Material management/usage.

[Ithilis]

Okay, it's entirely possible that I'm just daft, but I have been playing with the 30 Day Demo version of VRay for Sketchup SR1 for about two weeks now, and I still can't seem to get materials to work. I sifted through the forums and read that I can apply the VRay materials the same way I apply the Sketchup materials - using the paint bucket - and that each Sketchup material has a corresponding VRay material. Yet, whenever I render an image using the Sketchup materials, I just get the same old, flat Sketchup materials in my render. So, this begs the question: do the VRay materials even come with the 30 Day Demo?

I also tried to download new textures from the file repository, and could not figure out how to use them. Am I meant to store them somewhere in the Google Sketchup 6 / Materials folder?

Any help would be appreciated, as I am nearing the end of my aforementioned demo period and feel that I have yet to experience the true capabilities of the program. I'd very much like to adopt VRay for Sketchup rather than my current process of exporting models to Cinema 4D.

Thanks!

[alpro]

Re: Material management/usage.

I'm also a newbie using v-ray, just started the 30 day demo and I also need to know how to correctly use vismats, I've looked through the forum and found some info like linking but still don't know how to use a vismat. Any help from all you v-rayers would be truly appreciated as I'm really liking the ease of use and the quality.


Mike

[Ithilis]

Re: Material management/usage.

I still haven't figured it out. I sorta figured out how to use the linked .vismat textures, but with some kinks. The linked texture will use the reflection settings, and I see the basic colour of the diffuse map (using a wood texture creates brownish plain), but the bump map seems completely absent.

It seems uneccessarily complex. I'm coming to the end of the demo period, and it looks like I'll be passing on this product at this time.

[Ithilis]

Re: Material management/usage.

Okay, so I discovered something: I had a hidden directory on my Local Disk called ProgramData, which contained the elusive ASGVIS directory, which, in turn, contained the Materials directory.

I'm still having SOME issues, however. I manged to apply a few of these materials by entering the Plugins>Vray for Sketchup>Material Editor dialogue, then right-clicking on Scene Materials and selecting 'Import New Material'. I then selected a surface that I wished to add the material to, right-clicked on the desired material in the Material Editor dialogue and selected 'Add Material To Object(s)'. However, the materials don't seem to turn out right. I applied the brick and wood floor materials, for instance, and while the materials had the correct reflection properties, but only retained their base colour and had no bump mapping. So, for instance, the wood floor material created a light-brown, semi-reflective surface with no other discernable details.

Could anyone lend a hand? I know my posts have been a touch belligerent, but trying to figure this out by myself has been pretty frustrating.

Thanks!

EDIT - I figured it out. It was a scaling issue.

[dcauldwell_cg]

Re: Material management/usage.

Hi
I think we all faced the frustration you are experiencing when we first started - so you aren't alone!
SR1 - first of all, you simply use the sketchup 'material editor' paintbucket to create and apply the materials - so thats straightforward.
Then if you look in the vray material editor you should see exactly the same list of materials. Its here that you add the 'bells and whistles', either by right clicking the material and importing an existing saved VISMAT e.g. chrome or glass etc. or you can modify the material yourself by adding bump layers or reflective or emmissive layers.
The scale of the material is set in SU and is picked up from there by vray.
The problems you are experiencing sound like scaling issues (these were common in the original vray release), so check in the SU material editor that the texture is the size you want it to be.

I hope this helps

David