Mapping strategy- Importing from turbosquid

[Spacer]

Hi,

 

I have bought some Turbosquid models. Importing them seems to work best from OBJ (in any case it's usually the only format FZ will see..). But I seem to lose texture mapping  totally (even with "Import Textures Maps" checked).

 

SO I am remapping. I get the textures from the .MAX folder that came with the Turbosquid download.

 

(I noticed that sometimes I need to re-open and save as in Photoshop to make sure the JPEG type is not optimized..).

 

All this takes time.. but the worst is this table top which required a lot of cleaning up, and for which the map of wood (4096 x 4096 px) is meant to coincide with the fancy shapes of the joinery. This is clear since the map iteself is NOT continuous wood grain, but rather has areas which are empty and other s with the wood.

I am sure that this is some optimized mapping that I just don't recognize. can someone please let me know what's up with this and how notto spend hour re- mappong, Face by Face in FormZ?

 

Or should I just re- edit the map in Photoshop, then re-model the table as separate objects to simplify mapping??

 

Thanks a lot for any help!

 

Best,

Peter

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andrew West]

Peter

I buy my models from 3DSky since they are usually a lot cheaper and they seem to work fine.  I used to use TurboSquid and still do when I need something very specific.  My method is to always use OBJ on import and I make sure that the model and textures are in the same folder.  On import the textures are never assigned properly but the naming of the new textures allows me to quickly figure out which ones need to be loaded.  For instance if I click on an object that I know to be brown leather and it is named wire0093872665 then I rename it and load the leather image into the correct slot.  Since most of these models have UVW mapping the leather is assigned and aligned correctly.  Then I do this for every other texture.   I wish it was easier but this is the price I pay for using other peoples models which saves me a ton of time. 

It is also worth noting that these models are usually in millimeters and if you forget to change the units on import then scaling the model will loose all your UVW mapping. 

I would edit the huge texture map down to 2000x2000 since Form.z and Vray both choke on files that large.  If the object still has UVW mapping the map size should not matter in my experience.

[Spacer]

Hi Andrew,

 

Thanks for that- a big help.

 

Turbosquid did not associate texture maps with the OBJ file, that's why I assumed there were none. From what you write, that means I must open the "MAX" folder that does have texture maps and put them in a folder with the OBJ, then import as per your instructions. I am surprised that I have to do this, unless I missed something. But no big deal to do.

 

Ok, just tested it. After different combos, I found I needed to set Project Units to "Centimeters" and Format Units to "Centimeter", and "Use Groups to Form Objects", otherwise i get one object. Most importantly, I needed to use the TRANSFORMATION option at 0,1 to get the objects to correct size (all the "Project Units possibilities" attempts didn't seem to work)Then I need to create each material, but YES you are right, the UV mapping works correctly. Wow, that saved a lot of time! Thanks  much!

 

Putting the texture maps in the same folder did Nada, however. I still only get one gray material. So I need to rebuild all the materials suing the preview images as guide. Not so bad, compare to re-mapping AND doing material re-building as well.

 

Cheers-

 

Peter

[Martin Malinski]

Peter,

 

If the .obj file is mapped the .mtl will contain the relevant texture/material information. Open the .mtl file in a text editor (notepad on windows) ...substitute texture in formz materials .....

Each material should look something like this: 

 

newmtl 0121_0121

Kd 1 1 1

Ka 0.2 0.2 0.2

Ks 0 0 0

Ns 150

d 1

map_Kd 0121_gxJPEGReaderDuctImage171.png

 

1st line of each material should be same as shown in formZ material import .... so substitute corresponding map in formz.

 

typically 

newmtl 0121_0121
        Material color
        & illumination
        statements

        texture map
        statements

        reflection map
        statement

 

So if it's mapped, it's easy to import correctly..... problem comes when the mtl file does not conform and contains no mapping info.

 

Many objs are mapped but don't conform to the method used by formz.... I've found if you're exporting an obj from 3dmax, use the DAZ or C4D obj export option; formZ generally will read these files correctly and import with maps.

 

Hope that helps some.

 

Martin

 

[Spacer]

Hi Martin,

 

I will have to await until a deadline is past to get into what you are describing, which is a notch above my technical abilities, I think!

 

Thanks-

 

Peter

[Martin Malinski]

Hi Peter,

 

Not technical (maybe my explanation is )

 

Simply open the .mtl file to see where the corresponding map > materials are. ...Check the mtl material name... look for it in formz materials. use the corresponding image map to place in formz ..... (I've just imported one with 20'ish uv maps and it took about 5 mins)

 

Forget the complexity of the Material color & illumination; the bit you need is 1st (material name) and last (image map) lines of each material id = a quick reference of material > map match.

 

Hope that's clearer  

 

Martin

[Spacer]

Hi Martin,

 

Ok, I'll try that.

 

WHat I've done so far is once i see the FormZ materials have names, I re-creat the material by loading the Texture maps into diffuse and bump (usually), then create a Maxwell Material from there (translate end edit) adding any other maps.

 

Cheers-

 

Peter

[Martin Malinski]

So a typical mtl may look similar to;

 

newmtl Mercury                                                           <<<<<name should correspond to a material in the imported formz material window

Kd 0.298039 0.298039 0.298039

Ka 0.2 0.2 0.2

Ks 0 0 0

Ns 300

d 1

                                                                                     <<<<<<no map listed ....so only colour

 

newmtl 0012_0012_gxJPEGReaderDuctImage611      <<<<<<name should correspond to a material in the imported formz material window

Kd 1 1 1

Ka 0.2 0.2 0.2

Ks 0 0 0

Ns 150

d 1

map_Kd 0012_gxJPEGReaderDuctImage611.png         <<<<<<map listed ....so use in formz as 'color' map

 

newmtl Carpet_Carpet_gxJPEGReaderDuctImage443   <<<<<name should correspond to a material in the imported formz material window

Kd 1 1 1

Ka 0.2 0.2 0.2

Ks 0 0 0

Ns 150

d 1

map_Kd Carpet_gxJPEGReaderDuctImage443.png       <<<<<<map listed ....so use in formz as 'color' diffuse map

map_Ka Carpet_gxJPEGReaderDuctImage443.png       <<<<<<map listed ....so use in formz as 'ambient' map (reflection)

map_Ks Carpet_gxJPEGReaderDuctImage443.png       <<<<<<map listed ....so use in formz as 'specular' map

 

Bumps and transparency maps may be present in a good file, but normally these need to be added or if present the alpha and transparency may need adjusting to match formz.

 

Formz normally retains the uv coordinates .....so you're done.... You may need to lighten (change to plastic, metal) the material or add glow to brighten the material.

 

Martin