Applying shaders in Daz 4.22

wallacealastair

I am trying to apply a ceramic shader to a jug. I have highlightd the jug in both the Scene Panel and under Surfaces.

I have doubled-clicked on the chosen shader. HOwever, when I render the scene, the jug is white. The outcome is the same no matter which shader I apply.

Suggestions please.

I am using G8F and pitcher.pp2 from the Dining Room set by Richabri (https://www.renderosity.com/freestuff/items/66232/mission-style-dining-room-set)

fixmypcmike

What is the shader, and what render engine are you using?

wallacealastair

The one I'd like to use is the Iray Ceramic-Cracked-Ebony and Gold. I also tried the NVIDIA equivalent and a couple of Iray Procelain shaders.

As tot he render engine, I don't know. How do I check?

fixmypcmike

Go to the Render Settings pane and see what's listed under Engine at the top, but if you didn't change it Iray is the default.

wallacealastair

NVIDIA tray (MDL).

fixmypcmike

That all sounds correct.  In the Surfaces pane (Editor tab), what shader is listed at the top?

wallacealastair

Pitcher_1 is highlighted in both the Scene and the editing pane.

fixmypcmike

And at the top of the Surfaces pane, what Shader is listed?

wallacealastair

NVIDIA vMaterials (Design) Ceramic -Cracked - Ebony and Gold or whichever shader I have chosen at the time.

Note the entry for Metal under Pitcher_1 in the Editor pane. I don't know if that makes a difference.

Note also that the parameters for the shader appear in RH pane.

Richard Haseltine

Are these the nVidia materials from their site, rather than materials included with DS and its bundled content?

wallacealastair

They're the ones that come bundled with DAZ.

PS I had a screen shot included with my previus answer but it appears to have disappeared.

Mattymanx

Not sure whats causing your issue Wallace, but i loaded up the OBJ file from the set for the pitcher into DS (I did not use the user facing files in the set) and I was able to apply shaders to it.  Also I was able to confirm that the model is indeed UV mapped.

Bejaymac

wallacealastair said:

NVIDIA vMaterials (Design) Ceramic -Cracked - Ebony and Gold or whichever shader I have chosen at the time.

I believe those are free third party presets for shaders from nvidia.

MDL shaders can't be used directly in DS, they have to be loaded into the ShaderMixer and set up in there, applied to a surface then saved as a shader preset.

It sounds like you have the presets, but are missing the .MDL files to make the presets work.

wallacealastair

I have installed the shader files from the nVidia site. The same problem occurs and not just with the MDL files. Other shaders work fine on the pitcher (it is currently silver).

Bejaymac

Studio wont load the MDL files if you haven't told it were to find them.

Open the ShadeMixer, at the top you will see 3 menu's (File, Edit and Help), select Edit and near the bottom of the dropdown menu you will "MDL Directory Manager", select it to open the manager window.

In here you need to add the pathway to where you installed the MDL files.

crosswind

vMaterial 2.1 Shader Presets are in here : - https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/636821/nvidia-vmaterials-not-working ; Configure the MDL path in Shader Mixer or with the script : MDL Directory Manager

If you're using vMaterial 2.3, convert the new MDL to Daz Shader Presets with the script in herer -: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/460761 ; They'll work fine.

Richard Haseltine

You can also, once you have the directory set up correctly, just hold down alt (opt for a Mac) and drag the MDL file into Shader Mixer, then seelct one or more surfaces on one or mor selected objects and click the Apply button in Shader Mixer.

wallacealastair

crosswind said:

If you're using vMaterial 2.3, convert the new MDL to Daz Shader Presets with the script in herer -: https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/460761 ; They'll work fine.

That page comes up as 'Discussion Not Found'.

fixmypcmike

Try this, there was a stray semicolon on the end of the link:

MDL to Shader Converter - Daz 3D Forums

 

wallacealastair

Richard Haseltine said:

 once you have the directory set up correctly

I opened the Shader Mixer but Alt + drag does not work. I get the icon that says the action is not possible.

wallacealastair

Fixmypcmike said:

Try this, there was a stray semicolon on the end of the link:

MDL to Shader Converter - Daz 3D Forums

 

Thank you. I ran the .dsb file but I'm still getting the result of a dark grey colour in the scene and white in the render for the clothing item. Maybe, I'm doing something wrong (or not doing something right).

wallacealastair

This only occurs with the nVidia shaders. Other shaders (eg the Nobiax collection) work fine.

PS My GPU is an nVidia GeForce GT 710.

crosswind

https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/460761

Download the latest converter ( DSA file) that Omniflux posted in the thread. Run it. Add MDL folder or files and configure output folders, Convert.

wallacealastair

Thank you to everyone who ofered assistance. I can now use the nVidia shaders. It appears tht the porblem related to what files were listed under Base Paths in the MDL to Shader Converter.