Mapping without Explicit Map channel - How does it work?

[thomthom]

(Update: Fixed the screenshots.)

Some times I want to add a map to a material without a diffuse texture. Without the texture map the Explicit Mapping coordinates are pointless. So I've been trying to figure out how Planar XYZ and Planar World XYZ mapping works.



This is a test scene where I've used various mapping methods.



I was thinking that Object XYZ meant that the texture was relative to the object's axis and that a map with a UVW transform repeat of 1,1,1 would mean that the texture would fit once along the lengths of the object. The map used is the same grid map used for the Linked Material example. From the text render I see that I was wrong, obviously. But I can't see any system to it either. I don't understand how I can control the size of the texture.
Same goes for Planar World XYZ.

With the original VfSU you could assign a dummy texture and apply a non-linked material where the V-Ray material could make use of the SU mapping coordinates.
It was a nice method that allowed me to keep a material that would look nice in SU as well as being able to render the model in V-Ray. (If the diffuse is linked then Crome objects got a black diffuse so they don't look too well in the SU view as the mesh turns all black. And Glass just becomes invisible.)

The Linked material in the scene got a second diffuse with a Grid map. The grid map uses the mapping of the SU diffuse. The SU diffuse is set to completely transparent. This works well for the rendering, but makes the material invisible in the SU view. One work around is to disable transparency for the style. However, this does mean that I can't make a model that I can render as well as keeping it presentable in plain SU. Alternative would be to keep separate models, but that makes for an awkward workflow.

So, I got a few things I'm wondering about regarding textures and mapping:
1. How does Object XYZ and Planar World XYZ mapping work?
2. Can materials be unlinked in SR1? (Sorry to ask this, I know you've worked hard to make material automatically sync with SR1, and in most cases it's what I want, but sometimes I want them not to.) (No pleasing someone, eh? )


I know that SU isn't great with textures and feeding all info to VfSU. Mapping gizmos is one of the things I'm really hoping for in SU7. I'm testing these edge cases because some times the normal mapping method isn't what I want. The manual didn't have any info about this so I was hoping to tap into the collective knowledge base.

[thomthom]

Re: Mapping without Explicit Map channel - How does it work?

No one?

[dalomar_cg]

Re: Mapping without Explicit Map channel - How does it work?

I looked into it a little bit, and couldn't get anything to work. I've had a bunch of other things going on so I haven't been able to investigate further.

2. No unlinking at the moment and I'm not sure the potential for this in the future. I'm just wondering why this has come up so much recently. Before the SR, materials back and forth were a mess. Now, you don't even have to think about materials going back and forth. I'm just wonder whats the huge need for unlinking.

[nomeradona_cg]

Re: Mapping without Explicit Map channel - How does it work?

another reason why i am still stuck with vray for su. sometimes i jsut want to play things other than linked materials. on the other hand i seem like the angle blend material in sr. nevertheless im still with old version since there is no change with rendering time.

[thomthom]

Re: Mapping without Explicit Map channel - How does it work?

2. No unlinking at the moment and I'm not sure the potential for this in the future. I'm just wondering why this has come up so much recently. Before the SR, materials back and forth were a mess. Now, you don't even have to think about materials going back and forth. I'm just wonder whats the huge need for unlinking.

Normally you want a linked material. However, as it is with the office I work in, sometimes there isn't time to render of images. (Last minute changes etc.) Then the model has to double as not only a model to render from, but also being presentable straight from SU. Black chrome and invisible glass doesn't look good.
The unlinked materials where actually a nice feature. I think that, with the original release where materials where unlinked by default and you had to manually link them, it was awkward as most of the time we want them linked. In SR1 they are linked, as so many of us here on the forum requested, but (always a but) I don't think anyone thought that we'd not be able to unlink it. It's one of them features where you won't have people announcing the usefulness, but non the less still use it.
So the ideal would be if VfSU was working the opposite as the original release; Automatically linked materials, but with the option to manually unlink them.



Also, when assigning a bitmap, there's a box saying material ID. I recognize this from 3DSMax, but what's it's role in VfSU?

[dalomar_cg]

Re: Mapping without Explicit Map channel - How does it work?

I guess I still don't get it. All the SU material has is diffuse properties, and we're not preventing you from setting any of those. Not to mention that we don't actually display any reflection/refraction information. Again, I'm probably just not getting it. I'm not working on deadlines and projects in SU all day like you guys are, so thats probably why I'm not following the request. Connecting the materials like they are was not easy to work out and takes so much of the hassle of working with materials out of the way. In every other application you just work in the material editor for the renderer that your working with (provided they are separate), but a lot of SU users just don't seam to want to do that.