Vismat file format

[Nickkarter]

Has the file format for the vismat been changed for the latest release? The new materials in Vray Express Toolbar that work fine in Rhino will not load in Material Studio. Also there is no option to open an Angular Blend material in Material Studio.

Nick R

[dkendig]

Re: Vismat file format

The material studio was built off of the 1.0 release, which by this point is rather outdated. We are currently working on updating the material studio to use the latest material information. We should have a new version of our material studio available soon. We appreciate your patience.

[han3d]

Re: Vismat file format

issue is discreet will never let anyone do that
so isnt that possible to do
of course it is
and that is why hacking or reverse engineering exist
but as a published paper you cannot find anything like that
so either you will hire some people to professionally do it for money
do it yourself
or as you do it convert it within 3ds max via scripts and export that way which also contains do it yourself or hire someone for yourself approach
just if you like to do it and will professionally pay for it we can gather some people around and hack the beat out of discreet and their lousy file formats I know some of the places to ask for it

[dkendig]

Re: Vismat file format

what?

[Travis Serio_cg]

Re: Vismat file format

lol. I think han thought you guys were talking about the .mat max materials.

[han3d]

Re: Vismat file format

.mat files aren't specifically v-ray materials, they're 3D Studio Max materials. Autodesk doesn't like people messing with their file extensions. I haven't been able to find any documentation about the .mat material, or how to extract data from one (without the use of Max anyway). If you find any information about how to extract material information from a .mat file, please let us know. We would love to be able to tap in to the already huge material library out there

[dalomar_cg]

Re: Vismat file format

Hacking the format is not a viable way. Thats something that could come and bite us in the butt....legally, which wouldn't be pretty. If there is published information about the mat format that we have overlooked then please let us know about it, but asking us to do something thats probably illegal is not going to be a course of action we are willing to take.

[han3d]

Re: Vismat file format

nothing is illegal
especially file conversion
of course it depends who you ask
but how you think other applications can read dwg format 3ds format or others
simply they decode the format
did you ever think autodesk will publish any of its format details
well it wont happen
and they try changing their format in each version
are they successful enough
no
other companies still hacking it
do you think if mcneel couldnt import or export as much file types as good as today they could ever sell rhino this much or even exist
dont worry
if autodesk had anything to do about it
well they would have done it long before
they sued
then lost
they do it themselves pretty much anyway
or they should erase the import or export functions for other 3d package formats
but what you ask not even in that category
you simply ask a way to convert vray based 3ds materials to convert vray for rhino materials
what you need a bit reverse engineering
how you can do it
you can professionally pay for it
you can do it yourself
you can choose not to do it
anyway
you asked
and I explain the only way
if you willing to pay for it professionally I can ask some of the people that might willing to do it and find some information about the formats
otherwise just leave it
vray for rhino is just great as it is already
and making new materials from the start would be easier anyway

http://blog.tmcnet.com/regulations/i...and-open-d.asp
http://aecnews.com/articles/2192.aspx
http://developers.slashdot.org/artic.../12/20/1348205
http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~...n%20Bunner.pdf
http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~..._vol45_p15.pdf
http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~...%20reveng5.pdf
http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~...%20reveng3.pdf

[dalomar_cg]

Re: Vismat file format

Well you really supported your argument well by the first 3 links you posted being about the legal trouble from trying to hack the DWG format....

The reality of the situation is that it is illegal to hack formats, its just a matter of whether the company that owns the format chooses to take action or not. Since we're a small company we'd rather not chance our future on whether Autodesk would or would not take legal action.

The other factors that you've failed to address is the nature of the .mat format itself. The format changes with every release of Max, so its not just a matter of hacking one version it there would be many. ChaosGroup also has no way of controlling how their information gets written into the file, so there could potentially be a different way to write the same information depending on which version of V-Ray you are using.

So thats at least a half a dozen versions of Max to deal with, with 3-6 different versions of V-Ray to deal with if not more. We're talking hacking around 30, possibly more, flavors of the .mat format.

This is the situation that we were looking at with the alternative being to load them up in Max and write out the file from the information in the interface. If its too much trouble to download a trial of Max and a trial of V-Ray, then all I have to say is sorry.

[dkendig]

Re: Vismat file format

Wait a second guys... this thread has NOTHING to do with .mat materials. Why are we even discussing them? Nickkarter was asking if the .vismat file format had changed in the latest version of our software, because he is not able to load newly created .vismat materials in to the old material studio. There was no mention of .mat materials, 3D Studio Max, or Discreet (which is a company that doesn't even exist anymore).

Furthermore, "hacking" and "illegal" acts are not appropriate topics of discussion on these forums. Why anyone would think otherwise is beyond me. That's why my original response was simply the word "what?", because I was completely lost. Please stop this ridiculous discussion before I delete this thread. The original topic was actually a valid and useful topic, and it's getting hijacked by some nonsense, stop it.

Thank You

[mattsmith98]

Re: Vismat file format

Could someone point to a place(singular) in which we can download VISMAT files!. I have been using MAXWELL for about a year. They have the BEST place to download all user made materials (over4,000) by catagories and keywords.

ASGVIS seems like they were born yesterday without a clue on how to build a cross-functional website focused on customer support.

Where the hell is the damn VISMAT materials?? !!!

- spoiled

[dalomar_cg]

Re: Vismat file format

If you click on Downloads at the top of the page (you will need to be logged in) that will bring you to the main remository. On that list is V-Ray Materials. In there you'll find all the materials...some of them are in folders based on type others are there towards the bottom.

Also at the top right corner of the whole site is an image that says V-Ray Materials. Clicking on that will bring you right to them as well.

Our material library is open to share. So if you create some materials and would like to share them, feel free to upload them.

Also, I would check out SwissCad's site as there are a bunch of materials there as well.
http://asgvis.com/index.php?option=c...25046#msg25046