Xfrog trees to DAZ
s.volchkov_c8cb502348
Posts: 0
I'm trying to import some trees from Xfrog into DAZ (as .obj and .mat) and it's not picking up the textures. I read on the forum that it was a common problem and decided to try and assign the textures manually. However I've got two issues - see the pic below:
- the tree on the left looked very nice in Xfrog with flowers and all but has got huge leaves in DAZ now so the textures don't fit
- the two trees on the right have got only one surface each while there should be several
Can anything be done?
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Which Trees are these, I may have them but in the mean time did you apply the Opacity maps to the leaves etc.
Oh, you were right with the left one - I needed to set the opacity to make it work.
But how about the other two (these are grass tree and banksia from Xfrog Oceania collection) - how can I set them up to be several different surfaces instead of just one?
EDIT: But no, the left one is not quite good yet - the leaves look like leaves in DAZ but still like sheets of paper in the render... what else needs to be done?
make sure you have both the diffuse and transparency (alpha) maps in the correct channels in the mat editor.
Do these need to be set in the Advanced Surfaces Tab or something? I don't seem to be able to find it and as DAZ documentation doesn't have any images, it's completely useless in this regard.
I just got back and I am popping back out in a bit but again in the mean time the Opacity Map (White shape on a black background) goes in the Opacity channel of the Surfaces Pane when that surface is selected. I will take a gander and see if I have them and report back.
It's one single .tiff file. I can see the alpha channel image (white on black) in an image editor - am I supposed to modify the file in there first or can it be done from within DAZ?
Thanks.
That is strange as all my XFrog plants have a separate Alpha (Opacity) map. OK see if you can save out the Alpha as a Jpeg or PNG, either will work as long as long as it is Grayscale and the leave/flower shape is white and the rest 0.0.0 black.
As for separating the one single mesh in to multiple Material Zones yes we can do that in Daz Studio http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/42088/ probably best to do the Trunk and if modelled right you should be able to Grow the selection using the Geometry Editor tool and keep it to the trunk and mesh branches.
OK I am on my why out the door now.
The problem here is that the maps that come with Xfrog trees bought on their site come with tiff files. The alpha map is done in the reverse way to how DS can handle it. ie it is white background and black for the leaf shape. I will make some enquiries, see if I can find anyone who can explain how to sort this out, if Szark doesn't get back to you soon.
Try putting the alpha map in the opacity channel and see if that will work, even though it appears to be reversed.
If that still doesn't work try taking the alpha map into a paint program and inverting the colour, so that black is white and vice versa.
Well you should be able to isolate the Alpha in a Tiff and invert it using Photoshop's Invert command.
OT: DS can use Tiff as maps, I use 16 bit or 32 but for really fine detail Tiff based Bump and Displacement maps when I make my own.
This is very strange as all my Oceania Plants have a Opacity Map included ending in -a.tiff and yes the are inverted as Chohole said above but easily fixed as I said above.
This has worked, thanks. I'll try the other recipe later.
You can use LIE to invert the maps directly in Studio.
Yes good point jestmart but since s.volchkov is new to DS and has Photoshop/Gimp that would be the easier of the two. ;)
This has worked, thanks. I'll try the other recipe later.nice, I you need further help just shout.
I have found an easier way to split surfaces on objects imported as .obj - that is, provided there were originally different surfaces on the object.
A proper .mtl file should look like below, if the newmtl statements go missing for some reason as in my case, you'll get one surface instead of several different ones:
newmap masterMap None
newmtl masterShader
Ka 0.1 0.1 0.1
Kd 0.5 0.5 0.5
Ks 0 0 0
Ni 0
newmap TreeMap oc40brk2.tif
newmtl TreeShader
Ka 0.1 0.1 0.1
Kd 0.5 0.5 0.5
Ks 0 0 0
Ni 0
These Ka, Kd, Ks etc. statements are for ambient/ diffuse/ specular color and if the file is exported properly, they should have the actual values for the respective surface properties - but even if they don't, these can be set up in DAZ.
Not sure if anyone finds this useful but decided to post just in case, as it took me a while to figure out.
Material zones will be embedded in the *.obj file if exported properly. The lines will begin with; usemtl [material name]. The *.mtl file isn't even needed.
Hmmm, you're probably right. I re-exported one of the trees from xfrog after changing the material settings for some surfaces from 'inherited' to 'set'. I could see straight away that the .mtl file was different but the .obj file probably changed as well.
Thanks for pointing that out.
save this in notepad as all files duf
put in shader presets and click on it with leaf surface selected
Just to be clear, the *.mtl file is just a convenient way to pass surface setting and textures between programs. Notice though that it has no information that links the materials to the models polygons, that is only in the *.obj file.