After you convert a bitmap texture (.jpg, .png, etc) to a .tx file with ChaosGroup’s MakeTx.exe program, and then place that .tx file into the VrayHDRI loader within the Material Editor, you cannot click on the material’s Parameters/View Image button and actually see the texture. The .tx texture will show up in the small spherical material preview ball, and it will show up on in the viewport if you set the tx file to display on a material, but you cannot view the entire texture like you can a jpg or png file.
Is this functionality something that is within ChaosGroup’s scope of work or Autodesk/3dsmax’s?
this might seem a silly question, but i often use the Vray Material Library as a base to start from, and then personalise the materials. Is there an option to download the assets as jpgs/pngs instead of tx files? This has been my first encounter with tx files, and I have no software that can open and thus edit them. Or is there free software that you can recommend?
You can ‘open as’ a tiff in P’shop and then edit and save.
This was from another post somewhere here but I can’t find it now…I just happened to remember the workflow
Correct.
.TX files are of the TIFF type, but with mip-maps embedded.
Opening them as TIFF and resaving will however lose the mip-maps.
So the ideal workflow to edit would be to open as TIFF, edit, and Save as some other non-compressed format, like PNG.
Finally, the .TX file should be remade from the edited PNG via makeTX.exe, so to get all its benefits.
Also relatively new to TX files here… Will the ideal process described by Lele work throughout the VRay platforms? I’m using the Sketchup version.
The only reference I could locate on the Chaos sites was for Houdini MakeTX - V-Ray for Houdini - Chaos Help
The saving and rebuilding of the mipmaps is valid for all the V-Ray platforms, so long as you have a makeTX.exe installed.
I’m unsure of where it may be installed for sketchup, but you can ask in the specific forum section.
In case, it’s in any installation of V-Ray for Max, Maya or Houdini, there’s no need for licenses.
Oh, thanks for your quick response Lele!
Can you clarify this: “In case, it’s in any installation of V-Ray for Max, Maya or Houdini, there’s no need for licenses.”
Does this mean that with my VRay 6 I already have access to this feature somewhere? Or just that I won’t need to pay for it?
Appreciated.
Eheh, it’s quicker to put it in a zip and attach it here.
It’s the executable that is needed to be run on the images so to rebuild the mipmaps.
It should come with your installation, likely in a \bin folder maketx.zip (2.74 MB)
You can change the .tx file to .tiff by renaming the end of the name in your folder. For example: I renamed 3f3b04f9_Diff_4k_srgb.tx to 3f3b04f9_Diff_4k_srgb.tiff and then opened the file in photoshop.
Certainly doable, but there are important caveats to renaming the extension.
Losing the mipmaps may make a project shoot up in RAM occupation, potentially making it unrenderable on a machine it worked well with before.
