How do you convert a Cosmos model into an editable mesh?

[sean_brown]

Hi. I posted this in the Cosmos forum but only got answers regard 3dsMax so Im hoping a Maya user here would know. If so, can someone lay out the steps to convert a Cosmos model into an editable mesh? Thanks so much.

[stezza]

The old version of proxy in Maya used to have the function to create mesh from proxy but think that has gone.

[hermit.crab]

Import the .vrmesh in the old V-Ray proxy and extract the mesh.

[sean_brown]

Import the .vrmesh in the old V-Ray proxy and extract the mesh.

Hi Hermit Crab, can you please explain how to do this? What do you mean by “in the old vray proxy” ? I’m using the latest vray and importing a car model. And how exactly do you “extract the mesh”? What are the steps if you can list them. I’ve been googling and also asking but everything leads to a dead end so steps would be very helpful as I have never done such a thing before. Thank you.

[hermit.crab]

1. Create>V-Ray>Import V-Ray Proxy
2. Select the Cosmos asset .vrmesh (You can check the location in the Cosmos browser Settings)
3. Untick "Use the new VRayProxy node"
4. Select the VRayProxy, under VRayMesh>Restore the mesh>Create a mesh from this proxy

[seandunderdale]

This is super useful, cheers!

[sean_brown]

1. Create>V-Ray>Import V-Ray Proxy
2. Select the Cosmos asset .vrmesh (You can check the location in the Cosmos browser Settings)
3. Untick "Use the new VRayProxy node"
4. Select the VRayProxy, under VRayMesh>Restore the mesh>Create a mesh from this proxy

Hi Hermit.crab, thank you very much for these steps. I do have 2 questions. Ones is when the mesh is restored the materials are missing. How do I restore/transfer the materials over as well? The other question is when i try to select the faces by going in to Faces mode of the restored mesh, I'm still only able to select a bounding box. Is there another step to get to the actual faces?

[hermit.crab]

Ones is when the mesh is restored the materials are missing. How do I restore/transfer the materials over as well?

There should be a .vrmat file in the Cosmos .vrmesh folder, which holds all the shaders.

The other question is when i try to select the faces by going in to Faces mode of the restored mesh, I'm still only able to select a bounding box. Is there another step to get to the actual faces?

Works fine on my end without any additional steps. I just went from Object mode to Faces mode.

[sean_brown]

There should be a .vrmat file in the Cosmos .vrmesh folder, which holds all shaders

Hi Hermit.crab. What are the steps to use the .vrmat file to restore the shaders?

Thanks again.

[hermit.crab]

Hi Hermit.crab. What are the steps to use the .vrmat file to restore the shaders?

Thanks again.

Load it into a VRayVRMatMtl.

[sean_brown]

Load it into a VRayVRMatMtl.

Hi hermit.crab,

I was able to create a VRmatMtl for the proxy and import the .vrmat file into it, btw there were 3 .vrmat files and the difference is a 3 letter word in the file name 3dh, 3dm and 3dl. After that i can see the main material the covers most of the chair returns but not the others. They are listed in the VRmatMtl attribute editor tho. Is there another step to get all the materials to go to the right place?

[hermit.crab]

You would have to do that manually by i.e. applying multiple VRayVRMatMtls (which load a different shader from the list) on the corresponding polygon surfaces.

[sean_brown]

You would have to do that manually by i.e. applying multiple VRayVRMatMtls (which load a different shader from the list) on the corresponding polygon surfaces.

Really? So why does having to break up the object into hundreds of faces the way to make it editable because that makes adding the materials very difficult. Why can’t the original objects remain intact like the chair backing or chair cushion instead of hundreds of faces? That would make adding the material back a lot Simpler. Usually when things are built in Maya objects are grouped to make more complex objects. This chair is probably a hand full. But this proxy method merges it all and makes it hundreds of faces. What if this was a car? This would make it really tedious. Is this really the way? Originally I wanted to animate a car and just be able to selected the wheels and tires. Two or 3 objects at most. Now I’m forced to select hundreds of faces instead? Most models imported, objects are selectable when expanding the groups. What aren’t these?

[damaggio]

You are right sean_brown , that is just too much work , imagine a tree or any heavy asset, I believe this is by design so people don't pass assets around to non Vray users for free, which makes sense to me.

[^Lele^]

I believe this is by design so people don't pass assets around to non Vray users for free, which makes sense to me.

Not really.
It's more of a limitation in Maya, as it doesn't have a multi-sub object material type of workflow, relying on shading groups instead.
In Max, the conversion to mesh with the materials applied is a single click (see attached.) to import the proxy as mesh.
I would assume this could be scripted on the Maya side.