Water Shader - Proper Directory Placement

tomsfo1

Need a little help please.

I purchased a Roman bath from i13 called Balneum, but the water is black.

I learned that I needed a water shader. Checking the forum, I saw that Fistys Liguid Shaders would do the trick. There are Runtime files and Shader files. I placed the Runtime files in the Runtime directory, and the Shader files in the My Library. But they did not seem to work. I moved the Shader files to the Runtime directory as I thought all the files needed to be there.

DAZ's Content Library under Poser Formats -> My Library -> Materials has a Fistys Liguids subdirectory, but there is nothing in it.

Under Scene I have the water selected. And in Surfaces under Presets I see nothing for Fisty or Water or Liquids. Under Editor, I do see Water, but nothing I do will change the black to something that looks like water.

Any help to get me on the right track will be appreciated.

fixmypcmike

The shader presets need to be outside of the Runtime folders. What problem occurred when you tried to use them? They may not show up in the viewport, only when rendering using 3Delight.

tomsfo1

Thank you for your time and assistance.

I moved the Fistys Liquid Shader files from Runtime to My Library. No change, water is still black.

I moved it again under My Library -> Presets. Again, no change water is still black. I did a spot render and a Render - water is still black.

The Fistys Liquid Shader ReadMe file says the item s/b selected in the Scene Tab which it was. And the Material Zone selected in the Surface tab.

I would expect to see something in the Surface Presets like Fistys or water or Liquids. Nothing of the like appears.

I did find under DAZ Studio Formats -> My Library -> Shaders -> Fistys Liquids nine items including one 3Water Flat Tiles.dsa. I attempted to load it and nothing happened that I noticed. The Render is still black water.

Obviously, I am still missing something essential.

Thanks again for your assistance.

scorpio

Can you link to the shaders or say where you got them.
After applying the shader what is listed at the top of the surfaces tab with the water plane selected.

tomsfo1

Thanks for your help.

Here is the link to the water shader: http://fisty.blackraven3d.com/freebies/FistyLiquidShadersUpdated.zip

Attached is the shader in DAZ that you requested. That is the crux of the problem. I have not been able to call up/load the Fisty Liquids Shader. I can only presume they are in the wrong directory.

I appreciate your continued assistance.

Tom

tomsfo1

I decided to try a different water shader. But I'm having the same problem.

I unzipped Edie Phoenix Water Surface Shader and placed them in the directories indicated.

Presets to My Library.
Runtime to My Library.

In Content Library I can see under DAZ Studio Formats -> My Library -> Presets -> Eddie Phoenix -> Shaders -> Water Surface Shader a Water Surface Shader.duf. I double clicked it and I right clicked merge into scene.

On the surfaces side under Presets I looked into Materials, Presets, and Shaders but I do not see the Water Surface Shader anywhere.

Under Editor, Shader: it stills shows DAZ Studio Default.

I tried a render anyway and still get black water. Perhaps the problem is with the Prop i13's Balneum I purchased.

scorpio

I've installed it and applied it - it's a DS default shader preset, so what you are seeing at the top is correct.
The zip has a content folder in it which confuses matters.
This is what I do
unzip the contents of the Zip file to an empty folder, then from the content folder send to a Zip the Shader, Runtime and Readme folders and then unzip those into 'My Library' if that's what your DS content folder is called.

I'm wondering how old this is because its not the best water settings I've seen by any means and I know that Fisty is very talented.

scorpio

What lights are you using?
Lighting can make a difference to how water etc looks.

IceCrMn

You are applying the shader to the surface incorrectly.

1) Click the "Surface Selection" tool at the top of Dz Studio
2) select the item you want to apply it to in the "Scene" tab
3) click the "Surfaces" tab and expand it by clicking the little arrow in front of it's name.
4) select the surface you want to apply the shader to from the list.
5) in the "Content Library" tab navigate to where the shader is you want to apply.In this case the water shader.
6) press the CTRL button on your keyboard and double click the shader.
a menu will pop up the 2nd drop down menu should be set to "Replace". (If you want to keep the original textures you should select ignore )
Click accept The shader will be applied to the selected surface.
You should be aware that most shaders will not show in the preview work area, but they will in the render.

Try this and see if it gets your water shader to work :)

IceCrMn

here's a screen shot of the results from the steps I described above

EDIT: The shader was applied to the "Default" area of the cube. Then I lowered the opacity a bit so it looked more like water.

tomsfo1

Hi Again,

Update.

I created a primitive plane and moved the Edie texture to My Library -> Textures and got a good rendering.

I loaded the Balneum pool and used the same shader and still get black water.

Any ideas will be appreciated.

Tom

Sorry, I sent this before I read the two previous posts. Thanks to all for your time and willingness to assist.. I'm refocused now on something else. I will get back to it and follow the instructions and get back as soon s I can.

Thanks again.

tomsfo1

Thank you both for your responses.

Icecrmn:

It seems the problem is with your step 4). I do not see the shader in the Surfaces tab anywhere. I can only suspect it is in the wrong folder.

However, I can create a primitive cube as you did and apply the shader under Surface -> Editor and browsing to My Library Textures Edie Phoenix Water Shader. See attached.

tomsfo1

I can also do the same with Fistys.

tomsfo1

But I can not do so with either shader for the water in the Baneum prop.

I must suspect now that this was designed for Poser and not DAZ, although I understood from the ReadMe that it would. I'm at a point to ask for a refund.

Additional thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks again to you both.

Tom

IceCrMn

Sorry I wasn't able to help.I must agree with you though, if you aren't happy with the product I would pursue a refund.

tomsfo1

I appreciate your willingness and taking the time and trouble to help.

Tom

scorpio

Unfortunately Rendo do not have the same refund policy that Daz do, Ironman13 products at Rendo no longer support DS, but her products here do so it might be worth while contacting them directly. The fact that it doesn't state DS support implies to me that something won't work in DS. I read through the Readme and couldn't see anything that implies it will work in DS, its not advisable to just presume things will.

When you apply the shader to the water plane does it apply the maps, it might be that the piece is not UV mapped for some reason.

scorpio

I've just tried the Edie Phonix water Shader on the water of the pool from Stonemasons Courtyard set, it renders black so it may well not be anything you are doing.
When I had a look at it both the Diffuse and the Ambient are set to black which is why its rendering black at least for me.

tomsfo1

Thanks for your response.

I did apply for a refund. I had also contacted Steph at i13 and she mentioned Rendo should be willing to refund. I heard from Rendo and they asked of the Vendor had approved the refund. As she had in her email to me, I presume I will get it.

I believe I read in the ReadMe some instructions for DS. Therefore, I believed it would work in DS. In fact it did, except I couldn't change the watercolor from black.

Thanks.

Tom