3ds max - Export Materials

[analysis_junky]

I am unable to view my model with the any materials that were applied with 3ds max.

I have read the http://wiki.truevision3d.com/tutorialsarticlesandexamples/getting_started_with_3dsmax_and_tv3d wiki tutorial several times.

My work flow:
1.  Created 2 primitive types (flag pole with flag)
2.  Applied UVW Map to each mesh
3.  Converted both to Editable Poly
4.  Created 2 seperate materials and gave them a numerical ID
5.  Assigned the IDs to the correct mesh objects

6a. Export to TVM (Skin)
6b. Export to TVM (Physique)

The resulting model is still white within the model viewer...

Can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong!?!?

Thanks!

[DarkFact]

3ds Max doesn't export material colors in the TVM. You have to assign a texture file, otherwise you'll only see a white model.

[pabloescobar]

Just to complement what DarkFact says... use the function "Render to texture" in max and then apply it as your texture. The result will be the same.

[analysis_junky]

Thanks, I have applied textures before and they have worked.
The wiki article suggested that it is completely possible to export the model with a material applied - maybe I read it wrong (3 or 4 times).

Thanks again, at least I won't waste another hour trying to get this to work.

[DarkFact]

Well, not to beat a dead horse, but....


There's a difference between Materials and Textures. Are you trying to export a file from 3dsMax that's "colors only" or do they have texture maps (ie., image.dds) applied to them?

Only the latter will show in TV3D (or any DX engine).

[analysis_junky]

I was really trying to "bake" the material into the model to reduce the number of dependancies a single model has (seperate texture file, hard coded material values, etc).

Maybe I can just bake a texture instead... Will the TVM file save the texture/material information within it or will there always be a dependant/seperate texture file?

Also, when I do have seperate textures, how do insure that the texture file is in a "Textures" directory instead of the same directory as my saved TVM? I think this is my real motivation for this thread.

[DarkFact]

While you can bake several textures into a single texture map in 3dsMax, you cannot literally  bake the data into the exported TVM. You will have to have a "linked" texture map file.

I don't know how to assign texture files to a directory other than the one the model itself resides in after export without using another tool like TV's Model Viwer. Good question, I was wondering that one myself.

[analysis_junky]

I suppose by "linked" file you are referring to a file that the developer creates that defines a
model file -> texture file
relationship. The texture file in this example could be a reletive location like "\Textures\Area\Filename.jpg" so I guess that solves that problem. That does add an extra step in work flow but it I could create a tool to speed up this process.

I guess that file could even go as far as defining group specific info. How would you implement this?

[DarkFact]

I suppose by "linked" file you are referring to a file that the developer creates that defines a model file -> texture file relationship.

Exactly.

I don't understand your last question, however.

[analysis_junky]

Nevermind, I think I have just answered my own question.

I am a programmer not an artist, I appreciate your time and patience.

Example:
Actor genericHuman maybe has 15 groups assigned to it. Hair, eyes, face, hands, etc.

Lets say that I want to use the linked file as a medium for all Model -> Texture relationships. So, the genericHuman NPC would look different in ZoneA than in ZoneB because those are different countries.

So the same link file could be altered to somthing like this:
Area, Model, Texture

Now, I think a "group" in TV is just like:
Model Group -> 3ds max Material ID

So I would assign each model section a certain material id and this would translate to the texture UV coordinates later (once applied to the model within TV), right?

[DarkFact]

If each part of the character has a different texture map:

eyes.jpg
skin.jpg
hair.jpg

Then each of these are a material group. If the character has only 1 "patchwork" texture for the entire mesh, then the mesh has only one group. However, if you might be able to trick the system by having multiple copies of the same patchwork texture with different names to create separate material groups in TV. This would require a little reworking of the mesh using a UVUnwrap modifier to re-assign the groups (eyes, hair, skin) to the separate texture files. The result *should* be separate material groups....in theory.