Black Textures

[Gildoran]

I have no idea if we're still in the midst the the model reorganization, but I just thought I'd notify you that the vase and orchid models still have black textures.

[Springheel]

Yes. I still can't figure out why.

[New Horizon]

Yes. I still can't figure out why.

 

Shoot, I"ve been meaning to get on that. I'll try to get it done tomorrow. Sorry.

[Springheel]

To update, the following models still show black:

 

crate01.lwo

crate02.lwo

 

font1.lwo

 

All of the models in the pipekit also currently show black.

 

These models used to work, but now have no texture since the reorganization:

 

props/decorative/orchid.lwo

props/decorative/vase1.lwo

architecture/rail1.lwo

architecture/dome1.lwo -- most of the textures show up, but the railing wood does not.

[Gildoran]

This might sound like a silly question, but since we have cyllinder patch meshes, what is the purpose of the pipe-kit?

[Dram]

this is easy to fix, just open up the material files and point them in the right direction, that is, providing the model is pointing to the correct material...

[Springheel]

this is easy to fix, just open up the material files and point them in the right direction, that is, providing the model is pointing to the correct material...

 

If it were that easy to fix I'd have done it already....

 

Unless there's some typo that has escaped my notice over multiple attempts, that's not the problem.

[New Horizon]

this is easy to fix, just open up the material files and point them in the right direction, that is, providing the model is pointing to the correct material...

 

Yeah, I think it might be a problem with the models due to the restructure. I got to know the system fairly well when I was fixing the model issues before.

 

I just have to reinstall lightwave later today and look into it.

[sparhawk]

IMO also some of the paintings seem not to work anymore. Were they also reorganized?

[Springheel]

Only paintings 1, 1m and 1L exist now. You can add any of the other images by using skins. As far as I know all the skins work.

[Springheel]

Yeah, I think it might be a problem with the models due to the restructure. I got to know the system fairly well when I was fixing the model issues before.

 

I haven't opened them up in a model editing program, but when i turned on the console option in D3 that tells you a model's name and material, they seemed to sync up. That's why it's so confusing.

 

Perhaps the models are pointing to images themselves rather then the material file, in which case they would not work.

 

Can they do that?

[New Horizon]

Perhaps the models are pointing to images themselves rather then the material file, in which case they would not work.

 

None of the models should be pointing to the material file, at least from the procedure I had go through to fix the black models last time.

 

This is the walkthrough I made to get rid of black models.

 

1. Model resides in its own folder. In this case models/props/furniture/armoire

2. Textures are stored in models/props/textures

3. Material files should look like this.

 

 

This is the correct setup for the models in lightwave.

 

 

They should all work though...since I set them up so models could be put anywhere. I'll look into it and see what's wrong sometime today.

[New Horizon]

To update, the following models still show black:

 

crate01.lwo

crate02.lwo

 

font1.lwo

 

All of the models in the pipekit also currently show black.

 

These models used to work, but now have no texture since the reorganization:

 

props/decorative/orchid.lwo

props/decorative/vase1.lwo

architecture/rail1.lwo

architecture/dome1.lwo -- most of the textures show up, but the railing wood does not.

 

I found the problem.

 

models/props/textures should not have been moved. The way I designed it was so the models could be picked up and dropped anywhere but still work. Since the textures for the models was physically moved, it has broken the models. I don't know why some of them still work though.

 

At the time of the reorg, I was pretty busy recording footage for the movie. I couldn't sync with CVS, in case I broke any of the maps. If I had more time I would have quickly noticed what was going on. Sorry guys. I can fix them all without touching the models, I just need to fix the paths in the material files.

[sparhawk]

Only paintings 1, 1m and 1L exist now. You can add any of the other images by using skins. As far as I know all the skins work.

 

Ah! OK. I have to look how this is to be done.

[Springheel]

The way I designed it was so the models could be picked up and dropped anywhere but still work. Since the textures for the models was physically moved, it has broken the models. I don't know why some of them still work though.

 

It's not just some of them, it's 95% of them. As long as the material points to the new location of the texture folder, there shouldn't be any problem (and for most of them there's not). I don't know what makes the five or six models that don't work different from all the rest.

 

None of the models should be pointing to the material file, at least from the procedure I had go through to fix the black models last time.

 

They don't point to the material FILE, they point to the material 'entry' within a file. It shouldn't matter what .mtr file that entry is in (as I understand it).

 

Dram seems to be saying the model could point directly to the texture file itself, which doesn't make any sense to me (since how would shaders be applied then?).

 

The way I understand it is this:

 

Model points to material entry.

 

Material entry is in a file (doesn't matter which) in the Materials folder.

 

Material entry points to textures (wherever they are).

 

The above being true, you can then move models wherever you want. And you can move the textures whevever you want as long as you modify the material entry to point to the new spot.

 

All this has been done, which is why I'm confused about the few models that don't work.

[New Horizon]

I'll have them finished up and in working condition later this evening.

 

I'll update my tutorial then and post what I think might have gone wrong.

[New Horizon]

Okay, I finished the models. There will likely still be a black one pop up here and there, but for the most part, they should be fixed.

 

The problem with some of the models was a mis match of forward and backward slashes, and sometimes incorrect material file paths.

 

I changed the material paths in all the models, to match the texture path. This is how I had set it up for the previous organization, mainly to remove confusion and keep material files clean and logical. It's confusing to look at a material file and see the material path as models/props/textures, when all the texture paths are models/darkmod/props/textures.

 

I think it is better to keep things consistent.

 

I will update the tutorial. Make sure all modelers review the guidelines.

[New Horizon]

Updated the Model Guidelines Post:

 

Please review.

 

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?act=S...st=0#entry22708

 

 

crate02.lwo needs to have the crate02 texture uploaded to models/darkmod/props/textures.

[Ishtvan]

@NH: Is it possible your changes to the .lwos could have changed the origin of some items?

 

[Springheel]

I changed the material paths in all the models, to match the texture path. This is how I had set it up for the previous organization, mainly to remove confusion and keep material files clean and logical.

 

Gah! That's also going to wreck all 73 skins. All the skins work by referencing the material path of the model.

 

If we are going to change the material paths at all (and they don't need to be, other than aesthetics), I'd rather we get rid of the folder names altogether. The material paths can just be "Armoire_01". I'm not sure there's any benefit to adding "models/darkmod/props/" to the beginning. Just means more typing both in the original and when making skin files.

 

Of course, that still means I have to fix all the skin files.... Not to mention that I just duplicated the material path for each model when making skins. Frex, if I was making a skin for a model with the path, "models/props/textures/table1", I named the material for my skin "models/props/textures/table2".

 

So if you just did a search and replace in the material files, all the skins will now have to be renamed, as well as point to the new material path of the original model. If you didn't change them, then the material files aren't really going to appear any more organized than they did before.

 

So where do we go from here? I see three options:

 

1. Return the paths to the way they were so the skins work.

2. Redo all the skins to point to the current new material path

3. Change the paths to use the model name only and then redo the skins

 

Which do you prefer?

[New Horizon]

3. Change the paths to use the model name only and then redo the skins

 

That one sounds like the best option Spring.

 

Don't worry. I'll take care of the skins.

[Springheel]

Ok...I don't think I have any that aren't already on CVS. I'll sync up when you're done.

[New Horizon]

Ok...I don't think I have any that aren't already on CVS. I'll sync up when you're done.

 

Cool, I'll post here when I finish.

[Ishtvan]

If you look at the "darkmod" map, that uses several current models, the origins have all been moved around. The couch is in the floor, the bookshelf is off the ground, the cups and things are way up in the air, light is away from the wall, etc. Was this intentional when fixing the skins? If not, it could be a problem, especially if origins were moved from inside the object to outside the object.

[New Horizon]

If you look at the "darkmod" map, that uses several current models, the origins have all been moved around. The couch is in the floor, the bookshelf is off the ground, the cups and things are way up in the air, light is away from the wall, etc. Was this intentional when fixing the skins? If not, it could be a problem, especially if origins were moved from inside the object to outside the object.

 

Yeah, I noticed that the origins of a few of the objects were way waaaaay outside of the model. I wasn't sure if it mattered, but I decided it would be better to center the origin for those few.