Author Topic: Quixel bridge workflow for Corona  (Read 10662 times)

2020-06-27, 19:58:29

lolec

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Hello, I'm new to megascans - bridge and I'm struggling to define a correct workflow to export. Found this thread by Mr Dubcat https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php?topic=12945.0
But it seems to be obsolete now.

Specifically talking about surfaces (Although the same happens to objects and their materials) , when I export to max I get strange settings that don't make a lot of sense.

The setup I get is:

Corona displacement modifier applied to the object ( I would rather control the displacement in the material node and not the corona displacement mod, but while the settings in the modifier seem correct, the settings in the material are not the same)
Displacement usually too big ( my Max Unit setup is Meters and Unit is CM, not sure what is the best to ensure bridges sets it up properly)
Bump map at 0
Tiling mode instead of real world: It would be nice to bring textures in with "real wolrd" scale activated at the right size so I don't have to guess every time.

I'm also worried, based on dubcat's thread that some material properties are not being imported properly.

My questions:

1. What is the right setting to use in max regarding Units etc so Bridge works as seamless as possible?
2. Is there an optimized or tweaked version of the brdige exporter that works better?

Thanks
« Last Edit: 2020-06-27, 20:03:00 by lolec »

2020-06-28, 15:04:11
Reply #1

sprayer

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Bump 0 it's a bug around 3 month, they can't fix it.
We can fix this by changing file in notepad
MegaScan Lib\support\plugins\max\4.12\MSLiveLink\MS_Importer.py

mat.mapamountBump = 0

to

mat.mapamountBump = 1

2020-07-02, 10:15:13
Reply #2

hldemi

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Bump 0 it's a bug around 3 month, they can't fix it.
We can fix this by changing file in notepad
MegaScan Lib\support\plugins\max\4.12\MSLiveLink\MS_Importer.py

mat.mapamountBump = 0

to

mat.mapamountBump = 1

God damn, you just saved me over 100000 clicks in my future lifetime.  Big thanks,

2020-07-03, 14:37:08
Reply #3

maru

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Bump 0 it's a bug around 3 month, they can't fix it.
We can fix this by changing file in notepad
MegaScan Lib\support\plugins\max\4.12\MSLiveLink\MS_Importer.py

mat.mapamountBump = 0

to

mat.mapamountBump = 1

Hmm, so they can't fix it, but it can be fixed by changing one digit in a single file?
Marcin Miodek | chaos-corona.com
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2020-07-03, 19:08:53
Reply #4

lolec

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That is in fact a sad realization :(

Another one; the official stand regarding displacement is: Every render is different so we give users the "freedom" to tweak displacement manually to their subjective liking instead of taking the time to properly transform the settings.

I belive dubcat's method for correct displacement requires corona displacement mod, but I don't understand it well enough. So I modified that same file to add the displacement to the material instead of the modifier.

So far, modifying the script I fixed bump ( thanks sprayer ) and modified displacement to my liking, I still need to tweak displacement scale manually every time, working on understanding this further.

The one thing I haven't been able to fix or understand is how to handle mapping scale, as I'm not sure if all maps are the same size or how to get that information. e.g. Take maps that are 2x2 meters and set them to real world scale at 2m, but not sure if all maps are at world scale ow not :(


2020-07-03, 22:29:02
Reply #5

sprayer

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Bump 0 it's a bug around 3 month, they can't fix it.
We can fix this by changing file in notepad
MegaScan Lib\support\plugins\max\4.12\MSLiveLink\MS_Importer.py

mat.mapamountBump = 0

to

mat.mapamountBump = 1

Hmm, so they can't fix it, but it can be fixed by changing one digit in a single file?
Yes, but they fix it in last update 2020.3.1. I spammed on their forum =)

lolec On most of surfaces they indicate size of map in the name, but not on all


2020-07-04, 00:06:11
Reply #6

Juraj

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Another one; the official stand regarding displacement is: Every render is different so we give users the "freedom" to tweak displacement manually to their subjective liking instead of taking the time to properly transform the settings.


I have to shake my head at both of these things..

- Every renderer coming up with their own interpretation of displacement (midpoint, single value vs multi-value, single-value with offset...).
- Big company like Quixel being lazy doing proper converter. So it's just random BW Linear map requiring arbitrary values. That's just great.

The annoying "standards" of CGI.
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2020-07-04, 00:21:41
Reply #7

lolec

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Bump 0 it's a bug around 3 month, they can't fix it.
We can fix this by changing file in notepad
MegaScan Lib\support\plugins\max\4.12\MSLiveLink\MS_Importer.py

mat.mapamountBump = 0

to

mat.mapamountBump = 1

Hmm, so they can't fix it, but it can be fixed by changing one digit in a single file?
Yes, but they fix it in last update 2020.3.1. I spammed on their forum =)

lolec On most of surfaces they indicate size of map in the name, but not on all



Yes, but since all maps are imported with the "tiling" option set to 1. I have to manually set it up for real-world size. If the map dimension is stated, great, but it is often not and I have to guess. Since I'm playing around with the importer anyway, I was trying to find a way to convert from Quixel dimensions to Corona real-world dimensions, because my understanding is that quixel DOES have the dimensions somewhere, as importing to Unreal works essentially as I would like it to work for corona.

@Juraj  The standards in CG are so bad that when a company does an even tiny better job at it, it automatically becomes accepted as the new standard, complicating this even further :)

2020-07-04, 00:30:34
Reply #8

Juraj

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I hate that I barely remember how things are supposed to work myself, and that's only because I've came across it over a decade.

When I need to explain it to someone else, be it people from my studio, I already get a headache because it has more irregularities than all languages together. Not even Java code is shit like this.
I hate how PBR wasn't done well, after 5 years still isn't properly adopted, every renderer has their own material shader, now how do you even teach someone to use something like this properly from scratch?

Eh, random rant. Your post made me realize how shit the situation is :- ). Or it might have been the "We can't fix it, except here, users fixed it with single line of code".... I was seriously wtf at that. I don't really use this stuff so I didn't even know the converter sucks this much.

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2021-02-22, 11:49:19
Reply #9

maru

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Update:
Quixel team has just provided a Corona displacement fix, which most likely will be built-in into the new versions of Bridge.
To use it, please download the attached file and unpack it. There is a readme file inside explaining how to apply the fix.
From my tests, it seems that the too strong displacement issue is completely resolved now. Please test it and let me know how it works for you.
Marcin Miodek | chaos-corona.com
3D Support Team Lead - Corona | contact us

2021-02-23, 16:15:11
Reply #10

Jvincentrs4

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Maru, thanks so much for this.


Best, jimmy

2021-02-26, 16:02:46
Reply #11

Juraj

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Can you give Quixel a Daily with PhysicalMaterial so they can do a proper exporter ? It would definitely give nicer result because I believe they do some very odd choices when given both IOR and Specular strength.
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2021-03-01, 17:53:53
Reply #12

maru

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Can you give Quixel a Daily with PhysicalMaterial so they can do a proper exporter ? It would definitely give nicer result because I believe they do some very odd choices when given both IOR and Specular strength.
Maybe we are already discussing this. ;)
Marcin Miodek | chaos-corona.com
3D Support Team Lead - Corona | contact us

2021-03-13, 00:20:24
Reply #13

piotrus3333

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I wouldn’t bother. just edit the settings files yourselves. maybe a script to correct anything that is left to fix. great product in general but exporters are barely usable as they come. I was creating quixel mat lib for vray 2-3 months ago and normal maps were coming in with flipped channels among many other wierd settings.

spend some time - make it work as you would expect - let them scan stuff instead of making corona shaders.
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2024-03-14, 19:56:11
Reply #14

John_Do

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Do Quixel's developers ever gave a definitive and reliable answer about displacement values ?  I've dissected every Bridge plugin and so far there are multiple values used for the same assets depending on the 3d software, it seems random and it's confusing.



The latest 3ds Max importer still use values based on the 40x40 cm scans from Quixel's beginning, weird.