What Am I Doing Wrong?
handyman4545
Posts: 408
I can't get my map Images to show in DAZ
I built a console in Hexagon
I UV Planner mapped a surface within the console (the monitor)
I used the material Pane to insert the image I wanted in monitor and successfully got my image
The console and the image show in Hexagon exactly as I want them to
I exported the finished product with default settings to .obj
I imported the console with default settings, into DAZ and I get the console in it's default, metalic color and no image.
What am I doing wrong?
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Comments
You didn't tell DS to assign the texture to the corresponding surface.
Oh Jeez!
What an idiot I am huh.
One might wonder why I think of that huh?
Anyone else?
Anyone?
I've always done my UV mapping and texturing in other apps, and just use Hexagon for initial modeling only.
Handy,
While surface / group definitions and some very BASIC surface values like diffuse and specular colors may be imported into Studio (I've even seen those get reset sometimes), your specific material settings like the texture maps will not. You will have to reapply those after they are imported. It seems from my experience, this is by design because the different path definitions for where the tools find their texture files don't translate well.
Like Shawn mentioned, your best bet to ensure surface definitions are translated well is to pass your object through another tool for UV mapping and/or texturing. I know that, for me, just loading the exported object into Ultimate Unwrap and re-exporting from that tool has helped me cleanup various issues with my OBJ files.
I'm guessing it has to do with money and time required.
It's too bad though. From what I've seen and learned so far (just a small amount no less), the two programs work pretty well together and if they tied up the loose ends between them I imagine they would be a tough combination to turn away from in this business.
Especially since they're open source to start with.
I solved my dilema with you guys help. Thankyou.
After importing the .obj I discovered the "Surfaces" Pane. WhooHoo!
Click on the "Preview" Pain to select the image.
Select or install the "Surfaces" Pane in the right pane window
Select the "Editor" tab in the "Surfaces" pane.
Select and expand the image file name listed below "Currently Used"
Select and expand each mapped item one by one.
Select "Diffuse".
In the right window, select the "Diffuse Color" or expand the item and "Browse" to the image map
In the right window, select the "Diffuse Strength" or expand the item and "Browse" to the image map.
Per my short learning curve thus far, that added back the basic color, textures and images I designed in Hexagon.
At least part of the problem is that the .obj file format (and its accompanying .mtl file, which defines the texture file names and folder paths) is ancient in computer terms. It doesn't understand Iray or even 3Delight materials, the closest it gets to D|S compatibility is the Poser 4 materials standard. Also, it's been an open format for a long time, so every program that has the capability to import/export an .obj is likely to do it in a slightly different way to all the others.
On the gripping hand, at least the object mesh usually always imports cleanly, no matter what the originating program was; it's just the materials that usually need to be rebuilt. An annoyance, but not a showstopper.
The beauty of MTL files is that their formats can change with the times. 3D-Coat has one of the best OBJ/MTL import/export features of any 3D modeling app out there. OBJ is still an important mesh format. When Eovia was developing Hexagon, OBJ was seen as a dead format (much like 3DS) and that there was room for something more universal to import/export between apps with. But nothing ever came of it.
Fortunately, companies have been making full use of their OBJ/MTL format handling. Stay away from Vue and modo though when it comes to OBJ exporting from them. Very lame.
Yes, the format is ancient. But that should be to its advantage here. We're not having issues because of advanced surface shaders. The issue is reading and assigning a very basic texture under the default shader the target program uses. Which DS couldn't accomplish before the move to iRay and still can't.
I'm finding my interest to lie more deeply in the engineering side of this art.
I love Hexagon and I'm working with DAZ.
Daz will ultimately tell my stories but Hex is where my creativity is currently flowing.
Daz scares the he** out of me.
Cameras, lights' shaders, textures...
An incredible mount of information and planning to learn and that doesn't even touch the "motion" part of it.
I'm currently using Hex to design a particular class of star ship for one of my Star Trek books but I'm now thinking about additional vessels and new designs.
I know what you mean about DAZ Studio, I find it a lot better now that it has Iray.
There are links to DS tutorials on YouTube and you can always ask here or on the DS forum for help when you need it.
I don't know all the terminology that DAZ Studio uses to even begin how to use it. Poser was hard enough for me to learn back in the day. Hexagon is so easy to use. But it's just a modeler. I came from Amapi 7. So Hexagon was a snap to start using right away. I know enough about Carrara to get some things to happen. RayDream Designer was a hot mess to learn, which Carrara comes from. I don't ever model with the thing. Only use it for OBJ mesh conversions between other rendering apps. Vue is my main scene renderer these days. It's designed for non-scientific and non-post-grad users. Just hobby users like me. No hidden settings/features anywhere that are hard to find. Vue almost has a "Make Art" button. Very few apps do.
I guess Im gonna have to learn Poser at some point.
Right now Im on a mission to complete a starship bridge 3D and additional deck models.
When I finish the layouts I guess I'll need Poser to complete the textures. Will Poser do bones?
Yes. Poser does bones. I don't know how compatible they are to other app's bones. I export a lot of figures from Poser as OBJ into Hexagon, so I can then model clothing for them. I then export the OBJ outfits into Poser and the clothes conform to the figures when I pose them in Poser. I then import the dressed Poser figure into Vue and render it there.