Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted December 31, 2015 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Strange, I don't think I touched that area of the code for this release... Just to be sure, did you use the uninstaller in this release prior to installing, and then run the applink at least once before going into 3D-Coat? Yes. I made sure to do that, and it required 2 exits and 2 restarts of the app. One to uninstall and another to install. Here is that Mat. file. Maybe it can be stored in the MyDocs/3ds Max/Mat Libraries folder? Or in the applink exchange folder? It's a template Arch & Design mat, but Carrots already adjusted the settings so the user only has to locate the individual export maps 3DCoat_Mat.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) I'll see about having the script re-create these materials dynamically. I think that's a better solution then adding .mat files to the package (this one gave me vray errors too, dont want that happeneing to users who use the applink). Oh and fyi, this was the only time you'll need to do an uninstall before updating. Version 1.5 and newer will be able to be directly installed over each other (1.4 was the first mzp I've ever made so I missed a step that the 1.5 uninstall took care of). Edited December 31, 2015 by PolyHertz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted December 31, 2015 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 I'll see about having the script re-create these materials dynamically. I think that's a better solution then adding .mat files to the package (this one gave me vray errors too, dont want that happeneing to users who use the applink). Oh and fyi, this was the only time you'll need to do an uninstall before updating. Version 1.5 and newer will be able to be directly installed over each other (1.4 was the first mzp I've ever made so I missed a step that the 1.5 uninstall took care of). Volodya (Carrots) is going to attach templates (3ds Max .mat files) for Mental Ray/iRay (should be just one Arch & Design mat for both), VRay, Thea and Corona. When he does, would it be possible to add them as presets in the Applink like you have with the Arch & Design ones? There are some critical adjustments made that should help the user just plug their image files into the right map nodes and they are ready to render. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 (edited) Should be possible, so long as those renderers are all properly exposed to Maxscript. I know VRay is, but never used the other two (will have to grab their demos). Edited December 31, 2015 by PolyHertz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Need to bring this up: For material presets being incorporated, their bitmaps cannot have custom output curves. This feature is not exposed through maxscript, and the only way for me to recreate it is through some VERY hacky methods that I don't want to use. If you want a material preset incorporated into the applink, find another way to get the desired results without using that feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted December 31, 2015 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Need to bring this up: For material presets being incorporated, their bitmaps cannot have custom output curves. This feature is not exposed through maxscript, and the only way for me to recreate it is through some VERY hacky methods that I don't want to use. If you want a material preset incorporated into the applink, find another way to get the desired results without using that feature. So, will the materials not load if they have a map with a custom curve? It really is just the glossiness map, so that is no big deal if it were disabled by default. I can just mention that it needs to be applied by the user as they are locating their maps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 No they can load, just saying that I wont be able to incorporate that aspect of the material into the presets so users would have to do that themselfs. I worry that if I start incorporating 'half-done' presets its going to somewhat defeat the purpose of incorporating them in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted December 31, 2015 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 No they can load, just saying that I wont be able to incorporate that aspect of the material into the presets so users would have to do that themselfs. I worry that if I start incorporating 'half-done' presets its going to somewhat defeat the purpose of incorporating them in the first place. True, but they aren't half-baked. They are just templates that gets the user closer to have their materials all setup and ready to render. I think as long as it sends the maps over, with the right nodes connected to their desired material preset, that's close enough. What you had will be fine, except that it leaves out the Spec Color map, for some reason. We can just leave links to download the different .mat files for each render and I show how the user can utilize those as an alternative to the applink presets. I think you can just merge the Mental Ray and iRay presets into one. They use the same material and settings as far as I know. Adding a VRay preset would be about the only other one. With Thea, they can use the Substance 2 Thea converter they created, to generate a Thea material out of the maps coming from 3D Coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member nirsul Posted January 4, 2016 Member Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Installed the script but once I launch the program it says it cannot locate the 3d-coat porgram - - when I close the message - the UI closes as well and I cannot use the button to change the path. I tried modifying the path to 3d-coat inside the script code ( Since it is not in the c:\programs\3d-coat) - but it still gives me that message. NIR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) That message actually appears if it can't find any 3D-Coat folders in your windows Documents directory (the 3DC exe path isn't mandatory, its just for the auto run feature). If you've run 3D-Coat at least once since it was installed, even if you installed the app to another drive, those folders should still be there afaik... Edited January 4, 2016 by PolyHertz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member nirsul Posted January 4, 2016 Member Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 That message actually appears if it can't find any 3D-Coat folders in your windows Documents folder. If you've run 3D-Coat at least once since it was installed, even if you installed the app to another drive, those folders should still be there afaik... I have run it quite a lot. Nir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Could you a search on your drive to find out where the "3D-CoatV45 > Exchange" folder path is? I just did an install of 3DC on another drive, and the necessary folders were still generated on the C: drive for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member nirsul Posted January 4, 2016 Member Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 OK - There wasn't one and I peeked into the INI files and created a folder where it was supposed to be and now the UI run fine. THX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted January 4, 2016 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Greg, is there any chance you could enable the Specular Color map to be hooked up/imported along with the Color, Gloss and Normal map? Right now, it is always missing, even when the Gloss/Spec Color option is selected in 3D Coat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Sure, here ya go: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4210886/3ds%20Max%20Applink%20v1.5b.mzp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted January 4, 2016 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Sure, here ya go: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4210886/3ds%20Max%20Applink%20v1.5b.mzp I've not been getting anything but just blank Arch & Design ,materials with v 1.5, 1.5a and b. It doesn't import the maps at all. If DEFAULT is chosen in the applink the standard color, gloss and normal maps come in....spec color does not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 So Arch&Design is completely failing to load any maps for you? Hmm...could you send me an example scene using Deafult where some did import, and one using Arch&Design where they didn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted January 4, 2016 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 It doesn't appear to work when using the EXPORT TO 3DS MAX option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted January 4, 2016 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 With "Open in Original App" 1.5b does bring import the Color, Gloss and Normal map, but the Spec Color still is missing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Teriander Posted January 4, 2016 Member Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 Polyhertz, Friendly reminder. Do not forget to update your signature with the newest build. I often use that to know what is the latest, and your signature is still 1.4. Had to read the forum history to find 1.5b. Keep the up great work! You app link saves a lot of time! I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) Teriander: Thanks for the reminder! AbnRanger: I'm going to re-write the material presets system almost completely for the next version (some very useful changes in mind), so hopefully that'll take care of the issue you're having with it. Edited January 4, 2016 by PolyHertz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted January 5, 2016 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 Teriander: Thanks for the reminder! AbnRanger: I'm going to re-write the material presets system almost completely for the next version (some very useful changes in mind), so hopefully that'll take care of the issue you're having with it. Thanks. So far, here are the issues I was finding. I tested them using a blank scene in Max and the PBR sphere preset object from the splash screen. 1) If you use the EXPORT TO 3DS MAX option from the FILE Menu, when you use the Arch & Design preset from the Applink Material Import dropdown, you get nothing but a blank Arch & Design material....no maps come with it. 2) When using the Default Material Import option, you do get the maps but still no Specular Color map come with the rest. And the Glossiness map is plugged into the Spec Color channel, rather than the Glossiness channel 3) When OPEN IN ORIGINAL APP option is used from the FILE menu (if you clear all obj and text files from the MyDocs/3D Coat 4.5/Exchange directory, you will not get the OPEN IN ORIGINAL APP option...something has to be sent from Max for that option to show up in the FILE Menu), and choose an Arch & Design Material preset, then it does work properly...with maps being imported and hooked up...except for the Specular Color map. It never comes in under any circumstances. Hope this helps lead to a resolution. It will be a BIG help for Max users trying to make use of the PBR tech in 3D Coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted January 5, 2016 Report Share Posted January 5, 2016 nirsul: If you're still around, could you tell me where you found the 3DC ini that says where it was looking for the exchange directory? It would be useful to know in case anyone else has such problems in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted January 10, 2016 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 Here is a 3ds Max Material Library with Templates for Mental Ray Arch & Design, VRay Material, Corona Material, and Thea Material. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwde7LiJA38 3DCoat_Mat.zip 3D Coat 2 Thea.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) New release: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4210886/3ds%20Max%20Applink%20v1.6.mzp Changes for 1.6 release:-You can now create your own material presets using material libraries (.mat files). More on this below.-Option to select a 3D-coat exe anywhere on your system via "Other..." at bottom of drop down list.-Right click on Temp drop down list to open the selected temporary files folder.-Fixed some issues for when users canceled an import/export (with "Auto Overwrite Old Mesh" dissabled).-MANY misc code changes and optimizations (practically re-wrote the whole script).Material preset basics: 1. Create a material, and set the desired map slots with files using any of the following names, and the applink will replace them with the equivalent from 3D-Coat: color.jpg , opacity.jpg , rough.jpg , gloss.jpg , specular_color.jpg , metalness.jpg , normal.jpg , emissive.jpg , ao.jpg 2. Add the material to a blank material library and save it to the Applink_Max3DC folder located in your windows documents folder (note: only one material per .mat file supported). 3. Now the next time the applink is started it will show that material file in the presets dropdown!Material preset Utility: -Right click on the material presets drop down menu, a new menu will appear that lets you assign scene settings to each preset. -Right click on any arrows to reset that setting to 'ignore' (ie. don't do anything to that scene setting when using the material preset) -If you assign a setting to "CURRENT SCENE" it will take affect immediately, but for any other selectable presets you need to press Accept or OK button for them to be saved. Material presets known limitations: -Unused maps from preset need to be maually removed (opacity.jpg, emissive.jpg, etc.), so only include the ones you're sure you will be exporting from 3D-Coat when using that preset. -Material presets do NOT support materials that use "bitmaps" instead of "bitmapTextures". What's the difference? A bitmapTexture lets you mess with the bitmaps settings (like output curves), Bitmaps however don't (in DirectX materials for example). -If a preset fails to load on import (like if it requires vray and you don't have vray installed) the objects will use the Default preset (ie. no preset) instead. -Presets should not be multi-sub materials, because then you can end up with multi sub materials inside other multi sub materials, and that hasn't been tested. It -might- work, but I'm really just not sure.NOTE: Stingray Viewport Shader preset has been removed due to incompatibilities with new material preset system. (future version may have it re-implemented, but no promises) Edited January 11, 2016 by PolyHertz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 AbnRanger: just thought I'd point this out after having watched your video. The auto-launch features wont do anything if an instance of the apps are already running. So if max auto launch is enabled it just makes it so 3DCoat knows if you "Export To" Max 2016, it'll only start the program if it sees no copies of "3dsmax.exe" (the same file name used by all max versions afaik) running in your system processess. Same goes for Launching 3D-Coat, though of course there are 4 different name variats of its exe (so if your running an opengl copy of 3d-coat, and have the applink set to a directx version, it wont see a directx version running and thus launch it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted January 11, 2016 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 AbnRanger: just thought I'd point this out after having watched your video. The auto-launch features wont do anything if an instance of the apps are already running. So if max auto launch is enabled it just makes it so 3DCoat knows if you "Export To" Max 2016, it'll only start the program if it sees no copies of "3dsmax.exe" (the same file name used by all max versions afaik) running in your system processess. Same goes for Launching 3D-Coat, though of course there are 4 different name variats of its exe (so if your running an opengl copy of 3d-coat, and have the applink set to a directx version, it wont see a directx version running and thus launch it). Yeah, I presumed the viewer would understand it that way, and I thought I mentioned it in a previous video...that it would auto-launch the app if you didn't have it open already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 Just fyi for anyone interested, did a small stealth update to the v1.6 installer. Nothing got changed in the app, but the uninstaller no longer deletes the settings ini in your documents folder, and should work better in older versions of Max. Also, I'm pretty much calling the project done atp. It's already far more advanced then just about any other applink I've seen, and outside of continuing to add more features to the materials preset system there's really not that much left to do. If Andrew updates the applink sdk, or anyone comes across a bug they want looked at, I'll be around. Otherwise, that's all folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reputable Contributor AbnRanger Posted January 12, 2016 Reputable Contributor Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 Just fyi for anyone interested, did a small stealth update to the v1.6 installer. Nothing got changed in the app, but the uninstaller no longer deletes the settings ini in your documents folder, and should work better in older versions of Max. Also, I'm pretty much calling the project done atp. It's already far more advanced then just about any other applink I've seen, and outside of continuing to add more features to the materials preset system there's really not that much left to do. If Andrew updates the applink sdk, or anyone comes across a bug they want looked at, I'll be around. Otherwise, that's all folks Thanks for all the work that went into it. It's definitely gonna make things easier for Max users to get their PBR textures into the app and ready to render. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyHertz Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 np, it was fun project. Thanks for all the videos btw, it's always sort of neat seeing other people showing off / doing tutorials of stuff you've made Actually, a number of the features were inspired by your videos. The installer was made after I saw your tutorial on manual installation. And the ability for people to make their own presets was inspired by the "Importing from 3D Coat & PBR Maps" video. I'm not sure if you're planning on making any more, but I think the whole 'make your own presets' thing would be good to make a video tutorial for (assuming it's working ok? I don't really know, no ones said anything about it yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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