Structurising a texture library

[JohnNinos]

Connecter can be used for pretty much anything it really revolutionized our workflow.

I use it currently for Models, IES, HDRi and building material library. But I know Daniel Reutersward and others use it for textures too I think.

The most incredible tool I use from it is auto-generating the assets. I simply unpack .zip file from 3dSky/DesignConnected/etc..., then drag&drop it into 3dsMax viewport and with menu pop-up it will put it into folder structure (generating "/maps" subfolder and putting all textures there, auto-relinking them), into categories you place, description you write for it, generate a thumbnail file from studio scene I prepared. I also set it up to convert it to Corona :- ).

I was part of private dev chat for more than a year I think now and the devs are very motivated and user-request listening. Some of the stuff Swedish boys asked for is almost ridiculous and everything gets implemented next week :- ).

Hello fellas, i hope you are running on a great week!

I am trying to be on the new organization era because my library is extremely messy and i think that i am gonna give Connecter a try, is there any video or thread that describes a little more in depth the workflow and some tips & tricks regarding that? (Your trick with the tags is really smart, are the tags remaining thought if you reinstall Connecter?) Additionally, i have heard that having the folders directly in the HDD ( D:/Decorative sets/Candle Holders ) is a lot faster than having fro example D:/Library/3dsky/Decorative sets/Candle holders does this worth having your HDD with a tone of folders? And finally, would an SSD dedicated for the library would make things better? Really thanks guys, Cheers :)

[Benny]

I use it currently for Models, IES, HDRi and building material library. But I know Daniel Reutersward and others use it for textures too I think.

Could you develop a little on how you are using it for materials? Afaik 3D Connected can't display a .mat file. Are you creating a max file for every material? That would seam very tedious but perhaps there is a smart workflow for this?

[Benny]

No one is using 3D Connecter for materials?

[Benny]

I guess that makes sense as it can’t open a .mat file, and the only way I’ve found myself would be to save a max scene with a material on a suitable object. Problem is that even if one can use Connecter to categorize them, there is no way to conveniently load them or apply them in a scene so pretty useless really.

Oh well, the search goes on.

[romullus]

You definitely can load materials from Connecter to a max scene (assign them to the objects or place in material library). Also you can batch render previews in your own studio setup. I don't think it's useless at all.

[romullus]

By the way, with the latest update, you can manage external files for materials - view, rename, relink bitmaps. Couldn't be better.

[Benny]

Sounds like a well kept secret, I haven’t been able to figure out half of that stuff. How do you assign a material from the library to an object in your scene?

And perhaps equally crucial, can I grab a material in my scene and add it to the library?

[romullus]

Actually, i only start discovering Connecter for materials myself. So far i like what i see, so much that i started to create my own material library for the very first time :]

Materials goes from Connecter to a max scene, in the same way as the models do, you just drag and drop it to a viewport and from contextual menu, choose an action - assign to selection, add to mat editor, generate previews, etc. As for adding stuff to connecter, i do it through quad menus, don't know if there is other way. Just right click in a viewport, then add (or update) asset to Connecter and choose what you want to add, model or material.

[Benny]

Well, I've played around with it and starting to like it more and more. It is not very well documented though, is it? I can for example not figure out how to et up my own render studio in order to generate preview thumbnails of materials. Did you get that to work?

It also seems as if I can generate a rendered thumbnail while grabbing from a scene, but not for materials already in the connecter library?

[romullus]

Documentation isn't that bad, although there is room for improvement for sure. Also they're releasing short how-to videos from time to time, so it's not that hard to figure things out :]

Making your own materials' render studio is easy. In 3ds max create sphere of 1m size for reference, place it at scene origin, create and adjust camera, lights, backdrop. Make adjustments to render settings and tonemapping (dubcat's guide to material calibration can be very good guide here) and add render limit. Finally delete the sphere (shader ball will be loaded from separate file) and save the scene. Now drag any material from Connecter to 3ds max viewport and from contextual menu choose generate preview. In process files window, go to options, choose render studio option for asset preview, then configure that studio by clicking on arrow to the right. In the next window go to render studio -> settings and add new studio - navigate to the file you saved before. Go back to the previous window and choose what cameras and shader balls to use. Also configure the way you want to preview images to be saved. Once you've done, you can close all configuration windows and press process button - the Connecter will do the rest. Don't forget that you can add multiple assets to generate preview window, before processing them. The whole process looks a bit complicated at first, but once you get hang on it, you will realise, that it is very flexible and powerful tool. You can even use your own shader ball.

[Benny]

Yes, obviously really easy and straightforward. ;)

Kidding aside, big thanks for the help Romullus! I will mess with it and see if I can figure it out.

[romullus]

I'm sure you will love it. Before Connecter, i wouldn't imagine that assets management actually can be a fun thing :]

[Benny]

You were right, I do love it.

I'm having a bit of problems with the test render studio and the general scale of it. How did you know the shader ball should be around 1m? I'm using a scene I've been using before, but the shader ball becomes enormous when generating previews. If I just load it normally and render everything looks fine. Is Connecter doing something to the camera (since I specify a camera)?

The other thing that bugs me is that once I've generated a preview or assigned an existing image to a file, I would like to hide those but it doesn't seem as if I can hide images per folder? I can do it manually, but quickly becomes tedious. What is your workflow?

[romullus]

Shaderball not necessary needs to be 1m size, it's just i find that size most convenient and i think Connecter's default sphere is 1m size. Nevertheless, you can use whatever size you want, also you can have many different sized shaderballs, you just have to have multiple cameras for different spheres. If shaderball appears bigger or smaller than it's intendent to be, then check if you forgot to lock its transforms, or maybe it's a camera that has to be locked, can't remember exactly - better lock them both :]

Regarding preview hiding, after generating previews, Connecter should hide them by default, if not, search for such option somwhere in preview generating window. I don't know if there's an option to automatically hide already existing previews, but you can use filters to hide by file types.

[Benny]

I can not get that to work, locking transforms? You mean doing reset Xform? If I load a file with a shader ball in a scene and just hit render, it would seem to me that the result should be the same if I do it from within Connecter? Unless Connecter do something.

The connecter studio render also ignores the pivot point of my shader ball. Even if I align the pivot to the bottom of my shader ball object, the shader object still becomes centered around 0,0,0.

Of course none of these things are neither documented or in a video.  :/