assigned bitmaps just disappear in material editor !

[kwistenbiebel1]

Hi all,
I want to use a clip map for leaves on a tree.

This is what i did:
1. I Linked the SU leaf material.
2. add a transparency map (= a B/W clip map texture) to the diffuse layer of that vraylinked material.
3. I click on update preview and check the diffuse layer again. What do I see: the transparencey bitmap( should be a big 'M') is GONE !

What's up with this?
Do clip maps work?
What about disappearing textures in the material editor?

[dalomar_cg]

Re: assigned bitmaps just disappear in materia editor !

If you are trying to set up the map on a linked layer, then none of the settings will be retained because they are being referenced from the SU material.

[kwistenbiebel1]

Re: assigned bitmaps just disappear in material editor !

Thanks for the reply.....
But this makes no sense at all.

The leaves are 'well positioned'(=UV mapped) in Sketchup.
So adding a transparency map HAS TO BE DONE USING A LINKED MATERIAL. How else can we position the leave texture correctly? Vray has no WYSIWYG uv-mapping tool.
I would expect if one would add a transparency map (same bitmap size as diffuse bitmap)to a linked layer it would have matching uv-settings to the according diffuse SU texture.


Oh boy, this is a major issue.
Sorry to say, but this makes Vray not usable for me.

[dalomar_cg]

Re: assigned bitmaps just disappear in material editor !

Yea, I was under the assumption that SketchUp could have a map for transparency, which it can't, so I totally see your point. I just talked to Joe, and we'll see about setting it up differently so that either the transparency map can be set through the linked layer, or a transparency map that would be applied to the whole material, not just the layer.

In the mean time I have a bit of a work around. So first off you will need to create a bogus linked material, but make sure that the SU opacity color is white and that there is a texture applied. After that add a diffuse layer to the material (doesn't matter if its above or below the linked layer). In the added layer you can add the leaf map and the transparency map. Because it is still set up through the linked material, the UV information is created and it can be used by other layers.

[kwistenbiebel1]

Re: assigned bitmaps just disappear in material editor !

Thanks Dalomar,
I'll try that.

In the gallery section, I posted a rendering using a normal vraymaterial with 'guessed' uv-mapping on the textures (diff/trans.)