("universal") Material Converter anyone?

[stefan_laub1]

Dear All,

i wonder who woudl be interestin in a kind of "universal" material converer for all major engines in c4d?
At start at least for the base materials and basic setups like PBR like materials and usual shaders like dirt, curvatur, layers, mix etc.

the idea is it can convert c4d to all 3rd party engines,
and most important V-Ray to Corona and back, and also to and from Redshift, Octane or ANY combinations of those engines.

if you are interested, pls tell me,
and also what you woudl be willing to pay for it (it cant be free as this is quites some work to setup)


cheers
Stefan

[f2b]

Hi Stefan! Good idea but i think it will be the next step.

Actually we are a lot to expect a converter from VRay 3.7 to VRay 5. It is the first step for me and many others. I could pay a lot for that!

[stefan_laub1]

well yes but this is something that needs to come from V-Ray itself.

the "render engine" mat converter is not meant as a repacement for that,
more univeral/external approach, for copeing with different assets and for users who use more than one engine, so still helpful i believe

[leo_a]

yes, this would be helpful!

[haniel1107]

I would buy it… I guess such an universal converter, many users would buy it and pay what it costs

[stefan_laub1]

thats my hope that many woudl like it, as i needed to get the developer costs in.
if it happens we woudl make it that pro users can tune the extact mat translation settings to their needs (via an xml table that controls the plugin conversion p.e)

[Shahyn]

Great idea, Stefan! Any kind of converter enabling users to switch render engines, 3D-applications and formats is highly appreciated. Maybe you could give us more information about how this converter-process will work and which features and options it could include (just a rough sketch). From your posts I still cannot imagine how exactly it might contribute to my workflow.

@F2B: Concerning a proper Vray 3.7 to Vray5 converter, this would be great for lib4d-files. Users like me having gathered a huge Content Browser-library with Vray 3.7-assets, scenes and -materials cannot use this content any more and start Vray5 with nothing. Yes, C4D R25 does not support the Content Browser any more, but as long as Vray5 does not integrate the Asset Browser, I will stay with S24. And the conversion of Vray 3.7-lib4ds would make Vray5 much more attractive for users sticking to their Content Browser collection.

[benoit_albagli]

Hello Stephan, I work a lot on Redshift and am more and more interested in Vray.
My only problem is not having my material library
There is a Plugin that I find really very useful on Redshift made by Daniel San.
here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhBbLo9THcQ&t=1s

Main features:
• "Auto Textures" searches a given directory for relevant texture maps based on predefined keywords, then parses the filenames and creates a chain of texture nodes for each PBR component accordingly.
• Keywords are customizable within the dialog and a preset can be saved in a preferences file, to be loaded with Cinema 4D.
• Option to add TriPlanar nodes with on / off switcher within Shadergraph • Remap nodes to easily adjust scale, rotation, and offset
• Asynchronous dialog can be docked and saved as part of the C4D layout, to be loaded on every startup.

A version for Vray would be really very practical in my opinion! thank you.
Benoît

[stefan_laub1]

yes i have that plugin too, i bought it last week.


but it only loads the textures which you need to have or buy, in the according slots, which i feel is pretty easy in vray 5 anyway.(lot easier than the rs nodes)

if such a thing is wanted for vray or corona we can make it of course, i also thought on that already, but not yet sure, if enough would buy it (which is the main issue for also the above ideas)

[benoit_albagli]

yes indeed on vray it is easier to use the corresponding locations.
But I have so many PBR.
If it could be done automatically that would be really good!
I hope that this kind of Plugin interests people
thx

[mark_sandford]

Hi, Did anything happen with this idea?

[HarrySeidl]

Hi Stefan, very, very good, I would buy it! All your plugins are very useful - love Q-Tile-Pro. Go for it... LG Harry

[stefan_laub1]

thanks Harry for your kind words
glade you like our Q-Tile-Pro!

overall i got a cost calculations from developers, to implement most of the functions you all wish here, this is a 15-20k job (supporting nodes, and the various engines), so pretty much sadly. i am not sure if that comes in.
i also already thought on some slightly different variant with a kind of "export" from each engine, that can be imported again (into another engine and also another host app), this might make a bigger user base and more easy to get the funds.

to convert old vray to new vray mats, is something Chaosgroup needed to make, as it isnt possible to have old and new vray loaded into same c4d. i could only imagine an "export file" from older c4d + old vray to be loaded into new c4d and create the vray mats according.

what i can offer is that we start a kind of "crowd funding" pre-sale, and if like 80+% of the needed amount comes in we develop it.(if not you get the amount back)
please note that any of this solutions might have limitations on what can be converted.

tell me what you think on that idea of a crowd funding etc?

thanks
Stefan

[xpez]

this sounds like a great idea for a tool. I would buy it. I am sure if it was under $20-$250. It could fit into the annual plugin budget The higher the price gets I would probably keep putting it off until I was desparate for a solution...LOL. I have a license for realflow c4d and never upgraded because its $500!!! .

[stefan_laub1]

Hi all,

some info update:

as we got very different wishes on features, supported engines, and also pricing options /limits etc, we needed some time to think on this project. anyway thanks for all input
it is a time consuming task it seems, specially if nodes should be included, but we still feel such converted can help c4d users much.

after some evaluations, i came to the conclusion that i will post very soon at least 3 options for choice as a kind of crowd funding plugin which you can get via 3dtools.info.
options are from a simpler version (cheaper) to more complex and flexible material conversion solutions (sadly have to cost more). maybe even one including conversion outside the borders of c4d (unreal, blender?)

if we get enough pre-sales for one of the 3 option to to cover the development costs, we will let the developers make this plug-in version.
users who opted for another option than succeeding, we will contact in case if they would support the material converter variant most did choose.

please post any questions, ideas or concerns on this idea
Stefan