HyperVue, however it still doesn't! If you wish to use this option anyway, you must either save this file in; Vue 5 Infinite\Python\Scripts\EcoSystem or edit line 16 in the script to the correct path.
I haven't had time to edit the rest of this page to reflect these changes, so please ignore any reference to differences in scale between instances, these are now automatically dealt with.

N.B. In this, and the previous version, the scale value used is that entered in the population list on the "General" tab of the material editor, not the "Overall Scaling" slider on the "Scaling & Orientation" tab which should be left at 1.00 for the script to function correctly.

How to use the script:

First off assess how far the full scale figure to be used in the EcoSystem travels per second, in Vue logical units. This is needed to correctly synchronise the figures strides with ground covered.

Next set up the EcoSystem with "Direction from surface" slider set all the way to the vertical end of the scale, and Z-axis "Maximum rotation" to 0.

N.B. Figures used in the EcoSystem must NOT have an animation path.

Allow only small changes of scale between instances, or larger ones may walk into the back of smaller ones. Overall scale can be anything suitable to the terrain.

Run the script from the Vue Python menu. Enter the name of the populated terrain in the first dialog to appear. In the next dialog enter the value previously calculated for figure travel per second, for most adult Poser figures 45 works OK.

Please note that after rendering an animation, preview or for real, the instances on the system will be at their final frame positions. To reset the EcoSystem requires either reloading the Vue scene (and re-running the script), or clearing and re-populating the system.

Where to get the script: Click here.
Vue EcoSystem 'Follow My Leader' Script
What the script does:

Allows an animated object to be used as a 'leader' for EcoSystem instances. The eco instances mimic the translations and rotations of the 'leader' object.

The script does not follow terrain contours, it is intended for flocks of birds or fleets of spaceship sims. The EcoSystem can be on any type of object, and the instances will retain their original relative positions. There is no need to keep the leader within the bounds of the base object, the Eco is used here simply to create instances and distribution patterns.

23/06/05 - Updated to kill 'global already referenced' warning.

N.B. Not currently compatible with HyperVue as it can't be used as a startup script.

Get the script: Click here.

Vue EcoSystem 'Follow My Leader 1' Script
What the script does:

As per the above, but the follower object must be a terrain, and the eco instances follow the terrain contours.
The vertical position of the 'leader' is ignored in this script, but the original offset of the eco instances is applied.

N.B. Not currently compatible with HyperVue as it can't be used as a startup script.

Get the script: Click here.