Question about applying materials and textures

[ighosti]

First, let me start by saying I'm very sorry if this question has been asked/responded to before. I am relatively new to XSI but I am having problems with applying materials, and textures. It seems that when I apply either one, I simply get a color change result. Now, I have read the XSI docs, and also watched several various tuts on this very helpful site, but neither have helped. With the video tut, I mimmicked the instructors every move, however, while he got the desired result, again, I merely got a color change. Does anyone have this problem as well, or better yet, know what I am doing wrong? Any help is extremely appreciated.

[Photon]

Hi Brandon.

You may attach an example of the problem that you have mentioned.

So all we could help you.

[ighosti]

here is the result I was trying to mimic...

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p127/stealthkilla162/desired.jpg


and this was the result I was getting...

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p127/stealthkilla162/mine.jpg

[Cryrid]

Looks like you're using Modtools, which only works with Real Time Shaders.

Since it pretty much lacks the Mental Ray Engine, using the Render Region tool (q) won't really have any affect, nor will any nodes in the Render Tree (7) other than the real-time OGL/Direct X nodes.

[ighosti]

So what do you recommend? Use a different program? If so, could you suggest one?

[Cryrid]

It will depend on what your 3D intentions are. Modtools is developed more for people wishing to make real-time video game assets, and does a wonderful job of it at that. It is also a very great tool to use for learning how to model, rig, and animate. You can still use textures, and with todays technology you can actually achieve some great materials with real-time shaders.

However, if you're aiming more to create pre-rendered animated shorts, photorealistic renders of rooms, etc, you'd either have to pony up the money for a program that comes with such a rendering engine, or use Blender (XSI used to have Foundations for a VERY cheap price, but saddly they no longer offer it).

[ighosti]

Thats actually exactly what I'm trying to do. I'm just trying to give my model a textured effect rather than a plain solid dull grey color. And I've seen that many people accomplished this same thing with the program I'm using. I just dont understand how...

[Cryrid]

There are a few ways to go about adding a texture.

The first way that comes to mind is to give it a material (get>material>lambert for example). Open the Render Tree (7), and attach a texture node (Nodes>Texture>Image) to it. Tell it which image and texture projection to use, and switch the viewport over to textured or textured decal (found in the top-right of every viewport). The downside to this is that Modtools adds a watermark to the viewport (but hey, it's free).
http://cryrid.com/images/temp/XSI/texture_method_default.jpg



The second way to to add a very simple real-time shader, and switch the viewport over to Realtime OGL or Directx (depending on which shader nodes you add).

http://cryrid.com/images/temp/XSI/texture_method_simpleogl.jpg



The third way, and the method I prefer, is to use an existing shader (such as a .fx file). It's very simple to add, as all you really have to do is tell it to load the shader and then replace the images with your own. It makes setting up materials that use normal/bump maps, specular maps, etc a very quick process. As an added bonus, it will display the textures at full resolution, and also seems to get rid of the modtool watermark.

You can find some shaders at various places online, or can use free programs like Mental Mill to create them in seconds. I've uploaded two here (http://cryrid.com/images/temp/XSI/shaders/), and have some videos showing how to load them here (http://cryrid.com/images/temp/XSI/videos/).