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I'm not quite sure if I missed a topic about this here in the forums (I tried to find it) but it seems that there hasn't been anyone asking about the material creation possibilities in Houdini mat networks yet.
First of all, I'm guessing this is not possible due to the way mantra compiles vop networks and how the whole export architecture of vray probably works ... but I'll try anyways:
1) I don't seem to be able to expose parameters (like diffuse color or anything else) to the material builder itself - it doesn't create inputs and outputs, just "settings" on the material builder itself. Meaning, I can't connect anything into or get anything out of a material builder - which kinda defies the purpose. I'm basically not much better off than just making separate mat networks for each material.
2) I can't make any HDAs.. at all. I'd like to be able to create my own little tools like custom noises and things like a height blend node but without HDAs, this is much more cumbersome. This also means I have to copy and paste setups instead of "instancing" them somewhere else.
3) I can't seem to be referencing materials in other networks or material builders etc. As soon as I wrap something up in a material network this is a standalone thing that cannot be used for anything else than direct assignment. For example: I can't use a layered material node to blend a material builder with some other material. I'd be better off to just not use material builders at all (which however is also not great since I don't get a filtered tab menu outside of the material builder). Redshift for example at least has a "shader merge" node which can reference other materials and bring them into a RS material builder.
I very much like vray4houdini so far, great work on that, but those limitations are a bit disappointing. Redshift can't expose parameters to material builder level either, but hdas and referencing is possible, which makes it a lot easier to work with in more complex scenes and setups.
First of all, I'm guessing this is not possible due to the way mantra compiles vop networks and how the whole export architecture of vray probably works ... but I'll try anyways:
1) I don't seem to be able to expose parameters (like diffuse color or anything else) to the material builder itself - it doesn't create inputs and outputs, just "settings" on the material builder itself. Meaning, I can't connect anything into or get anything out of a material builder - which kinda defies the purpose. I'm basically not much better off than just making separate mat networks for each material.
2) I can't make any HDAs.. at all. I'd like to be able to create my own little tools like custom noises and things like a height blend node but without HDAs, this is much more cumbersome. This also means I have to copy and paste setups instead of "instancing" them somewhere else.
3) I can't seem to be referencing materials in other networks or material builders etc. As soon as I wrap something up in a material network this is a standalone thing that cannot be used for anything else than direct assignment. For example: I can't use a layered material node to blend a material builder with some other material. I'd be better off to just not use material builders at all (which however is also not great since I don't get a filtered tab menu outside of the material builder). Redshift for example at least has a "shader merge" node which can reference other materials and bring them into a RS material builder.
I very much like vray4houdini so far, great work on that, but those limitations are a bit disappointing. Redshift can't expose parameters to material builder level either, but hdas and referencing is possible, which makes it a lot easier to work with in more complex scenes and setups.
. I have attached an image of what I mean exactly (matbuilder.png) . I'd like to be able to get data in and out of the material builder and make more complex networks (and reusable materials for use in different blend materials) this way. But this also related to 3) where I can't use material builders anyways.
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