Using many bitmaps to texture for softimage

[hike1]

I know how to get .meshes out of Softimage using 1 bitmap, but what
if I have a dungeon that needs 40 textures, say? I thought the
workflow would be to 1st apply a cubic projection to the whole
dungeon, then select polys in polygon mode, put a planar best fit subprojection on them then either 'import clip' or 'get property texture map' The problem is whenever I do that , the whole
dungeon turns into that texture, not the polys I've selected. How
do I get the texture on just the polys I've selected?

I guess I'm asking what is the XSI version of 3ds max 'sub-object material' mode.

[GeneCrucean]

I guess I'm asking what is the XSI version of 3ds max 'sub-object material' mode.

The closest alternative is just a simple mix8color node or the built in layers in each shader.

Unless I've misunderstood you.

[jamal]

It sounds like you're using subprojections in the texture editor, which won't give you the result you're looking for.

If understand correctly, you want to apply a new texture to part of an already textured mesh, which you can do by creating clusters.

Let's say your dungeon is one piece of geometry, and you've already applied a texture to it. You can texture a part of that mesh by selecting some polygons in the viewport, doing a get > texture > image, and creating a new projection. This will automatically create a polygon cluster that will use the new projection with whatever image you want.

You could also create the clusters first, and then texture them.

Hope that helps,

J

[hike1]

Thanks, Jamal, I figured it out, wrote some notes-
http://terrymorgan.net/texture_map_dungeon.zip
1.3MB

Now I need to make a lightmap like 3ds max can,

www.dubane.com/cons/max2004/helpers/lightmapping.html


any ideas?

[Helli]

Just a little tip.

I would go over all the tutorial videos you can find here in this forum to get a clue of the xsi workflow.
It's the wrong approach to search for a function you know from 3dsmax trying to exactly copying the workflow. XSI has a different workflow so maybe you should take a look on that first.

Also try using the XSI Documentation. When you search for lightmap you will find this:

Lightmaps
Light mapping is a technique that allows you to compute illumination and other surface information from an object’s material, and output that information to a texture file that can be used elsewhere in your scene.
XSI uses light mapping in two ways:
• In shaders that use lightmaps internally to store illumination information. For example, the fast subsurface scattering material phenomenon uses a light map to store information about light scattered in an object.
These types of shaders create their lightmaps automatically, and do not give you direct access to the output files. However, they typically provide parameters for controlling the quality of the lightmap.
For more information, see Fast Subsurface Scattering (http://community.softimage.com/light_effects_FastSubsurfaceScattering.htm#Rhu8527 9) in the Lights and Cameras guide.
• Lightmap shaders, such as the color sampler shader, that write the results of the lightmap computation to an external texture file that you can then reuse in the scene. The Color Sampler shader is described in the next section: Using the Color Sampler Shader (http://community.softimage.com/lightmaps_UsingtheColorSamplerShader.htm#Rhv39492) .



wich leads you to this:

Using the Color Sampler Shader
The color sampler shader is a lightmap shader that samples an object’s surface and writes the result to a texture file. This is conceptually similar to RenderMap’s surface color map, but works in a different way.
Rather than using a virtual camera to sample an object’s surface from a specified distance, the color sampler shader evaluates the object’s render tree directly. Whatever portion of the render tree is connected to the color sampler’s Input port is computed and written to a texture file.
The color sampler shader itself must be connected to the Material node’s Lightmap port in order to generate the texture.
http://community.softimage.com/hv072915.jpg
http://community.softimage.com/hv07291d.jpg
http://community.softimage.com/hv072930.jpg
To sample an object’s surface using the color sampler shader
1. Select the object whose surface you wish to sample and press 7 to open the render tree.
2. From the render tree menu, choose Nodes > Lightmap > Color Sampler to add a Color Sampler node to the render tree workspace.
3. Connect the Color Sampler node’s output to the Material node’s Lightmap port.
4. Connect to the Color Sampler node’s Input port the output of the node or branch of the render tree that you wish to sample.
5. Double-click the Color Sampler node to open its property editor.
6. On the Color Sampler page, use the Texture Space options to choose a texture projection to use during sampling.
Ideally, you should choose the same projection that the object’s textures use. However, in some cases, you may need to click New to create a new texture projection. For example, if the object is textured using only surface shaders (Phong, Lambert, and so on), or using procedural textures that are applied using a spatial projection (the color sampler shader cannot use spatial projections for sampling).
7. The Color Sampler property editor should have two pages labeled with the output image’s name (Lightmap_color by default). The second of these pages contain format options for the color sampler’s output image. Set these options as needed.
http://community.softimage.com/hv072941.jpg
Note that the image’s file name contains a hash mark (#) by default. This is used to specify the frame number when you render a sequence.
8. Render the object to generate the Color Sampler’s output texture.
- If you only want to output a single-frame texture, you can use the render region or render preview tools.
- If you need to render a texture sequence, you will need to render all of the required frames.
For more information about these rendering methods, see Rendering Methods (http://community.softimage.com/rendering.htm#Rfk33096) in the Rendering guide.
Color Sampler Shader vs. RenderMap
The Color Sampler shader and the RenderMap tool do similar things. This section is intended to give you an idea of when it is preferable to use one instead of the other.
For more information about the RenderMap property, see RenderMap (http://community.softimage.com/rendermap.htm#Ret89178).
Advantages of using the Color Sampler shader:
• Because the color sampler shader evaluates the render tree directly, you don’t have to worry about other objects getting in the way of a virtual camera. Nor do you have to worry about introducing distortion the way you might when setting RenderMap’s camera-distance value too high.
• You can quickly generate a texture from any shader or branch in the render tree by simply changing what is connected to the color sampler’s input.
• The color sampler shader can easily be set to output texture sequences rather than still images.
• Using the color sample shader involves very little setup. You need only make a few render tree connections and set a few parameters.
• Depending on the material being evaluated, the color sampler shader can be faster than RenderMap.
Advantages of using RenderMap:
• In many cases, it is desirable to include objects other than the sampled object in the output texture. For example, you can create a sprite by placing an object in front of a grid and then rendermapping the grid.
• RenderMap is designed to create several specific types of maps, such as normal, binormal, and tangent maps, that are complicated to create using the render tree.
• RenderMap can generate several images in a single rendering. The color sampler shader can only generate one at a time.
• It is easier to capture bump mapping information using RenderMap because the color sampler shader cannot use the material node itself as an input.

[hike1]

Yes, Helli, I've already read all that, tried and failed. It doesn't tell you how to get lightmaps, it doesn't even
have any pictures!

[Helli]

In the XSI Guide go to Index Tab and type in "Color Sampler Shader".

[hike1]

I tried that again, with this file

http://terrymorgan.net/lightset.zip
borrowed from the net.

92K

I have this material
http://terrymorgan.net/images/lightset_shot.jpg

80K,
When I try to render a bitmap, I click on 'render/render pass' it doesn't render, 'unable
to resolve path'. When I draw a 'Q' render box it doesn't render, then XSI locks up.

I can do this in 3ds Max easily, except I can't get the 70 clusters to import using
Collada or any other importer.

[hike1]

How to do it: http://www.terrymorgan.net/lightset3.zip http://www.terrymorgan.net/images/Lightmapping_XSI.jpg Thanks Martin Schafer!