Game Development Community

Back with more newb questions...This ones on Materials in Houdini...

by Jamie Vanderhoef · in Artist Corner · 02/04/2009 (11:32 am) · 10 replies

Ok, I'm having trouble getting my textures to appear on my models once I have exported them to Torque, within Houdini they appear to be fine, the textures appear on the model in the workspace, but when I follow the steps outlined within the Documentation and export to .dts then go into TGE and enter the World Editor Creator and add the model into the game, it appears grey and untextured...Here are the exact steps I took to add a simple box into TGE and it came up untextured:

Open Houdini and hit 'Create Box' (using the button on the shelf) placed it in the middle of the workspace. Name the SOP "Brick" (without quotes).

Double-click and enter Brick SOP and hit TAB, typed "D" and create a Divide Node from the menu and attack (parent) it to the cube, the cube is now triangulated.

Again hit TAB and type "U" and select UVTexture from the menu and attached it to the Divide Node NOTE: The only Parameter that I changed within this Node was Texture Type, I changed it to 'Face'.

Hit TAB and typed "M" and created a Material Node and attached it to the UVTexture Node.

../ Typed "S" and created Shopnet1 (or Shop Node) and double-clicked it, within this node I hit TAB and typed "D" and created a DTS_Material Node, within the Diffuse Texture Map I selected my file: "...MyDirectory/BrickFace.png"

Then I jump back to the Brick SOP and click on the Material Node and set the Material field to /obj/Shopnet1/DTS_Material1

Now, still within the Brick SOP I hit the Render/Display switch on the Material Node (ensuring that the engine will render this node as it is the last on the chain). At this point the model appears textured as desired within the workspace. Ok, now I jump out of the Brick SOP.

Hit TAB, type "R" and create ROP Network (like the Example files in the Documentation) and then I double-click/enter that node.

TAB again, "T" for Torque, create node... Export Root set at Obj...Set my Directory within the SDK/example/Gameone/shapes and name it Brick.dts all right and proper.

Initialize Detail from scene. Check to make sure that the geometry is correct (it is, Houdini knows what it's doing, it's just that I don't hehe...hmmm)

There is no animation so I don't add any sequences.

Hit Render...No errors, no warnings, checked dump and Material #0 shows up as "BrickFace"

Enter TGE World Editor Creator and navigate through the Static Shape directory to find my Brick, find it, click on it, it appears within the mission...grey...no texture... (no collision either but that was deliberate as this model needs no collision so I neglected to define a collision node within Houdini) I checked the forums and found someone else went through similar step and there model did texture correctly, so now I ask myself "Ok, what switch am I forgetting to flip?" If anyone knows the answer please let me know. Thanks in advance

-Jamie

#1
02/04/2009 (12:13 pm)
Stupid question, but is the texture file in the same place as your dts-file?
#2
02/04/2009 (5:17 pm)
Thanks for the speedy reply, in answer to your question, yes, the texture is in the same folder as the model :) this problem is making less sense to me every time I look into it.
#3
02/04/2009 (8:54 pm)
How are you creating your PNG files? Do you have ShowToolPro and does it look ok in that?

I know there were some issues in TGE with certain PNG files created with Photoshop. Search the board for SuperPNG.

Also, I don't have TGE installed, but doesn't the PNG file have to be named the same as the DTS as there is no material.cs file? Try naming your PNG brick.png instead of brickface.png. Just something I remember but worth a shot.

#4
02/05/2009 (3:55 am)
I repeated your steps this morning, added it in the TGE (1.4.2) World Creator and everything worked fine for me.

I would also suggest to load your model into ShowToolPro to check whether there is a problem with the exported dts-file or with TGE.
#5
02/05/2009 (8:35 am)
-Randy: I'm creating my PNG files on a program called Paint, it came with my machine (Windows Vista) and I have also tried the same steps with a JPG and a BMP; no soap. I also tried what you said, named the file Brick.png and that didn't work either, also tried naming it Brick and saving it as a JPG, still nothing. It was a good idea anyhow.

-Thorsten: Loaded the model up in ShowTool, I should note that I have the Demo version of ShowTool, the product didn't seem so important to me at this time so I was planning on holding off on pruchasing it, the Brick came up untextured and I checked some of the models that came with the SDK and they came up textured (of course). The TGE that I am running is the 1.5.2, just thought I'd mention it.

Anyway thanks for your support, I hope we can solve this frustrating problem hehe.
#6
02/05/2009 (9:34 am)
Try mapping one of the stock PNG files to your model. Won't look good but let you know if your PNG files are good:) I am not sure Paint will create the correct PNGs.
#7
02/05/2009 (9:58 am)
Wow, thanks Randy, I tried the conveyor_belt.png and the donut_base.png on my DTS_Material node and they exported perfectly on my Brick, tested in TGE and all, guess I need to find another software (and hope it isn't too expensive) to make my textures with, have any suggestions?

Thank you for your invaluable assistance in this matter.
Jamie
#8
02/05/2009 (2:10 pm)
Glad that worked, figured it had to be the PNG..

try Gimp www.gimp.org/

Or Paint.net www.getpaint.net/

I myself prefer Paint.net, but both are free.



#9
02/05/2009 (3:08 pm)
My mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you, and I thank you, (know what movie that's from?) I downloaded Paint.net, installed it, made an ugly picture and slapped it on my Brick, viola, success. I shall not forget your aid my friend.

Best of luck to you on all you future projects.

~Jamie
#10
02/05/2009 (3:19 pm)
James Cagney "Yankee Doodle Dandy" :)

Anytime, glad I could help.

Take care and I will send you some newer movies:)