Material Mapping

[luna]

Hi, I am new to this software. I downladed a brick material form this site and applyed it to a surface but I can hardly see the brick pattern. How can I adjust the size of the brick pattern so it displays correctly. Thank you.

[pibuz_cg]

Re: Material Mapping

Hi luna! Welcome!

Your question is referring not properly to Vray for SketchUp, but to SketchUp in general. The mapping part of the process is done directly in SU: there are only few steps to achieve the right object mapping (or at least the mapping you want.

1. First of all apply a textured material in SU. You've probably already done it in your try.
2. Then, a first attempt to get a bigger texture is to edit the material in SU (just in the EDIT tab you find in the window MATERIAL in SU). Here you find two numbers, referring to the dimensions of the textures: by default they're linked, so if you change one dimension the other one is recalculated to maintain the original proportions. Change one of these numbers to a higher value, and in the model your texture should change its appeareance.
This is the procedure to scale the textures in all the objects in the scene which have the same material. And Vray should recognize the new scale of the texture.
3. If you want to scale or rotate only a texture in one face of an object, you can right-click that face and choose texture -> position. By clicking on the pins you can skew, distort, rotate and scale only the texture applied to the single face you've selected. If you want to rotate the texture by 90, 180, 270 you've only to right-click again and choose rotate.

Hop i helped!

[luna]

Re: Material Mapping

Yes it helped! and thanks for your quick response. This was very helpful. I applied and adjusted the textures following you directions and it worked nicely.
Would you clarify this for me? and I apologize for the question if it seems easy to understand for others. I am just new to the whole 3d experience and I hope other people like me will benefit from a step by step explanation like you provided on my first questions. Here it goes...
When I downloaded a material from this site there were three files in the zip file, two .png file and one .vismat. Using one of the .png files I created and scaled the material in sketchup. Then I linked the new material thru VRay material editor and used one of the .png files for diffuse material and the other for bump material. Then I applied the materials to a surface in the 3d model thru VRay. Now with the linked material in VRay I can modify the material adding emissive layers, reflection, refraction etc. So, I take that the .vismat files downloaded from the site will only work in other modeling programs like 3d studio...etc. Thanks for you help.

[paulo_kulot]

Re: Material Mapping

Hello! Newbie here, need help!

How do i apply a material with an emmissive layer with bitmap on it in such a way that the bitmap fits exactly my model's surface? Say, a TV screen, do i have to re-scale my bitmap to the exact dimensions of the tv screen before i even set it as the bitmap of my emissive layer? or will vray automatically stretch it to fit the tv screen?

If you've seen the vray tutorial manual, there's an image of an ipod there, i believe its LCD is composed of an emissive layer with a bitmap. That's similar to what i'm trying to achieve. But I always end up with an oversized bitmap that shows only a miniscule of a portion of it! Help, anyone? Thanks!!!

[dalomar_cg]

Re: Material Mapping

Take the image that you want to map and make a SU material for it. Align the texture how you want it, then make a linked material from that SU material. Add an emmissive layer and use the same image for the color of the emissive layer. Adjust the intensity via the texture multiplier.

[paulo_kulot]

Re: Material Mapping

oh so that's how its done! thanks! but somehow the color of the bitmap changed a little bit, maybe because of the emissive layer intensity, or the other lights in my model.. anyway, i already got it in place, i'll just have to play with the settings. Thanks a lot!
I'm also wondering when the downloads section be active again, gotta have those vismats. haha

[pibuz_cg]

Re: Material Mapping

sorry Luna for the late response..
Glad i helped! ;D

About your last question, the only important thing you have to know, dealing with any rendering application is that each one of them follows its own algorithms, its "rules"..
So it is very very difficult to make materials work with different render engines. I tell you after having dealt with "3dstudio default scanline render engine", "vray", "Kerkythea", "Maxwell",...
It is true that every material is simply made up by textures, but the way the program processe that images is from time to time different, do you follow me?

So, many times when you download a material it'll be probably followed by the textures it's made of: this happens because once you've decided which material you want to use you'll have to MAP it; the modelling applications work differently about the mapping topic: knowing 3dstudio, i say that if you want to map something with the simple material it is possible. On the other hand, using SU as a modeler it is impossible (or much more difficult) to map a texture starting from a made-up material.

All this blah blah blah to lead you a little bit inside the problem.

Now we go to the easy part.

1. When you download a material from the material repository of this site you'll download for sure a ".vismat" file, followed by one or more textures, in different formats.
I usually put in the .rar file ALL the textures I used to create the material, just in case anybody may want to make any changes.. (my materials have by Pibuz in the title )
2. Once downloaded, i suggest you create a folder in your Hard Disk named "asgvis materials": put there any subfolder you want and put in each subfolder all the files which come with the download.
Here follow some examples of folders to make your library of materials:
c:\programs\asgvis materials\wooden floor01 (here you put all the files you download for a specific wooden floor)
c:\programs\asgvis materials\bathroom tiles
and so on..
3. Then let's go with the interesting part: let's say you've downloaded a nice parquet flooring, and that you've already put it into a specific folder you've named "nice wood floor".
In SU you make your floor geometry, let's say a plane, and then go to material panel, create a new mat and specify a texture you will find into
c:\programs\asgvis materials\nice wood floor. Name your SU material "floor"
4. Then apply the material in SU. Map it like you've learned. Ok.
5. Now open the material browser of Vray for sketchup. It opens up showing a standard vray mat in the list. That's all right.
6. Right click on "scene materials" add add a vray linked material. Choose "floor" in the list or famts (vray shows in the "choose list" the names of the materials it finds to be in current model's SketchUp library).
7. Now you have in your vray mat list a material named "linked_floor"
8. last step: right click on "linked_floor" and choose IMPORT. Now. go to c:\programs\asgvis materials\nice wood floor and select the .vismat file you find.

9. there you go: the render will show all the layers the material is made up!!

Easier done than said, i tell you..
Just give it a try, and you'll find that it is far more simple than it seems!

Note that this method is just MY method: it's the workflow i find most fast and efficient, but many could not agree with me, it's a personal choice!

I say: just try! It's better to know a bad process than to know any process at all!

Good luck! Let us know if you get it!

And perhaps you couldpost your trials.. ;D

Cheers!

Pibuz

[luna]

Re: Material Mapping

Hi, I really appreciate the time you took write this detailed email. I tried it and it worked nicely. Thank You. ;D

[mea]

Re: Material Mapping

Thanks for that info pibuz. That was the most clear tutorial I have found anywhere.

I am also a beginner, and I have read/searched multiple forums and gone through many tutorials, but am still struggling a little bit. I know how to link sketchup materials to vray (thanks pibuz!). I dont want my renderings to look like stickers on a wall- i want them to have some texture. From what I've read, bump and displacement are the way to do this. In these forums it seems like the consensus is that displacement doesnt work, and one should link to a bump map using a greyscale image of the texture.

i cannot figure out how to "bump map." i see bump as an option in the material editor, but i do not know how to link the greyscale image to the material.

also, i am looking for vismat files (specifically some nice concrete). if they are not available, is it possible to make a jpg into a vismat?

thanks for the help. i know these questions have been asked aroudn, but i've really tried to do my homework on this subject and am still feeling lost.

[steviu]

Re: Material Mapping

Hi guys, I'm new of this forum so i want to say "hi" to everyone.
I'm not very expert with vray and I'm going to learn how vismat materials work.

Probably my situation is the same of Luna's one. I can't understand how I can use .vismat files.
Then I have read the very accurated tutorial from pibuz and I think it is very useful but following that I can't have any render.
I explain my step and my problem:

1. i built a wall
2. i downloaded a material from the site called "brick-wall_red" ( a .zip file where there are 2 .png files and 1 .vismat file.)
3. i create a new material in sketchup meterial editor using one of these .png (one of these shows the red brick and the other grey brick and i chose the first one). so from the zipped folder i choose one.png file.
4. i set everything in terms of scale and proportion and it is fine.the name of the new material is "brick red"
5. right click and i linked the material in vray.
6. now in vray editor i have "linked_brick red"
7. now following the pibuz tutorial i have to get right click on the material and import the vismat file. (so about the zipped folder i used at first the .png file to edit a new material in SU material editor and now the .vismat file)
8. i try to update the material and the render but i can't see anything....ALL THINGS ARE GREY!

for sure i make a simple but BIG mistake!....
i hope it is clear my problem also because my english is very bad.sorry!

any idea to help me??

thank you very much.

stef.

[lamper]

Re: Material Mapping

http://asgvis.com/index.php?option=c...&topic=3844.15

read last two pages of that topic I think that would help you
I think I had the same problem so there is a solution for that.

regards
bartek

[steviu]

Re: Material Mapping

Hi lamper!
Thank you for your message....but I have not solved the problem.
Basically I'd like to know a right way to exploit the .vismat file and get a render.

For example I have downloaded the material wood_01.zip.

So I explain my problem:

1.I create a floor
2.in SU I create a new material using one of the .png files inside the folder wood_01.zip, I used wood-02-d.png
3. I set the size e position in sketchup
4. right click and I link the material in Vray, so I have the same name Linked_wood_01
5. now i try right-clik on this material and "import" the wood_01.vismat but when i get the preview of the material I can see just a grey surface and then when get render i have my surface without any material.

I can't understand the reason.
After i read the topics of this forum i guess my way to do is correct.

basically I can notice that: if i check the Diffuse option of the material Linked_wood_01, it seems there is a bitmap loaded but if i get the preview it is grey, so, always in diffuse setting, I link the wood-02_d and i can see the correct preview and the i can get a render.

has anyone an idea abut it?

regards,
stef.

[lamper]

Re: Material Mapping

Steviu
It is only way to do that. You always have to re-establish links for the bitmap in vray material. ( I'm not an expert, just a new person, so I might be wrong but => )

David ( profile of dcauldwell ) wrote to me :
"You don't need to import the vismat in your stage (3), bu if you do, when you check this you will find that the link to the file has been broken. If you do import the vismat into the linked material, go in and edit the linked files to re-establish the link.

I just tried it:-

1 applied material in sketchup - rendered ok
2 created vray linked material, added bump - rendered ok
3 imported vray vismat file - didn't render properly
4 edited vismat files to re-establish links - now renders ok"

I hope that will help you, but I'm not sure if this is what you were asking about.

regards
bartek

[steviu]

Re: Material Mapping

Hi Lamper,
Thank you for your answer.
I have read alla the answer of the topic that you suggested me and now I solved.

I'm a little bit confused... :...because it seems that .vismat files are useful just for the features of the materials but I have to re-link everytime my material file (.png, jpeg or whatever....)
So basically if you give just a material folder with only a .vismat file it could be useless.....................
is it right?

I have to play a little bit to find out that!....

thank you.

stef.

[dcauldwell_cg]

Re: Material Mapping

This is where I would say that having an orderly filing system, where you are consistent about the location of texture files is important. If you start moving files around, then you will confuse the vismat. I think that once re-linked (and you should only need to do it once) like bartek said, you shouldn't have a problem.

David